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325 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
335 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
337 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
345 @top The Gnus Newsreader
349 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
350 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
351 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
354 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
355 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
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)
388 @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change the following line:
389 This manual corresponds to No Gnus v0.11.
391 @heading Other related manuals
393 @item Message manual: Composing messages
394 @item Emacs-MIME: Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
395 @item Sieve: Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
396 @item PGG: @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
397 @item SASL: @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
403 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
404 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
405 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
406 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
407 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
408 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
409 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
410 * Various:: General purpose settings.
411 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
412 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
413 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation.
414 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
415 * Key Index:: Key Index.
417 Other related manuals
419 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
420 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
421 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
422 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
423 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
426 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
430 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
431 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
432 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
433 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
434 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
435 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
436 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
437 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
438 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
439 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
440 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
444 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
445 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
446 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
450 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
451 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
452 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
453 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
454 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
455 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
456 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
457 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
458 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
459 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
460 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
461 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
462 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
463 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
464 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
465 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
466 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
467 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
471 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
472 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
473 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
477 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
478 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
479 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
480 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
481 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
485 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
486 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
487 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
488 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
489 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
493 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
494 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
495 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
496 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
497 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
498 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
499 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
500 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
501 * Threading:: How threads are made.
502 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
503 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
504 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
505 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
506 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
507 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
508 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
509 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
510 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
511 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
512 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
513 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
514 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
515 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
516 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
517 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
518 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
519 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
520 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
521 or reselecting the current group.
522 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
523 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
524 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
525 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
527 Summary Buffer Format
529 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
530 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
531 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
532 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
536 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
537 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
539 Reply, Followup and Post
541 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
542 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
543 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
544 * Canceling and Superseding::
548 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
549 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
550 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
551 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
552 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
553 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
557 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
558 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
560 Customizing Threading
562 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
563 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
564 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
565 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
569 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
570 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
571 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
572 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
573 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
574 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
578 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
579 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
580 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
584 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
585 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
586 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
587 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
588 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
589 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
590 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
591 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
592 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
593 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
594 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
596 Alternative Approaches
598 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
599 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
601 Various Summary Stuff
603 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
604 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
605 * Summary Generation Commands::
606 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
610 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
611 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
612 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
613 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
614 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
618 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
619 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
620 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
621 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
622 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
623 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
624 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
625 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
626 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
630 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
631 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
632 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
633 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
634 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
635 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
636 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
637 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
638 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
642 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
643 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
644 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
645 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
646 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
647 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
648 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
652 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
653 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
657 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
658 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
659 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
660 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
664 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
665 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
666 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
667 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
668 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
669 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
670 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
671 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
672 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
673 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
674 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
675 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
676 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
680 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
681 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
682 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
684 Choosing a Mail Back End
686 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
687 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
688 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
689 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
690 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
691 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
692 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
697 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
698 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
699 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
703 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
704 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
705 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
706 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
707 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
708 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
712 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
713 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
714 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
715 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
719 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
723 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
727 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
728 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
729 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
733 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
734 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
735 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
737 The Gnus Diary Library
739 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
740 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
741 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
742 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
746 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
747 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
748 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
749 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
750 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
751 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
752 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
753 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
754 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
755 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
756 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
757 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
758 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
759 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
763 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
764 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
765 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
769 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
770 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
771 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
775 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
776 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
777 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
778 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
779 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
780 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
781 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
782 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
783 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
784 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
785 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
786 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
787 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
788 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
789 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
790 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
794 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
795 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
796 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
800 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
801 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
802 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
803 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
804 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
805 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
806 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
807 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
808 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
809 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
810 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
811 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
812 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
813 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
814 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
815 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
816 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
817 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
818 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
819 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
820 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
821 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
825 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
826 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
827 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
828 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
829 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
830 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
831 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
832 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
836 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
837 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
838 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
840 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
841 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
845 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
846 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
847 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
848 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
852 * Spam Package Introduction::
853 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
854 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
855 * Spam and Ham Processors::
856 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
858 * Extending the Spam package::
859 * Spam Statistics Package::
861 Spam Statistics Package
863 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
864 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
865 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
869 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
870 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
871 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
872 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
873 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
874 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
875 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
876 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
877 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
881 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
882 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
883 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
884 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
885 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
886 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
887 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
888 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
889 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
893 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
894 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
895 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
896 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
897 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
898 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
899 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
903 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
904 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
905 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
906 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
910 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
911 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
912 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
913 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
914 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
915 * Group Info:: The group info format.
916 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
917 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
918 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
922 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
923 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
924 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
925 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
926 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
927 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
931 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
932 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
936 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
937 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
943 @chapter Starting Gnus
946 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
951 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
952 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
953 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
954 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
955 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
956 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
958 @findex gnus-other-frame
959 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
960 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
961 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
963 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
964 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
965 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
967 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
968 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
971 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
972 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
973 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
974 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
975 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
976 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
977 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
978 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
979 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
980 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
984 @node Finding the News
985 @section Finding the News
988 First of all, you should know that there is a special buffer called
989 @code{*Server*} that lists all the servers Gnus knows about. You can
990 press @kbd{^} from the Group buffer to see it. In the Server buffer,
991 you can press @kbd{RET} on a defined server to see all the groups it
992 serves (subscribed or not!). You can also add or delete servers, edit
993 a foreign server's definition, agentize or de-agentize a server, and
994 do many other neat things. @xref{Server Buffer}.
995 @xref{Foreign Groups}. @xref{Agent Basics}.
997 @vindex gnus-select-method
999 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
1000 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1001 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1002 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1005 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1006 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1009 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1012 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1015 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1018 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1019 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1020 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1021 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1023 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1025 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1026 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1027 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1028 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1029 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1030 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1031 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1033 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1034 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1035 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1036 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1038 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1039 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1040 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1041 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1042 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
1043 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1044 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1045 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1046 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1049 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1051 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1052 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1053 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1054 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1055 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1056 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1058 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1060 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1061 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1062 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1063 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1064 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1065 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1068 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1069 you would typically set this variable to
1072 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1075 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1076 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1077 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1078 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1081 @node The First Time
1082 @section The First Time
1083 @cindex first time usage
1085 If no startup files exist (@pxref{Startup Files}), Gnus will try to
1086 determine what groups should be subscribed by default.
1088 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1089 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1090 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1091 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1094 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1095 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1096 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1098 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1099 help you with most common problems.
1101 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1102 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1106 @node The Server is Down
1107 @section The Server is Down
1108 @cindex server errors
1110 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1111 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1112 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1114 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1115 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1116 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1117 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1118 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1119 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1120 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1122 @findex gnus-no-server
1123 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1125 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1126 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1127 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1128 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1129 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1130 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1131 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1135 @section Slave Gnusae
1138 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1139 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1140 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1141 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1143 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1144 @file{.newsrc} file.
1146 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1147 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1148 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1149 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1150 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1151 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1152 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1155 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1156 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1157 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1158 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1159 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1160 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1161 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1162 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1164 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1165 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1167 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1168 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1169 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1170 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1171 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1178 @cindex subscription
1180 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1181 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1182 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1183 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1184 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1185 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1186 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1187 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1188 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1191 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1192 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1193 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1197 @node Checking New Groups
1198 @subsection Checking New Groups
1200 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1201 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1202 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1203 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1204 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1205 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1206 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1207 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1208 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1209 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1211 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1212 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1213 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1214 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1215 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1216 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1217 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1218 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1219 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1220 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1221 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1223 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1224 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1225 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1226 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1227 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1228 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1231 @node Subscription Methods
1232 @subsection Subscription Methods
1234 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1235 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1236 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1238 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1239 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1241 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1245 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1246 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1247 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1248 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1249 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1251 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1252 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1253 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1254 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1256 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1257 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1258 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1260 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1261 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1262 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1263 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1264 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1265 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1266 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1267 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1268 up. Or something like that.
1270 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1271 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1272 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1273 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1274 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1276 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1277 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1278 Kill all new groups.
1280 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1281 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1282 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1283 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1284 topic parameter that looks like
1290 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1293 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1298 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1299 A closely related variable is
1300 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1301 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1302 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1303 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1306 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1307 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1308 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1309 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1312 @node Filtering New Groups
1313 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1315 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1316 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1317 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1320 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1323 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1324 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1325 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1326 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1327 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1328 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1329 subscribing these groups.
1330 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1331 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1333 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1334 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1335 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1336 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1337 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1338 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1339 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1340 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1342 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1343 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1344 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1345 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1346 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1347 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1348 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1349 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1350 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1351 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1354 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1355 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1358 @node Changing Servers
1359 @section Changing Servers
1360 @cindex changing servers
1362 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1363 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1364 very flaky and you want to use another.
1366 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1367 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1371 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1372 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1373 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1374 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1377 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1378 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1379 You can use the @kbd{M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups}
1380 command to clear out all data that you have on your native groups.
1383 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1384 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1385 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1386 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1388 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1389 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1390 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1391 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1392 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1393 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1394 cache for all groups).
1398 @section Startup Files
1399 @cindex startup files
1404 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1405 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1406 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1409 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1410 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1411 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1412 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1413 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1414 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1415 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1417 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1418 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1419 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1420 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1421 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1422 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1424 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1425 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1426 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1427 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1428 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1429 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1430 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1431 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1432 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1433 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1434 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1437 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1438 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1439 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1440 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1441 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1442 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1443 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1444 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1445 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1446 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1447 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1448 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1450 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1451 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1452 @vindex version-control
1453 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1454 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1455 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1456 If you want version control for this file, set
1457 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1458 @code{version-control} variable.
1460 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1461 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1462 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1463 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1464 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1465 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1466 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1467 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1468 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1469 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1472 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1473 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1475 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1476 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1479 @vindex gnus-init-file
1480 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1481 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1482 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1483 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1484 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1485 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1486 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1487 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1488 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1489 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1490 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1491 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1492 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1497 @cindex dribble file
1500 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1501 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1502 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1503 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1504 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1507 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1508 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1511 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1512 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1513 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1515 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1516 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1517 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1518 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1519 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1520 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1522 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1523 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1524 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1527 @node The Active File
1528 @section The Active File
1530 @cindex ignored groups
1532 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1533 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1534 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1536 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1537 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1538 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1539 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1540 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1541 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1542 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1545 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1546 @c if you set it to anything else.
1548 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1550 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1551 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1552 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1554 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1555 you actually subscribe to.
1557 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1558 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1559 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1560 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1562 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1563 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1564 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1565 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1566 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1567 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1569 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1570 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1571 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1574 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1575 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1576 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1577 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1578 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1579 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1581 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1582 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1584 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1585 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1587 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1588 secondary select methods.
1591 @node Startup Variables
1592 @section Startup Variables
1596 @item gnus-load-hook
1597 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1598 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1599 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1600 times you start Gnus.
1602 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1603 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1604 A hook called as the first thing when Gnus is started.
1606 @item gnus-startup-hook
1607 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1608 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1610 @item gnus-started-hook
1611 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1612 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1615 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1616 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1617 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1618 generating the group buffer.
1620 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1621 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1622 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1623 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1624 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1625 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1626 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1627 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1629 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1630 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1631 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1632 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1633 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1634 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1636 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1637 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1638 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1640 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1641 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1642 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1644 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1645 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1646 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1647 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1649 @item gnus-use-backend-marks
1650 @vindex gnus-use-backend-marks
1651 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will store article marks both in the
1652 @file{.newsrc.eld} file and in the backends. This will slow down
1653 group operation some.
1659 @chapter Group Buffer
1660 @cindex group buffer
1662 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1664 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1665 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1666 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1667 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1668 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1669 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1670 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1671 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1672 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1673 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1674 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1675 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1676 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1677 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1678 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1679 @c human rights at 9...
1682 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1683 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1684 long as Gnus is active.
1688 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1689 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1690 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1691 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1692 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1693 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1694 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1695 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1701 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1702 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1703 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1704 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1705 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1706 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1707 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1708 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1709 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1710 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1711 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1712 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1713 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1714 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1715 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1716 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1717 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1718 * Searching:: Mail search engines.
1719 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1723 @node Group Buffer Format
1724 @section Group Buffer Format
1727 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1728 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1729 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1732 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1733 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1736 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1737 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1738 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1739 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1742 @node Group Line Specification
1743 @subsection Group Line Specification
1744 @cindex group buffer format
1746 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1747 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1749 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1752 25: news.announce.newusers
1753 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1758 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1759 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1760 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1761 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1763 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1764 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1765 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1766 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1767 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1768 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1770 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1772 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1773 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1774 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1775 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1776 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1778 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1779 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1780 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1782 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1787 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1790 Whether the group is subscribed.
1793 Level of subscribedness.
1796 Number of unread articles.
1799 Number of dormant articles.
1802 Number of ticked articles.
1805 Number of read articles.
1808 Number of unseen articles.
1811 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1812 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1814 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1815 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1816 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1817 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1818 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1819 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1820 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1822 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1823 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1824 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1825 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1826 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1827 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1828 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1831 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1834 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1843 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1844 comment element in the group parameters.
1847 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1848 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1849 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1853 @samp{m} if moderated.
1856 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1862 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1868 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1872 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1875 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1876 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1877 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1878 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1879 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1882 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1884 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1888 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1891 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1895 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1896 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1897 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1898 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1901 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1902 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1903 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1904 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1905 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1906 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1911 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1912 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1913 group, or a bogus native group.
1916 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1917 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1918 @cindex group mode line
1920 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1921 The mode line can be changed by setting
1922 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1923 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1927 The native news server.
1929 The native select method.
1933 @node Group Highlighting
1934 @subsection Group Highlighting
1935 @cindex highlighting
1936 @cindex group highlighting
1938 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1939 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1940 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1941 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1942 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1944 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1948 (cond (window-system
1949 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1950 (defface my-group-face-1
1951 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1952 (defface my-group-face-2
1953 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1954 "Second group face")
1955 (defface my-group-face-3
1956 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1957 (defface my-group-face-4
1958 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1959 (defface my-group-face-5
1960 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1962 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1963 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1964 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1965 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1966 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1967 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1970 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1972 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1979 The number of unread articles in the group.
1983 Whether the group is a mail group.
1985 The level of the group.
1987 The score of the group.
1989 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1991 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1992 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1994 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1995 topic being inserted.
1998 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1999 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
2000 functions for snarfing info on the group.
2002 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
2003 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
2004 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
2005 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
2008 @node Group Maneuvering
2009 @section Group Maneuvering
2010 @cindex group movement
2012 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2013 expected, hopefully.
2019 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2020 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2021 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2027 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2028 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2029 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2033 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2034 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2038 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2039 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2043 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2044 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2045 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2049 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2050 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2051 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2054 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2060 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2061 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2062 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2067 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2068 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2069 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2073 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2074 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2075 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2078 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2079 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2080 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2081 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2084 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2085 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2086 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2087 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2090 @node Selecting a Group
2091 @section Selecting a Group
2092 @cindex group selection
2097 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2098 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2099 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2100 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2101 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2102 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2103 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2104 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2105 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2106 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2108 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2109 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2110 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2112 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2113 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2118 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2119 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2120 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2121 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2122 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2126 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2127 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2128 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2129 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2130 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2131 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2132 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2133 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2134 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2135 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2138 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2139 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2140 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2141 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2142 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2145 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2146 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2147 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2148 doing any processing of its contents
2149 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2150 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2151 manner will have no permanent effects.
2155 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2156 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2157 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2158 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2159 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2160 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2161 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2162 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2163 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2164 most recently will be fetched.
2166 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2167 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2168 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2171 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2172 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2173 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2174 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2175 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2176 are actually only the articles 1-10 and 29999900-30000000, Gnus doesn't
2177 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2178 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2179 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2180 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2181 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2182 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2183 get only the articles 29990001-30000000 (if the latest article number is
2184 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2185 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2186 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2187 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2189 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2190 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2191 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2192 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2193 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2194 Which article this is controlled by the
2195 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2201 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2204 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2207 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2209 @item unseen-or-unread
2210 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2211 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2215 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2219 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2220 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2222 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2223 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2224 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2225 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2229 @node Subscription Commands
2230 @section Subscription Commands
2231 @cindex subscription
2239 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2240 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2241 Toggle subscription to the current group
2242 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2248 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2249 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2250 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2251 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2257 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2258 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2259 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2265 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2266 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2269 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2270 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2271 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2272 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2273 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2279 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2280 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2284 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2285 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2288 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2289 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2290 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2291 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2292 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2293 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2294 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2295 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2296 @file{.newsrc} file.
2300 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2310 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2311 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2312 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2313 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2314 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2315 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2320 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2321 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2322 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2326 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2327 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2328 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2330 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2331 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2332 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2333 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2334 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2335 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2342 @section Group Levels
2346 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2347 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2348 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2349 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2350 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2352 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2358 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2359 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2360 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2361 prompted for a level.
2364 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2365 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2366 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2367 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2368 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2369 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2370 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2371 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2372 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2373 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2374 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2375 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2376 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2377 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2378 reasons of efficiency.
2380 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2381 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2383 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2384 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2385 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2386 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2387 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2388 groups are hidden, in a way.
2390 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2391 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2392 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2393 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2394 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2395 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2397 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2398 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2399 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2400 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2401 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2402 list of killed groups.)
2404 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2405 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2406 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2408 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2409 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2410 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2411 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2412 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2413 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2414 relevant valid ranges.
2416 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2417 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2418 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2419 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2420 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2421 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2424 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2425 one with the best level.
2427 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2428 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2429 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2432 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2433 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2434 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2435 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2438 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2439 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2440 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2441 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2443 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2444 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2445 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2446 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2447 to 5. The default is 6.
2451 @section Group Score
2456 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2457 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2458 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2461 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2462 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2463 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2464 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2465 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2466 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2467 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2468 least significant part.))
2470 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2471 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2472 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2473 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2474 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2475 action after each summary exit, you can add
2476 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2477 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2478 slow things down somewhat.
2481 @node Marking Groups
2482 @section Marking Groups
2483 @cindex marking groups
2485 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2486 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2487 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2488 bidding on those groups.
2490 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2491 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2492 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2500 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2501 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2507 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2508 Remove the mark from the current group
2509 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2513 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2514 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2518 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2519 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2523 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2524 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2528 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2529 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2530 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2533 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2535 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2536 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2537 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2538 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2539 the command to be executed.
2542 @node Foreign Groups
2543 @section Foreign Groups
2544 @cindex foreign groups
2546 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2547 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2548 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2549 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2552 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2553 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2554 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2560 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2561 @cindex making groups
2562 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2563 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2564 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2568 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2569 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2570 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2574 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2575 @cindex renaming groups
2576 Rename the current group to something else
2577 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2578 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2584 @findex gnus-group-customize
2585 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2589 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2590 @cindex renaming groups
2591 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2592 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2596 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2597 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2598 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2602 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2603 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2604 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2608 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2610 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2611 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2616 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2617 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2621 @cindex (ding) archive
2622 @cindex archive group
2623 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2624 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2625 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2626 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2627 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2628 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2629 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2633 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2635 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2636 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2637 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2641 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2642 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2644 Make a group based on some file or other
2645 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2646 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2647 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2648 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2649 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2650 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2651 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2652 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2653 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2657 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2658 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2659 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2660 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2664 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2668 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2669 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2670 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2671 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2672 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2673 @xref{Web Searches}.
2675 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2676 to a particular group by using a match string like
2677 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2681 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2682 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2683 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2687 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2688 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2689 This function will delete the current group
2690 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2691 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2692 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2693 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2694 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2698 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2699 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2700 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2704 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2705 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2706 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2709 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2712 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2713 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2714 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2715 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2716 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2717 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2721 The following commands create ephemeral groups. They can be called not
2722 only from the Group buffer, but in any Gnus buffer.
2725 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2726 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2727 @vindex gnus-gmane-group-download-format
2728 Read an ephemeral group on Gmane.org. The articles are downloaded via
2729 HTTP using the URL specified by @code{gnus-gmane-group-download-format}.
2730 Gnus will prompt you for a group name, the start article number and an
2733 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2734 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2735 This command is similar to @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group}, but
2736 the group name and the article number and range are constructed from a
2737 given @acronym{URL}. Supported @acronym{URL} formats include e.g.
2738 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12300/focus=12399},
2739 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2740 @url{http://article.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2741 @url{http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/}, and
2742 @url{http://news.gmane.org/group/gmane.foo.bar/thread=12345}.
2744 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2745 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2746 Read an Emacs bug report in an ephemeral group. Gnus will prompt for a
2747 bug number. The default is the number at point. The @acronym{URL} is
2748 specified in @code{gnus-bug-group-download-format-alist}.
2750 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2751 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2752 Read a Debian bug report in an ephemeral group. Analog to
2753 @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group}.
2756 Some of these command are also useful for article buttons, @xref{Article
2764 '("#\\([0-9]+\\)\\>" 1
2765 (string-match "\\<emacs\\>" (or gnus-newsgroup-name ""))
2766 gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group 1))
2770 @node Group Parameters
2771 @section Group Parameters
2772 @cindex group parameters
2774 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2776 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2777 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2778 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2779 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2780 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2781 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2782 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2784 Here's an example group parameter list:
2787 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2791 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2792 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2793 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2794 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2796 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2797 is an alist of regexps and values.
2799 The following group parameters can be used:
2804 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2807 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2810 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2811 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2812 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2813 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2814 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2816 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2817 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2818 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2819 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2820 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2821 list address instead.
2823 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2827 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2830 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2833 It is totally ignored
2834 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2835 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2837 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2838 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2839 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2840 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2841 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2843 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2844 @cindex mail list groups
2845 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2846 entering summary buffer.
2848 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2853 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2854 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2855 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2856 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2857 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2858 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2859 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2860 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2863 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2864 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2867 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2868 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2872 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2873 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2874 of whether it has any unread articles.
2876 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2877 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2879 @item broken-reply-to
2880 @cindex broken-reply-to
2881 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2882 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2883 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2884 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2885 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2886 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2890 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2891 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2895 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2896 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2897 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2902 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2903 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2904 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2905 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2906 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2907 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2908 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2910 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2911 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2912 doesn't accept articles.
2916 @cindex expiring mail
2917 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2918 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2919 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2921 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2924 @cindex total-expire
2925 @cindex expiring mail
2926 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2927 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2928 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2929 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2932 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2936 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2937 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2938 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2939 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2940 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2941 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2942 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2945 @cindex expiry-target
2946 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2947 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2950 @cindex score file group parameter
2951 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2952 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2953 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2956 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2957 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2958 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2959 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2962 @cindex admin-address
2963 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2964 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2965 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2966 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2970 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2971 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2975 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2978 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2979 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2982 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2986 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2988 Here are some examples:
2992 Display only unread articles.
2995 Display everything except expirable articles.
2997 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2998 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
3002 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
3003 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
3004 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
3005 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
3006 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
3010 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
3011 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
3012 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
3016 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
3017 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
3018 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
3022 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
3023 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
3024 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
3026 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
3028 @item ignored-charsets
3029 @cindex ignored-charset
3030 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
3031 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
3032 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
3034 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
3037 @cindex posting-style
3038 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3039 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3040 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3041 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3042 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3044 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3045 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3046 like this in the group parameters:
3051 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3052 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3055 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3056 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3057 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3058 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3059 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3060 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3066 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3067 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3071 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3072 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3073 mail source for this group.
3077 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3078 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3079 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3080 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3081 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3085 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3086 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3087 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3088 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3090 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3091 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3092 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3093 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3096 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3097 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3101 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3102 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3103 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3104 like the following is generated:
3107 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3108 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3112 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3113 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3115 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3116 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3118 @item (agent parameters)
3119 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
3120 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3121 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3122 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3123 minimize the configuration effort.
3125 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3126 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3127 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3128 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3129 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3130 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3131 @code{eval}ed there.
3133 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer
3134 if and only if @var{variable} has been bound as a variable. Otherwise,
3135 only evaluating the form will take place. So, you may want to bind the
3136 variable in advance using @code{defvar} or other if the result of the
3137 form needs to be set to it.
3139 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3140 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3141 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3142 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3143 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3144 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3145 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3148 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3151 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3152 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3153 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3156 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3159 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3160 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3161 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3162 into the group parameters for the group.
3164 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3165 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3166 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group. If
3167 @code{dummy-variable} has been bound (see above), it will be set to the
3168 (meaningless) result of the @code{(ding)} form.
3170 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3171 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3172 following is added to a group parameter
3175 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3176 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3179 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3184 @vindex gnus-parameters
3185 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3186 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3187 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3191 (setq gnus-parameters
3193 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3194 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3195 (gnus-summary-line-format
3196 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3200 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3204 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3208 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3211 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3212 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3214 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3215 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3216 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3217 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3218 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3219 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3220 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3221 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3222 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3223 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3224 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3225 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3227 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3228 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3229 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3230 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3231 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3232 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3233 weekly news RSS feed
3234 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3240 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3241 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3242 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3243 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3244 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3246 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3247 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3248 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3249 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3250 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3251 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3255 @node Listing Groups
3256 @section Listing Groups
3257 @cindex group listing
3259 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3267 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3268 List all groups that have unread articles
3269 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3270 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3271 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3272 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3279 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3280 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3281 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3282 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3283 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3284 unsubscribed groups).
3288 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3289 List all unread groups on a specific level
3290 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3291 with no unread articles.
3295 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3296 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3297 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3298 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3303 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3304 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3308 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3309 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3310 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3314 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3315 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3319 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3320 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3321 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3322 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3323 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3324 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3325 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3326 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3330 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3331 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3332 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3336 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3337 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3338 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3342 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3343 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3347 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3348 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3352 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3353 List groups limited within the current selection
3354 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3358 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3359 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3363 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3364 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3368 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3369 @cindex visible group parameter
3370 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3371 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3372 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3373 get the same effect.
3375 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3376 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3377 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3378 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3379 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3382 @node Sorting Groups
3383 @section Sorting Groups
3384 @cindex sorting groups
3386 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3387 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3388 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3389 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3390 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3391 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3396 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3397 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3398 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3400 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3401 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3402 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3404 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3405 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3406 Sort by group level.
3408 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3409 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3410 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3412 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3413 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3414 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3415 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3417 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3418 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3419 Sort by number of unread articles.
3421 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3422 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3423 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3425 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3426 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3427 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3432 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3433 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3437 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3438 some sorting criteria:
3442 @kindex G S a (Group)
3443 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3444 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3445 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3448 @kindex G S u (Group)
3449 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3450 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3451 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3454 @kindex G S l (Group)
3455 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3456 Sort the group buffer by group level
3457 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3460 @kindex G S v (Group)
3461 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3462 Sort the group buffer by group score
3463 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3466 @kindex G S r (Group)
3467 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3468 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3469 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3472 @kindex G S m (Group)
3473 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3474 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3475 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3478 @kindex G S n (Group)
3479 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3480 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3481 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3485 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3486 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3488 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3489 commands will sort in reverse order.
3491 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3495 @kindex G P a (Group)
3496 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3497 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3498 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3501 @kindex G P u (Group)
3502 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3503 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3504 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3507 @kindex G P l (Group)
3508 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3509 Sort the groups by group level
3510 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3513 @kindex G P v (Group)
3514 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3515 Sort the groups by group score
3516 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3519 @kindex G P r (Group)
3520 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3521 Sort the groups by group rank
3522 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3525 @kindex G P m (Group)
3526 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3527 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3528 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3531 @kindex G P n (Group)
3532 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3533 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3534 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3537 @kindex G P s (Group)
3538 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3539 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3543 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3547 @node Group Maintenance
3548 @section Group Maintenance
3549 @cindex bogus groups
3554 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3555 Find bogus groups and delete them
3556 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3560 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3561 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3562 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3563 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3564 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3568 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3569 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3570 @cindex expiring mail
3571 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3572 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3573 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3574 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3577 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3578 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3579 @cindex expiring mail
3580 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3581 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3586 @node Browse Foreign Server
3587 @section Browse Foreign Server
3588 @cindex foreign servers
3589 @cindex browsing servers
3594 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3595 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3596 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3597 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3600 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3601 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3602 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3603 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3605 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3610 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3611 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3615 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3616 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3619 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3620 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3621 Enter the current group and display the first article
3622 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3625 @kindex RET (Browse)
3626 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3627 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3631 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3632 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3633 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3639 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3640 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3644 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3645 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3649 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3650 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3651 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3656 @section Exiting Gnus
3657 @cindex exiting Gnus
3659 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3664 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3665 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3666 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3667 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3671 @findex gnus-group-exit
3672 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3673 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3677 @findex gnus-group-quit
3678 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3679 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3682 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3683 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3684 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3685 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3686 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3687 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3693 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3694 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3695 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3701 @section Group Topics
3704 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3705 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3706 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3707 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3708 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3709 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3713 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3714 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3725 2: alt.religion.emacs
3728 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3730 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3731 13: comp.sources.unix
3734 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3736 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3737 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3738 is a toggling command.)
3740 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3741 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3742 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3743 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3746 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3747 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3748 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3751 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3755 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3756 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3757 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3758 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3759 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3763 @node Topic Commands
3764 @subsection Topic Commands
3765 @cindex topic commands
3767 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3768 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3769 definitions slightly.
3771 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3772 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3773 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3774 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3775 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3776 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3778 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3785 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3786 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3787 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3791 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3793 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3794 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3795 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3796 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3799 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3800 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3801 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3802 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3806 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3807 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3808 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3809 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3815 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3816 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3817 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3821 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3822 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3823 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3826 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3827 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3828 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3829 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3830 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3832 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3833 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3837 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3838 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3845 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3847 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3848 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3849 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3850 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3851 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3852 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3856 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3862 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3863 Move the current group to some other topic
3864 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3865 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3869 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3870 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3874 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3875 Copy the current group to some other topic
3876 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3877 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3881 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3882 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3883 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3887 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3888 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3889 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3893 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3894 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3895 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3896 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3897 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3898 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3899 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3902 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3903 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3907 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3908 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3909 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3913 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3914 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3915 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3919 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3920 Toggle hiding empty topics
3921 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3925 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3926 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3927 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3928 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3931 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3932 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3933 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3934 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3935 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3938 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3939 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3940 @cindex expiring mail
3941 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3942 expiry process (if any)
3943 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3947 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3948 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3951 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3952 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3953 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3957 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3958 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3959 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3962 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3963 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3964 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3967 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3968 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3969 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3973 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3974 @cindex group parameters
3975 @cindex topic parameters
3977 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3978 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3983 @node Topic Variables
3984 @subsection Topic Variables
3985 @cindex topic variables
3987 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3988 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3990 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3991 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3992 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4005 Number of groups in the topic.
4007 Number of unread articles in the topic.
4009 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
4012 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
4013 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
4014 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
4017 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
4018 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
4020 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
4021 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
4022 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
4026 @subsection Topic Sorting
4027 @cindex topic sorting
4029 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
4035 @kindex T S a (Topic)
4036 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
4037 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
4038 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
4041 @kindex T S u (Topic)
4042 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
4043 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
4044 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
4047 @kindex T S l (Topic)
4048 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
4049 Sort the current topic by group level
4050 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
4053 @kindex T S v (Topic)
4054 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
4055 Sort the current topic by group score
4056 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
4059 @kindex T S r (Topic)
4060 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
4061 Sort the current topic by group rank
4062 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
4065 @kindex T S m (Topic)
4066 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
4067 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
4068 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
4071 @kindex T S e (Topic)
4072 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
4073 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
4074 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
4077 @kindex T S s (Topic)
4078 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
4079 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
4080 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
4081 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
4085 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
4086 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
4090 @node Topic Topology
4091 @subsection Topic Topology
4092 @cindex topic topology
4095 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
4102 2: alt.religion.emacs
4105 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4107 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4108 13: comp.sources.unix
4112 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
4113 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
4114 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
4119 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
4120 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
4124 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
4125 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
4126 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
4127 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
4128 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
4129 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
4131 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
4132 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
4133 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
4136 @node Topic Parameters
4137 @subsection Topic Parameters
4138 @cindex topic parameters
4140 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4141 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4142 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4143 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4144 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4146 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4151 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4152 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4153 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4156 @item subscribe-level
4157 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4158 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4159 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4163 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4164 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4165 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4166 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4173 2: alt.religion.emacs
4177 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4179 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4180 13: comp.sources.unix
4185 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4186 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4187 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4188 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4189 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4190 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4192 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4193 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4194 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4195 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4196 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4198 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4199 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4200 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4201 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4202 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4203 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4204 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4205 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4208 @node Non-ASCII Group Names
4209 @section Accessing groups of non-English names
4210 @cindex non-ascii group names
4212 There are some news servers that provide groups of which the names are
4213 expressed with their native languages in the world. For instance, in a
4214 certain news server there are some newsgroups of which the names are
4215 spelled in Chinese, where people are talking in Chinese. You can, of
4216 course, subscribe to such news groups using Gnus. Currently Gnus
4217 supports non-@acronym{ASCII} group names not only with the @code{nntp}
4218 back end but also with the @code{nnml} back end and the @code{nnrss}
4221 Every such group name is encoded by a certain charset in the server
4222 side (in an @acronym{NNTP} server its administrator determines the
4223 charset, but for groups in the other back ends it is determined by you).
4224 Gnus has to display the decoded ones for you in the group buffer and the
4225 article buffer, and needs to use the encoded ones when communicating
4226 with servers. However, Gnus doesn't know what charset is used for each
4227 non-@acronym{ASCII} group name. The following two variables are just
4228 the ones for telling Gnus what charset should be used for each group:
4231 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4232 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4233 An alist of select methods and charsets. The default value is
4234 @code{nil}. The names of groups in the server specified by that select
4235 method are all supposed to use the corresponding charset. For example:
4238 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4239 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4242 Charsets specified for groups with this variable are preferred to the
4243 ones specified for the same groups with the
4244 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} variable (see below).
4246 A select method can be very long, like:
4250 (nntp-address "news.gmane.org")
4251 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
4252 (nntp-open-connection-function
4253 nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
4254 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
4255 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
4256 ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
4257 (nntp-via-address @dots{}))
4260 In that case, you can truncate it into @code{(nntp "gmane")} in this
4261 variable. That is, it is enough to contain only the back end name and
4264 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4265 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4266 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4267 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
4268 @code{((".*" . utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported,
4269 otherwise the default is @code{nil}. For example:
4272 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4273 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)
4277 Note that this variable is ignored if the match is made with
4278 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist}.
4281 Those two variables are used also to determine the charset for encoding
4282 and decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} group names that are in the back ends
4283 other than @code{nntp}. It means that it is you who determine it. If
4284 you do nothing, the charset used for group names in those back ends will
4285 all be @code{utf-8} because of the last element of
4286 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4288 There is one more important variable for non-@acronym{ASCII} group
4292 @item nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4293 @vindex nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4294 The value of this variable should be a coding system or @code{nil}. The
4295 default is @code{nil} in Emacs, or is the aliasee of the coding system
4296 named @code{file-name} (a certain coding system of which an alias is
4297 @code{file-name}) in XEmacs.
4299 The @code{nnml} back end, the @code{nnrss} back end, the @acronym{NNTP}
4300 marks feature (@pxref{NNTP marks}), the agent, and the cache use
4301 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names in those files and directories. This
4302 variable overrides the value of @code{file-name-coding-system} which
4303 specifies the coding system used when encoding and decoding those file
4304 names and directory names.
4306 In XEmacs (with the @code{mule} feature), @code{file-name-coding-system}
4307 is the only means to specify the coding system used to encode and decode
4308 file names. On the other hand, Emacs uses the value of
4309 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} if @code{file-name-coding-system}
4310 is @code{nil} or it is bound to the value of
4311 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} which is @code{nil}.
4313 Normally the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system} in Emacs or
4314 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} in XEmacs is initialized according
4315 to the locale, so you will need to do nothing if the value is suitable
4316 to encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4318 The value of this variable (or @code{default-file-name-coding-system})
4319 does not necessarily need to be the same value that is determined by
4320 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} and
4321 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4323 If @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable is
4324 initialized by default to @code{iso-latin-1} for example, although you
4325 want to subscribe to the groups spelled in Chinese, that is the most
4326 typical case where you have to customize
4327 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}. The @code{utf-8} coding system is
4328 a good candidate for it. Otherwise, you may change the locale in your
4329 system so that @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable
4330 may be initialized to an appropriate value.
4333 Note that when you copy or move articles from a non-@acronym{ASCII}
4334 group to another group, the charset used to encode and decode group
4335 names should be the same in both groups. Otherwise the Newsgroups
4336 header will be displayed incorrectly in the article buffer.
4343 * nnir:: Searching on IMAP, with swish, namazu, etc.
4344 * nnmairix:: Searching maildir, MH or mbox with Mairix.
4349 FIXME: This node is a stub.
4351 FIXME: Add a brief overview of Gnus search capabilities. A brief
4352 comparison of nnir, nnmairix, contrib/gnus-namazu would be nice
4355 FIXME: Explain difference to @ref{Searching for Articles}, add reference
4361 FIXME: As a first step, convert the commentary of @file{nnir} to texi.
4365 @subsection nnmairix
4369 This paragraph describes how to set up mairix and the back end
4370 @code{nnmairix} for indexing and searching your mail from within
4371 Gnus. Additionally, you can create permanent ``smart'' groups which are
4372 bound to mairix searches and are automatically updated.
4375 * About mairix:: About the mairix mail search engine
4376 * nnmairix requirements:: What you will need for using nnmairix
4377 * What nnmairix does:: What does nnmairix actually do?
4378 * Setting up mairix:: Set up your mairix installation
4379 * Configuring nnmairix:: Set up the nnmairix back end
4380 * nnmairix keyboard shortcuts:: List of available keyboard shortcuts
4381 * Propagating marks:: How to propagate marks from nnmairix groups
4382 * nnmairix tips and tricks:: Some tips, tricks and examples
4383 * nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
4386 @c FIXME: The markup in this section might need improvement.
4387 @c E.g. adding @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.
4388 @c Cf. (info "(texinfo)Indicating")
4391 @subsubsection About mairix
4393 Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
4394 mail. It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the
4395 GPL. Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
4396 runs under Windows (with cygwin), Mac OS X and Solaris. The homepage can
4398 @uref{http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html}
4400 Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
4401 swish++ or namazu, which you can use via the @code{nnir} back end, it
4402 has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast. On current systems, it
4403 can easily search through headers and message bodies of thousands and
4404 thousands of mails in well under a second. Building the database
4405 necessary for searching might take a minute or two, but only has to be
4406 done once fully. Afterwards, the updates are done incrementally and
4407 therefore are really fast, too. Additionally, mairix is very easy to set
4410 For maximum speed though, mairix should be used with mails stored in
4411 @code{Maildir} or @code{MH} format (this includes the @code{nnml} back
4412 end), although it also works with mbox. Mairix presents the search
4413 results by populating a @emph{virtual} maildir/MH folder with symlinks
4414 which point to the ``real'' message files (if mbox is used, copies are
4415 made). Since mairix already presents search results in such a virtual
4416 mail folder, it is very well suited for using it as an external program
4417 for creating @emph{smart} mail folders, which represent certain mail
4420 @node nnmairix requirements
4421 @subsubsection nnmairix requirements
4423 Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
4424 direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
4425 server (e.g. an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
4426 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g. via ssh.
4428 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
4429 ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
4430 one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
4431 @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
4433 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
4434 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
4435 @code{nnimap}. This is a rather massive setup for accessing some mbox
4436 files, so just change to MH or Maildir already... However, if you're
4437 really, really passionate about using mbox, you might want to look into
4438 the package @file{mairix.el}, which comes with Emacs 23.
4440 @node What nnmairix does
4441 @subsubsection What nnmairix does
4443 The back end @code{nnmairix} enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
4444 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the
4445 database. While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use
4446 several pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g. to quickly
4447 search for all mails from the sender of the current message or to
4448 display the whole thread associated with the message, even if the
4449 mails are in different folders.
4451 Additionally, you can create permanent @code{nnmairix} groups which are bound
4452 to certain mairix searches. This way, you can easily create a group
4453 containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject line or
4454 even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID. If you check for
4455 new mail in these folders (e.g. by pressing @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g}), they
4456 automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
4458 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
4459 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
4460 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
4461 does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
4462 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
4463 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
4464 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
4465 its back. Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g. if you
4466 use mairix with an @acronym{IMAP} server (I had Dovecot complaining
4467 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
4468 group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
4470 @code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like
4471 a wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores
4472 the searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three
4473 different mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml},
4474 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnimap}. @code{nnmairix} will call the mairix
4475 binary so that the search results are stored in folders named
4476 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>} on this mail back end, but it will
4477 present these folders in the Gnus front end only with @code{<NAME>}.
4478 You can use an existing mail back end where you already store your mail,
4479 but if you're uncomfortable with @code{nnmairix} creating new mail
4480 groups alongside your other mail, you can also create e.g. a new
4481 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml} server exclusively for mairix, but then
4482 make sure those servers do not accidentally receive your new mail
4483 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). A special case exists if you want to use
4484 mairix remotely on an IMAP server with @code{nnimap}---here the mairix
4485 folders and your other mail must be on the same @code{nnimap} back end.
4487 @node Setting up mairix
4488 @subsubsection Setting up mairix
4490 First: create a backup of your mail folders (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}).
4492 Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a @file{.mairixrc} file with
4493 (at least) the following entries:
4496 # Your Maildir/MH base folder
4500 This is the base folder for your mails. All the following directories
4501 are relative to this base folder. If you want to use @code{nnmairix}
4502 with @code{nnimap}, this base directory has to point to the mail
4503 directory where the @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
4506 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
4507 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
4508 mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
4511 This specifies all your mail folders and mbox files (relative to the
4512 base directory!) you want to index with mairix. Note that the
4513 @code{nnml} back end saves mails in MH format, so you have to put those
4514 directories in the @code{mh} line. See the example at the end of this
4515 section and mairixrc's man-page for further details.
4521 @vindex nnmairix-group-prefix
4522 This should make sure that you don't accidentally index the mairix
4523 search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
4524 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
4527 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
4528 database= ... location of database file ...
4531 The @code{format} setting specifies the output format for the mairix
4532 search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
4533 with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
4535 To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
4539 maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
4540 mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
4541 mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
4544 database=~/.mairixdatabase
4547 In this case, the base directory is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
4548 folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
4549 colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
4550 because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
4551 @code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
4552 @code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
4553 to be specified relative to the @code{base} directory, the @code{../Mail}
4554 notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
4555 to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
4556 dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
4557 old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
4558 The other lines should be obvious.
4560 See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
4561 especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
4562 than you are used to.
4564 Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
4565 Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
4566 the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
4568 @node Configuring nnmairix
4569 @subsubsection Configuring nnmairix
4571 In group mode, type @kbd{G b c}
4572 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). This will ask you for all
4573 necessary information and create a @code{nnmairix} server as a foreign
4574 server. You will have to specify the following:
4579 The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
4583 The name of the @strong{back end server} where mairix should store its
4584 searches. This must be a full server name, like @code{nnml:mymail}.
4585 Just hit @kbd{TAB} to see the available servers. Currently, servers
4586 which are accessed through @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnimap} and
4587 @code{nnml} are supported. As explained above, for locally stored
4588 mails, this can be an existing server where you store your mails.
4589 However, you can also create e.g. a new @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml}
4590 server exclusively for @code{nnmairix} in your secondary select methods
4591 (@pxref{Finding the News}). If you use a secondary @code{nnml} server
4592 just for mairix, make sure that you explicitly set the server variable
4593 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}, or you might loose mail
4594 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). If you want to use mairix remotely on an
4595 @acronym{IMAP} server, you have to choose the corresponding
4596 @code{nnimap} server here.
4599 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-search-options
4600 The @strong{command} to call the mairix binary. This will usually just
4601 be @code{mairix}, but you can also choose something like @code{ssh
4602 SERVER mairix} if you want to call mairix remotely, e.g. on your
4603 @acronym{IMAP} server. If you want to add some default options to
4604 mairix, you could do this here, but better use the variable
4605 @code{nnmairix-mairix-search-options} instead.
4608 The name of the @strong{default search group}. This will be the group
4609 where all temporary mairix searches are stored, i.e. all searches which
4610 are not bound to permanent @code{nnmairix} groups. Choose whatever you
4614 If the mail back end is @code{nnimap} or @code{nnmaildir}, you will be
4615 asked if you work with @strong{Maildir++}, i.e. with hidden maildir
4616 folders (=beginning with a dot). For example, you have to answer
4617 @samp{yes} here if you work with the Dovecot @acronym{IMAP}
4618 server. Otherwise, you should answer @samp{no} here.
4622 @node nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4623 @subsubsection nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4630 @kindex G b c (Group)
4631 @findex nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group
4632 Creates @code{nnmairix} server and default search group for this server
4633 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). You should have done
4634 this by now (@pxref{Configuring nnmairix}).
4637 @kindex G b s (Group)
4638 @findex nnmairix-search
4639 Prompts for query which is then sent to the mairix binary. Search
4640 results are put into the default search group which is automatically
4641 displayed (@code{nnmairix-search}).
4644 @kindex G b m (Group)
4645 @findex nnmairix-widget-search
4646 Allows you to create a mairix search or a permanent group more
4647 comfortably using graphical widgets, similar to a customization
4648 group. Just try it to see how it works (@code{nnmairix-widget-search}).
4651 @kindex G b i (Group)
4652 @findex nnmairix-search-interactive
4653 Another command for creating a mairix query more comfortably, but uses
4654 only the minibuffer (@code{nnmairix-search-interactive}).
4657 @kindex G b g (Group)
4658 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group
4659 Creates a permanent group which is associated with a search query
4660 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group}). The @code{nnmairix} back end
4661 automatically calls mairix when you update this group with @kbd{g} or
4665 @kindex G b q (Group)
4666 @findex nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group
4667 Changes the search query for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor
4668 (@code{nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group}).
4671 @kindex G b t (Group)
4672 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group
4673 Toggles the 'threads' parameter for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor,
4674 i.e. if you want see the whole threads of the found messages
4675 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group}).
4678 @kindex G b u (Group)
4679 @findex nnmairix-update-database
4680 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-update-options
4681 Calls mairix binary for updating the database
4682 (@code{nnmairix-update-database}). The default parameters are @code{-F}
4683 and @code{-Q} for making this as fast as possible (see variable
4684 @code{nnmairix-mairix-update-options} for defining these default
4688 @kindex G b r (Group)
4689 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group
4690 Keep articles in this @code{nnmairix} group always read or unread, or leave the
4691 marks unchanged (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group}).
4694 @kindex G b d (Group)
4695 @findex nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group
4696 Recreate @code{nnmairix} group on the ``real'' mail back end
4697 (@code{nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group}). You can do this if
4698 you always get wrong article counts with a @code{nnmairix} group.
4701 @kindex G b a (Group)
4702 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group
4703 Toggles the @code{allow-fast} parameters for group under cursor
4704 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group}). The default
4705 behavior of @code{nnmairix} is to do a mairix search every time you
4706 update or enter the group. With the @code{allow-fast} parameter set,
4707 mairix will only be called when you explicitly update the group, but not
4708 upon entering. This makes entering the group faster, but it may also
4709 lead to dangling symlinks if something changed between updating and
4710 entering the group which is not yet in the mairix database.
4713 @kindex G b p (Group)
4714 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group
4715 Toggle marks propagation for this group
4716 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group}). (@pxref{Propagating
4720 @kindex G b o (Group)
4721 @findex nnmairix-propagate-marks
4722 Manually propagate marks (@code{nnmairix-propagate-marks}); needed only when
4723 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} is set to @code{nil}.
4732 @kindex $ m (Summary)
4733 @findex nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article
4734 Allows you to create a mairix query or group based on the current
4735 message using graphical widgets (same as @code{nnmairix-widget-search})
4736 (@code{nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article}).
4739 @kindex $ g (Summary)
4740 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message
4741 Interactively creates a new search group with query based on the current
4742 message, but uses the minibuffer instead of graphical widgets
4743 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message}).
4746 @kindex $ t (Summary)
4747 @findex nnmairix-search-thread-this-article
4748 Searches thread for the current article
4749 (@code{nnmairix-search-thread-this-article}). This is effectively a
4750 shortcut for calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{m:msgid} of the
4751 current article and enabled threads.
4754 @kindex $ f (Summary)
4755 @findex nnmairix-search-from-this-article
4756 Searches all messages from sender of the current article
4757 (@code{nnmairix-search-from-this-article}). This is a shortcut for
4758 calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{f:From}.
4761 @kindex $ o (Summary)
4762 @findex nnmairix-goto-original-article
4763 (Only in @code{nnmairix} groups!) Tries determine the group this article
4764 originally came from and displays the article in this group, so that
4765 e.g. replying to this article the correct posting styles/group
4766 parameters are applied (@code{nnmairix-goto-original-article}). This
4767 function will use the registry if available, but can also parse the
4768 article file name as a fallback method.
4771 @kindex $ u (Summary)
4772 @findex nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article
4773 Remove possibly existing tick mark from original article
4774 (@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article}). (@pxref{nnmairix
4779 @node Propagating marks
4780 @subsubsection Propagating marks
4782 First of: you really need a patched mairix binary for using the marks
4783 propagation feature efficiently. Otherwise, you would have to update
4784 the mairix database all the time. You can get the patch at
4786 @uref{http://www.randomsample.de/mairix-maildir-patch.tar}
4788 You need the mairix v0.21 source code for this patch; everything else
4789 is explained in the accompanied readme file. If you don't want to use
4790 marks propagation, you don't have to apply these patches, but they also
4791 fix some annoyances regarding changing maildir flags, so it might still
4794 With the patched mairix binary, you can use @code{nnmairix} as an
4795 alternative to mail splitting (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}). For
4796 example, instead of splitting all mails from @samp{david@@foobar.com}
4797 into a group, you can simply create a search group with the query
4798 @samp{f:david@@foobar.com}. This is actually what ``smart folders'' are
4799 all about: simply put everything in one mail folder and dynamically
4800 create searches instead of splitting. This is more flexible, since you
4801 can dynamically change your folders any time you want to. This also
4802 implies that you will usually read your mails in the @code{nnmairix}
4803 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
4805 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
4806 @samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
4807 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
4808 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
4809 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
4810 marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
4811 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
4813 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
4814 tedious and error prone, since you may overlook mails you don't have
4815 created @code{nnmairix} groups for. Of course, you could first use
4816 @code{nnmairix-goto-original-article} (@pxref{nnmairix keyboard
4817 shortcuts}) and then read the mail in the original group, but that's
4818 even more cumbersome.
4820 Clearly, the easiest way would be if marks could somehow be
4821 automatically set for the original article. This is exactly what
4822 @emph{marks propagation} is about.
4824 Marks propagation is deactivated by default. You can activate it for a
4825 certain @code{nnmairix} group with
4826 @code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group} (bound to @kbd{G b
4827 p}). This function will warn you if you try to use it with your default
4828 search group; the reason is that the default search group is used for
4829 temporary searches, and it's easy to accidentally propagate marks from
4830 this group. However, you can ignore this warning if you really want to.
4832 With marks propagation enabled, all the marks you set in a @code{nnmairix}
4833 group should now be propagated to the original article. For example,
4834 you can now tick an article (by default with @kbd{!}) and this mark should
4835 magically be set for the original article, too.
4837 A few more remarks which you may or may not want to know:
4839 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close
4840 Marks will not be set immediately, but only upon closing a group. This
4841 not only makes marks propagation faster, it also avoids problems with
4842 dangling symlinks when dealing with maildir files (since changing flags
4843 will change the file name). You can also control when to propagate marks
4844 via @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} (see the doc-string for
4847 Obviously, @code{nnmairix} will have to look up the original group for every
4848 article you want to set marks for. If available, @code{nnmairix} will first use
4849 the registry for determining the original group. The registry is very
4850 fast, hence you should really, really enable the registry when using
4851 marks propagation. If you don't have to worry about RAM and disc space,
4852 set @code{gnus-registry-max-entries} to a large enough value; to be on
4853 the safe side, choose roughly the amount of mails you index with mairix.
4855 @vindex nnmairix-only-use-registry
4856 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
4857 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix
4858 search for determining the file name of the article. This, of course, is
4859 way slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
4860 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation by
4861 setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to t.
4863 Maybe you also want to propagate marks the other way round, i.e. if you
4864 tick an article in a "real" mail group, you'd like to have the same
4865 article in a @code{nnmairix} group ticked, too. For several good
4866 reasons, this can only be done efficiently if you use maildir. To
4867 immediately contradict myself, let me mention that it WON'T work with
4868 @code{nnmaildir}, since @code{nnmaildir} stores the marks externally and
4869 not in the file name. Therefore, propagating marks to @code{nnmairix}
4870 groups will usually only work if you use an IMAP server which uses
4871 maildir as its file format.
4873 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups
4874 If you work with this setup, just set
4875 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t} and see what
4876 happens. If you don't like what you see, just set it to @code{nil} again. One
4877 problem might be that you get a wrong number of unread articles; this
4878 usually happens when you delete or expire articles in the original
4879 groups. When this happens, you can recreate the @code{nnmairix} group on the
4880 back end using @kbd{G b d}.
4882 @node nnmairix tips and tricks
4883 @subsubsection nnmairix tips and tricks
4889 @findex nnmairix-update-groups
4890 I put all my important mail groups at group level 1. The mairix groups
4891 have group level 5, so they do not get checked at start up (@pxref{Group
4894 I use the following to check for mails:
4897 (defun my-check-mail-mairix-update (level)
4899 ;; if no prefix given, set level=1
4900 (gnus-group-get-new-news (or level 1))
4901 (nnmairix-update-groups "mairixsearch" t t)
4902 (gnus-group-list-groups))
4904 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map "g" 'my-check-mail-mairix-update)
4907 Instead of @samp{"mairixsearch"} use the name of your @code{nnmairix}
4908 server. See the doc string for @code{nnmairix-update-groups} for
4912 Example: search group for ticked articles
4914 For example, you can create a group for all ticked articles, where the
4915 articles always stay unread:
4917 Hit @kbd{G b g}, enter group name (e.g. @samp{important}), use
4918 @samp{F:f} as query and do not include threads.
4920 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
4921 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
4923 So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
4924 group? There are two options: You may simply use
4925 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
4926 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
4927 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t}, but see the above
4928 comments about this option. If it works for you, the tick marks should
4929 also exist in the @code{nnmairix} group and you can remove them as usual,
4930 e.g. by marking an article as read.
4932 When you have removed a tick mark from the original article, this
4933 article should vanish from the @code{nnmairix} group after you have updated the
4934 mairix database and updated the group. Fortunately, there is a function
4935 for doing exactly that: @code{nnmairix-update-groups}. See the previous code
4936 snippet and the doc string for details.
4939 Dealing with auto-subscription of mail groups
4941 As described before, all @code{nnmairix} groups are in fact stored on
4942 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
4943 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
4944 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
4945 usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
4946 @code{nnml}, i.e. you will suddenly see groups of the form
4947 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
4948 simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
4949 auto-subscription completely by setting the variable
4950 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups} to @code{nil} (@pxref{Filtering New
4951 Groups}), or if you like to keep this feature use the following kludge
4952 for turning it off for all groups beginning with @samp{zz_}:
4955 (setq gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
4956 "^\\(nnml\\|nnfolder\\|nnmbox\\|nnmh\\|nnbabyl\\|nnmaildir\\).*:\\([^z]\\|z$\\|\\z[^z]\\|zz$\\|zz[^_]\\|zz_$\\).*")
4961 @node nnmairix caveats
4962 @subsubsection nnmairix caveats
4966 You can create a secondary @code{nnml} server just for nnmairix, but then
4967 you have to explicitly set the corresponding server variable
4968 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}. Otherwise, new mail might get
4969 put into this secondary server (and would never show up again). Here's
4970 an example server definition:
4973 (nnml "mairix" (nnml-directory "mairix") (nnml-get-new-mail nil))
4976 (The @code{nnmaildir} back end also has a server variabe
4977 @code{get-new-mail}, but its default value is @code{nil}, so you don't
4978 have to explicitly set it if you use a @code{nnmaildir} server just for
4982 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
4983 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
4984 @code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}). Be @emph{extra careful} if
4985 you use @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are
4986 split into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as
4987 you check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
4990 Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
4991 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
4994 If you use the Gnus agent (@pxref{Gnus Unplugged}): don't agentize
4995 @code{nnmairix} groups (though I have no idea what happens if you do).
4998 mairix does only support us-ascii characters.
5001 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
5002 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
5003 called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
5004 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
5005 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
5006 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
5010 All necessary information is stored in the group parameters
5011 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). This has the advantage that no active file
5012 is needed, but also implies that when you kill a @code{nnmairix} group,
5013 it is gone for good.
5016 @findex nnmairix-purge-old-groups
5017 If you create and kill a lot of @code{nnmairix} groups, the
5018 ``zz_mairix-*'' groups will accumulate on the mail back end server. To
5019 delete old groups which are no longer needed, call
5020 @code{nnmairix-purge-old-groups}. Note that this assumes that you don't
5021 save any ``real'' mail in folders of the form
5022 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can change the prefix of
5023 @code{nnmairix} groups by changing the variable
5024 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
5027 The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
5028 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
5030 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
5031 comes with the fact that maildir stores mail flags like @samp{Seen} or
5032 @samp{Replied} by appending chars @samp{S} and @samp{R} to the message
5033 file name, respectively. This implies that currently you would have to
5034 update the mairix database not only when new mail arrives, but also when
5035 mail flags are changing. The same applies to new mails which are indexed
5036 while they are still in the @samp{new} folder but then get moved to
5037 @samp{cur} when Gnus has seen the mail. If you don't update the database
5038 after this has happened, a mairix query can lead to symlinks pointing to
5039 non-existing files. In Gnus, these messages will usually appear with
5040 ``(none)'' entries in the header and can't be accessed. If this happens
5041 to you, using @kbd{G b u} and updating the group will usually fix this.
5045 @node Misc Group Stuff
5046 @section Misc Group Stuff
5049 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
5050 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
5051 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
5052 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
5053 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
5060 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Group)
5061 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5062 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5065 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "v j d")
5068 (gnus-group-jump-to-group "nndraft:drafts")))
5071 On keys reserved for users in Emacs and on keybindings in general
5072 @xref{Keymaps, Keymaps, , emacs, The Emacs Editor}.
5076 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
5077 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
5078 @xref{Server Buffer}.
5082 @findex gnus-group-post-news
5083 Start composing a message (a news by default)
5084 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
5085 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5086 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
5087 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
5088 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5092 @findex gnus-group-mail
5093 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
5094 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
5095 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5096 @xref{Composing Messages}.
5100 @findex gnus-group-news
5101 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
5102 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
5103 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5105 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5106 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5107 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5108 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5109 for this to work though.
5113 @findex gnus-group-compact-group
5115 Compact the group under point (@code{gnus-group-compact-group}).
5116 Currently implemented only in nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes
5117 gaps between article numbers, hence getting a correct total article
5122 Variables for the group buffer:
5126 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
5127 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
5128 is called after the group buffer has been
5131 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
5132 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5133 is called after the group buffer is
5134 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
5137 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
5138 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5139 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
5140 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
5142 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5143 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5144 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
5145 whether they are empty or not.
5149 @node Scanning New Messages
5150 @subsection Scanning New Messages
5151 @cindex new messages
5152 @cindex scanning new news
5158 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
5159 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
5160 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
5161 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
5162 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
5163 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
5168 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
5169 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
5170 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
5171 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
5172 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
5173 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
5174 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
5176 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
5177 @cindex activating groups
5179 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
5180 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
5185 @findex gnus-group-restart
5186 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
5187 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
5188 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
5192 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
5193 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
5195 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
5196 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
5200 @node Group Information
5201 @subsection Group Information
5202 @cindex group information
5203 @cindex information on groups
5210 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
5211 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5214 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
5215 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
5216 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
5217 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5218 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5219 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
5220 used for fetching the file.
5222 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
5223 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
5227 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
5228 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
5230 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
5231 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
5234 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
5235 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
5236 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
5240 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
5241 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
5242 @cindex control message
5243 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
5244 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
5245 group if given a prefix argument.
5247 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
5248 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
5249 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
5250 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
5252 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
5253 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
5254 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
5258 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
5260 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
5261 @cindex describing groups
5262 @cindex group description
5263 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
5264 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
5265 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
5269 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
5270 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
5271 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
5278 @findex gnus-version
5279 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
5283 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
5284 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
5287 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
5290 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5291 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5295 @node Group Timestamp
5296 @subsection Group Timestamp
5298 @cindex group timestamps
5300 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
5301 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
5302 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
5305 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
5308 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
5310 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
5311 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
5314 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5315 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
5318 This will result in lines looking like:
5321 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
5322 0: custom 19961002T012713
5325 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
5326 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
5330 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5331 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
5334 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
5335 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
5339 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5340 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
5341 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
5342 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
5344 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
5350 @subsection File Commands
5351 @cindex file commands
5357 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
5358 @vindex gnus-init-file
5359 @cindex reading init file
5360 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
5361 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
5365 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
5366 @cindex saving .newsrc
5367 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
5368 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
5369 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
5372 @c @kindex Z (Group)
5373 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
5374 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
5379 @node Sieve Commands
5380 @subsection Sieve Commands
5381 @cindex group sieve commands
5383 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
5384 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
5385 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
5386 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
5387 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
5389 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5390 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
5391 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
5392 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
5393 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
5394 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
5395 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
5396 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
5397 regenerate the Sieve script.
5399 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
5400 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
5401 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
5402 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
5403 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
5404 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
5405 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
5406 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
5407 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
5408 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
5411 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
5412 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
5417 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
5423 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
5424 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5425 @cindex generating sieve script
5426 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
5427 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
5431 @findex gnus-sieve-update
5432 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5433 @cindex updating sieve script
5434 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
5435 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
5436 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
5441 @node Summary Buffer
5442 @chapter Summary Buffer
5443 @cindex summary buffer
5445 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
5446 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
5448 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
5449 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
5451 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
5453 You can customize the Summary Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
5454 customize-apropos RET gnus-summary-tool-bar}. This feature is only
5458 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Summary)
5459 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5460 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5462 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map (kbd "v -") "LrS") ;; lower subthread
5466 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
5467 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
5468 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
5469 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
5470 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
5471 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
5472 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
5473 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
5474 * Threading:: How threads are made.
5475 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
5476 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
5477 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
5478 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
5479 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
5480 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
5481 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
5482 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
5483 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
5484 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
5485 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
5486 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
5487 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
5488 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
5489 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
5490 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
5491 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
5492 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
5493 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
5494 or reselecting the current group.
5495 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
5496 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
5497 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
5498 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
5502 @node Summary Buffer Format
5503 @section Summary Buffer Format
5504 @cindex summary buffer format
5508 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
5509 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
5510 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
5516 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
5517 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
5518 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
5519 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
5522 @findex mail-extract-address-components
5523 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
5524 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
5525 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
5526 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
5527 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
5528 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
5529 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
5530 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
5531 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
5532 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
5535 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
5536 'mail-extract-address-components)
5539 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
5540 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
5541 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
5542 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
5545 @node Summary Buffer Lines
5546 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
5548 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5549 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
5550 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
5551 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
5552 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
5554 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
5555 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
5556 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
5557 possible to change this. Just write a new function
5558 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
5559 @xref{Positioning Point}.
5561 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
5563 The following format specification characters and extended format
5564 specification(s) are understood:
5570 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
5571 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
5573 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
5574 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
5575 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
5577 Full @code{From} header.
5579 The name (from the @code{From} header).
5581 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
5584 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
5585 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
5586 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
5587 may be more thorough.
5589 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
5592 Number of lines in the article.
5594 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
5595 in some methods (like nnfolder).
5597 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
5598 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
5600 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5602 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
5603 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
5616 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
5617 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
5618 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
5619 line-drawing glyphs.
5621 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5622 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5623 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
5624 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5626 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5627 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5628 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
5629 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5631 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5632 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5633 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
5634 instead. The default is @samp{}.
5636 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5637 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5638 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
5640 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5641 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5642 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
5644 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5645 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5646 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
5648 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5649 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5650 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
5655 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
5656 pushes everything after it off the screen).
5658 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
5659 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5661 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
5662 for adopted articles.
5664 One space for each thread level.
5666 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
5668 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
5671 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
5672 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
5673 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
5676 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
5678 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
5679 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
5680 default level. If the difference between
5681 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
5682 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
5690 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
5692 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
5698 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
5699 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
5701 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
5702 article has any children.
5708 Desired cursor position (instead of after first colon).
5710 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
5711 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
5713 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
5714 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
5715 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
5716 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
5717 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
5718 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
5721 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
5722 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
5723 There can only be one such area.
5725 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
5726 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
5727 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
5728 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
5729 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
5730 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
5732 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
5733 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
5735 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
5738 @node To From Newsgroups
5739 @subsection To From Newsgroups
5743 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
5744 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
5745 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
5746 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
5747 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
5751 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
5752 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
5753 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
5757 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5758 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
5761 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
5762 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
5765 @findex gnus-extra-header
5766 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
5767 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
5768 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
5771 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
5775 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5776 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
5777 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
5778 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
5779 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
5780 headers are used instead.
5782 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
5783 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
5784 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
5785 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
5786 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
5787 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
5791 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
5792 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
5793 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
5794 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
5795 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
5796 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
5799 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5800 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
5801 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
5802 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
5804 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
5808 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5810 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
5811 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
5812 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
5813 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5817 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
5820 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
5821 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
5824 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
5825 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
5826 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
5832 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
5833 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
5836 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
5837 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
5839 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
5840 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
5841 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
5842 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
5844 Here are the elements you can play with:
5850 Unprefixed group name.
5852 Current article number.
5854 Current article score.
5858 Number of unread articles in this group.
5860 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
5863 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
5864 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
5865 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
5866 and no unselected ones.
5868 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
5869 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
5871 Subject of the current article.
5873 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
5875 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
5877 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5879 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5881 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
5883 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
5887 @node Summary Highlighting
5888 @subsection Summary Highlighting
5892 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5893 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5894 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
5895 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
5896 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5898 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
5899 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
5900 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
5901 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5903 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
5904 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
5905 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
5906 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
5908 @item gnus-summary-highlight
5909 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
5910 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
5911 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
5912 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
5913 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
5916 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
5917 ((> score default) . bold))
5919 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
5920 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
5924 @node Summary Maneuvering
5925 @section Summary Maneuvering
5926 @cindex summary movement
5928 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
5929 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
5931 None of these commands select articles.
5936 @kindex M-n (Summary)
5937 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
5938 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
5939 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
5940 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
5944 @kindex M-p (Summary)
5945 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
5946 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
5947 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
5948 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
5951 @kindex G g (Summary)
5952 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
5953 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
5954 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
5957 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
5958 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
5959 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
5960 to the group buffer.
5962 Variables related to summary movement:
5966 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
5967 @item gnus-auto-select-next
5968 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
5969 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
5970 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
5971 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
5972 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
5973 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
5974 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
5975 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
5976 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
5977 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
5978 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
5979 @pxref{Group Levels}.
5981 @item gnus-auto-select-same
5982 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
5983 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
5984 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
5985 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
5986 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
5987 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5989 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5991 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5992 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5993 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
5994 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
5995 Instead, they will choose the current article.
5997 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
5998 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
5999 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
6000 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
6001 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
6002 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
6003 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
6004 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
6007 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
6008 the given number of lines from the top.
6010 @item gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
6011 @vindex gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
6012 If non-@code{nil}, don't go to the next article when hitting
6013 @kbd{SPC}, and you're at the end of the article.
6018 @node Choosing Articles
6019 @section Choosing Articles
6020 @cindex selecting articles
6023 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
6024 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
6028 @node Choosing Commands
6029 @subsection Choosing Commands
6031 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
6032 and they all select and display an article.
6034 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
6035 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
6039 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6040 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6041 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
6042 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6044 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
6045 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
6046 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
6051 @kindex G n (Summary)
6052 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
6053 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
6054 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
6059 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
6060 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
6061 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
6066 @kindex G N (Summary)
6067 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
6068 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
6073 @kindex G P (Summary)
6074 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
6075 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
6078 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
6079 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
6080 Go to the next article with the same subject
6081 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
6084 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
6085 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
6086 Go to the previous article with the same subject
6087 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
6091 @kindex G f (Summary)
6093 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
6094 Go to the first unread article
6095 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
6099 @kindex G b (Summary)
6101 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
6102 Go to the unread article with the highest score
6103 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
6104 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
6109 @kindex G l (Summary)
6110 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
6111 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
6114 @kindex G o (Summary)
6115 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
6117 @cindex article history
6118 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
6119 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
6120 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
6121 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
6122 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
6123 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
6128 @kindex G j (Summary)
6129 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
6130 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
6131 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
6136 @node Choosing Variables
6137 @subsection Choosing Variables
6139 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
6142 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6143 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6144 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
6145 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
6146 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
6147 the server and display it in the article buffer.
6149 @item gnus-select-article-hook
6150 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
6151 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
6152 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
6153 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
6156 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
6157 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
6158 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
6159 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
6160 @findex gnus-unread-mark
6161 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
6162 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
6163 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
6164 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
6165 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
6166 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
6167 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
6168 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
6169 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
6174 @node Paging the Article
6175 @section Scrolling the Article
6176 @cindex article scrolling
6181 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6182 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6183 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
6184 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
6185 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6187 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
6188 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
6189 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
6190 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
6191 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
6192 what is considered uninteresting with
6193 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
6194 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
6197 @kindex DEL (Summary)
6198 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
6199 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
6202 @kindex RET (Summary)
6203 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
6204 Scroll the current article one line forward
6205 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
6208 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
6209 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
6210 Scroll the current article one line backward
6211 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
6215 @kindex A g (Summary)
6217 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
6218 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6219 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
6220 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
6221 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
6222 the way it came from the server.
6224 @cindex charset, view article with different charset
6225 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
6226 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
6227 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
6230 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6235 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
6240 @kindex A < (Summary)
6241 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
6242 Scroll to the beginning of the article
6243 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
6248 @kindex A > (Summary)
6249 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
6250 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
6254 @kindex A s (Summary)
6256 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
6257 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
6258 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
6262 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
6263 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
6268 @node Reply Followup and Post
6269 @section Reply, Followup and Post
6272 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
6273 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
6274 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
6275 * Canceling and Superseding::
6279 @node Summary Mail Commands
6280 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
6282 @cindex composing mail
6284 Commands for composing a mail message:
6290 @kindex S r (Summary)
6292 @findex gnus-summary-reply
6293 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
6294 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
6295 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
6296 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
6301 @kindex S R (Summary)
6302 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
6303 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
6304 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6305 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
6306 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6309 @kindex S w (Summary)
6310 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
6311 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
6312 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
6313 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6314 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
6315 present, that's used instead.
6318 @kindex S W (Summary)
6319 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
6320 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
6321 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
6322 the process/prefix convention, but only uses the headers from the
6323 first article to determine the recipients.
6326 @kindex S v (Summary)
6327 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
6328 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
6329 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
6330 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6331 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
6332 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
6335 @kindex S V (Summary)
6336 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
6337 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
6338 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
6339 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6342 @kindex S B r (Summary)
6343 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
6344 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
6345 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
6346 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
6347 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
6348 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
6349 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
6352 @kindex S B R (Summary)
6353 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
6354 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6355 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
6356 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
6360 @kindex S o m (Summary)
6361 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
6362 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
6363 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
6364 Forward the current article to some other person
6365 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
6366 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
6367 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6368 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6369 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6370 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6371 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6372 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6373 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
6379 @kindex S m (Summary)
6380 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
6381 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
6382 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
6383 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6384 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
6387 @kindex S i (Summary)
6388 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
6389 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
6390 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
6391 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
6393 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
6394 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
6395 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
6396 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
6397 for this to work though.
6400 @kindex S D b (Summary)
6401 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
6402 @cindex bouncing mail
6403 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
6404 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
6405 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
6406 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
6407 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
6408 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
6409 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
6410 very well fail, though.
6413 @kindex S D r (Summary)
6414 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
6415 Not to be confused with the previous command,
6416 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
6417 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
6418 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
6419 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
6420 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
6421 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
6422 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
6424 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
6425 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
6426 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
6427 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
6428 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
6430 This command understands the process/prefix convention
6431 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6434 @kindex S D e (Summary)
6435 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
6437 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
6438 if it were a new message before resending.
6441 @kindex S O m (Summary)
6442 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
6443 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
6444 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
6445 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6448 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
6449 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
6450 @cindex crossposting
6451 @cindex excessive crossposting
6452 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
6453 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
6455 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
6456 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
6457 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
6458 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
6459 command understands the process/prefix convention
6460 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
6464 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6465 Manual}, for more information.
6468 @node Summary Post Commands
6469 @subsection Summary Post Commands
6471 @cindex composing news
6473 Commands for posting a news article:
6479 @kindex S p (Summary)
6480 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
6481 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
6482 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
6483 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6484 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
6489 @kindex S f (Summary)
6490 @findex gnus-summary-followup
6491 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
6492 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
6496 @kindex S F (Summary)
6498 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
6499 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
6500 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
6501 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
6502 process/prefix convention.
6505 @kindex S n (Summary)
6506 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
6507 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6508 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
6511 @kindex S N (Summary)
6512 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
6513 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6514 message through mail and include the original message
6515 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
6516 the process/prefix convention.
6519 @kindex S o p (Summary)
6520 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
6521 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
6522 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
6523 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
6524 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
6525 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6526 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6527 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6528 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6529 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6530 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6531 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
6534 @kindex S O p (Summary)
6535 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
6537 @cindex making digests
6538 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
6539 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
6540 process/prefix convention.
6543 @kindex S u (Summary)
6544 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
6545 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
6546 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
6547 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
6550 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6551 Manual}, for more information.
6554 @node Summary Message Commands
6555 @subsection Summary Message Commands
6559 @kindex S y (Summary)
6560 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
6561 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
6562 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
6563 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
6564 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6569 @node Canceling and Superseding
6570 @subsection Canceling Articles
6571 @cindex canceling articles
6572 @cindex superseding articles
6574 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
6575 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
6577 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
6579 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
6581 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
6582 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
6583 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
6584 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
6585 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
6586 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6588 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
6589 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
6592 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
6593 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
6594 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
6596 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
6597 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
6598 message, Message Manual}).
6600 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
6601 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
6602 your original article.
6604 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
6606 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
6607 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
6608 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
6611 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
6612 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
6613 have posted almost the same article twice.
6615 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
6616 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
6617 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
6618 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
6619 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
6620 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
6621 header by substituting one of those words for the word
6622 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
6623 you would do normally. The previous article will be
6624 canceled/superseded.
6626 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
6628 @node Delayed Articles
6629 @section Delayed Articles
6630 @cindex delayed sending
6631 @cindex send delayed
6633 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
6634 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
6635 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
6636 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
6639 (gnus-delay-initialize)
6642 @findex gnus-delay-article
6643 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
6644 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
6645 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
6646 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
6650 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
6651 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
6652 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
6653 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
6656 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
6657 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
6658 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
6661 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
6662 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
6663 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
6664 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
6665 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
6666 that means a time tomorrow.
6669 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
6670 couple of variables:
6673 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
6674 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
6675 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
6676 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
6678 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
6679 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
6680 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
6681 formats described above.
6683 @item gnus-delay-group
6684 @vindex gnus-delay-group
6685 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
6686 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
6687 value is @code{"delayed"}.
6689 @item gnus-delay-header
6690 @vindex gnus-delay-header
6691 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
6692 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
6693 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
6696 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
6697 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
6698 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
6699 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
6700 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
6702 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
6703 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
6704 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
6705 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
6706 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
6707 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
6708 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
6711 @item gnus-delay-initialize
6712 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
6713 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
6714 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
6715 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
6716 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
6717 argument is ignored.
6719 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
6720 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
6721 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
6724 When delaying an article with @kbd{C-c C-j}, Message mode will
6725 automatically add a @code{"Date"} header with the current time. In
6726 many cases you probably want the @code{"Date"} header to reflect the
6727 time the message is sent instead. To do this, you have to delete
6728 @code{Date} from @code{message-draft-headers}.
6731 @node Marking Articles
6732 @section Marking Articles
6733 @cindex article marking
6734 @cindex article ticking
6737 There are several marks you can set on an article.
6739 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
6740 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
6741 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
6743 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
6746 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
6750 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
6751 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
6752 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
6753 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
6754 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
6755 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
6759 @node Unread Articles
6760 @subsection Unread Articles
6762 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
6767 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
6768 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
6770 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
6771 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
6772 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
6773 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
6774 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
6775 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
6776 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
6779 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
6780 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
6782 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
6783 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
6784 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
6785 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
6789 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
6790 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
6792 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
6797 @subsection Read Articles
6798 @cindex expirable mark
6800 All the following marks mark articles as read.
6805 @vindex gnus-del-mark
6806 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
6807 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
6810 @vindex gnus-read-mark
6811 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
6814 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
6815 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
6816 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
6819 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
6820 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
6823 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
6824 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
6827 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
6828 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
6831 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
6832 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
6835 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
6836 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
6839 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
6840 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
6844 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
6845 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
6846 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6850 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
6851 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
6853 One more special mark, though:
6857 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
6858 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
6860 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
6861 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
6862 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
6863 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
6869 @subsection Other Marks
6870 @cindex process mark
6873 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
6879 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
6880 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
6881 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
6882 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
6883 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
6886 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
6887 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
6888 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
6889 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
6892 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
6893 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
6894 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
6897 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
6898 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
6899 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6902 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
6903 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
6904 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
6905 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
6908 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
6909 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
6910 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
6911 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
6912 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
6913 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
6916 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
6917 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
6918 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
6919 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
6922 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
6923 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
6924 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
6925 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
6926 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
6930 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
6931 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
6932 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
6933 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
6934 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
6935 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
6938 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
6939 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
6940 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
6941 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
6942 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
6943 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
6947 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
6948 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
6949 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
6950 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
6951 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
6954 @vindex gnus-process-mark
6955 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
6956 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
6957 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
6958 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
6959 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
6963 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
6964 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
6965 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
6967 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
6968 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
6969 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
6973 @subsection Setting Marks
6974 @cindex setting marks
6976 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
6981 @kindex M c (Summary)
6982 @kindex M-u (Summary)
6983 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
6984 @cindex mark as unread
6985 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
6986 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
6992 @kindex M t (Summary)
6993 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
6994 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
6995 @xref{Article Caching}.
7000 @kindex M ? (Summary)
7001 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
7002 Mark the current article as dormant
7003 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
7007 @kindex M d (Summary)
7009 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
7010 Mark the current article as read
7011 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
7015 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
7016 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
7017 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
7022 @kindex M k (Summary)
7023 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
7024 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
7025 and then select the next unread article
7026 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
7030 @kindex M K (Summary)
7031 @kindex C-k (Summary)
7032 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
7033 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
7034 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
7037 @kindex M C (Summary)
7038 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
7039 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
7040 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
7043 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
7044 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
7045 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
7046 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
7049 @kindex M H (Summary)
7050 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
7051 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
7052 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
7055 @kindex M h (Summary)
7056 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
7057 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
7058 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
7061 @kindex C-w (Summary)
7062 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
7063 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
7064 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
7067 @kindex M V k (Summary)
7068 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
7069 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
7070 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
7074 @kindex M e (Summary)
7076 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
7077 Mark the current article as expirable
7078 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
7081 @kindex M b (Summary)
7082 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
7083 Set a bookmark in the current article
7084 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
7087 @kindex M B (Summary)
7088 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
7089 Remove the bookmark from the current article
7090 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
7093 @kindex M V c (Summary)
7094 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
7095 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
7096 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7099 @kindex M V u (Summary)
7100 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
7101 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
7102 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
7105 @kindex M V m (Summary)
7106 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
7107 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
7108 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
7109 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7112 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
7113 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
7114 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
7115 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
7116 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
7117 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
7118 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
7119 The default is @code{t}.
7122 @node Generic Marking Commands
7123 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
7125 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
7126 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
7127 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
7128 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
7129 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
7132 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
7133 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
7136 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
7137 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
7138 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
7139 to list in this manual.
7141 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
7142 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
7143 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
7144 article, you could say something like:
7148 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
7149 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7150 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
7158 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7159 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
7163 @node Setting Process Marks
7164 @subsection Setting Process Marks
7165 @cindex setting process marks
7167 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
7168 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
7169 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
7170 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
7171 articles into the cache. For more information,
7172 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
7179 @kindex M P p (Summary)
7180 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
7181 Mark the current article with the process mark
7182 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
7183 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
7187 @kindex M P u (Summary)
7188 @kindex M-# (Summary)
7189 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
7190 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
7193 @kindex M P U (Summary)
7194 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
7195 Remove the process mark from all articles
7196 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
7199 @kindex M P i (Summary)
7200 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
7201 Invert the list of process marked articles
7202 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
7205 @kindex M P R (Summary)
7206 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
7207 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7208 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
7211 @kindex M P G (Summary)
7212 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
7213 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7214 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
7217 @kindex M P r (Summary)
7218 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
7219 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
7222 @kindex M P g (Summary)
7223 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
7224 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
7227 @kindex M P t (Summary)
7228 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7229 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7230 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7233 @kindex M P T (Summary)
7234 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7235 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7236 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7239 @kindex M P v (Summary)
7240 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
7241 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
7242 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
7245 @kindex M P s (Summary)
7246 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
7247 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
7250 @kindex M P S (Summary)
7251 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
7252 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
7253 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
7256 @kindex M P a (Summary)
7257 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
7258 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
7261 @kindex M P b (Summary)
7262 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
7263 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
7264 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
7267 @kindex M P k (Summary)
7268 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
7269 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
7270 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
7273 @kindex M P y (Summary)
7274 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
7275 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
7276 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
7279 @kindex M P w (Summary)
7280 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
7281 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
7282 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
7286 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
7287 set process marks based on article body contents.
7294 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
7295 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
7296 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
7299 Limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched from
7300 the servers. These commands don't query the server for additional
7307 @kindex / / (Summary)
7308 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
7309 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
7310 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
7314 @kindex / a (Summary)
7315 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
7316 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
7317 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
7321 @kindex / R (Summary)
7322 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
7323 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
7324 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
7328 @kindex / A (Summary)
7329 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-address
7330 Limit the summary buffer to articles in which contents of From, To or Cc
7331 header match a given address (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-address}). If
7332 given a prefix, exclude matching articles.
7335 @kindex / S (Summary)
7336 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons
7337 Limit the summary buffer to articles that aren't part of any displayed
7338 threads (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons}). If given a prefix,
7339 limit to articles that are part of displayed threads.
7342 @kindex / x (Summary)
7343 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
7344 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
7345 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
7346 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
7351 @kindex / u (Summary)
7353 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
7354 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
7355 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
7356 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
7357 dormant articles will also be excluded.
7360 @kindex / m (Summary)
7361 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
7362 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
7363 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
7366 @kindex / t (Summary)
7367 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
7368 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
7369 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
7370 articles younger than that number of days.
7373 @kindex / n (Summary)
7374 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
7375 With prefix @samp{n}, limit the summary buffer to the next @samp{n}
7376 articles. If not given a prefix, use the process marked articles
7377 instead. (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}).
7380 @kindex / w (Summary)
7381 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
7382 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
7383 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
7387 @kindex / . (Summary)
7388 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
7389 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
7390 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
7393 @kindex / v (Summary)
7394 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
7395 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
7396 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
7399 @kindex / p (Summary)
7400 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
7401 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
7402 group parameter predicate
7403 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
7404 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
7407 @kindex / r (Summary)
7408 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
7409 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
7410 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
7415 @kindex M S (Summary)
7416 @kindex / E (Summary)
7417 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
7418 Include all expunged articles in the limit
7419 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
7422 @kindex / D (Summary)
7423 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
7424 Include all dormant articles in the limit
7425 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
7428 @kindex / * (Summary)
7429 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
7430 Include all cached articles in the limit
7431 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
7434 @kindex / d (Summary)
7435 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
7436 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
7437 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
7440 @kindex / M (Summary)
7441 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
7442 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
7445 @kindex / T (Summary)
7446 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
7447 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
7450 @kindex / c (Summary)
7451 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
7452 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
7453 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
7456 @kindex / C (Summary)
7457 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
7458 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
7459 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
7460 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
7463 @kindex / b (Summary)
7464 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies
7465 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have bodies that match a
7466 certain regexp (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies}). If given a
7467 prefix, reverse the limit. This command is quite slow since it
7468 requires selecting each article to find the matches.
7471 @kindex / h (Summary)
7472 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-headers
7473 Like the previous command, only limit to headers instead
7474 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-headers}).
7479 The following commands aren't limiting commands, but use the @kbd{/}
7484 @kindex / N (Summary)
7485 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
7486 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
7487 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
7490 @kindex / o (Summary)
7491 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
7492 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
7493 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
7501 @cindex article threading
7503 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
7504 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
7505 hierarchical fashion.
7507 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
7508 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
7509 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
7510 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
7511 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
7512 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
7513 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
7515 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
7519 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
7522 A tree-like article structure.
7525 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
7528 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
7529 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
7530 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
7531 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
7532 called loose threads.
7534 @item thread gathering
7535 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
7537 @item sparse threads
7538 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
7539 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
7545 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
7546 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
7550 @node Customizing Threading
7551 @subsection Customizing Threading
7552 @cindex customizing threading
7555 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
7556 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
7557 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
7558 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
7563 @subsubsection Loose Threads
7566 @cindex loose threads
7569 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
7570 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
7571 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
7572 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
7573 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
7574 read or killed the root in a previous session.
7576 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
7577 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
7578 There are four possible values:
7582 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
7583 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
7584 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
7585 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
7586 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
7591 @cindex adopting articles
7596 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
7597 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
7598 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
7599 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
7602 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
7603 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
7604 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
7605 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
7606 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
7607 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
7608 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
7609 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7610 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
7611 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
7614 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
7615 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
7616 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
7620 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
7621 display them after one another.
7624 Don't gather loose threads.
7627 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7628 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7629 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
7630 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
7631 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
7632 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
7633 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
7634 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
7635 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
7636 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
7637 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
7639 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
7640 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
7641 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
7644 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7645 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7646 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
7647 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
7648 simplification is used.
7650 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7651 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7652 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
7653 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
7655 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
7657 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7663 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
7664 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
7665 "answer" "reference" "announce"
7666 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
7671 (mapconcat 'identity
7672 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
7674 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
7677 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
7680 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7681 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7682 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
7683 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
7684 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
7685 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
7687 Useful functions to put in this list include:
7690 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
7691 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
7692 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
7694 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7695 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7698 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
7699 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
7700 Remove excessive whitespace.
7702 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7703 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7704 Remove all whitespace.
7707 You may also write your own functions, of course.
7710 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7711 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7712 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
7713 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
7714 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
7715 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
7716 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
7717 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
7719 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7720 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7721 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
7722 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
7723 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
7724 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
7725 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
7726 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
7727 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
7731 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7732 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7733 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
7734 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
7736 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7737 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7738 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
7741 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
7745 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7746 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
7752 @node Filling In Threads
7753 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
7756 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
7757 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
7758 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
7759 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
7760 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
7761 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
7762 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
7763 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
7764 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
7765 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
7766 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
7767 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
7770 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
7771 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
7772 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
7774 The server has to support @acronym{NOV} for any of this to work.
7776 @cindex Gmane, gnus-fetch-old-headers
7777 This feature can seriously impact performance it ignores all locally
7778 cached header entries. Setting it to @code{t} for groups for a server
7779 that doesn't expire articles (such as news.gmane.org), leads to very
7780 slow summary generation.
7782 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7783 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7784 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
7787 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
7788 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
7789 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
7790 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
7791 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
7792 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
7793 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
7794 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
7795 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
7796 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
7797 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
7798 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
7799 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
7800 @code{nil} by default.
7802 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
7803 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
7804 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
7805 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
7806 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
7807 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
7810 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
7811 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
7812 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
7817 @node More Threading
7818 @subsubsection More Threading
7821 @item gnus-show-threads
7822 @vindex gnus-show-threads
7823 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
7824 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
7825 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
7826 slower and more awkward.
7828 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7829 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7830 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
7833 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
7834 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
7835 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
7840 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7841 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
7842 gnus-article-unseen-p))
7845 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
7846 unread, but you get my drift.)
7849 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
7850 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
7851 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
7852 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
7853 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
7854 threads are expunged.
7856 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
7857 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
7858 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
7861 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7862 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7863 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
7864 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
7865 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
7866 result in a new thread.
7868 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
7869 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
7870 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
7873 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7874 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7875 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
7876 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
7877 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
7878 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
7879 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
7880 Setting this variable to an alternate value
7881 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
7882 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
7883 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
7888 @node Low-Level Threading
7889 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
7893 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
7894 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
7895 Hook run before parsing any headers.
7897 @item gnus-alter-header-function
7898 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
7899 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
7900 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
7901 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
7902 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
7903 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
7904 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
7905 meaningful. Here's one example:
7908 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
7910 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
7911 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
7913 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
7915 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
7922 @node Thread Commands
7923 @subsection Thread Commands
7924 @cindex thread commands
7930 @kindex T k (Summary)
7931 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
7932 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
7933 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
7934 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
7935 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
7940 @kindex T l (Summary)
7941 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
7942 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
7943 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
7944 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
7947 @kindex T i (Summary)
7948 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
7949 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
7950 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
7953 @kindex T # (Summary)
7954 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7955 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
7956 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7959 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
7960 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7961 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
7962 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7965 @kindex T T (Summary)
7966 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
7967 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
7970 @kindex T s (Summary)
7971 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
7972 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
7973 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
7976 @kindex T h (Summary)
7977 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
7978 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
7981 @kindex T S (Summary)
7982 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
7983 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
7986 @kindex T H (Summary)
7987 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
7988 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
7991 @kindex T t (Summary)
7992 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
7993 Re-thread the current article's thread
7994 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
7995 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
7998 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
7999 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
8000 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
8001 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
8004 @kindex T M-^ (Summary)
8005 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-children
8006 Make the current article the parent of the marked articles
8007 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-children}).
8011 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
8012 understand the numeric prefix.
8017 @kindex T n (Summary)
8019 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
8021 @kindex M-down (Summary)
8022 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
8023 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
8026 @kindex T p (Summary)
8028 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
8030 @kindex M-up (Summary)
8031 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
8032 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
8035 @kindex T d (Summary)
8036 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
8037 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
8040 @kindex T u (Summary)
8041 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
8042 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
8045 @kindex T o (Summary)
8046 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
8047 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
8050 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
8051 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
8052 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
8053 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
8054 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
8055 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
8056 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
8057 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
8058 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
8059 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
8060 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
8061 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
8065 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
8066 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
8068 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
8069 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
8070 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
8071 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8072 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
8073 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
8074 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8075 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
8076 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
8077 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
8078 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
8079 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
8080 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
8081 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
8082 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
8084 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
8085 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
8086 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
8087 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
8088 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date},
8089 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
8090 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
8091 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
8092 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
8093 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
8095 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
8096 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
8097 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
8099 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
8100 last function in the list. You should probably always include
8101 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
8102 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
8103 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
8104 ascending article order.
8106 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
8107 by number, you could do something like:
8110 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8111 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8112 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8113 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
8116 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
8117 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
8118 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
8119 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
8120 which the articles arrived.
8122 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
8126 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8127 '((not gnus-thread-sort-by-number)
8128 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
8131 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
8132 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
8133 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
8134 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
8137 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
8138 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
8139 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-date
8140 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
8141 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
8142 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
8143 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
8144 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
8145 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-number
8146 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
8147 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
8148 variable. It is very similar to the
8149 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
8150 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
8151 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
8152 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
8153 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
8154 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
8155 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
8157 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
8161 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
8162 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
8163 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
8166 You can define group specific sorting via @code{gnus-parameters},
8167 @xref{Group Parameters}.
8170 @node Asynchronous Fetching
8171 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
8172 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
8173 @cindex article pre-fetch
8176 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
8177 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
8178 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
8179 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
8180 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
8182 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
8183 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
8185 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
8186 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
8187 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
8188 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
8189 connection is blocked.
8191 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
8192 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
8193 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
8194 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
8196 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
8197 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
8198 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
8199 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
8202 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
8205 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
8206 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
8207 happen automatically.
8209 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
8210 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
8211 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
8212 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
8213 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
8214 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
8215 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
8217 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
8218 @findex gnus-async-unread-p
8219 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
8220 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
8221 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
8222 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
8223 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-unread-p}, which
8224 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
8225 article data structure as the only parameter.
8227 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
8228 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
8231 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
8232 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
8233 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
8234 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
8237 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
8240 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
8241 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
8242 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
8244 @vindex gnus-async-post-fetch-function
8245 @findex gnus-html-prefetch-images
8246 After an article has been prefetched, this
8247 @code{gnus-async-post-fetch-function} will be called. The buffer will
8248 be narrowed to the region of the article that was fetched. A useful
8249 value would be @code{gnus-html-prefetch-images}, which will prefetch
8250 and store images referenced in the article, so that you don't have to
8251 wait for them to be fetched when you read the article. This is useful
8252 for @acronym{HTML} messages that have external images.
8254 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
8255 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
8256 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
8257 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
8261 Remove articles when they are read.
8264 Remove articles when exiting the group.
8267 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
8269 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
8270 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
8271 @c from the next group.
8274 @node Article Caching
8275 @section Article Caching
8276 @cindex article caching
8279 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
8280 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
8281 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
8282 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
8283 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
8285 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
8287 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8288 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
8289 @vindex gnus-use-cache
8290 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
8291 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
8292 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
8293 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
8294 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
8296 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
8297 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
8298 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
8299 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
8300 as dormant, and don't worry.
8302 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
8304 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
8305 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
8306 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
8307 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
8308 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
8309 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
8310 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
8311 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
8312 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
8313 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
8315 @findex gnus-jog-cache
8316 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
8317 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
8318 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
8319 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
8320 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
8321 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
8322 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
8323 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
8324 not then be downloaded by this command.
8326 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
8327 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
8328 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
8329 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
8330 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
8331 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
8333 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
8334 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
8335 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
8336 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
8337 variables, the group is not cached.
8339 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
8340 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
8341 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
8342 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
8343 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
8344 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
8345 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
8346 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
8347 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
8350 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
8351 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
8352 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
8353 where, isn't that cool?
8355 @node Persistent Articles
8356 @section Persistent Articles
8357 @cindex persistent articles
8359 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
8360 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
8361 useful in my opinion.
8363 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
8364 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
8365 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
8366 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
8367 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
8368 the expiry going on at the news server.
8370 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
8371 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
8372 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
8378 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
8379 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
8382 @kindex M-* (Summary)
8383 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
8384 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
8385 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
8389 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
8391 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
8392 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
8393 interested in persistent articles:
8396 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
8399 @node Sticky Articles
8400 @section Sticky Articles
8401 @cindex sticky articles
8403 When you select an article the current article buffer will be reused
8404 according to the value of the variable
8405 @code{gnus-single-article-buffer}. If its value is non-@code{nil} (the
8406 default) all articles reuse the same article buffer. Else each group
8407 has its own article buffer.
8409 This implies that it's not possible to have more than one article buffer
8410 in a group at a time. But sometimes you might want to display all the
8411 latest emails from your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle and
8412 your 17 cousins to coordinate the next christmas party.
8414 That's where sticky articles come in handy. A sticky article buffer
8415 basically is a normal article buffer, but it won't be reused when you
8416 select another article. You can make an article sticky with:
8420 @kindex A S (Summary)
8421 @findex gnus-sticky-article
8422 Make the current article sticky. If a prefix arg is given, ask for a
8423 name for this sticky article buffer.
8426 To close a sticky article buffer you can use these commands:
8432 Puts this sticky article buffer at the end of the list of all buffers.
8436 @findex gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffer
8437 Kills this sticky article buffer.
8440 To kill all sticky article buffers you can use:
8442 @defun gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffers ARG
8443 Kill all sticky article buffers.
8444 If a prefix ARG is given, ask for confirmation.
8447 @node Article Backlog
8448 @section Article Backlog
8450 @cindex article backlog
8452 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
8453 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
8454 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
8455 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
8456 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
8457 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
8458 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
8459 increase memory usage some.
8461 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
8462 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
8463 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
8464 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
8465 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
8466 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
8467 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
8469 The default value is 20.
8472 @node Saving Articles
8473 @section Saving Articles
8474 @cindex saving articles
8476 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
8477 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
8478 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
8479 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
8480 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
8482 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
8483 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
8484 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8486 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
8487 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
8488 unwanted headers before saving the article.
8490 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
8491 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
8492 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
8493 deleted before saving.
8499 @kindex O o (Summary)
8501 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
8502 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
8503 Save the current article using the default article saver
8504 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
8507 @kindex O m (Summary)
8508 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
8509 Save the current article in a Unix mail box (mbox) file
8510 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
8513 @kindex O r (Summary)
8514 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
8515 Save the current article in Rmail format
8516 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}). This is mbox since Emacs 23,
8517 Babyl in older versions.
8520 @kindex O f (Summary)
8521 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
8522 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
8523 Save the current article in plain file format
8524 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
8527 @kindex O F (Summary)
8528 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
8529 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
8530 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
8533 @kindex O b (Summary)
8534 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
8535 Save the current article body in plain file format
8536 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
8539 @kindex O h (Summary)
8540 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
8541 Save the current article in mh folder format
8542 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
8545 @kindex O v (Summary)
8546 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
8547 Save the current article in a VM folder
8548 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
8552 @kindex O p (Summary)
8554 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
8555 @vindex gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command
8556 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
8557 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
8558 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
8559 complete headers in the piped output. The symbolic prefix @code{r} is
8560 special; it lets this command pipe a raw article including all headers.
8561 The @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} variable can be set
8562 to a string containing the default command and options (default
8566 @kindex O P (Summary)
8567 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
8568 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
8569 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
8570 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
8571 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
8572 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
8573 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
8577 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
8578 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
8579 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
8580 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
8581 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
8582 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
8583 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
8584 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
8585 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
8586 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
8587 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
8588 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
8592 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
8593 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
8594 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the eight ready-made
8595 functions below, or you can create your own.
8599 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8600 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8601 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
8602 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8603 This is the default format, that used by the Rmail package. Since Emacs
8604 23, Rmail uses standard mbox format. Before this, it used the
8605 @dfn{Babyl} format. Accordingly, this command writes mbox format since
8606 Emacs 23, unless appending to an existing Babyl file. In older versions
8607 of Emacs, it always uses Babyl format. Uses the function in the
8608 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8609 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8611 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8612 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8613 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
8614 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
8615 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8616 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8618 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
8619 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
8620 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
8621 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8622 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
8623 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8624 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8626 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
8627 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
8628 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8629 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8630 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8631 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8633 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8634 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8635 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
8636 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8637 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8639 @item gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8640 @findex gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8641 Write the article body straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8642 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8643 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8644 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8646 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8647 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8648 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
8649 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
8650 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
8653 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
8654 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
8655 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
8656 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
8657 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
8659 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8660 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8661 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
8662 reader to use this setting.
8664 @item gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8665 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8666 Pipe the article to a shell command. This function takes optional two
8667 arguments COMMAND and RAW. Valid values for COMMAND include:
8671 The executable command name and possibly arguments.
8673 You will be prompted for the command in the minibuffer.
8674 @item the symbol @code{default}@*
8675 It will be replaced with the command which the variable
8676 @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} holds or the command
8677 last used for saving.
8680 Non-@code{nil} value for RAW overrides @code{:decode} and
8681 @code{:headers} properties (see below) and the raw article including all
8682 headers will be piped.
8685 The symbol of each function may have the following properties:
8689 The value non-@code{nil} means save decoded articles. This is
8690 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-save-in-file},
8691 @code{gnus-summary-save-body-in-file},
8692 @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file},
8693 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}, and
8694 @code{gnus-summary-save-in-pipe}.
8697 The value specifies an alternative function which appends, not
8698 overwrites, articles to a file. This implies that when saving many
8699 articles at a time, @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} is bound to
8700 @code{t} and all articles are saved in a single file. This is
8701 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file} and
8702 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
8705 The value specifies the symbol of a variable of which the value
8706 specifies headers to be saved. If it is omitted,
8707 @code{gnus-save-all-headers} and @code{gnus-saved-headers} control what
8708 headers should be saved.
8711 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
8712 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
8713 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
8714 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
8717 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
8718 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
8719 available functions that generate names:
8723 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
8724 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
8725 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8727 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
8728 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8729 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8731 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
8732 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
8733 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8735 @item gnus-plain-save-name
8736 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8737 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8739 @item gnus-sender-save-name
8740 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
8741 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
8744 @vindex gnus-split-methods
8745 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
8746 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
8747 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
8748 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
8752 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
8753 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
8754 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
8755 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
8758 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
8759 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
8760 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
8761 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
8762 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
8763 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
8764 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
8765 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
8766 called returns a string or a list of strings.
8768 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
8769 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
8770 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
8771 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
8773 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
8774 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
8775 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
8778 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
8779 lots of mail groups called things like
8780 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
8781 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
8782 following will do just that:
8785 (defun my-save-name (group)
8786 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
8787 (substring group (match-end 0))))
8789 (setq gnus-split-methods
8790 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
8795 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8796 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
8797 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
8798 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
8799 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
8800 all the files in the top level directory
8801 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
8802 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
8803 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
8804 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
8806 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
8807 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
8808 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
8809 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
8810 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
8813 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
8817 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
8818 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
8819 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
8822 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
8823 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
8824 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
8825 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
8828 @node Decoding Articles
8829 @section Decoding Articles
8830 @cindex decoding articles
8832 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
8833 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
8836 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
8837 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
8838 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
8839 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
8840 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
8841 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
8845 @cindex article series
8846 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
8847 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
8848 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
8849 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
8850 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
8852 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
8853 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
8854 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
8856 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
8857 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
8858 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
8860 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
8861 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
8862 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
8865 @node Uuencoded Articles
8866 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
8868 @cindex uuencoded articles
8873 @kindex X u (Summary)
8874 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
8875 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
8876 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
8879 @kindex X U (Summary)
8880 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
8881 Uudecodes and saves the current series
8882 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8885 @kindex X v u (Summary)
8886 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
8887 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
8890 @kindex X v U (Summary)
8891 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
8892 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
8893 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
8897 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
8898 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
8899 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
8900 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
8901 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8903 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
8904 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
8905 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
8906 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
8909 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
8910 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
8911 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
8912 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
8913 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
8914 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
8918 @node Shell Archives
8919 @subsection Shell Archives
8921 @cindex shell archives
8922 @cindex shared articles
8924 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
8925 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
8926 some commands to deal with these:
8931 @kindex X s (Summary)
8932 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
8933 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
8936 @kindex X S (Summary)
8937 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
8938 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
8941 @kindex X v s (Summary)
8942 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
8943 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
8946 @kindex X v S (Summary)
8947 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
8948 Unshars, views and saves the current series
8949 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
8953 @node PostScript Files
8954 @subsection PostScript Files
8960 @kindex X p (Summary)
8961 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
8962 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
8965 @kindex X P (Summary)
8966 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
8967 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
8968 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
8971 @kindex X v p (Summary)
8972 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
8973 View the current PostScript series
8974 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
8977 @kindex X v P (Summary)
8978 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
8979 View and save the current PostScript series
8980 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
8985 @subsection Other Files
8989 @kindex X o (Summary)
8990 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
8991 Save the current series
8992 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
8995 @kindex X b (Summary)
8996 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
8997 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
8998 doesn't really work yet.
9001 @kindex X Y (Summary)
9002 @findex gnus-uu-decode-yenc
9003 yEnc-decode the current series and save it (@code{gnus-uu-decode-yenc}).
9007 @node Decoding Variables
9008 @subsection Decoding Variables
9010 Adjective, not verb.
9013 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
9014 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
9015 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
9019 @node Rule Variables
9020 @subsubsection Rule Variables
9021 @cindex rule variables
9023 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
9024 variables are of the form
9027 (list '(regexp1 command2)
9034 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9035 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9037 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
9038 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
9041 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
9042 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
9045 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
9046 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
9047 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
9048 user and default view rules.
9050 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
9051 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
9052 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
9057 @node Other Decode Variables
9058 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
9061 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9063 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9064 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
9065 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
9066 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
9067 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
9071 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
9072 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
9075 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
9076 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
9077 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
9080 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9081 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9082 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
9083 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
9084 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
9087 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9088 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9089 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
9091 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9092 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9093 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
9094 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
9095 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
9098 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9099 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9100 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
9102 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9103 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9104 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
9105 looking for files to display.
9107 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
9108 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
9109 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
9112 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9113 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9114 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
9117 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9118 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9119 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
9122 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9123 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9124 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
9127 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9128 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9129 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
9130 decoded articles as unread.
9132 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9133 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9134 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
9135 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
9137 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9138 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9139 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
9141 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9142 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9144 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
9145 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
9146 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
9147 @code{metamail} for viewing.
9149 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9150 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9151 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
9152 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
9153 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
9154 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
9155 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
9156 simply dropped them.
9161 @node Uuencoding and Posting
9162 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
9166 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9167 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9168 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
9169 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
9170 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
9171 for you when you post the article.
9173 @item gnus-uu-post-length
9174 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
9175 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
9176 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
9178 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
9179 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
9180 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
9181 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
9182 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
9183 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
9184 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
9186 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9187 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9188 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
9189 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
9190 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
9191 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
9192 Default is @code{t}.
9198 @subsection Viewing Files
9199 @cindex viewing files
9200 @cindex pseudo-articles
9202 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
9203 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
9204 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
9205 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
9206 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
9207 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
9208 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
9210 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
9211 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
9212 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
9213 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
9215 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
9216 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
9217 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
9219 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
9220 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
9221 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
9222 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
9223 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
9225 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
9226 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
9227 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
9228 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
9229 a list of parameters to that command.
9231 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
9232 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
9233 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
9235 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
9236 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
9237 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
9240 @node Article Treatment
9241 @section Article Treatment
9243 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
9244 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
9245 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
9246 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
9247 these articles easier.
9250 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
9251 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
9252 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
9253 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
9254 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
9255 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
9256 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
9257 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
9258 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
9259 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
9260 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
9264 @node Article Highlighting
9265 @subsection Article Highlighting
9266 @cindex highlighting
9268 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
9269 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
9274 @kindex W H a (Summary)
9275 @findex gnus-article-highlight
9276 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
9277 Do much highlighting of the current article
9278 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
9279 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
9282 @kindex W H h (Summary)
9283 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
9284 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
9285 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
9286 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
9287 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
9288 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
9289 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
9290 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
9291 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
9292 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
9293 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
9296 @kindex W H c (Summary)
9297 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
9298 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
9300 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
9303 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9305 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9306 If the article size in bytes is bigger than this variable (which is
9307 25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
9309 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
9310 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
9311 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
9313 @item gnus-cite-face-list
9314 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
9315 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
9316 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
9317 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
9318 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
9320 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
9321 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
9322 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
9324 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9325 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9326 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
9328 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9329 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9330 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
9331 that it's a citation.
9333 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9334 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9335 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
9337 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9338 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9339 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
9341 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
9342 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
9343 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
9344 cited text belonging to the attribution.
9346 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9347 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9348 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
9349 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
9350 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
9357 @kindex W H s (Summary)
9358 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9359 @vindex gnus-signature-face
9360 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
9361 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
9362 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
9363 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
9364 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
9369 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
9372 @node Article Fontisizing
9373 @subsection Article Fontisizing
9375 @cindex article emphasis
9377 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
9378 @kindex W e (Summary)
9379 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
9380 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
9381 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
9382 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
9384 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
9385 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
9386 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
9387 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
9388 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
9389 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
9390 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
9391 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
9395 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
9396 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
9397 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
9406 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
9407 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
9408 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
9409 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
9410 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
9411 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
9412 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
9413 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
9414 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
9415 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
9416 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
9417 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
9418 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
9420 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
9421 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
9422 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
9426 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
9429 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
9431 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
9432 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
9433 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
9434 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
9436 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
9439 @node Article Hiding
9440 @subsection Article Hiding
9441 @cindex article hiding
9443 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
9444 too much cruft in most articles.
9449 @kindex W W a (Summary)
9450 @findex gnus-article-hide
9451 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
9452 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
9453 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
9456 @kindex W W h (Summary)
9457 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
9458 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
9462 @kindex W W b (Summary)
9463 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9464 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
9465 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
9468 @kindex W W s (Summary)
9469 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
9470 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
9474 @kindex W W l (Summary)
9475 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
9476 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9477 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
9478 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
9479 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
9480 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
9481 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
9485 @item gnus-list-identifiers
9486 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9487 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
9488 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
9493 @kindex W W P (Summary)
9494 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
9495 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
9496 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
9499 @kindex W W B (Summary)
9500 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
9501 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
9502 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9505 @cindex stripping advertisements
9506 @cindex advertisements
9507 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
9508 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
9509 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
9510 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
9511 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
9512 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
9513 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
9514 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
9515 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
9516 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
9519 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
9520 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
9521 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
9525 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9526 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9527 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
9528 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
9529 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
9530 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
9531 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
9532 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
9533 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
9534 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
9535 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
9538 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
9539 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
9545 @kindex W W c (Summary)
9546 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
9547 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
9548 customizing the hiding:
9552 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
9553 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
9554 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
9555 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
9556 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
9557 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
9558 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
9563 Starting point of the hidden text.
9565 Ending point of the hidden text.
9567 Number of characters in the hidden region.
9569 Number of lines of hidden text.
9572 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
9573 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
9574 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
9575 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
9576 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
9581 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
9582 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
9584 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
9585 following two variables:
9588 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
9589 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
9590 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
9591 50), hide the cited text.
9593 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
9594 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
9595 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
9600 @kindex W W C (Summary)
9601 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
9602 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
9603 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
9604 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
9605 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
9609 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
9610 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
9611 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
9613 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
9614 citation customization.
9616 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
9620 @node Article Washing
9621 @subsection Article Washing
9623 @cindex article washing
9625 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
9626 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
9628 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
9629 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
9632 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
9633 articles by default.
9638 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
9639 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
9643 Force redisplaying of the current article
9644 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
9645 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
9646 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
9647 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
9650 @kindex W l (Summary)
9651 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
9652 Remove page breaks from the current article
9653 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
9657 @kindex W r (Summary)
9658 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
9659 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
9660 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
9661 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
9662 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
9663 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
9665 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
9666 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
9667 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
9668 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
9671 @kindex W m (Summary)
9672 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
9673 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
9676 @kindex W i (Summary)
9677 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
9678 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
9679 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
9680 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
9681 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
9682 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
9687 @kindex W t (Summary)
9689 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
9690 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
9691 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
9694 @kindex W v (Summary)
9695 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
9696 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
9697 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
9700 @kindex W o (Summary)
9701 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
9702 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
9705 @kindex W d (Summary)
9706 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
9707 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
9709 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
9711 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
9712 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
9713 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
9714 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
9717 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
9718 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
9719 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
9720 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
9723 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
9724 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
9725 @cindex Outlook Express
9726 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
9727 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
9728 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
9731 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
9732 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
9733 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
9734 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
9735 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
9736 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
9737 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
9738 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
9739 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
9740 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
9743 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
9744 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
9745 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
9746 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
9749 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
9750 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
9751 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
9752 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
9755 @kindex W w (Summary)
9756 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
9757 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
9759 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
9763 @kindex W Q (Summary)
9764 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
9765 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
9768 @kindex W C (Summary)
9769 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
9770 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
9771 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
9774 @kindex W c (Summary)
9775 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
9776 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
9777 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
9778 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
9779 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
9782 @kindex W q (Summary)
9783 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
9784 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
9785 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
9786 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
9787 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
9788 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
9789 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9790 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9791 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9794 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
9795 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
9796 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
9797 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
9798 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
9799 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9800 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9801 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9804 @kindex W Z (Summary)
9805 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
9806 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
9807 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
9808 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
9811 @kindex W A (Summary)
9812 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
9813 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
9814 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
9815 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
9816 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
9819 @kindex W u (Summary)
9820 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
9821 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
9822 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
9823 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
9824 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
9827 @kindex W h (Summary)
9828 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
9829 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
9830 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9831 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
9833 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for. If it is a number,
9834 the charset defined in @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist}
9835 (@pxref{Paging the Article}) will be used.
9837 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
9838 The default is to use the function specified by
9839 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
9840 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
9841 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
9842 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
9846 @item gnus-article-html
9847 Use Gnus rendered based on w3m.
9853 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
9855 @item w3m-standalone
9856 Use @uref{http://w3m.sourceforge.net/, w3m}.
9859 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
9862 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
9865 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
9870 @kindex W b (Summary)
9871 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
9872 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
9873 @xref{Article Buttons}.
9876 @kindex W B (Summary)
9877 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
9878 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
9879 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
9882 @kindex W p (Summary)
9883 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
9884 Verify a signed control message
9885 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
9886 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
9887 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
9888 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
9889 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
9890 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
9893 @kindex W s (Summary)
9894 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
9895 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
9896 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
9897 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
9900 @kindex W a (Summary)
9901 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
9902 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
9903 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
9906 @kindex W E l (Summary)
9907 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
9908 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
9909 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
9912 @kindex W E m (Summary)
9913 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
9914 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
9915 lines with a single empty line.
9916 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
9919 @kindex W E t (Summary)
9920 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
9921 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
9922 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
9925 @kindex W E a (Summary)
9926 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
9927 Do all the three commands above
9928 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
9931 @kindex W E A (Summary)
9932 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
9933 Remove all blank lines
9934 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
9937 @kindex W E s (Summary)
9938 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
9939 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
9940 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
9943 @kindex W E e (Summary)
9944 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
9945 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
9946 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
9950 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
9953 @node Article Header
9954 @subsection Article Header
9956 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
9961 @kindex W G u (Summary)
9962 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
9963 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
9966 @kindex W G n (Summary)
9967 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
9968 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
9969 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
9972 @kindex W G f (Summary)
9973 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
9974 Fold all the message headers
9975 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
9978 @kindex W E w (Summary)
9979 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
9980 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
9981 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
9986 @node Article Buttons
9987 @subsection Article Buttons
9990 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
9991 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
9992 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
9993 button on these references.
9995 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9996 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
9997 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
9998 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
9999 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
10003 @item gnus-button-alist
10004 @vindex gnus-button-alist
10005 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
10008 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
10014 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
10015 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
10016 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
10017 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
10018 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
10021 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
10022 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
10023 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
10026 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
10027 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
10028 avoid false matches. Often variables named
10029 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
10030 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
10032 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
10035 This function will be called when you click on this button.
10038 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
10039 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
10043 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
10046 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
10049 @item gnus-header-button-alist
10050 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
10051 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
10052 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
10053 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
10056 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
10059 @var{header} is a regular expression.
10062 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
10065 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
10066 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
10068 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
10070 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
10071 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
10072 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
10073 default values of the variables above.
10075 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
10077 @item gnus-button-man-handler
10078 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
10079 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
10080 argument with a string naming the man page.
10082 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
10084 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
10085 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
10086 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
10088 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
10089 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
10090 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
10091 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
10092 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
10093 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
10094 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
10095 @code{ask}, always query the user what to do. If it is a function, this
10096 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
10097 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
10098 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
10099 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
10101 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
10102 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
10103 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
10104 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
10105 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
10108 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
10109 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
10110 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
10111 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
10113 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
10115 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
10116 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
10117 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
10118 argument, the string naming the URL.
10120 @item gnus-ctan-url
10121 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
10122 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
10123 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
10127 @item gnus-article-button-face
10128 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
10129 Face used on buttons.
10131 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
10132 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
10133 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
10137 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
10140 @node Article Button Levels
10141 @subsection Article button levels
10142 @cindex button levels
10143 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
10144 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
10145 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
10146 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
10147 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
10148 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
10149 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
10150 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
10153 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
10154 (setq gnus-parameters
10155 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
10156 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
10157 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
10162 @item gnus-button-browse-level
10163 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
10164 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
10165 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
10166 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
10167 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
10169 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
10170 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
10171 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
10172 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
10173 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
10174 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
10175 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
10176 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
10177 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
10178 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
10179 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
10180 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
10181 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
10183 @item gnus-button-man-level
10184 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
10185 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
10186 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
10188 @item gnus-button-message-level
10189 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
10190 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
10191 Related variables and functions include
10192 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
10193 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
10194 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
10195 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
10197 @item gnus-button-tex-level
10198 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
10199 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
10200 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
10201 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
10202 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
10203 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
10209 @subsection Article Date
10211 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
10212 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
10213 when the article was sent.
10218 @kindex W T u (Summary)
10219 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
10220 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
10221 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
10224 @kindex W T i (Summary)
10225 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
10227 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
10228 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
10231 @kindex W T l (Summary)
10232 @findex gnus-article-date-local
10233 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
10236 @kindex W T p (Summary)
10237 @findex gnus-article-date-english
10238 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
10239 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
10242 @kindex W T s (Summary)
10243 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
10244 @findex gnus-article-date-user
10245 @findex format-time-string
10246 Display the date using a user-defined format
10247 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
10248 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
10249 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
10250 for a list of possible format specs.
10253 @kindex W T e (Summary)
10254 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
10255 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
10256 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
10257 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
10258 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
10261 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
10264 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
10265 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
10266 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
10269 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
10270 into wonderful absurdities.
10272 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
10275 (gnus-start-date-timer)
10278 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
10279 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
10283 @kindex W T o (Summary)
10284 @findex gnus-article-date-original
10285 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
10286 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
10287 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
10288 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
10289 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
10293 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
10294 preferred format automatically.
10297 @node Article Display
10298 @subsection Article Display
10303 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
10304 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
10306 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
10307 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
10309 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
10310 headers (@pxref{Face}).
10312 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
10313 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
10315 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
10316 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
10318 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
10319 they'll be removed.
10323 @kindex W D x (Summary)
10324 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
10325 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
10326 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
10329 @kindex W D d (Summary)
10330 @findex gnus-article-display-face
10331 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
10332 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
10335 @kindex W D s (Summary)
10336 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
10337 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
10340 @kindex W D f (Summary)
10341 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
10342 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
10345 @kindex W D m (Summary)
10346 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
10347 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
10348 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
10351 @kindex W D n (Summary)
10352 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
10353 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
10354 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
10357 @kindex W D D (Summary)
10358 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
10359 Remove all images from the article buffer
10360 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
10363 @kindex W D W (Summary)
10364 @findex gnus-html-show-images
10365 If you're reading an @acronym{HTML} article rendered with
10366 @code{gnus-article-html}, then you can insert any blocked images in
10367 the buffer with this command.
10368 (@code{gnus-html-show-images}).
10374 @node Article Signature
10375 @subsection Article Signature
10377 @cindex article signature
10379 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
10380 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
10381 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
10382 that says what is to be considered a signature is
10383 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
10384 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
10385 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
10386 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
10387 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
10390 (setq gnus-signature-separator
10391 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
10392 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
10393 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
10394 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
10395 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
10396 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
10397 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
10400 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
10403 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
10404 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
10405 signature when displaying articles.
10409 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
10412 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
10415 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
10416 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
10418 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
10419 in question is not a signature.
10422 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
10423 listed above. Here's an example:
10426 (setq gnus-signature-limit
10427 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
10430 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
10431 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
10432 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
10433 signature after all.
10436 @node Article Miscellanea
10437 @subsection Article Miscellanea
10441 @kindex A t (Summary)
10442 @findex gnus-article-babel
10443 Translate the article from one language to another
10444 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
10449 @node MIME Commands
10450 @section MIME Commands
10451 @cindex MIME decoding
10452 @cindex attachments
10453 @cindex viewing attachments
10455 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
10456 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
10461 @kindex b (Summary)
10462 @kindex K v (Summary)
10463 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
10466 @kindex K o (Summary)
10467 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
10470 @kindex K O (Summary)
10471 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
10472 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
10473 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
10476 @kindex K r (Summary)
10477 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
10480 @kindex K d (Summary)
10481 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
10485 @kindex K c (Summary)
10486 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
10489 @kindex K e (Summary)
10490 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
10493 @kindex K i (Summary)
10494 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
10497 @kindex K | (Summary)
10498 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
10501 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
10506 @kindex K H (Summary)
10507 @findex gnus-article-browse-html-article
10508 View @samp{text/html} parts of the current article with a WWW browser.
10509 Inline images embedded in a message using the @code{cid} scheme, as they
10510 are generally considered to be safe, will be processed properly. The
10511 message header is added to the beginning of every @acronym{HTML} part
10512 unless the prefix argument is given.
10514 Warning: Spammers use links to images (using the @code{http} scheme) in
10515 @acronym{HTML} articles to verify whether you have read the message. As
10516 this command passes the @acronym{HTML} content to the browser without
10517 eliminating these ``web bugs'' you should only use it for mails from
10520 If you always want to display @acronym{HTML} parts in the browser, set
10521 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} to @code{nil}.
10523 This command creates temporary files to pass @acronym{HTML} contents
10524 including images if any to the browser, and deletes them when exiting
10525 the group (if you want).
10528 @kindex K b (Summary)
10529 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
10530 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
10534 @kindex K m (Summary)
10535 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
10536 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
10537 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
10538 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
10539 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
10542 @kindex X m (Summary)
10543 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
10544 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
10545 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
10546 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10549 @kindex M-t (Summary)
10550 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
10551 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
10552 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
10555 @kindex W M w (Summary)
10556 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
10557 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
10558 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
10561 @kindex W M c (Summary)
10562 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
10563 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
10564 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
10566 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
10567 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
10568 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
10569 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
10570 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
10571 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10574 @kindex W M v (Summary)
10575 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
10576 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
10577 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
10581 Relevant variables:
10584 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
10585 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
10586 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10587 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
10590 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
10593 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
10597 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
10598 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
10599 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
10600 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
10601 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
10602 default is @code{t}.
10604 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
10605 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
10608 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
10609 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
10610 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
10611 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
10612 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}. Only
10613 single-part yEnc encoded attachments can be decoded. There's no support
10614 for encoding in Gnus.
10616 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
10617 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
10618 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10619 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
10620 displayed or this variable is overridden by
10621 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
10622 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
10623 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
10625 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
10626 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
10627 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10628 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
10629 displayed. This variable overrides
10630 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
10631 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
10634 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
10635 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
10636 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
10638 You could also add @code{"multipart/alternative"} to this list to
10639 display radio buttons that allow you to choose one of two media types
10640 those mails include. See also @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}
10641 (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The
10642 Emacs MIME Manual}).
10644 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
10645 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
10646 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
10647 default value is @code{nil}.
10649 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
10650 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
10651 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
10652 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
10653 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
10654 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
10655 save all jpegs into some directory).
10657 Here's an example function the does the latter:
10660 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
10661 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
10663 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
10664 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
10665 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
10666 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
10667 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
10670 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
10671 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
10672 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
10674 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
10675 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
10676 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
10678 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
10679 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
10680 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
10682 If displaying @samp{text/html} is discouraged, see
10683 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}, images or other material inside a
10684 "multipart/related" part might be overlooked when this variable is
10685 @code{nil}. @ref{Display Customization, Display Customization, ,
10686 emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}.
10688 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
10689 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
10690 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
10691 overrides @code{nil} values of
10692 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
10693 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
10695 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10696 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10697 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
10698 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
10700 Ready-made functions include@*
10701 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
10702 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
10703 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
10704 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
10705 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
10706 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
10707 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
10708 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
10709 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10710 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10711 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10712 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10714 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
10715 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
10717 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
10718 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
10719 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
10722 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10723 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10724 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10725 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
10729 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
10738 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
10739 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
10740 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
10741 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
10742 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
10743 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
10744 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
10746 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
10747 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
10748 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
10749 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
10751 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
10752 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
10753 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
10754 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
10755 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
10756 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
10757 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
10758 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
10759 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
10761 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
10762 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
10763 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
10764 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
10765 quoted-printable header encoding.
10767 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
10768 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
10769 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
10773 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
10776 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
10777 means encode all charsets),
10779 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
10780 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
10781 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
10788 @cindex coding system aliases
10789 @cindex preferred charset
10791 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
10792 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
10793 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
10795 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
10797 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
10798 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
10801 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
10802 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
10805 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
10806 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
10808 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
10811 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
10814 This will almost do the right thing.
10816 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
10820 (codepage-setup 1251)
10821 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
10825 @node Article Commands
10826 @section Article Commands
10833 @kindex A P (Summary)
10834 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
10835 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
10836 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
10837 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
10838 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
10839 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
10844 @node Summary Sorting
10845 @section Summary Sorting
10846 @cindex summary sorting
10848 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
10849 can't really see why you'd want that.
10854 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10855 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
10856 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
10858 @item C-c C-s C-m C-n
10859 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10860 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number
10861 Sort by most recent article number
10862 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number}).
10865 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
10866 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
10867 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
10870 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
10871 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
10872 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
10875 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
10876 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
10877 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
10880 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
10881 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
10882 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
10884 @item C-c C-s C-m C-d
10885 @kindex C-c C-s C-m C-d (Summary)
10886 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date
10887 Sort by most recent date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date}).
10890 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
10891 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
10892 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
10895 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
10896 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
10897 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
10900 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
10901 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
10902 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
10905 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
10906 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
10907 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
10910 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
10911 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
10912 Sort using the default sorting method
10913 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
10916 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
10917 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
10918 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
10919 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
10920 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
10923 If a prefix argument if given, the sort order is reversed.
10926 @node Finding the Parent
10927 @section Finding the Parent
10928 @cindex parent articles
10929 @cindex referring articles
10933 @kindex ^ (Summary)
10934 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
10935 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
10936 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
10937 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
10938 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
10939 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
10940 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
10941 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
10942 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
10944 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
10945 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
10946 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
10947 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
10948 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
10951 @item A R (Summary)
10952 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
10953 @kindex A R (Summary)
10954 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
10955 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
10957 @item A T (Summary)
10958 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
10959 @kindex A T (Summary)
10960 Display the full thread where the current article appears
10961 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
10962 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
10963 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
10964 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
10965 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
10966 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
10968 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
10969 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
10970 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
10971 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
10972 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
10973 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
10975 @item M-^ (Summary)
10976 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
10977 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
10979 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
10980 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
10981 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
10982 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
10983 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
10984 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
10986 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
10987 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
10988 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
10991 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
10992 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
10993 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
10994 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
10995 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
10996 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
10999 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
11000 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
11001 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
11004 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
11005 then ask Google if that fails:
11008 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
11010 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
11013 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
11014 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
11015 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
11016 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
11017 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
11018 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
11019 not support this at all.
11022 @node Alternative Approaches
11023 @section Alternative Approaches
11025 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
11026 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
11029 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
11030 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
11034 @node Pick and Read
11035 @subsection Pick and Read
11036 @cindex pick and read
11038 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
11039 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
11040 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
11041 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
11043 @findex gnus-pick-mode
11044 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
11045 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
11046 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
11047 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
11048 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
11050 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
11055 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
11056 Pick the article or thread on the current line
11057 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
11058 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
11059 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
11060 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
11061 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
11062 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
11065 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
11066 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
11067 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
11068 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
11072 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
11073 Unpick the thread or article
11074 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
11075 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
11076 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
11077 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
11078 the thread or article at that line.
11082 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
11083 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
11084 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
11085 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
11086 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
11087 will still be visible when you are reading.
11091 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
11092 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
11093 which is mapped to the same function
11094 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
11096 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
11099 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
11102 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
11103 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
11105 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
11106 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
11107 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
11109 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
11110 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
11111 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
11112 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
11113 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
11114 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
11115 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
11118 @node Binary Groups
11119 @subsection Binary Groups
11120 @cindex binary groups
11122 @findex gnus-binary-mode
11123 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
11124 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
11125 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
11126 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
11127 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
11128 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
11131 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
11132 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
11133 command, when you have turned on this mode
11134 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
11136 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
11137 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
11141 @section Tree Display
11144 @vindex gnus-use-trees
11145 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
11146 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
11147 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
11148 in the tree buffer.
11150 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
11153 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
11154 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
11155 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
11157 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
11158 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
11159 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
11160 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
11161 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
11163 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
11164 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
11165 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
11166 default is @code{modeline}.
11168 @item gnus-tree-line-format
11169 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
11170 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
11171 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
11172 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
11173 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
11174 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
11180 The name of the poster.
11182 The @code{From} header.
11184 The number of the article.
11186 The opening bracket.
11188 The closing bracket.
11193 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
11195 Variables related to the display are:
11198 @item gnus-tree-brackets
11199 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
11200 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
11201 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
11203 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
11204 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
11205 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
11207 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
11209 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
11210 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
11211 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
11212 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
11216 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
11217 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
11218 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
11219 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
11220 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
11221 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
11222 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
11223 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
11224 other windows displayed next to it.
11226 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
11230 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
11231 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
11234 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
11235 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
11236 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
11237 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
11238 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
11239 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
11240 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
11244 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
11247 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
11257 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
11262 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
11263 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
11265 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
11267 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
11273 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
11274 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
11275 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
11278 (setq gnus-use-trees t
11279 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
11280 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
11281 (gnus-add-configuration
11285 (summary 0.75 point)
11290 @xref{Window Layout}.
11293 @node Mail Group Commands
11294 @section Mail Group Commands
11295 @cindex mail group commands
11297 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
11298 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
11300 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
11301 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11306 @kindex B e (Summary)
11307 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
11308 @cindex expiring mail
11309 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
11310 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
11311 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
11312 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
11315 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
11316 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
11317 @cindex expiring mail
11318 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
11319 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
11320 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
11321 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
11324 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
11325 @cindex deleting mail
11326 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
11327 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
11328 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
11329 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
11330 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
11333 @kindex B m (Summary)
11335 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
11336 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
11337 Move the article from one mail group to another
11338 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
11339 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
11342 @kindex B c (Summary)
11344 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
11345 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
11346 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
11347 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
11348 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
11351 @kindex B B (Summary)
11352 @cindex crosspost mail
11353 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
11354 Crosspost the current article to some other group
11355 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
11356 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
11357 be properly updated.
11360 @kindex B i (Summary)
11361 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
11362 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
11363 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
11364 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
11367 @kindex B I (Summary)
11368 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
11369 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
11370 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
11371 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
11374 @kindex B r (Summary)
11375 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
11376 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
11377 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
11378 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
11379 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
11380 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
11381 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
11382 (which is the default).
11386 @kindex B w (Summary)
11387 @kindex e (Summary)
11388 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
11389 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
11390 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
11391 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
11392 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
11393 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
11394 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
11397 @kindex B q (Summary)
11398 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
11399 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
11400 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
11401 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
11404 @kindex B t (Summary)
11405 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
11406 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
11407 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
11410 @kindex B p (Summary)
11411 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
11412 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
11413 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
11414 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
11415 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
11416 article from your news server (or rather, from
11417 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
11418 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
11419 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
11420 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
11421 just not have arrived yet.
11424 @kindex K E (Summary)
11425 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
11426 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
11427 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
11428 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
11429 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
11433 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
11434 @cindex moving articles
11435 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
11436 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
11437 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
11438 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
11439 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
11440 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
11441 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
11444 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
11445 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
11446 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
11447 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
11451 @node Various Summary Stuff
11452 @section Various Summary Stuff
11455 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
11456 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
11457 * Summary Generation Commands::
11458 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
11462 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
11463 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
11464 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
11465 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
11466 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
11467 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
11469 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
11470 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
11471 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
11474 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
11475 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
11476 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
11478 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
11479 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
11480 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
11481 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
11482 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
11483 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
11486 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
11487 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
11488 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
11489 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
11490 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
11492 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
11493 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
11494 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
11497 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
11498 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
11499 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
11500 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
11501 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
11502 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
11503 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
11504 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
11505 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
11506 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
11508 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
11509 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
11510 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
11511 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
11512 list of articles to be selected.
11514 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
11515 the list in one particular group:
11518 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
11519 (if (string= group "some.group")
11520 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
11524 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
11525 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
11526 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
11527 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
11528 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
11531 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
11532 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
11533 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
11534 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
11535 variable will be used instead.
11537 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
11538 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
11539 buffers. For example:
11542 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
11543 '(message-use-followup-to
11544 (gnus-visible-headers .
11545 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
11548 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
11550 @vindex gnus-propagate-marks
11551 @item gnus-propagate-marks
11552 If non-@code{nil}, propagate marks to the backends for possible
11553 storing. @xref{NNTP marks}, and friends, for a more fine-grained
11559 @node Summary Group Information
11560 @subsection Summary Group Information
11565 @kindex H f (Summary)
11566 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
11567 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
11568 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
11569 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
11570 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
11571 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
11572 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
11573 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
11574 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
11577 @kindex H d (Summary)
11578 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
11579 Give a brief description of the current group
11580 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
11581 rereading the description from the server.
11584 @kindex H h (Summary)
11585 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
11586 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
11587 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
11590 @kindex H i (Summary)
11591 @findex gnus-info-find-node
11592 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
11596 @node Searching for Articles
11597 @subsection Searching for Articles
11602 @kindex M-s (Summary)
11603 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
11604 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
11605 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
11608 @kindex M-r (Summary)
11609 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
11610 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
11611 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
11614 @kindex M-S (Summary)
11615 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward
11616 Repeat the previous search forwards
11617 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward}).
11620 @kindex M-R (Summary)
11621 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward
11622 Repeat the previous search backwards
11623 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward}).
11626 @kindex & (Summary)
11627 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
11628 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
11629 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
11630 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
11631 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
11632 search backward instead.
11634 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
11635 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
11638 @kindex M-& (Summary)
11639 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
11640 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
11641 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
11644 @node Summary Generation Commands
11645 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
11650 @kindex Y g (Summary)
11651 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
11652 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
11655 @kindex Y c (Summary)
11656 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
11657 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11658 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
11661 @kindex Y d (Summary)
11662 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
11663 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11664 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
11667 @kindex Y t (Summary)
11668 @findex gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles
11669 Pull all ticked articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11670 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles}).
11675 @node Really Various Summary Commands
11676 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
11682 @kindex C-d (Summary)
11683 @kindex A D (Summary)
11684 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
11685 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
11686 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
11687 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
11688 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
11689 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
11690 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
11691 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
11694 @vindex gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit
11695 The variable @code{gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit} controls what
11696 article should be selected after exiting a digest group. Valid values
11701 Select the next article.
11704 Select the next unread article.
11706 @item next-noselect
11707 Move the cursor to the next article. This is the default.
11709 @item next-unread-noselect
11710 Move the cursor to the next unread article.
11713 If it has any other value or there is no next (unread) article, the
11714 article selected before entering to the digest group will appear.
11717 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
11718 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
11719 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
11720 several documents into one biiig group
11721 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
11722 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
11723 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
11724 command understands the process/prefix convention
11725 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11728 @kindex C-t (Summary)
11729 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
11730 Toggle truncation of summary lines
11731 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
11732 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
11733 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
11736 @kindex = (Summary)
11737 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
11738 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
11739 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
11742 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
11743 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
11744 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11745 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
11748 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
11749 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
11750 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11751 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
11756 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
11757 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
11758 @cindex summary exit
11759 @cindex exiting groups
11761 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
11762 group and return you to the group buffer.
11769 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
11770 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
11771 @kindex q (Summary)
11772 @findex gnus-summary-exit
11773 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
11774 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
11775 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
11776 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
11777 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
11778 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
11779 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
11780 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
11781 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
11782 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
11783 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
11787 @kindex Z E (Summary)
11788 @kindex Q (Summary)
11789 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
11790 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
11791 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
11795 @kindex Z c (Summary)
11796 @kindex c (Summary)
11797 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
11798 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
11799 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
11800 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
11803 @kindex Z C (Summary)
11804 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
11805 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
11806 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
11809 @kindex Z n (Summary)
11810 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
11811 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
11812 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
11815 @kindex Z p (Summary)
11816 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
11817 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
11818 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
11822 @kindex Z R (Summary)
11823 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
11824 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
11825 Exit this group, and then enter it again
11826 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
11827 all articles, both read and unread.
11831 @kindex Z G (Summary)
11832 @kindex M-g (Summary)
11833 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
11834 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
11835 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
11836 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
11837 articles, both read and unread.
11840 @kindex Z N (Summary)
11841 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
11842 Exit the group and go to the next group
11843 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
11846 @kindex Z P (Summary)
11847 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
11848 Exit the group and go to the previous group
11849 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
11852 @kindex Z s (Summary)
11853 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
11854 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
11855 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
11856 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
11857 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
11860 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
11861 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
11862 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
11863 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
11865 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
11866 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
11867 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
11868 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
11869 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
11870 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
11871 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
11872 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
11873 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
11874 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
11875 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
11876 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
11878 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
11880 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
11881 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
11882 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
11883 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
11884 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
11885 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
11886 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
11887 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
11888 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
11891 @node Crosspost Handling
11892 @section Crosspost Handling
11896 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
11897 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
11898 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
11899 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
11900 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
11901 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
11904 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
11905 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
11906 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
11907 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
11908 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
11910 @cindex cross-posting
11912 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
11913 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
11914 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
11915 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
11916 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
11917 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
11918 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
11919 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
11920 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
11921 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
11922 the cross reference mechanism.
11924 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
11925 @cindex overview.fmt
11926 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
11927 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
11928 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
11929 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
11930 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
11931 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
11934 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
11935 set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
11936 considerably. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
11940 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
11943 @node Duplicate Suppression
11944 @section Duplicate Suppression
11946 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
11947 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
11948 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
11949 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
11954 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
11955 is evil and not very common.
11958 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
11959 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
11962 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
11963 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
11966 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
11969 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
11970 well, but these four are the most common situations.
11972 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
11973 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
11974 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
11975 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
11976 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
11977 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
11978 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
11981 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
11982 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
11983 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
11984 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
11985 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
11986 saw the article in.
11989 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
11990 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
11991 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
11993 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
11994 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
11995 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
11996 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
11997 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
11998 session are suppressed.
12000 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
12001 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
12002 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
12003 suppression list. The default is 10000.
12005 @item gnus-duplicate-file
12006 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
12007 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
12008 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
12011 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
12012 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
12013 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
12014 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
12015 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
12016 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
12017 to you to figure out, I think.
12022 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
12023 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
12024 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
12029 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
12030 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
12031 to GnuPG included with Emacs is called EasyPG (@pxref{Top, ,EasyPG,
12032 epa, EasyPG Assistant user's manual}), but PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg,
12033 PGG Manual}), Mailcrypt, and gpg.el are also supported.
12036 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
12037 or newer is recommended.
12041 The variables that control security functionality on reading/composing
12045 @item mm-verify-option
12046 @vindex mm-verify-option
12047 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
12048 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
12049 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
12051 @item mm-decrypt-option
12052 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
12053 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
12054 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
12055 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
12057 @item mm-sign-option
12058 @vindex mm-sign-option
12059 Option of creating signed parts. @code{nil}, use default signing
12060 keys; @code{guided}, ask user to select signing keys from the menu.
12062 @item mm-encrypt-option
12063 @vindex mm-encrypt-option
12064 Option of creating encrypted parts. @code{nil}, use the first
12065 public-key matching the @samp{From:} header as the recipient;
12066 @code{guided}, ask user to select recipient keys from the menu.
12069 @vindex mml1991-use
12070 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
12071 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but @code{pgg},
12072 @code{mailcrypt}, and @code{gpg} are also supported although
12073 deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available interface in
12077 @vindex mml2015-use
12078 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
12079 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but
12080 @code{pgg}, @code{mailcrypt}, and @code{gpg} are also supported
12081 although deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available
12082 interface in this order.
12086 By default the buttons that display security information are not
12087 shown, because they clutter reading the actual e-mail. You can type
12088 @kbd{K b} manually to display the information. Use the
12089 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types} and
12090 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} variables to control this
12091 permanently. @ref{MIME Commands} for further details, and hints on
12092 how to customize these variables to always display security
12095 @cindex snarfing keys
12096 @cindex importing PGP keys
12097 @cindex PGP key ring import
12098 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
12099 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
12100 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
12101 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
12102 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
12103 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
12104 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
12105 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
12106 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
12109 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
12112 This happens to also be the default action defined in
12113 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
12115 More information on how to set things for sending outgoing signed and
12116 encrypted messages up can be found in the message manual
12117 (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
12120 @section Mailing List
12121 @cindex mailing list
12124 @kindex A M (summary)
12125 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
12126 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
12127 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
12128 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
12131 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
12136 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
12137 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
12138 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
12141 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
12142 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
12143 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
12146 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
12147 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
12148 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
12152 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
12153 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
12154 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
12157 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
12158 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
12159 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
12162 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
12163 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
12164 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
12169 @node Article Buffer
12170 @chapter Article Buffer
12171 @cindex article buffer
12173 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
12174 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
12175 tell Gnus otherwise.
12178 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
12179 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
12180 * HTML:: Reading @acronym{HTML} messages.
12181 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
12182 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
12183 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
12187 @node Hiding Headers
12188 @section Hiding Headers
12189 @cindex hiding headers
12190 @cindex deleting headers
12192 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
12193 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
12195 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
12196 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
12197 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
12198 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
12199 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
12200 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
12201 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
12202 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
12203 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
12205 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
12209 @item gnus-visible-headers
12210 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
12211 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
12212 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
12213 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
12215 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
12216 the article and the subject, you'd say:
12219 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
12222 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
12225 @item gnus-ignored-headers
12226 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
12227 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
12228 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
12229 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
12230 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
12232 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
12233 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
12236 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
12239 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
12242 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
12243 variable will have no effect.
12247 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
12248 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
12249 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
12250 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
12251 the headers are to be displayed.
12253 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
12254 and then the subject, you might say something like:
12257 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
12260 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
12261 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
12263 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
12264 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
12265 You can hide further boring headers by setting
12266 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
12267 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
12268 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
12269 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
12272 These conditions are:
12275 Remove all empty headers.
12277 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
12278 @code{Newsgroups} header.
12280 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
12281 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
12284 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
12287 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
12288 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
12290 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
12291 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
12293 Remove the @code{Cc} header if it only contains the address identical to
12294 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
12296 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
12299 Remove the @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} header if it is very long.
12301 Remove all @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} headers if there are more than one.
12304 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
12307 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
12308 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
12311 This is also the default value for this variable.
12315 @section Using MIME
12316 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12318 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
12319 while people stand around yawning.
12321 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
12322 while all newsreaders die of fear.
12324 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
12325 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
12326 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
12328 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
12329 @findex gnus-display-mime
12330 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
12331 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
12332 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
12333 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
12335 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
12336 @acronym{MIME} button:
12339 @findex gnus-article-press-button
12340 @item RET (Article)
12341 @kindex RET (Article)
12342 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
12343 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
12344 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
12345 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
12346 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
12347 object is displayed inline.
12349 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
12350 @item M-RET (Article)
12351 @kindex M-RET (Article)
12353 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
12354 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
12356 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
12358 @kindex t (Article)
12359 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
12360 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
12362 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
12364 @kindex C (Article)
12365 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
12366 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
12368 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
12370 @kindex o (Article)
12371 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
12372 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
12374 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
12375 @item C-o (Article)
12376 @kindex C-o (Article)
12377 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
12378 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
12379 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
12380 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
12381 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
12382 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
12384 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
12386 @kindex r (Article)
12387 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
12388 external body refering to the file via the message/external-body
12389 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
12391 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
12393 @kindex d (Article)
12394 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
12395 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
12396 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
12398 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
12400 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
12402 @kindex c (Article)
12403 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
12404 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
12405 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
12406 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
12407 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
12408 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
12409 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
12410 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
12412 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
12414 @kindex p (Article)
12415 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
12416 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
12417 @file{.mailcap} file.
12419 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
12421 @kindex i (Article)
12422 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
12423 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as @samp{text/plain}. If given a prefix, insert
12424 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
12425 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
12426 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
12427 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
12428 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
12429 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
12430 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
12432 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
12434 @kindex E (Article)
12435 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
12436 viewer is available, use an external viewer
12437 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
12439 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
12441 @kindex e (Article)
12442 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
12443 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
12445 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
12447 @kindex | (Article)
12448 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
12450 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
12452 @kindex . (Article)
12453 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
12454 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
12458 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
12459 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
12460 @acronym{MIME} manual.
12462 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
12463 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
12464 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
12465 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
12466 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
12467 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
12468 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
12469 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
12470 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
12472 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
12474 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
12478 @section @acronym{HTML}
12479 @cindex @acronym{HTML}
12481 If you have @code{w3m} installed on your system, Gnus can display
12482 @acronym{HTML} articles in the article buffer. There are many Gnus
12483 add-ons for doing this, using various approaches, but there's one
12484 (sort of) built-in method that's used by default.
12486 For a complete overview, consult @xref{Display Customization,
12487 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. This
12488 section only describes the default method.
12491 @item mm-text-html-renderer
12492 @vindex mm-text-html-renderer
12493 If set to @code{gnus-article-html}, Gnus will use the built-in method,
12494 that's based on @code{curl} and @code{w3m}.
12496 @item gnus-blocked-images
12497 @vindex gnus-blocked-images
12498 Images that have @acronym{URL}s that match this regexp won't be
12499 fetched and displayed. For instance, do block all @acronym{URL}s that
12500 have the string ``ads'' in them, do the following:
12503 (setq gnus-blocked-images "ads")
12506 The default is to block all external images.
12508 @item gnus-html-cache-directory
12509 @vindex gnus-html-cache-directory
12510 Gnus will download and cache images according to how
12511 @code{gnus-blocked-images} is set. These images will be stored in
12514 @item gnus-html-cache-size
12515 @vindex gnus-html-cache-size
12516 When @code{gnus-html-cache-size} bytes have been used in that
12517 directory, the oldest files will be deleted. The default is 500MB.
12519 @item gnus-html-frame-width
12520 @vindex gnus-html-frame-width
12521 The width to use when rendering HTML. The default is 70.
12523 @item gnus-max-image-proportion
12524 @vindex gnus-max-image-proportion
12525 How big pictures displayed are in relation to the window they're in.
12526 A value of 0.7 (the default) means that they are allowed to take up
12527 70% of the width and height of the window. If they are larger than
12528 this, and Emacs supports it, then the images will be rescaled down to
12529 fit these criteria.
12533 To use this, make sure that you have @code{w3m} and @code{curl}
12534 installed. If you have, then Gnus should display @acronym{HTML}
12539 @node Customizing Articles
12540 @section Customizing Articles
12541 @cindex article customization
12543 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
12544 exist. You can call these functions interactively
12545 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
12546 called automatically when you select the articles.
12548 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
12549 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
12550 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
12551 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
12553 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
12554 for sensible values.
12558 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
12561 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
12564 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
12567 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
12570 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
12573 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
12577 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
12578 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
12579 regexps in the list.
12582 A list where the first element is not a string:
12584 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
12585 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
12586 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
12590 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
12595 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
12596 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
12597 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
12598 considered to contain just a single part.
12600 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
12601 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
12602 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
12603 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
12604 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
12605 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
12606 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
12609 @c Avoid sort of redundant entries in the same section for the printed
12610 @c manual, but add them in info to allow `i gnus-treat-foo-bar RET' or
12612 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize
12613 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize-head
12614 @vindex gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences
12615 @vindex gnus-treat-overstrike
12616 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-cr
12617 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
12618 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
12619 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
12620 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-pem
12621 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
12622 @vindex gnus-treat-unsplit-urls
12623 @vindex gnus-treat-wash-html
12624 @vindex gnus-treat-date-english
12625 @vindex gnus-treat-date-iso8601
12626 @vindex gnus-treat-date-lapsed
12627 @vindex gnus-treat-date-local
12628 @vindex gnus-treat-date-original
12629 @vindex gnus-treat-date-user-defined
12630 @vindex gnus-treat-date-ut
12631 @vindex gnus-treat-from-picon
12632 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-picon
12633 @vindex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
12634 @vindex gnus-treat-display-smileys
12635 @vindex gnus-treat-body-boundary
12636 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12637 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12638 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12639 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12640 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12641 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12642 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12643 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12644 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12645 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12646 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12647 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12648 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12649 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12650 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12651 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12652 @vindex gnus-treat-translate
12653 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12654 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12655 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12656 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12657 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12660 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
12661 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
12662 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
12663 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
12666 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
12667 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
12669 @xref{Article Buttons}.
12671 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
12672 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
12673 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
12674 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
12675 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
12676 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
12677 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
12678 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
12679 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
12680 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
12682 @xref{Article Washing}.
12684 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
12685 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
12686 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
12687 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
12688 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
12689 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
12690 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
12692 @xref{Article Date}.
12694 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
12695 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
12696 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
12700 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
12702 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
12704 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
12705 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
12706 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
12710 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12711 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
12715 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12716 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
12720 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12721 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
12722 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12723 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
12724 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12725 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
12726 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12727 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
12728 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12729 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
12730 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12731 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
12732 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12733 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
12734 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12735 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
12736 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12737 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
12738 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12739 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
12741 @xref{Article Hiding}.
12743 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12744 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
12745 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12746 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
12747 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12748 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
12750 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
12752 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12753 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
12754 @vindex gnus-treat-translate
12755 @item gnus-treat-translate
12756 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
12757 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12758 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
12760 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12761 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
12762 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12763 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
12764 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12765 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
12766 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12767 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
12769 @xref{Article Header}.
12774 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
12775 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
12776 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
12777 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
12778 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
12782 @node Article Keymap
12783 @section Article Keymap
12785 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
12786 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
12787 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
12788 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
12791 @kindex v (Article)
12792 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Article)
12793 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
12794 command or better use it as a prefix key.
12796 A few additional keystrokes are available:
12801 @kindex SPACE (Article)
12802 @findex gnus-article-next-page
12803 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
12804 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
12807 @kindex DEL (Article)
12808 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
12809 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
12810 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
12813 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
12814 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
12815 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
12816 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
12817 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
12820 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
12821 @findex gnus-article-mail
12822 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
12823 given a prefix, include the mail.
12826 @kindex s (Article)
12827 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
12828 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
12829 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
12832 @kindex ? (Article)
12833 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
12834 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
12835 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
12838 @kindex TAB (Article)
12839 @findex gnus-article-next-button
12840 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
12841 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
12844 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
12845 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
12846 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
12849 @kindex R (Article)
12850 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
12851 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
12852 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If the region is active,
12853 only yank the text in the region.
12856 @kindex S W (Article)
12857 @findex gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original
12858 Send a wide reply to the current article and yank the current article
12859 (@code{gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original}). If the region is
12860 active, only yank the text in the region.
12863 @kindex F (Article)
12864 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
12865 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
12866 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If the region is active,
12867 only yank the text in the region.
12874 @section Misc Article
12878 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
12879 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
12880 @cindex article buffers, several
12881 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
12882 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
12885 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
12886 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
12887 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12888 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
12889 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
12891 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
12892 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
12893 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
12894 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
12895 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
12896 the contents of the article buffer.
12898 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
12899 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
12900 Hook called in article mode buffers.
12902 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12903 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12904 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
12905 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
12907 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
12908 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
12909 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
12910 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
12912 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
12913 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
12914 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
12915 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
12916 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
12917 with two extensions:
12922 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
12923 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
12924 performed. The characters and their meaning:
12929 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
12932 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
12935 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
12936 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
12937 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
12940 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
12943 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
12946 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasized strings in the article buffer.
12951 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
12955 @vindex gnus-break-pages
12957 @item gnus-break-pages
12958 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
12959 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
12960 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
12961 paging will not be done.
12963 @item gnus-page-delimiter
12964 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
12965 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
12969 @cindex internationalized domain names
12970 @vindex gnus-use-idna
12971 @item gnus-use-idna
12972 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
12973 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
12974 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
12975 for how to compose such messages. This requires
12976 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
12977 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
12982 @node Composing Messages
12983 @chapter Composing Messages
12984 @cindex composing messages
12987 @cindex sending mail
12992 @cindex using s/mime
12993 @cindex using smime
12995 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
12996 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
12997 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
12998 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
12999 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
13000 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
13003 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
13004 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
13005 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
13006 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
13007 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
13008 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
13009 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
13010 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
13011 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
13014 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
13015 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
13021 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
13024 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
13025 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
13026 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
13027 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
13028 @code{nil} include all headers.
13030 @item gnus-add-to-list
13031 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
13032 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
13033 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
13035 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
13036 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
13037 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
13038 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
13039 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
13040 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
13041 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
13042 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
13044 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
13045 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
13047 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
13048 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
13049 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
13050 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
13051 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
13056 @node Posting Server
13057 @section Posting Server
13059 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
13060 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
13062 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
13064 It can be quite complicated.
13066 @vindex gnus-post-method
13067 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
13068 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
13069 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
13070 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
13071 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
13072 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
13073 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
13074 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
13075 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
13078 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
13081 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
13082 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
13083 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
13084 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
13086 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
13087 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
13089 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
13090 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
13093 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
13094 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
13096 @vindex message-send-mail-function
13097 When sending mail, Message invokes the function specified by the
13098 variable @code{message-send-mail-function}. Gnus tries to set it to a
13099 value suitable for your system.
13100 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Mail Variables,message,Message manual}, for more
13103 @node POP before SMTP
13104 @section POP before SMTP
13105 @cindex pop before smtp
13106 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
13107 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
13109 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
13110 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
13111 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
13112 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
13113 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13116 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
13117 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
13121 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
13122 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
13123 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
13124 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
13125 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
13126 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
13127 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
13128 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
13130 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
13131 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
13132 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
13133 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
13134 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
13135 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
13138 (setq mail-source-primary-source
13139 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13140 :password "secret"))
13144 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
13145 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
13148 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
13150 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
13151 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13152 :password "secret")))
13153 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
13156 @node Mail and Post
13157 @section Mail and Post
13159 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
13163 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
13164 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
13165 @cindex mailing lists
13167 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
13168 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
13169 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
13170 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
13171 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
13172 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
13173 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
13174 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
13175 still a pain, though.
13177 @item gnus-user-agent
13178 @vindex gnus-user-agent
13181 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
13182 User-Agent header. It can be a list of symbols or a string. Valid
13183 symbols are @code{gnus} (show Gnus version) and @code{emacs} (show Emacs
13184 version). In addition to the Emacs version, you can add @code{codename}
13185 (show (S)XEmacs codename) or either @code{config} (show system
13186 configuration) or @code{type} (show system type). If you set it to a
13187 string, be sure to use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
13191 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
13192 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
13193 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
13196 @findex ispell-message
13198 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
13201 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
13202 you're in, you could say something like the following:
13205 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
13209 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
13210 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
13212 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
13215 Modify to suit your needs.
13217 @vindex gnus-message-highlight-citation
13218 If @code{gnus-message-highlight-citation} is t, different levels of
13219 citations are highlighted like in Gnus article buffers also in message
13222 @node Archived Messages
13223 @section Archived Messages
13224 @cindex archived messages
13225 @cindex sent messages
13227 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
13228 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
13229 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
13230 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
13233 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
13234 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
13237 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
13238 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
13239 use to store sent messages. The default is @code{"archive"}, and when
13240 actually being used it is expanded into:
13243 (nnfolder "archive"
13244 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
13245 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
13246 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
13247 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
13251 @vindex gnus-update-message-archive-method
13252 Note: a server like this is saved in the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file first
13253 so that it may be used as a real method of the server which is named
13254 @code{"archive"} (that is, for the case where
13255 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} is set to @code{"archive"}) ever
13256 since. If it once has been saved, it will never be updated by default
13257 even if you change the value of @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
13258 afterward. Therefore, the server @code{"archive"} doesn't necessarily
13259 mean the @code{nnfolder} server like this at all times. If you want the
13260 saved method to reflect always the value of
13261 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, set the
13262 @code{gnus-update-message-archive-method} variable to a non-@code{nil}
13263 value. The default value of this variable is @code{nil}.
13266 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
13267 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
13268 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
13269 directory chosen, you could say something like:
13272 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
13273 '(nnfolder "archive"
13274 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
13275 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
13276 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
13279 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
13281 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
13282 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
13283 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
13285 This variable can be used to do the following:
13289 Messages will be saved in that group.
13291 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
13292 message will not be stored in the select method given by
13293 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
13294 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
13295 has the default value shown above. Then setting
13296 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
13297 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
13298 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
13301 @item a list of strings
13302 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
13304 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
13305 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
13308 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
13313 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
13315 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
13318 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
13320 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
13323 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
13325 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13326 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
13327 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
13328 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
13331 More complex stuff:
13333 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13334 '((if (message-news-p)
13339 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
13340 messages in one file per month:
13343 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13344 '((if (message-news-p)
13346 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
13349 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
13350 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
13352 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
13353 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
13354 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
13355 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
13356 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
13357 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
13358 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
13359 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
13360 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
13361 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
13363 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
13364 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
13365 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
13366 this will disable archiving.
13369 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
13370 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
13371 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
13372 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
13373 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
13376 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
13377 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
13378 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
13381 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
13382 but the latter is the preferred method.
13384 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
13385 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
13386 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
13388 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
13389 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
13390 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
13391 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
13392 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
13393 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
13394 changed in the future.
13399 @node Posting Styles
13400 @section Posting Styles
13401 @cindex posting styles
13404 All them variables, they make my head swim.
13406 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
13407 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
13408 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
13411 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
13412 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
13413 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
13414 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
13415 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
13420 (signature "Peace and happiness")
13421 (organization "What me?"))
13423 (signature "Death to everybody"))
13424 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
13425 (organization "Emacs is it")))
13428 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
13429 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
13430 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
13431 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
13432 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
13433 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
13434 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
13435 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
13437 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
13438 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
13439 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
13440 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
13441 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
13442 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
13443 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
13444 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
13445 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
13446 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
13447 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
13448 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
13449 said to @dfn{match}.
13451 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
13452 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
13453 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
13454 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
13455 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
13456 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
13457 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
13458 name can be one of:
13461 @item @code{signature}
13462 @item @code{signature-file}
13463 @item @code{x-face-file}
13464 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
13465 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
13469 Note that the @code{signature-file} attribute honors the variable
13470 @code{message-signature-directory}.
13472 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
13473 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
13474 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
13475 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
13476 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
13478 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
13479 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
13480 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
13481 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
13482 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
13483 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
13484 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
13485 references chars lines xref extra.
13487 @vindex message-reply-headers
13489 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
13490 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
13491 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
13493 @findex message-mail-p
13494 @findex message-news-p
13496 So here's a new example:
13499 (setq gnus-posting-styles
13501 (signature-file "~/.signature")
13503 (x-face-file "~/.xface")
13504 (x-url (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
13505 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
13507 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
13508 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
13509 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
13510 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
13511 (signature my-news-signature))
13512 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
13513 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
13514 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
13515 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
13516 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
13517 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
13518 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
13519 (address "user@@bar.foo")
13520 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
13521 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
13523 (From (with-current-buffer gnus-article-buffer
13524 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
13526 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
13529 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
13530 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
13531 if you fill many roles.
13532 You may also use @code{message-alternative-emails} instead.
13533 @xref{Message Headers, ,Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
13539 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
13540 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
13541 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
13542 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
13543 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
13545 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
13546 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
13547 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
13548 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
13549 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
13553 @vindex nndraft-directory
13554 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
13555 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
13556 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
13557 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
13558 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
13559 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
13561 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
13562 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
13563 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
13564 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
13565 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
13566 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
13567 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
13568 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
13569 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
13571 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
13572 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
13573 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
13574 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
13575 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
13576 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
13577 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
13578 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
13579 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
13580 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
13581 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
13582 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
13583 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
13584 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
13586 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
13587 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
13588 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
13590 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
13591 @kindex D e (Draft)
13592 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
13593 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
13594 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
13596 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
13599 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
13600 @kindex D s (Draft)
13601 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
13602 @kindex D S (Draft)
13603 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
13604 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
13605 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
13606 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
13607 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
13610 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
13611 @kindex D t (Draft)
13612 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
13613 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
13614 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
13616 Finally, if you want to delete a draft, use the normal @kbd{B DEL}
13617 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13620 @node Rejected Articles
13621 @section Rejected Articles
13622 @cindex rejected articles
13624 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
13625 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
13626 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
13627 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
13629 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
13630 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
13631 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
13632 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
13633 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
13635 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
13636 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
13637 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
13639 @node Signing and encrypting
13640 @section Signing and encrypting
13642 @cindex using s/mime
13643 @cindex using smime
13645 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
13646 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
13647 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
13648 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
13650 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
13651 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
13652 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
13653 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
13654 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
13655 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
13656 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
13657 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
13658 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
13659 automatically encrypted messages.
13661 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
13662 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
13663 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
13668 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
13669 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
13671 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13674 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
13675 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13677 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13680 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
13681 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13683 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13686 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
13687 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
13689 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13692 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
13693 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
13695 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13698 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
13699 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
13701 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13704 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
13705 @findex mml-unsecure-message
13706 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
13710 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
13712 @node Select Methods
13713 @chapter Select Methods
13714 @cindex foreign groups
13715 @cindex select methods
13717 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
13718 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
13719 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
13720 personal mail group.
13722 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
13723 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
13724 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
13725 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
13726 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
13727 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
13729 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
13730 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
13732 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
13735 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
13736 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
13737 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
13738 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
13739 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
13741 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
13744 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
13745 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
13746 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
13747 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
13748 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
13749 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
13750 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
13751 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
13752 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
13756 @node Server Buffer
13757 @section Server Buffer
13759 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
13760 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
13761 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
13762 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
13763 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
13764 back end represents a virtual server.
13766 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
13767 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
13768 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
13769 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
13771 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
13772 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
13773 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
13774 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
13775 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
13776 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
13777 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
13779 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
13780 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
13783 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
13784 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
13785 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
13786 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
13787 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
13788 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
13789 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
13792 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
13793 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
13796 @node Server Buffer Format
13797 @subsection Server Buffer Format
13798 @cindex server buffer format
13800 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
13801 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
13802 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
13803 variable, with some simple extensions:
13808 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
13811 The name of this server.
13814 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
13817 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
13820 Whether this server is agentized.
13823 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
13824 The mode line can also be customized by using the
13825 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
13826 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
13836 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
13839 @node Server Commands
13840 @subsection Server Commands
13841 @cindex server commands
13847 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Server)
13848 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
13849 command or better use it as a prefix key.
13853 @findex gnus-server-add-server
13854 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
13858 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
13859 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
13862 @kindex SPACE (Server)
13863 @findex gnus-server-read-server
13864 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
13868 @findex gnus-server-exit
13869 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
13873 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
13874 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
13878 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
13879 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
13883 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13884 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
13888 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
13889 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
13893 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
13894 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
13895 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
13900 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
13901 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
13902 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
13903 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
13907 @findex gnus-server-compact-server
13909 Compact all groups in the server under point
13910 (@code{gnus-server-compact-server}). Currently implemented only in
13911 nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes gaps between article numbers,
13912 hence getting a correct total article count.
13917 @node Example Methods
13918 @subsection Example Methods
13920 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
13923 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
13926 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
13932 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
13933 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
13936 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
13937 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
13939 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
13940 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
13944 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
13947 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
13948 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
13950 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
13951 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
13952 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
13956 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
13959 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
13962 Here's the method for a public spool:
13966 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
13967 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
13973 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
13974 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
13975 on the firewall machine and connect with
13976 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} from there to the
13977 @acronym{NNTP} server.
13978 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
13979 should probably look something like this:
13983 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)
13984 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
13985 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host"))
13988 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
13989 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
13990 configuration to the example above:
13993 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13996 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}. Here's an example for
13997 an indirect connection:
14000 (setq gnus-select-method
14002 (nntp-address "news.server.example")
14003 (nntp-via-user-name "intermediate_user_name")
14004 (nntp-via-address "intermediate.host.example")
14005 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
14006 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches ("-C"))
14007 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)))
14010 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
14011 provide automatic authorization, of course.
14013 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
14014 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
14015 netcat connection to the news server as follows:
14019 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14020 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
14021 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
14025 @node Creating a Virtual Server
14026 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
14028 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
14029 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
14031 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
14032 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
14033 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
14035 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
14037 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
14038 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
14039 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
14040 will contain the following:
14050 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
14051 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
14054 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
14055 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
14056 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
14059 @node Server Variables
14060 @subsection Server Variables
14061 @cindex server variables
14062 @cindex server parameters
14064 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
14065 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
14066 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
14067 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
14068 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
14070 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
14071 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
14072 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
14073 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
14074 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
14075 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
14076 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
14077 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
14078 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
14082 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
14083 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
14084 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
14087 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
14089 @node Servers and Methods
14090 @subsection Servers and Methods
14092 Wherever you would normally use a select method
14093 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
14094 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
14095 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
14099 @node Unavailable Servers
14100 @subsection Unavailable Servers
14102 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
14103 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
14104 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
14105 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
14106 actually the case or not.
14108 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
14109 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
14110 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
14111 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
14112 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
14113 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
14114 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
14115 it will regard that server as ``down''.
14117 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
14118 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
14120 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
14121 with the following commands:
14127 @findex gnus-server-open-server
14128 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
14129 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
14133 @findex gnus-server-close-server
14134 Close the connection (if any) to the server
14135 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
14139 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
14140 Mark the current server as unreachable
14141 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
14144 @kindex M-o (Server)
14145 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
14146 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
14147 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
14150 @kindex M-c (Server)
14151 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
14152 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
14153 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
14157 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
14158 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
14159 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
14163 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
14164 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
14170 @section Getting News
14171 @cindex reading news
14172 @cindex news back ends
14174 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
14175 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
14176 or it can read from a local spool.
14179 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
14180 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
14188 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
14189 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
14190 server as the, uhm, address.
14192 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
14193 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
14194 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
14195 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14197 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
14198 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
14199 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
14201 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
14206 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
14207 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
14208 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
14210 @cindex authentication
14211 @cindex nntp authentication
14212 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
14213 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
14214 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
14215 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
14216 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
14217 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
14218 present in this hook.
14220 @item nntp-authinfo-function
14221 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
14222 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
14223 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
14224 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
14225 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
14226 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
14227 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
14228 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
14229 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
14230 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
14231 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
14235 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
14238 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
14240 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
14241 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
14242 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
14243 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
14244 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
14245 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
14246 @samp{force} is explained below.
14250 Here's an example file:
14253 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
14254 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
14257 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
14258 have to be first, for instance.
14260 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
14261 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
14262 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
14263 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
14264 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
14265 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
14266 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
14268 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
14269 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
14275 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
14276 previously mentioned.
14278 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
14280 @item nntp-server-action-alist
14281 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
14282 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
14283 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
14284 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
14287 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
14288 '(("innd" (ding))))
14291 You probably don't want to do that, though.
14293 The default value is
14296 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
14297 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
14298 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
14301 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
14302 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
14304 @item nntp-maximum-request
14305 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
14306 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
14307 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
14308 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
14309 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
14310 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
14311 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
14313 @item nntp-connection-timeout
14314 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
14315 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
14316 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
14317 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
14318 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
14319 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
14320 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
14321 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
14322 no timeouts are done.
14324 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
14325 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
14326 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
14327 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
14330 @item nntp-xover-commands
14331 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
14332 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
14334 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
14335 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
14339 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
14340 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
14341 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
14342 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
14343 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
14344 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
14345 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
14346 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
14347 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
14348 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
14349 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
14351 @item nntp-xref-number-is-evil
14352 @vindex nntp-xref-number-is-evil
14353 When Gnus refers to an article having the @code{Message-ID} that a user
14354 specifies or having the @code{Message-ID} of the parent article of the
14355 current one (@pxref{Finding the Parent}), Gnus sends a @code{HEAD}
14356 command to the @acronym{NNTP} server to know where it is, and the server
14357 returns the data containing the pairs of a group and an article number
14358 in the @code{Xref} header. Gnus normally uses the article number to
14359 refer to the article if the data shows that that article is in the
14360 current group, while it uses the @code{Message-ID} otherwise. However,
14361 some news servers, e.g., ones running Diablo, run multiple engines
14362 having the same articles but article numbers are not kept synchronized
14363 between them. In that case, the article number that appears in the
14364 @code{Xref} header varies by which engine is chosen, so you cannot refer
14365 to the parent article that is in the current group, for instance. If
14366 you connect to such a server, set this variable to a non-@code{nil}
14367 value, and Gnus never uses article numbers. For example:
14370 (setq gnus-select-method
14372 (nntp-address "newszilla.example.com")
14373 (nntp-xref-number-is-evil t)
14377 The default value of this server variable is @code{nil}.
14379 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
14380 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
14381 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
14383 @item nntp-record-commands
14384 @vindex nntp-record-commands
14385 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
14386 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
14387 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
14388 that doesn't seem to work.
14390 @item nntp-open-connection-function
14391 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
14392 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
14393 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
14394 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
14395 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
14396 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
14397 indirect ones (three pre-made).
14399 @item nntp-never-echoes-commands
14400 @vindex nntp-never-echoes-commands
14401 Non-@code{nil} means the nntp server never echoes commands. It is
14402 reported that some nntps server doesn't echo commands. So, you may want
14403 to set this to non-@code{nil} in the method for such a server setting
14404 @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream} for
14405 example. The default value is @code{nil}. Note that the
14406 @code{nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands} variable
14407 overrides the @code{nil} value of this variable.
14409 @item nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
14410 @vindex nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
14411 List of functions that never echo commands. Add or set a function which
14412 you set to @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to this list if it does
14413 not echo commands. Note that a non-@code{nil} value of the
14414 @code{nntp-never-echoes-commands} variable overrides this variable. The
14415 default value is @code{(nntp-open-network-stream)}.
14417 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
14418 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
14419 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
14420 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
14421 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
14422 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
14423 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
14426 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
14429 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
14430 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
14435 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
14436 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
14437 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
14438 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
14442 @node Direct Functions
14443 @subsubsection Direct Functions
14444 @cindex direct connection functions
14446 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
14447 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
14448 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
14449 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14452 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
14453 @item nntp-open-network-stream
14454 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
14457 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
14458 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
14459 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
14460 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
14461 installed. You then define a server as follows:
14464 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
14465 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
14467 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
14468 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
14469 (nntp-port-number 563)
14470 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
14473 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
14474 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
14475 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
14476 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
14477 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
14478 then define a server as follows:
14481 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
14482 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
14484 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
14485 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
14486 (nntp-port-number 563)
14487 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
14490 @findex nntp-open-netcat-stream
14491 @item nntp-open-netcat-stream
14492 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server using the @code{netcat}
14493 program. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have
14494 the default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
14495 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
14496 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
14497 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
14501 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14502 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
14503 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
14506 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
14507 session, which is not a good idea.
14509 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
14510 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
14511 Like @code{nntp-open-netcat-stream}, but uses @code{telnet} rather than
14512 @code{netcat}. @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things
14513 like line-end-conversion, but sometimes netcat is simply
14514 not available. The previous example would turn into:
14518 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14519 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
14520 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
14521 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
14526 @node Indirect Functions
14527 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
14528 @cindex indirect connection functions
14530 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
14531 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14532 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
14533 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
14534 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
14535 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14538 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
14539 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
14540 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then uses @code{netcat} to connect
14541 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
14542 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
14544 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
14547 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
14548 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
14549 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
14550 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
14552 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14553 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14554 List of strings to be used as the switches to
14555 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
14556 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
14557 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections.
14560 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
14561 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
14562 Does essentially the same, but uses @code{telnet} instead of @samp{netcat}
14563 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
14564 @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things like
14565 line-end-conversion, but sometimes @code{netcat} is simply not available.
14567 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14570 @item nntp-telnet-command
14571 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
14572 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
14573 intermediate host. The default is @samp{telnet}.
14575 @item nntp-telnet-switches
14576 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
14577 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14578 @code{nntp-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{("-8")}.
14580 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
14581 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
14582 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
14583 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
14585 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14586 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14587 List of strings to be used as the switches to
14588 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. If you use @samp{ssh}, you may need to set
14589 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
14590 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
14591 host. The default is @code{nil}.
14594 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14595 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14597 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14598 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14599 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
14600 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
14602 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14605 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
14606 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
14607 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
14610 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
14611 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
14612 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14613 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
14615 @item nntp-via-user-password
14616 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
14617 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
14619 @item nntp-via-envuser
14620 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
14621 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
14622 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
14623 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
14625 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
14626 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
14627 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
14628 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
14632 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14633 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14637 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
14642 @item nntp-via-user-name
14643 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
14644 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
14646 @item nntp-via-address
14647 @vindex nntp-via-address
14648 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
14653 @node Common Variables
14654 @subsubsection Common Variables
14656 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
14657 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
14658 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
14659 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
14660 variables individually).
14664 @item nntp-pre-command
14665 @vindex nntp-pre-command
14666 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
14667 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
14668 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
14669 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
14672 @vindex nntp-address
14673 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14675 @item nntp-port-number
14676 @vindex nntp-port-number
14677 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14678 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
14679 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
14680 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
14681 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
14682 not work with named ports.
14684 @item nntp-end-of-line
14685 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
14686 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
14687 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
14688 using a non native telnet connection function.
14690 @item nntp-netcat-command
14691 @vindex nntp-netcat-command
14692 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
14693 @samp{netcat}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
14694 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14697 @item nntp-netcat-switches
14698 @vindex nntp-netcat-switches
14699 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-netcat-command}. The default
14705 @subsubsection NNTP marks
14706 @cindex storing NNTP marks
14708 Gnus stores marks (@pxref{Marking Articles}) for @acronym{NNTP}
14709 servers in marks files. A marks file records what marks you have set
14710 in a group and each file is specific to the corresponding server.
14711 Marks files are stored in @file{~/News/marks}
14712 (@code{nntp-marks-directory}) under a classic hierarchy resembling
14713 that of a news server, for example marks for the group
14714 @samp{gmane.discuss} on the news.gmane.org server will be stored in
14715 the file @file{~/News/marks/news.gmane.org/gmane/discuss/.marks}.
14717 Marks files are useful because you can copy the @file{~/News/marks}
14718 directory (using rsync, scp or whatever) to another Gnus installation,
14719 and it will realize what articles you have read and marked. The data
14720 in @file{~/News/marks} has priority over the same data in
14721 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
14723 Note that marks files are very much server-specific: Gnus remembers
14724 the article numbers so if you don't use the same servers on both
14725 installations things are most likely to break (most @acronym{NNTP}
14726 servers do not use the same article numbers as any other server).
14727 However, if you use servers A, B, C on one installation and servers A,
14728 D, E on the other, you can sync the marks files for A and then you'll
14729 get synchronization for that server between the two installations.
14731 Using @acronym{NNTP} marks can possibly incur a performance penalty so
14732 if Gnus feels sluggish, try setting the @code{nntp-marks-is-evil}
14733 variable to @code{t}. Marks will then be stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
14739 @item nntp-marks-is-evil
14740 @vindex nntp-marks-is-evil
14741 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any marks files. The
14742 default is @code{nil}.
14744 @item nntp-marks-directory
14745 @vindex nntp-marks-directory
14746 The directory where marks for nntp groups will be stored.
14752 @subsection News Spool
14756 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
14757 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
14758 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
14761 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
14762 anything else) as the address.
14764 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
14765 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
14766 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
14767 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
14771 @item nnspool-inews-program
14772 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
14773 Program used to post an article.
14775 @item nnspool-inews-switches
14776 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
14777 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
14779 @item nnspool-spool-directory
14780 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
14781 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
14782 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
14784 @item nnspool-nov-directory
14785 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
14786 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
14787 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
14789 @item nnspool-lib-dir
14790 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
14791 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
14793 @item nnspool-active-file
14794 @vindex nnspool-active-file
14795 The name of the active file.
14797 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
14798 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
14799 The name of the group descriptions file.
14801 @item nnspool-history-file
14802 @vindex nnspool-history-file
14803 The name of the news history file.
14805 @item nnspool-active-times-file
14806 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
14807 The name of the active date file.
14809 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
14810 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
14811 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
14814 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14815 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14817 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
14818 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
14819 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
14826 @section Getting Mail
14827 @cindex reading mail
14830 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
14834 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
14835 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
14836 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
14837 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
14838 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
14839 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
14840 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
14841 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
14842 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
14843 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
14844 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
14845 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
14846 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
14850 @node Mail in a Newsreader
14851 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
14853 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
14854 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
14855 of a culture shock.
14857 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
14858 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
14860 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
14861 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
14862 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
14863 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
14865 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
14867 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
14868 deleted? How awful!
14870 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
14871 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
14872 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
14873 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
14876 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
14877 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
14878 they want to treat a message.
14880 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
14881 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
14882 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
14883 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
14884 archived somewhere else.
14886 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
14887 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
14888 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
14889 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
14890 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
14892 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
14893 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
14894 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
14896 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
14897 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
14900 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
14901 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
14902 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
14903 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
14904 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
14906 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
14907 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
14908 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
14909 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
14910 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
14911 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
14915 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
14916 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
14918 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
14919 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
14920 and things will happen automatically.
14922 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
14923 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14926 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14929 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
14930 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
14931 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
14932 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
14933 like any other group.
14935 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
14938 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14939 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14940 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14944 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
14945 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
14946 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
14949 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
14950 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
14951 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
14954 @node Splitting Mail
14955 @subsection Splitting Mail
14956 @cindex splitting mail
14957 @cindex mail splitting
14958 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
14960 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
14961 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
14962 to be split into groups.
14965 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14966 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
14967 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
14968 ("mail.other" "")))
14971 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
14972 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
14973 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
14974 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
14975 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
14976 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
14977 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
14980 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
14984 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
14985 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
14987 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
14988 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
14989 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
14990 mail belongs in that group.
14992 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
14993 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
14994 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
14995 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
14996 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
14997 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
14998 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
14999 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
15000 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
15001 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
15003 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
15004 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
15005 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
15006 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
15007 thinks should carry this mail message.
15009 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
15010 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
15011 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
15012 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
15014 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
15015 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
15016 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
15017 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
15018 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
15020 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
15023 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
15024 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
15025 links. If that's the case for you, set
15026 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
15027 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
15029 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
15030 @findex nnmail-split-history
15031 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
15032 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
15033 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
15034 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
15037 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
15038 Header lines longer than the value of
15039 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
15042 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
15043 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
15044 By default, splitting does not decode headers, so you can not match on
15045 non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. But it is useful if you want to match
15046 articles based on the raw header data. To enable it, set the
15047 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} variable to a non-@code{nil} value.
15048 In addition, the value of the @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
15049 variable is used for decoding non-@acronym{MIME} encoded string when
15050 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} is non-@code{nil}. The default
15051 value is @code{nil} which means not to decode non-@acronym{MIME} encoded
15052 string. A suitable value for you will be @code{undecided} or be the
15053 charset used normally in mails you are interested in.
15055 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
15056 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
15057 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
15058 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
15059 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
15060 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
15061 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
15062 other kinds of entries.)
15064 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
15065 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
15066 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
15067 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
15068 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
15069 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
15070 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
15071 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
15072 month's rent money.
15076 @subsection Mail Sources
15078 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
15079 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
15080 maildir, for instance.
15083 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
15084 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
15085 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
15089 @node Mail Source Specifiers
15090 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
15092 @cindex mail server
15095 @cindex mail source
15097 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
15098 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
15103 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
15106 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
15107 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
15108 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
15111 The @code{mail-sources} is global for all mail groups. You can specify
15112 an additional mail source for a particular group by including the
15113 @code{group} mail specifier in @code{mail-sources}, and setting a
15114 @code{mail-source} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) specifying
15115 a single mail source. When this is used, @code{mail-sources} is
15116 typically just @code{(group)}; the @code{mail-source} parameter for a
15117 group might look like this:
15120 (mail-source . (file :path "home/user/spools/foo.spool"))
15123 This means that the group's (and only this group's) messages will be
15124 fetched from the spool file @samp{/user/spools/foo.spool}.
15126 The following mail source types are available:
15130 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
15136 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
15137 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
15138 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
15142 Script run before/after fetching mail.
15145 An example file mail source:
15148 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
15151 Or using the default file name:
15157 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
15158 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
15159 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
15160 mail spool while moving the mail.
15162 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
15166 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
15169 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
15173 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
15176 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
15178 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
15181 Alter this script to fit the @samp{movemail} and temporary
15182 file you want to use.
15186 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
15187 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
15188 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
15189 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
15190 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
15191 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
15192 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
15193 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
15194 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
15195 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
15197 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
15198 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
15199 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
15200 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
15206 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
15210 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
15214 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
15215 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
15216 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
15217 predicate are considered.
15221 Script run before/after fetching mail.
15225 An example directory mail source:
15228 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
15233 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
15239 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
15240 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
15243 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
15244 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
15245 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
15246 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
15247 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
15250 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
15254 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
15255 the user is prompted.
15258 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
15259 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
15262 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
15265 The valid format specifier characters are:
15269 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
15270 included in this string.
15273 The name of the server.
15276 The port number of the server.
15279 The user name to use.
15282 The password to use.
15285 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15286 corresponding keywords.
15289 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
15290 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
15293 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
15294 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
15297 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
15298 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
15299 mail should be moved to.
15301 @item :authentication
15302 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
15303 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
15308 @vindex pop3-movemail
15309 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
15310 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
15311 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server}
15312 is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be left on the @acronym{POP} server
15313 after fetching when using @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers
15314 maintain no state information between sessions, so what the client
15315 believes is there and what is actually there may not match up. If they
15316 do not, then you may get duplicate mails or the whole thing can fall
15317 apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
15319 Here are some examples for getting mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
15320 Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server, using the default user
15321 name, and default fetcher:
15327 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
15330 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
15331 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
15334 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
15337 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
15341 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
15342 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
15343 contains exactly one mail.
15349 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
15350 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
15353 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
15354 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
15356 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
15357 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
15358 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
15361 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
15362 from locking problems).
15366 Two example maildir mail sources:
15369 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
15370 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
15374 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
15379 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
15380 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
15381 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
15382 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
15383 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
15385 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
15386 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
15392 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
15393 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
15396 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
15397 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
15400 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
15404 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
15408 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
15409 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
15410 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
15411 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
15413 @item :authentication
15414 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
15415 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
15416 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
15417 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
15420 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
15421 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
15422 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
15428 Make sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g.,
15429 don't forget to redirect the error output to the void. The valid format
15430 specifier characters are:
15434 The name of the server.
15437 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
15440 The port number of the server.
15443 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15444 corresponding keywords.
15447 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
15448 which normally is the mailbox which receives incoming mail.
15451 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
15452 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
15453 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
15454 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
15455 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
15456 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
15459 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
15460 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
15461 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
15462 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
15465 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
15466 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
15470 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
15473 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
15475 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
15479 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
15480 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
15481 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
15483 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
15484 required for url "4.0pre.46".
15486 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
15492 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
15493 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
15496 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
15500 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
15504 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
15505 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
15509 An example webmail source:
15512 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
15514 :password "secret")
15518 Get the actual mail source from the @code{mail-source} group parameter,
15519 @xref{Group Parameters}.
15524 @item Common Keywords
15525 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
15531 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
15532 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
15537 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
15542 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
15543 useful when you use local mail and news.
15548 @subsubsection Function Interface
15550 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
15551 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
15552 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
15553 consider the following mail-source setting:
15556 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
15557 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
15560 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
15561 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
15562 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
15563 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
15564 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
15566 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
15569 @node Mail Source Customization
15570 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
15572 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
15573 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
15577 @item mail-source-crash-box
15578 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
15579 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
15580 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
15583 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
15584 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
15585 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
15586 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
15587 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
15588 (the deletion will only happen when receiving new mail). You may also
15589 set @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
15590 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
15591 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{10} in alpha Gnusae
15592 and @code{2} in released Gnusae. @xref{Gnus Development}.
15594 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15595 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15596 If non-@code{nil}, ask for confirmation before deleting old incoming
15597 files. This variable only applies when
15598 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
15600 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
15601 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
15602 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
15604 @item mail-source-directory
15605 @vindex mail-source-directory
15606 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
15607 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
15608 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
15609 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
15611 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15612 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15613 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
15614 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
15615 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
15616 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
15619 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
15620 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
15621 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
15623 @item mail-source-movemail-program
15624 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
15625 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
15626 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
15631 @node Fetching Mail
15632 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
15634 @vindex mail-sources
15635 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
15636 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
15637 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
15639 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to
15640 fetch mail by themselves.
15642 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
15643 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
15648 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15649 :password "secret")))
15652 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
15656 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
15657 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15660 :password "secret")))
15664 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
15665 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
15666 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
15667 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
15668 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
15669 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
15673 @node Mail Back End Variables
15674 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
15676 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
15680 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15681 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15682 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
15683 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
15685 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
15686 @item nnmail-split-hook
15687 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
15688 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
15689 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
15690 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
15691 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
15692 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
15693 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
15694 in the buffer will show up in any files.
15695 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
15698 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15699 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15700 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15701 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15702 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
15703 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
15704 starting to handle the new mail) and
15705 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
15706 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
15707 default file modes the new mail files get:
15710 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15711 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
15713 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15714 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
15717 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
15718 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
15719 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
15720 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
15721 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
15722 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
15723 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
15725 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
15726 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
15727 @findex delete-file
15728 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
15730 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15731 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15732 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
15733 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
15734 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
15736 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15737 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15738 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
15739 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
15740 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
15742 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
15743 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
15744 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
15749 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
15750 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
15751 @cindex mail splitting
15752 @cindex fancy mail splitting
15754 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
15755 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
15756 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
15757 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
15758 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
15759 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
15761 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
15764 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
15765 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
15766 ;; @r{from real errors.}
15767 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
15769 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
15770 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
15771 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
15772 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
15773 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
15774 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
15775 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
15776 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
15777 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
15778 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
15779 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
15780 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
15781 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
15782 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
15783 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
15784 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
15785 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
15789 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
15790 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
15791 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
15796 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
15797 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
15799 @c Don't fold this line.
15800 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split} [@var{invert-partial}])
15801 The split can be a list containing at least three elements. If the
15802 first element @var{field} (a regexp matching a header) contains
15803 @var{value} (also a regexp) then store the message as specified by
15806 If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
15807 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
15808 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
15809 @var{split} is processed.
15811 The last element @var{invert-partial} is optional. If it is
15812 non-@code{nil}, the match-partial-words behavior controlled by the
15813 variable @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} (see below) is
15814 be inverted. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15816 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
15817 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
15818 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
15819 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
15820 stored in one or more groups.
15822 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
15823 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
15824 process all @var{split}s in the list.
15827 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
15828 this message. Use with extreme caution.
15830 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
15831 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
15832 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
15833 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
15836 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
15837 body of the messages:
15840 (defun split-on-body ()
15844 (goto-char (point-min))
15845 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
15849 The buffer is narrowed to the header of the message in question when
15850 @var{function} is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called
15851 after @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
15852 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
15853 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
15854 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
15855 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
15857 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
15858 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
15859 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
15860 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
15861 should return a split.
15864 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
15868 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
15870 Normally, @var{value} in these splits must match a complete @emph{word}
15871 according to the fundamental mode syntax table. In other words, all
15872 @var{value}'s will be implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers,
15873 which are word delimiters. Therefore, if you use the following split,
15877 (any "joe" "joemail")
15881 messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will normally not be filed
15882 in @samp{joemail}. If you want to alter this behavior, you can use any
15883 of the following three ways:
15887 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
15888 You can set the @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} variable
15889 to non-@code{nil} in order to ignore word boundaries and instead the
15890 match becomes more like a grep. This variable controls whether partial
15891 words are matched during fancy splitting. The default value is
15894 Note that it influences all @var{value}'s in your split rules.
15897 @var{value} beginning with @code{.*} ignores word boundaries in front of
15898 a word. Similarly, if @var{value} ends with @code{.*}, word boundaries
15899 in the rear of a word will be ignored. For example, the @var{value}
15900 @code{"@@example\\.com"} does not match @samp{foo@@example.com} but
15901 @code{".*@@example\\.com"} does.
15904 You can set the @var{invert-partial} flag in your split rules of the
15905 @samp{(@var{field} @var{value} @dots{})} types, aforementioned in this
15906 section. If the flag is set, word boundaries on both sides of a word
15907 are ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15908 @code{nil}. Contrarily, if the flag is set, word boundaries are not
15909 ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
15910 non-@code{nil}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15913 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
15914 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
15915 they are expanded as specified by the variable
15916 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
15917 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
15918 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
15919 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
15923 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
15925 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
15926 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
15928 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
15931 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
15932 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
15933 when all this splitting is performed.
15935 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
15936 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
15937 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
15940 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
15943 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
15944 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
15946 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
15947 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
15948 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
15949 groupings 1 through 9.
15951 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
15952 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
15953 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
15954 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
15955 groups when users send to an address using different case
15956 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
15959 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
15960 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
15961 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
15962 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
15963 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
15964 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
15965 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
15966 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
15967 it once per thread.
15969 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
15970 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
15971 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
15972 using the colon feature, like so:
15974 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
15975 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
15977 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
15978 ;; @r{other splits go here}
15982 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
15983 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
15984 in the file specified by the variable
15985 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
15986 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
15987 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
15988 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
15989 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
15990 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
15991 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
15992 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
15993 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
15994 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
15995 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
15996 300 kBytes in size.)
15997 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15998 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
15999 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
16000 messages goes into the new group.
16002 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
16003 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
16004 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
16005 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
16006 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
16007 ``outgoing'' group.
16010 @node Group Mail Splitting
16011 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
16012 @cindex mail splitting
16013 @cindex group mail splitting
16015 @findex gnus-group-split
16016 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
16017 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
16018 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
16019 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
16020 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
16021 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
16022 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
16023 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
16025 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
16026 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
16027 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
16028 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
16030 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
16031 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
16032 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
16033 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
16034 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
16035 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
16036 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
16038 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
16039 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
16040 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
16041 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
16042 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
16043 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
16044 @code{gnus-group-split}.
16046 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
16047 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
16048 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
16049 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
16050 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
16051 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
16052 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
16053 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
16054 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
16055 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
16056 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
16057 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
16058 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
16060 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
16065 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
16066 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
16068 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
16069 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
16070 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
16071 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
16073 ((split-spec . catch-all))
16076 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
16077 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
16078 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
16081 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
16082 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
16083 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
16087 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
16088 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
16089 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
16093 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
16096 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
16097 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
16098 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
16099 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
16100 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
16101 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
16102 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
16103 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
16104 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
16106 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
16107 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
16108 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
16109 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
16110 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
16111 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
16112 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
16113 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
16114 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
16116 @findex gnus-group-split-update
16117 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
16118 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
16119 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
16120 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
16121 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
16124 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
16127 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
16128 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
16129 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
16130 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
16131 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
16134 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
16135 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
16136 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
16137 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
16139 @node Incorporating Old Mail
16140 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
16141 @cindex incorporating old mail
16142 @cindex import old mail
16144 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
16145 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
16146 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
16149 Doing so can be quite easy.
16151 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
16152 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
16153 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
16154 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
16155 your @code{nnml} groups.
16161 Go to the group buffer.
16164 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
16165 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
16168 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
16171 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
16172 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16175 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
16176 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
16179 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
16180 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
16181 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
16182 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
16183 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
16185 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
16186 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
16187 using the new mail back end.
16190 @node Expiring Mail
16191 @subsection Expiring Mail
16192 @cindex article expiry
16193 @cindex expiring mail
16195 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
16196 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
16197 different approach to mail reading.
16199 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
16200 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
16201 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
16202 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
16203 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
16204 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
16207 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
16208 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
16209 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
16210 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
16211 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
16212 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
16213 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
16214 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
16215 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
16217 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
16218 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
16219 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
16220 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
16221 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
16222 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
16223 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
16226 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
16227 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
16228 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
16229 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
16230 into its own group.)
16232 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
16233 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
16234 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
16235 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
16236 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
16237 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
16238 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
16239 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
16242 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
16243 Groups that match the regular expression
16244 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
16245 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
16246 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
16248 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
16249 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
16250 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
16251 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
16252 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
16254 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
16256 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
16257 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
16258 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
16261 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
16262 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
16263 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
16264 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
16265 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
16267 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
16268 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
16271 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
16272 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
16275 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
16276 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
16278 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
16279 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
16280 don't really mix very well.
16282 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
16283 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
16284 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
16285 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
16288 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
16289 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
16290 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
16291 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
16294 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16296 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16298 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
16300 ((string= group "mail.junk")
16302 ((string= group "important")
16308 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
16309 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
16311 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
16312 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
16313 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
16316 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
16317 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16319 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
16320 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
16321 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
16322 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
16323 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
16324 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
16325 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
16326 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
16327 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
16328 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
16329 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
16330 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
16331 name or @code{delete}.
16333 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
16335 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
16338 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
16339 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
16340 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
16341 expire mail to groups according to the variable
16342 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
16345 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
16346 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
16347 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
16348 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
16349 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
16352 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
16353 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
16354 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
16355 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
16356 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
16357 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
16359 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
16360 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
16361 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
16362 easier for procmail users.
16364 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
16365 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
16366 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
16367 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
16368 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
16369 caution. Even more dangerous is the
16370 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
16371 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
16372 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
16373 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
16374 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
16375 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
16376 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
16379 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
16381 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
16382 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
16383 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
16384 auto-expire turned on.
16386 @vindex gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable
16387 The expirable marks of articles will be removed when copying or moving
16388 them to a group in which auto-expire is not turned on. This is for
16389 preventing articles from being expired unintentionally. On the other
16390 hand, to a group that has turned auto-expire on, the expirable marks of
16391 articles that are copied or moved will not be changed by default. I.e.,
16392 when copying or moving to such a group, articles that were expirable
16393 will be left expirable and ones that were not expirable will not be
16394 marked as expirable. So, even though in auto-expire groups, some
16395 articles will never get expired (unless you read them again). If you
16396 don't side with that behavior that unexpirable articles may be mixed
16397 into auto-expire groups, you can set
16398 @code{gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable} to a
16399 non-@code{nil} value. In that case, articles that have been read will
16400 be marked as expirable automatically when being copied or moved to a
16401 group that has auto-expire turned on. The default value is @code{nil}.
16405 @subsection Washing Mail
16406 @cindex mail washing
16407 @cindex list server brain damage
16408 @cindex incoming mail treatment
16410 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
16411 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
16412 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
16413 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
16414 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
16415 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
16417 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
16418 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
16419 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
16422 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
16423 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
16424 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
16425 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
16428 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
16429 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
16430 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
16431 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
16432 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
16435 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
16436 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
16437 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
16438 Emacs running on MS machines.
16442 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
16443 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
16444 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
16445 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
16448 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16449 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16450 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
16451 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
16453 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
16454 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
16455 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
16456 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
16457 into a feature by documenting it.)
16459 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16460 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16461 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
16462 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
16463 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
16464 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
16465 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
16468 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
16469 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
16472 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
16473 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
16476 This can also be done non-destructively with
16477 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
16479 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
16480 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
16481 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
16483 @item nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16484 @findex nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16485 @c @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
16488 Some mail user agents (e.g. Eudora and Pegasus) produce broken
16489 @code{References} headers, but correct @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This
16490 function will get rid of the @code{References} header if the headers
16491 contain a line matching the regular expression
16492 @code{nnmail-broken-references-mailers}.
16496 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16497 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16498 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
16502 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
16503 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
16504 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
16511 @subsection Duplicates
16513 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
16514 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
16515 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
16516 @cindex duplicate mails
16517 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
16518 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
16519 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
16520 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
16521 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
16522 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
16523 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
16524 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
16525 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
16526 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
16527 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
16528 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
16529 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
16531 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
16532 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
16533 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
16534 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
16536 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
16539 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
16540 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
16544 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
16545 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
16546 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
16547 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
16548 (any mail "mail.misc")
16549 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16555 (setq nnmail-split-methods
16556 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
16557 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16561 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
16562 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
16563 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
16564 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
16565 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
16568 @node Not Reading Mail
16569 @subsection Not Reading Mail
16571 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
16572 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
16573 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
16575 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
16576 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
16577 mail, which should help.
16579 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16580 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16581 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16582 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16583 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16584 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
16585 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old (pre-Emacs
16586 23) Rmail file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
16587 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
16588 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
16589 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
16591 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
16592 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
16596 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
16597 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
16599 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
16600 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
16601 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
16603 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
16604 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
16605 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
16609 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
16610 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
16611 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
16612 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
16613 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
16614 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
16615 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
16619 @node Unix Mail Box
16620 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
16622 @cindex unix mail box
16624 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16625 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16626 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
16627 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
16628 which group it belongs in.
16630 Virtual server settings:
16633 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
16634 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16635 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
16638 @item nnmbox-active-file
16639 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16640 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
16641 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
16643 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
16644 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16645 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
16646 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
16651 @subsubsection Babyl
16654 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16655 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16656 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box to store mail.
16657 @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail article to say which
16658 group it belongs in.
16660 Virtual server settings:
16663 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
16664 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16665 The name of the Babyl file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
16667 @item nnbabyl-active-file
16668 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16669 The name of the active file for the Babyl file. The default is
16670 @file{~/.rmail-active}
16672 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16673 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16674 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
16680 @subsubsection Mail Spool
16682 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
16684 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
16685 format. It should be used with some caution.
16687 @vindex nnml-directory
16688 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
16689 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
16690 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
16691 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
16693 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
16696 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
16697 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
16698 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
16699 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
16700 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
16701 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
16702 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
16703 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
16705 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
16706 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
16707 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
16708 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
16710 @cindex self contained nnml servers
16712 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
16713 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
16714 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
16715 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
16716 for a group are usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
16717 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
16718 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
16719 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
16722 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
16723 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
16724 them next time it starts.
16726 Virtual server settings:
16729 @item nnml-directory
16730 @vindex nnml-directory
16731 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
16732 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
16735 @item nnml-active-file
16736 @vindex nnml-active-file
16737 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
16738 @file{~/Mail/active}.
16740 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
16741 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
16742 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16743 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
16745 @item nnml-get-new-mail
16746 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16747 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
16750 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
16751 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
16752 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16753 default is @code{nil}.
16755 @item nnml-nov-file-name
16756 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
16757 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
16759 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16760 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16761 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
16763 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
16764 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
16765 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
16766 default is @code{nil}.
16768 @item nnml-marks-file-name
16769 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
16770 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
16772 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
16773 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
16774 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
16775 files. This requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be enabled
16776 (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
16777 If the value of @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is a string, it is used
16778 as the file extension specifying the compression program. You can set it
16779 to @samp{.bz2} if your Emacs supports it. A value of @code{t} is
16780 equivalent to @samp{.gz}.
16782 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16783 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16784 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
16785 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
16786 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil}.
16790 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
16791 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
16792 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
16793 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
16794 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
16795 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
16796 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
16801 @subsubsection MH Spool
16803 @cindex mh-e mail spool
16805 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
16806 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
16807 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
16808 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
16811 Virtual server settings:
16814 @item nnmh-directory
16815 @vindex nnmh-directory
16816 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
16817 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
16820 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
16821 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16822 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
16826 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
16827 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
16828 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
16829 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
16830 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
16831 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
16832 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
16837 @subsubsection Maildir
16841 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
16842 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
16843 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
16844 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
16845 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
16848 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
16849 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
16850 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
16851 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
16852 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
16853 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
16854 that appear as group in Gnus.
16856 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
16857 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
16858 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
16860 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
16861 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
16862 another, and you will keep your marks.
16864 Virtual server settings:
16868 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
16869 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
16870 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
16871 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
16872 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
16873 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
16874 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
16875 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
16876 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
16877 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
16879 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
16880 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
16881 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
16882 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
16883 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
16884 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
16885 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
16886 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
16887 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
16888 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
16891 @item target-prefix
16892 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
16893 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
16894 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
16897 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
16898 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
16899 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
16900 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
16901 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
16902 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
16903 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
16904 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
16905 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
16907 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
16908 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
16909 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
16910 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
16911 symlinks pointing to them will be).
16913 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
16914 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
16915 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
16916 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
16917 @code{force} argument.
16919 @item directory-files
16920 This should be a function with the same interface as
16921 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
16922 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
16923 parameter is optional; the default is
16924 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
16925 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
16926 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
16927 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
16928 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
16929 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
16932 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
16933 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
16934 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
16935 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
16936 value is @code{nil}.
16938 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
16939 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
16940 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
16941 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
16942 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
16945 @subsubsection Group parameters
16947 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
16948 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
16949 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
16950 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
16951 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
16952 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
16955 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
16956 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
16957 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
16958 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
16959 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
16960 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
16961 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
16962 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
16963 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
16967 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
16968 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
16969 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
16970 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
16971 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
16972 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
16973 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
16974 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
16975 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
16976 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
16977 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
16978 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
16979 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
16982 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
16984 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
16986 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
16987 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
16988 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
16989 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
16990 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
16991 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
16992 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
16993 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
16994 article. So that form can refer to
16995 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
16996 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
16997 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
16998 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
17001 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
17002 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
17003 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
17004 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
17005 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
17006 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
17007 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
17008 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
17009 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
17010 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
17011 contain extra copies of the articles.
17013 @item directory-files
17014 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
17015 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
17016 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
17017 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
17019 @item distrust-Lines:
17020 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
17021 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
17022 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
17025 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
17026 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
17027 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
17028 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
17029 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
17030 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
17033 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
17034 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
17035 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
17036 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
17037 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
17038 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
17039 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
17041 @item nov-cache-size
17042 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
17043 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
17044 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
17045 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
17046 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
17047 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
17048 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
17049 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
17050 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
17051 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
17052 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
17055 @subsubsection Article identification
17056 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
17057 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
17058 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
17059 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
17060 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
17061 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
17062 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
17063 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
17064 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
17065 request the article in the summary buffer.
17067 @subsubsection NOV data
17068 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
17069 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
17070 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
17071 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
17072 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
17073 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
17074 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
17075 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
17076 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
17077 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
17078 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
17080 @subsubsection Article marks
17081 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
17082 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
17083 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
17084 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
17085 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
17086 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
17087 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
17088 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
17090 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
17091 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
17092 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
17093 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
17094 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
17095 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
17096 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
17097 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
17098 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
17102 @subsubsection Mail Folders
17104 @cindex mbox folders
17105 @cindex mail folders
17107 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
17108 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
17109 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
17110 numbers and arrival dates.
17112 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
17114 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
17115 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
17116 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
17117 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
17118 Marks for a group are usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
17119 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
17120 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
17121 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
17122 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
17123 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
17125 Virtual server settings:
17128 @item nnfolder-directory
17129 @vindex nnfolder-directory
17130 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
17131 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
17132 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
17134 @item nnfolder-active-file
17135 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
17136 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
17138 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
17139 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
17140 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
17141 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
17143 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
17144 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
17145 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
17146 default is @code{t}
17148 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
17149 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
17150 @cindex backup files
17151 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
17152 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
17153 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
17154 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
17157 (defun turn-off-backup ()
17158 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
17160 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
17163 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
17164 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
17165 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
17166 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
17167 extract some information from it before removing it.
17169 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
17170 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
17171 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
17172 default is @code{nil}.
17174 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
17175 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
17176 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
17178 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
17179 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
17180 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
17181 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
17183 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
17184 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
17185 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
17186 default is @code{nil}.
17188 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
17189 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
17190 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
17192 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
17193 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
17194 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
17195 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
17200 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
17201 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
17202 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
17203 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
17204 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
17205 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
17208 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
17209 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
17211 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
17212 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
17213 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
17214 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
17215 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
17217 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
17218 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
17219 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
17220 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
17221 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
17222 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
17223 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
17224 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
17227 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
17228 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
17229 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
17230 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
17235 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
17236 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
17237 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
17238 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
17239 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
17240 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
17241 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
17242 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
17243 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
17244 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
17245 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
17246 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
17247 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
17252 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
17253 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
17254 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
17255 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
17256 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
17257 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
17258 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
17259 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
17260 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
17261 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
17262 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
17263 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
17264 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
17265 course, and is still maintained within Emacs. Since Emacs 23, it
17266 uses standard mbox format rather than Babyl.
17268 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
17269 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
17274 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
17275 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
17276 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
17277 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
17278 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
17279 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
17280 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
17281 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
17282 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
17283 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
17284 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
17285 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
17286 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
17287 provided by the active file and overviews.
17289 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
17290 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
17291 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
17292 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
17293 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
17296 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
17297 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
17302 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
17303 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
17304 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
17305 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
17306 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
17307 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
17308 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
17312 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
17313 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
17314 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
17315 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
17316 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
17317 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
17318 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
17319 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
17320 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
17322 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
17323 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
17324 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
17325 friendly mail back end all over.
17329 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
17330 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
17333 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
17334 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
17335 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
17336 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
17337 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
17338 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
17339 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
17340 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
17343 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
17344 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
17345 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
17346 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
17347 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
17348 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
17349 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
17350 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
17351 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
17352 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
17353 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
17355 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
17356 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
17357 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
17358 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
17359 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
17362 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
17363 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
17364 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
17365 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
17366 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
17367 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
17368 removed in the future.
17370 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
17371 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
17372 on your file system.
17374 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
17375 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
17380 @node Browsing the Web
17381 @section Browsing the Web
17383 @cindex browsing the web
17387 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
17388 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
17389 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
17390 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
17391 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
17392 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
17393 even know what a news group is.
17395 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
17396 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
17397 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
17398 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
17399 you mad in the end.
17401 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
17404 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
17405 interfaces to these sources.
17409 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
17410 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
17411 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
17414 All the web sources require Emacs/W3 and the url library or those
17415 alternatives to work.
17417 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
17418 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
17419 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
17420 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
17421 though, you should be ok.
17423 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
17424 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
17425 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
17426 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
17427 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
17429 @node Archiving Mail
17430 @subsection Archiving Mail
17431 @cindex archiving mail
17432 @cindex backup of mail
17434 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
17435 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
17436 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
17437 marks is fairly simple.
17439 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
17440 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
17443 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
17444 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
17445 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
17446 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
17447 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
17448 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
17449 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
17450 before you restore the data.
17452 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
17453 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
17454 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
17455 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
17456 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
17457 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
17458 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
17459 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
17460 is unnecessary in that case.
17463 @subsection Web Searches
17468 @cindex Usenet searches
17469 @cindex searching the Usenet
17471 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
17472 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
17473 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
17474 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
17475 searches without having to use a browser.
17477 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
17478 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
17479 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
17480 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
17481 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
17483 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
17484 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
17485 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
17486 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
17487 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
17488 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
17489 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
17490 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
17491 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
17492 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
17495 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
17496 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
17497 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
17498 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
17499 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
17500 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
17502 You must have the @code{url} and @code{W3} package or those alternatives
17503 (try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{mm-url} variable group)
17504 installed to be able to use @code{nnweb}.
17506 Virtual server variables:
17511 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
17512 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
17513 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
17516 @vindex nnweb-search
17517 The search string to feed to the search engine.
17519 @item nnweb-max-hits
17520 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
17521 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
17524 @item nnweb-type-definition
17525 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
17526 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
17527 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
17532 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
17536 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
17539 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
17542 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
17546 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
17557 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
17558 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
17559 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
17560 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
17561 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
17563 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
17564 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
17566 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
17567 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
17568 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
17571 @kindex G R (Group)
17572 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
17573 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
17574 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
17575 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
17577 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
17578 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
17579 subscribe to groups.
17581 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
17582 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
17583 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
17584 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
17585 variable or other. Also @xref{Non-ASCII Group Names}, for more
17588 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
17589 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
17590 and a @samp{text/html} part.
17593 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
17594 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
17597 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
17598 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
17602 @defun nnrss-opml-export
17603 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
17604 @acronym{OPML} format.
17607 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
17610 @item nnrss-directory
17611 @vindex nnrss-directory
17612 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
17613 @file{~/News/rss/}.
17615 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
17616 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
17617 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
17618 data files. The default is the value of
17619 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
17620 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
17622 @item nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17623 @vindex nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17624 Some feeds update constantly article fields during their publications,
17625 e.g. to indicate the number of comments. However, if there is
17626 a difference between the local article and the distant one, the latter
17627 is considered to be new. To avoid this and discard some fields, set this
17628 variable to the list of fields to be ignored. The default is
17629 @code{'(slash:comments)}.
17631 @item nnrss-use-local
17632 @vindex nnrss-use-local
17633 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
17634 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
17635 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
17636 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
17637 download script using @command{wget}.
17639 @item nnrss-wash-html-in-text-plain-parts
17640 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{nnrss} renders text in @samp{text/plain}
17641 parts as @acronym{HTML}. The function specified by the
17642 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} variable (@pxref{Display Customization,
17643 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) will be used
17644 to render text. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default, text will
17645 simply be folded. Leave it @code{nil} if you prefer to see
17646 @samp{text/html} parts.
17649 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
17650 the summary buffer.
17653 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
17654 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
17656 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
17658 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
17659 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
17662 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
17666 (require 'browse-url)
17668 (defun browse-nnrss-url (arg)
17670 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
17673 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
17674 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
17677 (browse-url (cdr url))
17678 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
17679 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
17681 (eval-after-load "gnus"
17682 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
17683 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
17684 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
17687 Even if you have added @samp{text/html} to the
17688 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
17689 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
17690 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
17691 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
17692 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
17693 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
17694 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
17695 @code{nnrss} groups:
17698 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
17699 (eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
17701 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
17702 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
17703 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
17705 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
17708 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
17712 @node Customizing W3
17713 @subsection Customizing W3
17719 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/W3 (or those
17720 alternatives) to display web pages. Emacs/W3 is documented in its own
17721 manual, but there are some things that may be more relevant for Gnus
17724 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/W3 follow links
17725 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
17726 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
17729 (eval-after-load "w3"
17731 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
17732 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
17733 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
17734 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
17736 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
17739 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in W3-rendered
17740 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
17747 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
17749 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
17750 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
17751 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
17752 specify the network address of the server.
17754 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
17755 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
17756 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
17757 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
17758 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
17759 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
17761 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
17762 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
17763 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
17764 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
17766 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
17767 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
17768 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
17769 usage explained in this section.
17771 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
17772 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
17773 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
17777 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
17778 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
17779 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
17781 (nnimap-address "localhost")
17782 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
17783 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
17785 (nnimap-server-port 143)
17786 (nnimap-address "localhost")
17787 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
17788 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
17789 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
17790 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
17791 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
17792 (nnimap-stream network))
17793 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
17795 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
17796 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
17797 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
17800 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
17801 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
17802 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
17803 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
17805 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
17810 @item nnimap-address
17811 @vindex nnimap-address
17813 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
17814 server name if not specified.
17816 @item nnimap-server-port
17817 @vindex nnimap-server-port
17818 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
17820 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
17823 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17824 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
17827 @item nnimap-list-pattern
17828 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
17829 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
17830 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
17831 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
17832 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
17833 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
17835 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
17836 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
17837 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
17840 Example server specification:
17843 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17844 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
17845 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
17848 @item nnimap-stream
17849 @vindex nnimap-stream
17850 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
17851 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
17852 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
17853 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
17854 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
17856 Example server specification:
17859 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17860 (nnimap-stream ssl))
17863 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
17867 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
17868 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
17870 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
17872 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
17873 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
17876 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
17877 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
17879 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
17880 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
17882 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
17884 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
17887 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
17888 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
17889 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
17890 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
17891 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
17892 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
17893 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
17894 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
17895 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
17898 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
17899 needed. It is available from
17900 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
17902 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
17903 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
17904 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
17905 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
17906 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
17907 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
17908 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
17911 @vindex imap-ssl-program
17912 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
17913 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
17914 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
17915 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
17916 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
17917 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
17920 @vindex imap-shell-program
17921 @vindex imap-shell-host
17922 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the
17923 variable @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call. Make
17924 sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g., don't
17925 forget to redirect the error output to the void.
17927 @item nnimap-authenticator
17928 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
17930 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
17931 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
17933 Example server specification:
17936 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
17937 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
17940 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
17944 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
17945 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
17947 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
17950 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
17951 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
17953 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
17955 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
17957 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
17960 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
17962 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
17963 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
17964 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
17965 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
17966 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
17967 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
17970 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
17971 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
17972 running in circles yet?
17974 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
17975 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
17978 The possible options are:
17983 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
17986 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
17987 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
17988 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
17989 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
17991 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
17996 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
17997 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
17999 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
18000 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
18001 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
18002 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
18003 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
18006 Probably the only reason for frobbing this would be if you're trying
18007 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
18010 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
18011 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
18012 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
18013 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
18016 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
18017 as ticked for other users.
18019 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
18021 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
18022 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18024 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
18025 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
18026 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
18027 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
18029 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
18030 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
18031 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
18032 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
18034 However, if @code{nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil}
18035 is true, this variable has no effect since the search logic
18036 is reversed, as described below.
18038 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
18039 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
18041 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
18042 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
18043 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
18044 @ref{NNTP}. An example of an .authinfo line for an IMAP server, is:
18047 machine students.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis port imap
18050 Note that it should be @code{port imap}, or @code{port 143}, if you
18051 use a @code{nnimap-stream} of @code{tls} or @code{ssl}, even if the
18052 actual port number used is port 993 for secured IMAP. For
18053 convenience, Gnus will accept @code{port imaps} as a synonym of
18056 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
18057 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
18059 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
18060 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
18063 @item nnimap-nov-is-evil
18064 @vindex nnimap-nov-is-evil
18065 @cindex Courier @acronym{IMAP} server
18066 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
18068 Never generate or use a local @acronym{NOV} database. Defaults to the
18069 value of @code{gnus-agent}.
18071 Using a @acronym{NOV} database usually makes header fetching much
18072 faster, but it uses the @code{UID SEARCH UID} command, which is very
18073 slow on some servers (notably some versions of Courier). Since the Gnus
18074 Agent caches the information in the @acronym{NOV} database without using
18075 the slow command, this variable defaults to true if the Agent is in use,
18076 and false otherwise.
18078 @item nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil
18079 @vindex nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil
18080 @cindex Courier @acronym{IMAP} server
18081 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18083 Avoid the @code{UID SEARCH UID @var{message numbers} NOT SINCE
18084 @var{date}} command, which is slow on some @acronym{IMAP} servers
18085 (notably, some versions of Courier). Instead, use @code{UID SEARCH SINCE
18086 @var{date}} and prune the list of expirable articles within Gnus.
18088 When Gnus expires your mail (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), it starts with a
18089 list of expirable articles and asks the IMAP server questions like ``Of
18090 these articles, which ones are older than a week?'' While this seems
18091 like a perfectly reasonable question, some IMAP servers take a long time
18092 to answer it, since they seemingly go looking into every old article to
18093 see if it is one of the expirable ones. Curiously, the question ``Of
18094 @emph{all} articles, which ones are newer than a week?'' seems to be
18095 much faster to answer, so setting this variable causes Gnus to ask this
18096 question and figure out the answer to the real question itself.
18098 This problem can really sneak up on you: when you first configure Gnus,
18099 everything works fine, but once you accumulate a couple thousand
18100 messages, you start cursing Gnus for being so slow. On the other hand,
18101 if you get a lot of email within a week, setting this variable will
18102 cause a lot of network traffic between Gnus and the IMAP server.
18104 @item nnimap-logout-timeout
18105 @vindex nnimap-logout-timeout
18107 There is a case where a connection to a @acronym{IMAP} server is unable
18108 to close, when connecting to the server via a certain kind of network,
18109 e.g. @acronym{VPN}. In that case, it will be observed that a connection
18110 between Emacs and the local network looks alive even if the server has
18111 closed a connection for some reason (typically, a timeout).
18112 Consequently, Emacs continues waiting for a response from the server for
18113 the @code{LOGOUT} command that Emacs sent, or hangs in other words. If
18114 you are in such a network, setting this variable to a number of seconds
18115 will be helpful. If it is set, a hung connection will be closed
18116 forcibly, after this number of seconds from the time Emacs sends the
18117 @code{LOGOUT} command. It should not be too small value but too large
18118 value will be inconvenient too. Perhaps the value 1.0 will be a good
18119 candidate but it might be worth trying some other values.
18121 Example server specification:
18124 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
18125 (nnimap-logout-timeout 1.0))
18131 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
18132 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
18133 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
18134 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
18135 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
18136 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
18141 @node Splitting in IMAP
18142 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
18143 @cindex splitting imap mail
18145 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
18146 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
18147 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
18148 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
18149 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
18153 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
18154 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
18155 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
18157 Here are the variables of interest:
18161 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
18162 @cindex splitting, crosspost
18164 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
18166 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
18167 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
18168 found will be used.
18170 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
18172 @item nnimap-split-inbox
18173 @cindex splitting, inbox
18175 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
18177 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
18178 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
18179 splitting is disabled!
18182 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
18183 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
18186 No nnmail equivalent.
18188 @item nnimap-split-rule
18189 @cindex splitting, rules
18190 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
18192 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
18195 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
18196 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
18197 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
18198 Neither did I, we need examples.
18201 (setq nnimap-split-rule
18203 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
18204 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
18205 ("INBOX.private" "")))
18208 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
18209 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
18210 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
18212 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
18213 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
18217 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
18220 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
18221 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
18223 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
18224 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
18225 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
18226 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
18228 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
18229 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
18230 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
18231 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
18232 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
18233 them every time you fetch new mail.)
18235 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
18236 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
18237 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
18239 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
18240 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
18241 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
18243 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
18245 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
18246 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
18247 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
18250 (setq nnimap-split-rule
18251 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
18252 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
18253 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
18254 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
18255 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
18258 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
18259 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
18260 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
18261 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
18262 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
18263 group/function elements.
18265 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
18267 @item nnimap-split-predicate
18269 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
18271 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
18272 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
18274 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
18275 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
18276 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
18279 @item nnimap-split-fancy
18280 @cindex splitting, fancy
18281 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
18282 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
18284 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
18285 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
18286 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
18288 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
18289 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
18290 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
18291 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
18296 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
18297 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
18300 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
18302 @item nnimap-split-download-body
18303 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
18304 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
18306 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
18307 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
18308 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
18309 splitting function that analyzes the body to split the article.
18313 @node Expiring in IMAP
18314 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
18315 @cindex expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail
18317 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
18318 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
18319 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
18320 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
18321 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
18322 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
18325 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
18326 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
18327 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
18328 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
18329 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
18330 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
18331 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
18332 messages. Most do, fortunately.
18334 If expiring @acronym{IMAP} mail seems very slow, try setting the server
18335 variable @code{nnimap-search-uids-not-since-is-evil}.
18339 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
18340 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
18342 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
18343 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
18345 @item nnmail-expiry-target
18347 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
18348 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
18349 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
18350 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
18354 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
18355 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
18356 @cindex editing imap acls
18357 @cindex Access Control Lists
18358 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
18359 @kindex G l (Group)
18360 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
18362 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
18363 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
18364 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
18367 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
18368 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
18369 editing window with detailed instructions.
18371 Some possible uses:
18375 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
18376 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
18377 follow the list without subscribing to it.
18379 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
18380 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
18381 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
18385 @node Expunging mailboxes
18386 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
18390 @cindex manual expunging
18391 @kindex G x (Group)
18392 @findex gnus-group-expunge-group
18394 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
18395 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
18396 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
18398 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
18401 @node A note on namespaces
18402 @subsection A note on namespaces
18403 @cindex IMAP namespace
18406 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
18407 by the following text in the RFC2060:
18410 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
18412 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
18413 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
18414 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
18415 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
18417 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
18418 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
18419 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
18420 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
18421 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
18422 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
18425 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
18426 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
18427 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
18429 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
18430 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
18431 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
18432 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
18433 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
18434 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
18435 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
18436 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
18439 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
18440 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
18441 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
18443 @node Debugging IMAP
18444 @subsection Debugging IMAP
18445 @cindex IMAP debugging
18446 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
18448 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
18449 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
18450 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behavior, chances
18451 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
18453 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
18454 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
18455 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
18456 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
18457 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
18458 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
18459 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
18463 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
18464 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
18471 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
18472 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
18473 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
18474 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
18477 @node Other Sources
18478 @section Other Sources
18480 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
18481 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
18485 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
18486 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
18487 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
18488 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
18492 @node Directory Groups
18493 @subsection Directory Groups
18495 @cindex directory groups
18497 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
18498 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
18501 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
18502 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
18503 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
18504 back end to read directories. Big deal.
18506 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
18507 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
18508 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
18509 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
18510 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
18512 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
18514 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
18515 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
18516 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
18517 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
18520 @node Anything Groups
18521 @subsection Anything Groups
18524 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
18525 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
18526 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
18529 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
18530 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
18531 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
18532 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
18533 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
18534 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
18535 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
18536 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
18537 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
18538 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
18541 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
18542 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
18543 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
18544 in the article buffer, just as usual.
18546 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
18547 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
18548 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
18549 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
18551 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
18552 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
18553 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
18554 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
18555 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
18556 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
18557 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
18558 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
18563 @item nneething-map-file-directory
18564 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
18565 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
18566 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
18568 @item nneething-exclude-files
18569 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
18570 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
18571 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
18573 @item nneething-include-files
18574 @vindex nneething-include-files
18575 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
18576 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
18578 @item nneething-map-file
18579 @vindex nneething-map-file
18580 Name of the map files.
18584 @node Document Groups
18585 @subsection Document Groups
18587 @cindex documentation group
18590 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
18591 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
18601 The standard Unix mbox file.
18603 @cindex MMDF mail box
18605 The MMDF mail box format.
18608 Several news articles appended into a file.
18610 @cindex rnews batch files
18612 The rnews batch transport format.
18615 Netscape mail boxes.
18618 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
18620 @item standard-digest
18621 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
18624 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
18626 @item lanl-gov-announce
18627 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
18629 @cindex forwarded messages
18630 @item rfc822-forward
18631 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
18634 The Outlook mail box.
18637 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
18640 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
18643 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
18646 An RFC934-forwarded message.
18652 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
18655 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
18661 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
18662 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
18663 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
18666 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
18667 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
18668 group. And that's it.
18670 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
18671 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
18672 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
18673 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
18674 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
18675 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
18676 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
18677 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
18678 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
18679 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
18681 Virtual server variables:
18684 @item nndoc-article-type
18685 @vindex nndoc-article-type
18686 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
18687 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
18688 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
18689 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
18690 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
18692 @item nndoc-post-type
18693 @vindex nndoc-post-type
18694 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
18695 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
18700 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
18704 @node Document Server Internals
18705 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
18707 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
18708 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
18709 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
18710 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
18712 First, here's an example document type definition:
18716 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
18717 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
18720 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
18721 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
18722 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
18723 types can be defined with very few settings:
18726 @item first-article
18727 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
18728 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
18731 @item article-begin
18732 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
18733 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
18734 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
18735 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
18737 @item article-begin-function
18738 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
18739 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
18742 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
18743 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
18744 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
18746 @item head-begin-function
18747 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
18748 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
18751 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
18752 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
18755 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
18756 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
18757 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
18759 @item body-begin-function
18760 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
18761 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
18764 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
18765 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
18766 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
18768 @item body-end-function
18769 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
18770 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
18773 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
18774 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
18777 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
18778 regexp will be totally ignored.
18782 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
18783 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
18784 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
18785 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
18786 something that's palatable for Gnus:
18789 @item prepare-body-function
18790 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
18791 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
18792 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
18794 @item article-transform-function
18795 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
18796 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
18797 body of the article.
18799 @item generate-head-function
18800 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
18801 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
18802 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
18803 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
18805 @item generate-article-function
18806 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
18807 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
18808 parameter when requesting all articles.
18810 @item dissection-function
18811 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
18812 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
18813 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
18814 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
18815 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
18816 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
18820 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
18825 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18826 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18827 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
18828 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
18829 (head-end . "^ ?$")
18830 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
18831 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
18832 (subtype digest guess))
18835 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
18836 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
18837 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
18838 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
18839 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
18841 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
18842 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
18843 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
18844 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
18845 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
18846 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
18847 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
18848 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
18849 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
18850 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
18851 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
18852 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
18855 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
18856 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
18857 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
18860 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
18861 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
18862 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
18864 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
18870 @item nngateway-address
18871 @vindex nngateway-address
18872 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
18874 @item nngateway-header-transformation
18875 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
18876 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
18877 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
18878 transformation should be called, and defaults to
18879 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
18880 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
18883 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
18884 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
18885 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
18888 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
18891 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
18894 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
18897 The following pre-defined functions exist:
18899 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
18902 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
18903 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
18904 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
18906 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
18908 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
18909 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
18910 @code{nngateway-address}.
18918 (setq gnus-post-method
18920 "mail2news@@replay.com"
18921 (nngateway-header-transformation
18922 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
18925 So, to use this, simply say something like:
18928 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
18933 @node Combined Groups
18934 @section Combined Groups
18936 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
18940 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
18944 @node Virtual Groups
18945 @subsection Virtual Groups
18947 @cindex virtual groups
18948 @cindex merging groups
18950 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
18953 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
18954 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
18955 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
18957 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
18958 regexp to match component groups.
18960 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
18961 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
18962 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
18963 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
18964 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
18965 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
18966 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
18967 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
18969 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
18970 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
18973 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
18976 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
18977 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
18979 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
18980 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
18981 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
18982 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
18985 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
18988 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
18989 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
18990 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
18992 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
18993 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
18994 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
18995 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
18996 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
18998 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
18999 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
19000 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
19002 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
19003 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} variable is non-@code{nil} (which
19004 is the default), @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread
19005 articles when entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil}
19006 and you read articles in a component group after the virtual group has
19007 been activated, the read articles from the component group will show up
19008 when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this effect if you
19009 have two virtual groups that have a component group in common. If
19010 that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}. Or you can
19011 just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before you enter
19012 it---it'll have much the same effect.
19014 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
19015 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
19016 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
19017 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
19018 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
19019 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
19020 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
19022 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
19023 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
19025 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
19026 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
19030 @node Email Based Diary
19031 @section Email Based Diary
19033 @cindex email based diary
19036 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
19037 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
19038 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
19039 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
19040 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
19041 namely, as event reminders.
19043 Here is a typical scenario:
19047 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
19048 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
19050 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
19052 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
19054 From time to time, as you type `g' in the group buffer and as the date
19055 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
19056 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
19058 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
19059 of the night you're gonna have.
19061 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
19062 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
19065 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
19066 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
19067 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
19068 explained in the sections below.
19071 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
19072 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
19073 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
19077 @node The NNDiary Back End
19078 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
19080 @cindex the nndiary back end
19082 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
19083 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
19084 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
19085 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
19086 directory per group.
19088 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
19089 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
19090 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
19091 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
19094 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
19095 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
19096 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
19099 @node Diary Messages
19100 @subsubsection Diary Messages
19101 @cindex nndiary messages
19102 @cindex nndiary mails
19104 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
19105 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
19106 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
19107 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
19108 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
19109 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
19110 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
19114 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
19115 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
19116 (separated by a comma).
19118 A field is either an integer, or a range.
19120 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
19122 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
19123 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
19124 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
19126 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
19127 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
19128 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
19130 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
19131 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
19132 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
19133 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
19134 list of available time zone values, see the variable
19135 @code{nndiary-headers}.
19138 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
19139 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
19140 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
19145 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
19148 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
19150 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
19153 @node Running NNDiary
19154 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
19155 @cindex running nndiary
19156 @cindex nndiary operation modes
19158 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
19159 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
19160 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
19161 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
19162 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
19163 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
19165 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
19166 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
19167 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
19168 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
19169 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
19170 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
19171 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
19174 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
19179 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
19180 line in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
19183 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
19186 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
19187 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
19188 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
19189 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
19190 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
19192 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
19193 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
19202 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
19203 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
19205 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
19206 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
19207 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
19208 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
19211 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
19212 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
19213 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
19216 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
19217 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
19218 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
19220 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
19221 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
19222 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
19223 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
19224 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
19226 @node Customizing NNDiary
19227 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
19228 @cindex customizing nndiary
19229 @cindex nndiary customization
19231 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
19232 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
19233 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
19234 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
19236 @defvar nndiary-reminders
19237 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
19238 appointments (e.g. 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
19239 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
19240 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
19244 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
19245 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
19250 @node The Gnus Diary Library
19251 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
19253 @cindex the gnus diary library
19255 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
19256 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
19257 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
19258 useful things for you.
19260 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
19263 (require 'gnus-diary)
19266 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
19267 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
19268 (sorry if you used them before).
19272 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
19273 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
19274 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
19275 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
19278 @node Diary Summary Line Format
19279 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
19280 @cindex diary summary buffer line
19281 @cindex diary summary line format
19283 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
19284 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
19285 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
19286 see the event's date.
19288 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
19289 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
19290 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
19291 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximative remaining time until the
19292 next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
19294 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
19295 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
19296 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
19299 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
19302 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
19303 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
19306 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
19309 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
19310 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
19311 with the following user options:
19313 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
19314 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
19315 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
19316 diary groups'parameters.
19319 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
19320 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
19321 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
19324 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
19325 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
19326 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
19327 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
19328 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
19331 @node Diary Articles Sorting
19332 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
19333 @cindex diary articles sorting
19334 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
19335 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
19336 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
19337 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
19339 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
19340 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
19341 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
19342 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
19343 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
19345 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
19346 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
19347 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
19348 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
19351 @node Diary Headers Generation
19352 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
19353 @cindex diary headers generation
19354 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
19356 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
19357 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
19358 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
19359 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
19362 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
19363 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
19364 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c C-f d} in
19365 @code{message-mode} and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the
19366 process of converting a usual mail to a diary one.
19368 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
19369 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
19370 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
19373 @node Diary Group Parameters
19374 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
19375 @cindex diary group parameters
19377 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
19378 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
19379 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
19380 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
19381 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
19382 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
19383 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
19384 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
19386 @node Sending or Not Sending
19387 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
19389 Well, assuming you've read all of the above, here are two final notes on
19390 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
19394 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
19395 messsages for real. This means for instance that you can give
19396 appointments to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
19397 sending the diary message to them as well.
19399 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
19400 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
19401 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
19402 comes in very handy for private appointments.
19405 @node Gnus Unplugged
19406 @section Gnus Unplugged
19411 @cindex Gnus unplugged
19413 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
19414 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
19415 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
19416 read news. Believe it or not.
19418 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
19419 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
19420 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
19421 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
19422 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
19424 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
19425 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
19426 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
19427 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
19428 reading news on a machine.
19430 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
19431 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
19432 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
19434 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
19437 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
19438 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
19439 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
19440 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
19441 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
19442 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
19443 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
19444 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
19445 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
19446 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
19447 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
19448 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
19449 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
19450 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
19455 @subsection Agent Basics
19457 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
19459 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
19460 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
19461 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
19462 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
19464 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
19465 connected to the net continuously.
19467 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
19468 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
19470 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
19471 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
19472 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
19473 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
19474 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
19476 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
19477 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
19478 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
19479 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
19480 they're kinda like plugged always).
19482 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
19483 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
19484 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
19487 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
19488 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
19489 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
19490 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
19491 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
19493 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
19498 @findex gnus-unplugged
19499 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
19500 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
19501 already fetched while in this mode.
19504 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
19505 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
19506 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
19507 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
19508 Source Specifiers}).
19511 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
19512 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
19513 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
19514 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
19515 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
19518 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
19519 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
19520 then you read the news offline.
19523 And then you go to step 2.
19526 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
19532 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
19533 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
19534 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
19535 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
19536 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
19537 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
19538 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
19539 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
19542 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
19543 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
19544 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
19545 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
19547 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
19548 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
19549 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
19550 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
19551 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
19552 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
19556 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
19560 @node Agent Categories
19561 @subsection Agent Categories
19563 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
19564 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
19565 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
19566 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
19567 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
19568 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
19569 you're interested in the articles anyway.
19571 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
19572 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
19573 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
19574 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
19575 buffer for creating and managing categories.
19577 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
19578 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
19579 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
19580 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
19581 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
19584 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
19585 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
19586 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
19587 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
19588 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
19589 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
19593 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
19594 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
19595 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
19599 @node Category Syntax
19600 @subsubsection Category Syntax
19602 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
19603 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
19604 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
19607 @cindex Agent Parameters
19610 The list of groups that are in this category.
19612 @item agent-predicate
19613 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
19614 are eligible for downloading; and
19617 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
19618 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
19619 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
19621 @item agent-enable-expiration
19622 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
19623 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
19624 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
19625 only groups that should not be expired.
19627 @item agent-days-until-old
19628 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
19629 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
19631 @item agent-low-score
19632 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
19634 @item agent-high-score
19635 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
19637 @item agent-short-article
19638 an integer that overrides the value of
19639 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
19641 @item agent-long-article
19642 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
19644 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
19645 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
19646 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
19647 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
19648 undownloaded faces.
19651 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
19654 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
19655 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
19656 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
19659 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
19660 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
19661 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
19662 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
19664 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
19665 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
19666 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
19668 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
19669 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
19670 operators sprinkled in between.
19672 Perhaps some examples are in order.
19674 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
19675 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
19681 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
19682 short (for some value of ``short'').
19684 Here's a more complex predicate:
19693 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
19694 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
19697 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
19698 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
19699 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
19701 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
19702 you want to do, you can write your own.
19704 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
19705 bound to the value determined by calling
19706 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
19707 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
19708 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
19709 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
19710 predicate to individual groups.
19714 True if the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
19715 lines; default 100.
19718 True if the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
19719 lines; default 200.
19722 True if the article has a download score less than
19723 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
19726 True if the article has a download score greater than
19727 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
19730 True if the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
19731 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
19732 checksum and sees whether articles match.
19741 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
19742 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
19743 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
19746 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
19747 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
19748 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
19749 something along the lines of the following:
19752 (defun my-article-old-p ()
19753 "Say whether an article is old."
19754 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
19755 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
19758 with the predicate then defined as:
19761 (not my-article-old-p)
19764 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
19765 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
19769 (require 'gnus-agent)
19770 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
19771 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
19772 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
19775 and simply specify your predicate as:
19781 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
19782 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
19783 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
19784 just don't give a damn.
19786 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
19787 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
19788 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
19789 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
19790 parameters like so:
19793 (agent-predicate . short)
19796 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
19797 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
19798 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
19800 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
19803 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
19806 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
19807 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
19808 predicate is assumed to be a list.
19811 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
19812 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
19813 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
19814 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
19815 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
19816 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
19818 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
19819 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
19820 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
19821 if it's to be specific to that group.
19823 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
19830 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
19831 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
19837 Category specification
19841 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
19847 Group/Topic Parameter specification
19850 (agent-score ("from"
19851 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
19856 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
19862 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
19863 keywords stated above.
19869 Category specification
19872 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
19878 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
19882 Group Parameter specification
19885 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
19888 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
19893 Use @code{normal} score files
19895 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
19896 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
19897 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
19898 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
19900 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
19901 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
19902 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
19903 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
19907 Category Specification
19914 Group Parameter specification
19917 (agent-score . file)
19922 @node Category Buffer
19923 @subsubsection Category Buffer
19925 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
19926 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
19927 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
19929 The following commands are available in this buffer:
19933 @kindex q (Category)
19934 @findex gnus-category-exit
19935 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
19938 @kindex e (Category)
19939 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
19940 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
19941 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
19944 @kindex k (Category)
19945 @findex gnus-category-kill
19946 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
19949 @kindex c (Category)
19950 @findex gnus-category-copy
19951 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
19954 @kindex a (Category)
19955 @findex gnus-category-add
19956 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
19959 @kindex p (Category)
19960 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
19961 Edit the predicate of the current category
19962 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
19965 @kindex g (Category)
19966 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
19967 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
19968 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
19971 @kindex s (Category)
19972 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
19973 Edit the download score rule of the current category
19974 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
19977 @kindex l (Category)
19978 @findex gnus-category-list
19979 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
19983 @node Category Variables
19984 @subsubsection Category Variables
19987 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
19988 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
19989 Hook run in category buffers.
19991 @item gnus-category-line-format
19992 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
19993 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
19994 Variables}). Valid elements are:
19998 The name of the category.
20001 The number of groups in the category.
20004 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
20005 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
20006 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
20008 @item gnus-agent-short-article
20009 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
20010 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
20012 @item gnus-agent-long-article
20013 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
20014 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
20016 @item gnus-agent-low-score
20017 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
20018 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
20021 @item gnus-agent-high-score
20022 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
20023 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
20026 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
20027 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
20028 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
20029 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
20030 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
20031 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
20032 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
20033 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
20037 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
20038 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
20039 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
20040 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
20041 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
20042 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
20043 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
20048 @node Agent Commands
20049 @subsection Agent Commands
20050 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
20051 @kindex J j (Agent)
20053 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
20054 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
20055 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
20059 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
20060 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
20061 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
20067 @node Group Agent Commands
20068 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
20072 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
20073 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
20074 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
20075 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
20078 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
20079 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
20080 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
20083 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
20084 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
20085 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
20086 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
20089 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
20090 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
20091 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
20092 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
20095 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
20096 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
20097 Add the current group to an Agent category
20098 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
20099 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20102 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
20103 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
20104 Remove the current group from its category, if any
20105 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
20106 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
20109 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
20110 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20111 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
20117 @node Summary Agent Commands
20118 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
20122 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
20123 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
20124 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
20127 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
20128 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
20129 Remove the downloading mark from the article
20130 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
20134 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
20135 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
20136 Toggle whether to download the article
20137 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
20141 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
20142 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
20143 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
20146 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
20147 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
20148 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
20149 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
20152 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
20153 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
20154 Download all processable articles in this group.
20155 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
20158 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
20159 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
20160 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
20161 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
20166 @node Server Agent Commands
20167 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
20171 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
20172 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
20173 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
20174 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
20177 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
20178 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
20179 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
20180 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
20185 @node Agent Visuals
20186 @subsection Agent Visuals
20188 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
20189 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
20190 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
20191 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
20192 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
20193 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
20194 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
20195 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
20196 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
20197 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
20199 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
20200 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
20201 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
20202 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
20203 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
20204 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
20205 the download status of each article so that you always know which
20206 articles will be available when unplugged.
20208 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
20209 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
20210 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
20211 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
20212 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
20213 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
20214 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
20215 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
20217 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
20218 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
20219 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
20220 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
20221 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
20222 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
20223 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
20224 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
20225 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
20227 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
20228 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
20229 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
20230 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
20231 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
20232 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
20233 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
20234 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
20235 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
20236 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
20238 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
20239 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
20240 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
20241 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
20242 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
20243 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
20245 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
20246 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
20247 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
20248 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
20249 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
20250 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
20251 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
20252 expiring'' articles.
20254 @node Agent as Cache
20255 @subsection Agent as Cache
20257 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
20258 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
20259 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
20260 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
20261 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
20262 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
20263 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
20264 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
20265 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
20267 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
20268 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
20269 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
20270 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
20271 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
20274 @subsection Agent Expiry
20276 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
20277 @findex gnus-agent-expire
20278 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
20279 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
20280 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
20281 @cindex agent expiry
20282 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
20283 @cindex expiry, in Gnus agent
20285 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
20286 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
20287 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
20288 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
20289 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
20290 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
20291 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
20292 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
20294 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
20295 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
20296 synchronized with the group.
20298 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
20299 prevent expiration in selected groups.
20301 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
20302 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
20303 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
20304 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
20305 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
20306 be kept indefinitely.
20308 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
20309 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
20310 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
20311 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
20313 @node Agent Regeneration
20314 @subsection Agent Regeneration
20316 @cindex agent regeneration
20317 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
20318 @cindex regeneration
20320 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
20321 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
20322 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
20323 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
20324 internal inconsistencies.
20326 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
20327 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
20328 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
20329 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
20330 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
20331 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
20333 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
20334 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
20335 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
20336 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
20337 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
20338 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
20340 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
20341 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
20342 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
20343 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
20344 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
20345 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
20348 @node Agent and flags
20349 @subsection Agent and flags
20351 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
20352 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc) on the server. Sadly,
20353 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
20354 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
20355 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
20356 to the flags in its own files.
20358 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
20359 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
20360 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
20362 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20363 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
20364 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
20365 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
20366 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
20367 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
20369 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
20370 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
20371 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
20372 in the group buffer.
20374 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
20375 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
20376 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
20377 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
20378 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
20379 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
20380 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
20381 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
20383 @node Agent and IMAP
20384 @subsection Agent and IMAP
20386 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
20387 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
20388 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
20389 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
20391 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
20392 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
20397 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
20400 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
20404 @node Outgoing Messages
20405 @subsection Outgoing Messages
20407 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
20408 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
20409 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
20411 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
20412 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
20413 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
20415 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
20416 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
20417 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
20418 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
20421 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
20422 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
20423 ask you to confirm your action (see
20424 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
20426 @node Agent Variables
20427 @subsection Agent Variables
20432 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
20433 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
20434 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
20435 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
20437 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
20438 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
20441 @item gnus-agent-directory
20442 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
20443 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
20444 @file{~/News/agent/}.
20446 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
20447 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
20448 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
20449 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
20450 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
20453 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
20454 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
20455 Hook run when connecting to the network.
20457 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
20458 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
20459 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
20461 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
20462 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
20463 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
20465 @item gnus-agent-cache
20466 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
20467 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
20468 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
20469 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
20471 @item gnus-agent-go-online
20472 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
20473 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
20474 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
20475 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
20476 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
20477 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
20480 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
20481 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
20482 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
20483 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
20484 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
20485 read. The default is @code{t}.
20487 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20488 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
20489 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
20490 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
20491 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
20492 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
20493 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
20495 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
20496 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
20497 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
20498 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
20499 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
20500 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
20501 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
20502 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
20503 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
20504 over and over again.
20506 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
20507 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
20508 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
20509 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
20510 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
20511 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
20512 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
20513 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
20514 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
20515 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
20516 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
20517 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
20520 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
20521 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
20522 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
20523 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
20524 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
20525 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
20526 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
20527 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
20528 is only valid if the Agent is used.
20530 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
20531 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
20532 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
20533 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
20534 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
20535 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
20537 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
20538 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
20539 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
20540 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
20541 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
20543 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
20544 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
20545 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
20546 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
20547 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
20548 mail. The default is @code{t}.
20550 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
20551 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
20552 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
20553 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
20554 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
20556 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
20557 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
20558 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
20559 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
20560 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
20561 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
20562 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
20563 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
20564 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
20565 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
20566 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
20571 @node Example Setup
20572 @subsection Example Setup
20574 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
20575 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
20576 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
20579 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
20580 ;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
20581 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
20583 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
20584 ;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
20585 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
20587 ;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
20588 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
20590 ;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
20591 ;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
20592 ;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
20595 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
20596 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
20599 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
20600 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
20601 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
20602 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
20603 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
20606 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
20607 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
20608 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
20609 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
20610 back all the killed groups.)
20612 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
20613 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
20614 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
20617 @node Batching Agents
20618 @subsection Batching Agents
20619 @findex gnus-agent-batch
20621 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
20622 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
20623 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
20625 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
20626 following incantation:
20630 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
20634 @node Agent Caveats
20635 @subsection Agent Caveats
20637 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
20638 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
20642 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
20644 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
20645 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
20646 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
20648 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
20649 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
20651 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
20655 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
20656 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
20657 locally stored articles.
20664 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
20665 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
20666 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
20669 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
20670 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
20671 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
20672 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
20673 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
20675 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
20676 before generating the summary buffer.
20678 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
20679 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
20680 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
20682 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
20683 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
20684 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
20685 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
20688 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
20689 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
20690 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
20691 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
20692 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
20693 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
20694 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
20695 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
20696 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
20697 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
20698 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
20699 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
20700 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
20701 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
20702 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
20703 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
20707 @node Summary Score Commands
20708 @section Summary Score Commands
20709 @cindex score commands
20711 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
20712 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
20713 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
20714 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
20715 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
20717 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
20718 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
20719 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
20720 score file the current one.
20722 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
20727 @kindex V s (Summary)
20728 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
20729 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
20732 @kindex V S (Summary)
20733 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
20734 Display the score of the current article
20735 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
20738 @kindex V t (Summary)
20739 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
20740 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
20741 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
20742 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
20743 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
20744 score file and edit it.
20747 @kindex V w (Summary)
20748 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
20749 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
20752 @kindex V R (Summary)
20753 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
20754 Run the current summary through the scoring process
20755 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
20756 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
20757 effect you're having.
20760 @kindex V c (Summary)
20761 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
20762 Make a different score file the current
20763 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
20766 @kindex V e (Summary)
20767 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
20768 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
20769 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
20773 @kindex V f (Summary)
20774 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
20775 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
20776 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
20779 @kindex V F (Summary)
20780 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
20781 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
20782 after editing score files.
20785 @kindex V C (Summary)
20786 @findex gnus-score-customize
20787 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
20788 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
20792 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
20797 @kindex V m (Summary)
20798 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
20799 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
20800 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
20803 @kindex V x (Summary)
20804 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
20805 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
20806 expunge all articles below this score
20807 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
20810 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
20811 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
20814 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
20815 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
20819 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
20820 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
20822 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
20823 keys are available:
20827 Score on the author name.
20830 Score on the subject line.
20833 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
20836 Score on the @code{References} line.
20842 Score on the number of lines.
20845 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
20848 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
20849 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
20852 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
20853 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
20854 @file{ADAPT} files.)
20863 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
20869 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
20870 what headers you are scoring on.
20882 Substring matching.
20885 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
20914 Greater than number.
20919 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
20920 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
20921 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
20926 Temporary score entry.
20929 Permanent score entry.
20932 Immediately scoring.
20936 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
20937 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
20938 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
20942 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
20943 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
20944 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
20945 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
20947 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
20948 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
20949 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
20950 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
20951 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
20953 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
20954 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
20955 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
20956 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
20957 current score file.
20959 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
20960 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
20961 pretend they are keymaps or not.
20964 @node Group Score Commands
20965 @section Group Score Commands
20966 @cindex group score commands
20968 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
20973 @kindex W e (Group)
20974 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
20975 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
20976 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
20979 @kindex W f (Group)
20980 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
20981 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
20982 all the time. This command will flush the cache
20983 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
20987 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
20989 @findex gnus-batch-score
20990 @cindex batch scoring
20992 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
20996 @node Score Variables
20997 @section Score Variables
20998 @cindex score variables
21002 @item gnus-use-scoring
21003 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
21004 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
21005 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
21007 @item gnus-kill-killed
21008 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
21009 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
21010 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
21011 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
21012 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
21013 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
21014 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
21016 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
21017 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
21018 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
21019 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
21020 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
21022 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
21023 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
21024 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
21025 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
21027 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
21028 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
21029 @cindex score cache
21030 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
21031 score files. However, this might make your Emacs grow big and
21032 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
21033 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
21034 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
21035 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
21036 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
21039 @item gnus-save-score
21040 @vindex gnus-save-score
21041 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
21042 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
21043 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
21045 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
21046 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
21047 across group visits.
21049 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
21050 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
21051 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
21052 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
21053 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
21054 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
21055 manually entered data.
21057 @item gnus-summary-default-score
21058 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
21059 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
21061 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
21062 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
21063 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
21064 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
21065 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
21066 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
21068 @item gnus-score-over-mark
21069 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
21070 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
21071 default. Default is @samp{+}.
21073 @item gnus-score-below-mark
21074 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
21075 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
21076 default. Default is @samp{-}.
21078 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
21079 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
21080 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
21081 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
21083 Predefined functions available are:
21086 @item gnus-score-find-single
21087 @findex gnus-score-find-single
21088 Only apply the group's own score file.
21090 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
21091 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
21092 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
21093 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
21094 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
21095 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
21096 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
21097 then a regexp match is done.
21099 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
21100 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
21102 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
21103 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
21104 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
21105 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
21107 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
21108 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
21109 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
21110 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
21111 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
21115 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
21116 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
21117 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
21118 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
21119 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
21120 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
21121 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
21124 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
21125 overall score file, you could use the value
21127 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
21128 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
21131 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
21132 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
21133 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
21134 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
21135 are expired. It's 7 by default.
21137 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
21138 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
21139 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
21140 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
21141 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
21142 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
21143 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
21144 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
21146 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
21147 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
21148 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
21150 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
21151 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
21152 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
21153 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
21154 threading---according to the current value of
21155 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
21156 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
21157 simplified in this manner.
21162 @node Score File Format
21163 @section Score File Format
21164 @cindex score file format
21166 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
21167 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
21168 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
21170 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
21174 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
21176 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
21178 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
21180 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
21185 (mark-and-expunge -10)
21189 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
21190 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
21191 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
21192 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
21196 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
21197 Scoring}, for a different approach.
21199 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
21200 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
21201 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
21203 Six keys are supported by this alist:
21208 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
21209 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
21210 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
21211 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
21212 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
21213 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
21214 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
21215 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
21216 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
21217 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
21218 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
21219 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
21220 to articles that matches these score entries.
21222 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
21223 score entry has one to four elements.
21227 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
21228 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
21232 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
21233 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
21234 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
21235 is successful. If this element is not present, the
21236 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
21237 instead. This is 1000 by default.
21240 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
21241 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
21242 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
21243 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
21244 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
21247 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
21248 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
21249 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
21250 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
21253 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
21254 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
21255 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
21256 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
21257 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
21258 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
21259 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
21260 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
21261 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
21262 instead, if you feel like.
21265 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
21266 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
21267 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
21268 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
21269 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
21270 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
21274 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
21275 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
21279 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
21280 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
21282 These predicates are true if
21285 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
21288 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
21289 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
21296 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
21297 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
21298 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
21299 it's not. I think.)
21301 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
21302 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
21303 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
21304 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
21307 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
21308 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
21309 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
21310 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
21311 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
21312 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
21313 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
21317 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
21318 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
21319 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
21320 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
21321 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
21322 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
21323 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
21324 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
21327 @item Head, Body, All
21328 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
21332 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
21333 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
21334 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
21335 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
21336 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
21337 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
21338 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
21342 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
21343 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
21344 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
21345 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
21346 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
21347 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
21348 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
21349 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
21350 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
21351 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
21352 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
21356 @cindex score file atoms
21358 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21359 lower than this number will be marked as read.
21362 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21363 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
21365 @item mark-and-expunge
21366 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
21367 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
21370 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
21371 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
21372 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
21373 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
21374 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
21377 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
21378 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
21381 @item exclude-files
21382 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
21383 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
21387 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}ed. This element will be
21388 ignored when handling global score files.
21391 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
21392 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
21393 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
21394 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
21397 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
21398 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
21399 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
21400 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
21402 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
21406 (mark-and-expunge -100)
21409 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
21410 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
21411 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{c y}) the
21412 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
21413 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
21415 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
21416 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
21417 scoring rules exist.
21420 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
21421 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
21422 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
21423 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
21424 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
21425 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
21426 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
21427 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
21428 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
21429 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
21430 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
21434 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
21435 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
21436 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
21437 file for a number of groups.
21440 @cindex local variables
21441 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
21442 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
21443 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
21444 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
21445 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
21450 @node Score File Editing
21451 @section Score File Editing
21453 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
21454 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
21455 with a mode for that.
21457 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
21458 additional commands:
21463 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
21464 @findex gnus-score-edit-exit
21465 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
21466 (@code{gnus-score-edit-exit}).
21469 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
21470 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
21471 Insert the current date in numerical format
21472 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
21473 you were wondering.
21476 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
21477 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
21478 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
21479 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
21480 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
21485 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
21487 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
21488 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
21490 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
21491 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
21494 @node Adaptive Scoring
21495 @section Adaptive Scoring
21496 @cindex adaptive scoring
21498 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
21499 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
21500 stupidity, to be precise.
21502 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
21503 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
21504 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
21505 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
21506 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
21507 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
21508 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
21509 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
21510 variable to @code{(word line)}.
21512 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
21513 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
21514 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
21515 might look something like this:
21518 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
21519 '((gnus-unread-mark)
21520 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
21521 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
21522 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
21523 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
21524 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
21525 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
21526 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
21527 (gnus-ancient-mark)
21528 (gnus-low-score-mark)
21529 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
21532 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
21533 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
21534 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
21535 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
21536 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
21537 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
21540 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
21541 will be applied to each article.
21543 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
21544 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
21545 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
21546 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
21548 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
21549 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
21550 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
21551 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
21553 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
21554 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
21555 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
21556 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
21558 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
21559 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
21560 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
21561 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
21562 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
21563 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
21565 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
21566 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
21567 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
21569 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
21570 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
21571 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
21573 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
21574 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
21575 let you use different rules in different groups.
21577 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
21578 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
21579 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
21582 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
21583 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
21584 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
21585 default) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
21587 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
21588 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
21589 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
21590 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
21591 the length of the match is less than
21592 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
21593 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
21596 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
21597 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
21598 headers. If you adapt on words, the
21599 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
21600 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
21603 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
21604 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
21605 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
21606 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
21607 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
21610 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
21611 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
21612 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
21613 score with 30 points.
21615 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
21616 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
21617 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
21618 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
21619 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
21621 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
21622 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
21623 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
21624 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
21625 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
21627 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
21628 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
21629 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
21630 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
21632 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
21633 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
21634 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
21635 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
21637 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
21638 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
21639 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
21640 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
21641 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
21643 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
21644 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
21645 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
21647 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
21648 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
21649 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
21650 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
21653 @node Home Score File
21654 @section Home Score File
21656 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
21657 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
21658 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
21659 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
21661 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
21662 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
21663 could perhaps use the same home score file.
21665 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
21666 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
21671 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
21675 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
21676 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
21680 A list. The elements in this list can be:
21684 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
21685 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
21688 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
21689 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
21690 name of the group as the parameter.
21693 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
21696 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
21701 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
21704 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21705 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
21708 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
21709 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
21711 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
21713 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21714 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
21717 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
21718 Other functions include
21721 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
21722 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
21723 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
21724 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
21728 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
21729 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
21730 their own home score files:
21733 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21734 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
21735 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
21736 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
21737 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
21740 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
21741 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
21742 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
21743 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
21744 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
21746 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
21747 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
21748 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
21749 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
21750 precedence over this variable.
21753 @node Followups To Yourself
21754 @section Followups To Yourself
21756 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
21757 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
21758 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
21759 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
21760 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
21761 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
21765 @item gnus-score-followup-article
21766 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
21767 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
21770 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
21771 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
21772 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
21776 @vindex message-sent-hook
21777 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
21778 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
21780 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
21784 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
21785 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
21789 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
21790 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
21793 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
21794 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
21799 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
21803 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
21804 is system-dependent.
21807 @node Scoring On Other Headers
21808 @section Scoring On Other Headers
21809 @cindex scoring on other headers
21811 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
21812 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
21813 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
21814 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
21815 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
21817 @vindex gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring
21818 You can inhibit this slow scoring on headers or body by setting the
21819 variable @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring}. If
21820 @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring} is regexp, slow scoring is inhibited if
21821 the group matches the regexp. If it is t, slow scoring on it is
21822 inhibited for all groups.
21824 Now, there's not much you can do about the slowness for news groups, but for
21825 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
21826 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
21827 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
21828 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
21830 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21833 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
21834 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
21837 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
21838 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
21839 time if you have much mail.
21841 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
21842 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
21848 @section Scoring Tips
21849 @cindex scoring tips
21855 @cindex scoring crossposts
21856 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
21857 the @code{Xref} header.
21859 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
21862 @item Multiple crossposts
21863 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
21864 more than, say, 3 groups:
21867 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
21871 @item Matching on the body
21872 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
21873 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
21874 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
21875 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
21876 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
21877 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
21878 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
21881 @item Marking as read
21882 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
21883 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
21884 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
21888 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
21890 @item Negated character classes
21891 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
21892 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
21893 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
21897 @node Reverse Scoring
21898 @section Reverse Scoring
21899 @cindex reverse scoring
21901 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
21902 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
21903 like this in your score file:
21907 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
21912 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
21913 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
21916 @node Global Score Files
21917 @section Global Score Files
21918 @cindex global score files
21920 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
21921 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
21922 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
21924 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
21925 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
21926 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
21928 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
21929 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
21930 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
21931 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
21932 files are applicable to which group.
21934 To use the score file
21935 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
21936 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
21940 (setq gnus-global-score-files
21941 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
21942 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
21945 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
21947 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
21948 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
21949 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
21950 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
21952 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
21953 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
21955 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
21956 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
21957 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
21958 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
21959 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
21960 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
21962 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
21968 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
21970 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
21972 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
21974 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
21975 lowered out of existence.
21977 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
21978 articles completely.
21981 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
21982 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
21983 old articles for a long time.
21986 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
21987 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
21988 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
21989 holding our breath yet?
21993 @section Kill Files
21996 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
21997 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
21998 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
22000 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
22001 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
22002 files into score files.
22004 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
22005 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
22006 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
22007 that isn't a very good idea.
22009 Normal kill files look like this:
22012 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22013 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
22017 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
22018 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
22020 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
22021 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
22024 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
22029 @kindex M-k (Summary)
22030 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
22031 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
22034 @kindex M-K (Summary)
22035 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
22036 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
22039 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
22044 @kindex M-k (Group)
22045 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
22046 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
22049 @kindex M-K (Group)
22050 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
22051 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
22054 Kill file variables:
22057 @item gnus-kill-file-name
22058 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
22059 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
22060 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
22061 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
22062 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
22063 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
22065 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
22066 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
22067 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
22068 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
22071 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
22072 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
22073 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
22074 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
22075 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
22076 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
22077 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
22078 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
22079 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
22081 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
22082 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
22083 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
22088 @node Converting Kill Files
22089 @section Converting Kill Files
22091 @cindex converting kill files
22093 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
22094 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
22095 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
22098 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Emacs by default.
22099 You can fetch it from the contrib directory of the Gnus distribution or
22101 @uref{http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
22103 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
22104 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
22105 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
22109 @node Advanced Scoring
22110 @section Advanced Scoring
22112 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
22113 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
22114 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
22115 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
22116 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
22118 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
22122 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
22123 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
22124 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
22128 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
22129 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
22131 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
22132 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
22133 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
22134 non-@code{nil} value.
22136 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
22137 operator, and various match operators.
22144 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
22145 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
22146 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
22151 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
22152 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
22153 then this operator will return @code{false}.
22158 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
22159 logical negation of the value of its argument.
22163 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
22164 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
22165 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
22166 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
22167 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
22168 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
22169 the ancestry you want to go.
22171 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
22172 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
22173 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
22174 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
22175 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
22178 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
22179 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
22181 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
22182 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
22185 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
22186 when he's talking about Gnus:
22191 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22192 ("subject" "Gnus"))
22199 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
22203 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22210 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
22211 really don't want to read what he's written:
22215 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
22216 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigil Logge")))
22220 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
22221 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
22222 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
22229 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
22230 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
22231 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
22232 ("body" "white.*socks"))
22236 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
22237 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
22238 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
22239 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
22242 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
22244 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
22248 The possibilities are endless.
22250 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
22251 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
22253 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
22254 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
22255 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
22256 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
22257 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
22258 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
22259 @samp{subject}) first.
22261 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
22262 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
22273 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
22274 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
22280 ("subject" "Gnus")))
22287 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
22288 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
22293 @section Score Decays
22294 @cindex score decays
22297 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
22298 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
22299 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
22300 use them in any sensible way.
22302 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
22303 @findex gnus-decay-score
22304 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
22305 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
22306 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
22307 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
22308 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
22309 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
22310 regexp are treated. E.g. you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
22311 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
22312 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
22313 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
22317 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
22318 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
22319 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
22321 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
22323 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
22325 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
22326 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
22327 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
22328 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
22329 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
22331 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
22335 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
22336 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
22337 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
22338 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
22342 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
22345 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
22348 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
22352 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
22353 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
22354 the new score, which should be an integer.
22356 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
22357 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
22362 @include message.texi
22363 @chapter Emacs MIME
22364 @include emacs-mime.texi
22366 @include sieve.texi
22378 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
22379 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
22380 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
22381 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
22382 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
22383 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
22384 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
22385 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
22386 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
22387 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
22388 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
22389 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
22390 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
22391 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
22392 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
22393 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
22394 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
22395 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
22396 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
22397 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
22398 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
22399 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
22400 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
22404 @node Process/Prefix
22405 @section Process/Prefix
22406 @cindex process/prefix convention
22408 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
22409 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
22411 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
22412 command to be performed on.
22416 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
22417 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
22418 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
22419 with the current one.
22421 @vindex transient-mark-mode
22422 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
22423 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
22425 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
22426 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
22429 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
22430 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
22432 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
22435 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
22436 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
22437 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
22438 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22440 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
22441 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
22442 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
22443 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
22444 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
22445 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
22446 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
22447 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
22449 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
22450 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
22451 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
22452 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
22453 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
22457 @section Interactive
22458 @cindex interaction
22462 @item gnus-novice-user
22463 @vindex gnus-novice-user
22464 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
22465 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
22466 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
22467 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
22470 @item gnus-expert-user
22471 @vindex gnus-expert-user
22472 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
22473 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing,
22474 no matter how strange. For example, quitting Gnus, exiting a group
22475 without an update, catching up with a group, deleting expired
22476 articles, and replying by mail to a news message will not require
22479 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
22480 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
22481 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
22482 is @code{t} by default.
22484 @item gnus-interactive-exit
22485 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
22486 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22491 @node Symbolic Prefixes
22492 @section Symbolic Prefixes
22493 @cindex symbolic prefixes
22495 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
22496 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
22497 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
22498 rule of 900 to the current article.
22500 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
22501 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
22502 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
22503 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
22504 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
22505 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
22506 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
22508 @kindex M-i (Summary)
22509 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
22510 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
22511 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
22512 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
22513 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
22514 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
22515 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
22516 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
22518 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
22519 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
22520 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
22522 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
22526 @node Formatting Variables
22527 @section Formatting Variables
22528 @cindex formatting variables
22530 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
22531 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
22532 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
22533 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
22534 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
22537 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
22538 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
22539 lots of percentages everywhere.
22542 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
22543 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
22544 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
22545 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
22546 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
22547 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
22548 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
22549 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
22552 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
22553 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
22554 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
22555 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
22556 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
22557 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
22558 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
22559 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
22561 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
22562 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
22564 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
22565 @findex gnus-update-format
22566 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
22567 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
22568 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
22569 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
22573 @node Formatting Basics
22574 @subsection Formatting Basics
22576 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
22577 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
22578 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
22580 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
22581 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
22582 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
22583 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
22584 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
22587 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
22588 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
22589 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
22590 less than 4 characters wide.
22592 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
22593 @samp{%&user-date;}.
22596 @node Mode Line Formatting
22597 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
22599 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
22600 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
22601 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
22602 with the following two differences:
22607 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
22610 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
22611 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
22612 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
22613 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
22614 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
22615 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
22616 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
22621 @node Advanced Formatting
22622 @subsection Advanced Formatting
22624 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
22625 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
22626 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
22627 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
22629 These are the valid modifiers:
22634 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
22638 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
22643 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
22646 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
22651 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
22654 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
22657 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
22660 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
22666 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
22671 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
22672 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
22673 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
22674 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
22675 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
22676 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
22677 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
22679 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
22680 last operation, padding.
22682 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
22683 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
22684 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
22685 @xref{Compilation}.
22688 @node User-Defined Specs
22689 @subsection User-Defined Specs
22691 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
22692 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
22693 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
22694 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
22695 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
22696 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
22697 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
22698 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
22699 should protect against that.
22701 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
22702 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
22704 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
22705 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
22706 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
22707 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
22711 @node Formatting Fonts
22712 @subsection Formatting Fonts
22715 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22716 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
22717 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
22718 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
22719 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
22723 @vindex gnus-face-0
22724 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
22725 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
22726 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
22727 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
22728 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
22729 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
22731 @cindex %<<, %>>, guillemets
22732 @c @cindex %<<, %>>, %«, %», guillemets
22733 @vindex gnus-balloon-face-0
22734 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
22735 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
22736 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
22737 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
22738 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
22739 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
22740 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
22741 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
22742 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
22743 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
22744 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
22747 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
22750 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
22751 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
22752 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
22754 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
22755 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
22756 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
22757 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
22758 ;; @r{Set the color.}
22759 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
22760 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
22762 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
22763 (setq gnus-group-line-format
22764 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
22767 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
22768 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
22770 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
22771 mode-line variables.
22773 @node Positioning Point
22774 @subsection Positioning Point
22776 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
22777 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
22778 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
22780 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
22782 @findex gnus-goto-colon
22783 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
22784 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
22786 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
22787 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
22788 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
22793 @subsection Tabulation
22795 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
22796 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
22797 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
22798 about lining up the following text afterwards.
22800 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
22801 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
22803 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22804 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
22805 This is the soft tabulator.
22807 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22808 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
22809 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
22812 @node Wide Characters
22813 @subsection Wide Characters
22815 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
22816 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
22817 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
22819 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
22820 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
22821 these countries, that's not true.
22823 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
22824 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
22825 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
22826 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
22830 @node Window Layout
22831 @section Window Layout
22832 @cindex window layout
22834 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
22836 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
22837 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
22838 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
22839 @code{t} by default.
22841 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
22842 glitches. Use at your own peril.
22844 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
22845 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
22846 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
22849 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
22850 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
22851 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22855 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
22856 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
22857 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
22858 possible names is listed below.
22860 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
22861 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
22864 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22868 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
22869 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
22870 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
22871 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
22872 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
22873 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
22874 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
22875 size spec per split.
22877 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
22878 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
22879 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
22880 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
22881 present) gets focus.
22883 Here's a more complicated example:
22886 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
22887 (summary 0.25 point)
22888 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
22892 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
22893 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
22894 occupy, not a percentage.
22896 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
22897 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
22898 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
22899 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
22900 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
22903 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
22906 (article (horizontal 1.0
22911 (summary 0.25 point)
22916 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
22917 @code{horizontal} thingie?
22919 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
22920 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
22921 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
22922 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
22923 the screen is to be given to this strip.
22925 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
22926 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
22927 lines from the splits.
22929 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
22934 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
22935 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
22936 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
22937 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
22938 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
22939 size = number | frame-params
22940 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
22944 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
22945 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
22946 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
22947 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
22949 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
22950 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
22951 @cindex window height
22952 @cindex window width
22953 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
22954 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
22955 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
22956 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
22957 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
22958 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
22960 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
22961 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
22962 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
22963 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
22965 @findex gnus-configure-frame
22966 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
22967 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
22968 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
22969 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
22970 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
22971 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
22972 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
22973 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
22974 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
22975 configuration list.
22978 (gnus-configure-frame
22982 (article 0.3 point))
22990 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
22991 @code{frame} split:
22994 (gnus-configure-frame
22997 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
22999 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
23000 (user-position . t)
23001 (left . -1) (top . 1))
23006 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
23007 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
23008 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
23009 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
23010 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
23011 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
23012 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
23013 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
23015 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
23016 be found in its default value.
23018 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
23019 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
23020 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
23024 (message (horizontal 1.0
23025 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
23027 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
23032 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
23033 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
23034 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
23039 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
23040 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
23041 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
23042 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
23043 (name . "Message"))
23044 (message 1.0 point))))
23047 @findex gnus-add-configuration
23048 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
23049 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
23050 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
23051 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
23054 (gnus-add-configuration
23055 '(article (vertical 1.0
23057 (summary .25 point)
23061 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
23062 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
23063 Gnus has been loaded.
23065 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
23066 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
23067 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
23068 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
23069 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
23071 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
23072 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
23073 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
23076 @subsection Example Window Configurations
23080 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
23081 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
23096 (gnus-add-configuration
23099 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
23101 (summary 0.16 point)
23104 (gnus-add-configuration
23107 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
23108 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
23114 @node Faces and Fonts
23115 @section Faces and Fonts
23120 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
23121 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
23122 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
23127 @section Compilation
23128 @cindex compilation
23129 @cindex byte-compilation
23131 @findex gnus-compile
23133 Remember all those line format specification variables?
23134 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
23135 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
23136 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
23137 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
23138 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
23141 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
23142 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
23143 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
23144 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
23145 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
23146 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
23147 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
23151 @section Mode Lines
23154 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
23155 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
23156 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
23157 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
23158 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
23159 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
23160 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
23163 @cindex display-time
23165 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
23166 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
23167 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
23168 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
23169 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
23170 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
23171 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
23172 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
23175 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
23177 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
23178 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
23180 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
23181 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
23182 (length display-time-string)))))
23185 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
23186 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
23187 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
23188 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
23189 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
23192 @node Highlighting and Menus
23193 @section Highlighting and Menus
23195 @cindex highlighting
23198 @vindex gnus-visual
23199 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
23200 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
23201 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
23204 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
23205 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
23208 @item group-highlight
23209 Do highlights in the group buffer.
23210 @item summary-highlight
23211 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
23212 @item article-highlight
23213 Do highlights in the article buffer.
23215 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
23217 Create menus in the group buffer.
23219 Create menus in the summary buffers.
23221 Create menus in the article buffer.
23223 Create menus in the browse buffer.
23225 Create menus in the server buffer.
23227 Create menus in the score buffers.
23229 Create menus in all buffers.
23232 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
23233 buffers, you could say something like:
23236 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
23239 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
23242 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
23245 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
23246 in all Gnus buffers.
23248 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
23251 @item gnus-mouse-face
23252 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
23253 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
23254 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
23258 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
23262 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
23263 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
23264 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
23266 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
23267 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
23268 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
23270 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
23271 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
23272 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
23274 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
23275 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
23276 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
23278 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
23279 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
23280 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
23282 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
23283 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
23284 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
23295 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
23296 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
23297 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
23298 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
23299 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
23303 @vindex gnus-carpal
23304 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
23305 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
23306 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
23311 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
23312 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
23313 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
23315 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
23316 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
23317 Face used on buttons.
23319 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
23320 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
23321 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
23323 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
23324 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
23325 Buttons in the group buffer.
23327 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
23328 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
23329 Buttons in the summary buffer.
23331 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
23332 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
23333 Buttons in the server buffer.
23335 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
23336 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
23337 Buttons in the browse buffer.
23340 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
23341 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
23342 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
23350 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
23351 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
23352 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
23353 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
23354 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
23356 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
23357 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
23358 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
23360 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
23361 been idle for thirty minutes:
23364 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
23367 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
23371 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
23374 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
23375 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
23376 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23378 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
23379 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
23380 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
23381 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
23383 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
23384 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
23385 @var{idle} minutes.
23387 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
23388 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
23391 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
23392 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
23393 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
23395 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
23396 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
23397 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
23398 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
23400 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
23401 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23403 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
23405 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
23408 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
23409 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
23410 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
23411 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
23412 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
23413 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
23414 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
23415 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
23416 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
23417 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
23418 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
23420 @findex gnus-demon-init
23421 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
23422 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
23423 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
23424 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
23425 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
23427 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
23428 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
23429 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
23438 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
23439 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
23441 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
23442 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
23443 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
23444 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
23447 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
23448 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
23449 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
23450 messages, which are distributed in the newsgroups
23451 @samp{news.lists.filters}, @samp{alt.nocem.misc}, etc.
23453 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
23454 this will make spam disappear.
23456 There are some variables to customize, of course:
23459 @item gnus-use-nocem
23460 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
23461 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
23464 You can also set this variable to a positive number as a group level.
23465 In that case, Gnus scans NoCeM messages when checking new news if this
23466 value is not exceeding a group level that you specify as the prefix
23467 argument to some commands, e.g. @code{gnus},
23468 @code{gnus-group-get-new-news}, etc. Otherwise, Gnus does not scan
23469 NoCeM messages if you specify a group level that is smaller than this
23470 value to those commands. For example, if you use 1 or 2 on the mail
23471 groups and the levels on the news groups remain the default, 3 is the
23474 @item gnus-nocem-groups
23475 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
23476 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
23479 ("news.lists.filters" "alt.nocem.misc")
23482 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
23483 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
23484 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
23485 people you want to listen to. The default is:
23489 "alba-nocem@@albasani.net"
23490 "bleachbot@@httrack.com"
23491 "news@@arcor-online.net"
23492 "news@@uni-berlin.de"
23494 "pgpmoose@@killfile.org"
23498 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
23499 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
23501 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
23502 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
23503 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
23504 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
23505 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
23506 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
23507 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
23508 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
23509 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
23510 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
23512 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
23513 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
23516 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
23519 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
23520 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
23523 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
23526 The specs are applied left-to-right.
23529 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
23530 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
23531 @findex gnus-nocem-epg-verify
23533 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
23534 says she is. This variable defaults to @code{gnus-nocem-epg-verify} if
23535 EasyPG is available, otherwise defaults to @code{pgg-verify}. The
23536 function should return non-@code{nil} if the verification is successful,
23537 otherwise (including the case the NoCeM message was not signed) should
23538 return @code{nil}. If this is too slow and you don't care for
23539 verification (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to
23542 Formerly the default was @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
23543 function. While you can still use it, you can change it into
23544 @code{gnus-nocem-epg-verify} or @code{pgg-verify} running with GnuPG if
23545 you are willing to add the @acronym{PGP} public keys to GnuPG's keyring.
23547 @item gnus-nocem-directory
23548 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
23549 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
23550 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
23552 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
23553 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
23554 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
23555 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
23556 might then see old spam.
23558 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
23559 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
23560 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
23561 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
23562 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
23565 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
23566 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
23567 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
23568 group. @code{nil} means no restriction. NoCeM groups can be huge and
23569 very slow to process.
23573 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
23574 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
23575 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
23576 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
23583 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
23584 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
23585 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
23587 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
23588 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
23589 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
23590 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
23591 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
23592 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
23593 @code{undo} function.
23595 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
23596 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
23597 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
23598 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
23599 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
23600 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
23601 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
23602 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
23603 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
23604 never be totally undoable.
23606 @findex gnus-undo-mode
23607 @vindex gnus-use-undo
23609 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
23610 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
23611 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
23612 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
23616 @node Predicate Specifiers
23617 @section Predicate Specifiers
23618 @cindex predicate specifiers
23620 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
23621 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
23622 to type all that much.
23624 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
23629 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
23630 gnus-article-unread-p)
23633 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
23634 functions all take one parameter.
23636 @findex gnus-make-predicate
23637 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
23638 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
23639 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
23644 @section Moderation
23647 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
23648 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
23649 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
23652 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
23656 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
23659 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
23661 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
23666 You split your incoming mail by matching on
23667 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
23668 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
23671 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
23672 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
23675 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
23676 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
23680 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
23683 (setq gnus-moderated-list
23684 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
23688 @node Fetching a Group
23689 @section Fetching a Group
23690 @cindex fetching a group
23692 @findex gnus-fetch-group
23693 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
23694 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
23695 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
23696 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
23697 It takes the group name as a parameter.
23700 @node Image Enhancements
23701 @section Image Enhancements
23703 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
23704 support images, Emacs 22 does.} and up, are able to display pictures and
23705 stuff, so Gnus has taken advantage of that.
23708 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
23709 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
23710 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
23711 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
23712 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
23720 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
23721 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
23722 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
23726 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
23727 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
23728 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
23736 Viewing an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
23737 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions have), or that you
23738 have suitable conversion or display programs installed. If your Emacs
23739 has image support the default action is to display the face before the
23740 @code{From} header. If there's no native @code{X-Face} support, Gnus
23741 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
23742 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends, see below. For XEmacs it's
23743 faster if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support. The
23744 default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
23745 @code{display} program.
23747 On a GNU/Linux system, the @code{display} program is included in the
23748 ImageMagick package. For external conversion programs look for packages
23749 with names like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.
23750 On Windows, you may use the packages @code{netpbm} and @code{compface}
23751 from @url{http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net}. You need to add the
23752 @code{bin} directory to your @code{PATH} environment variable.
23753 @c In fact only the following DLLs and binaries seem to be required:
23754 @c compface1.dll uncompface.exe libnetpbm10.dll icontopbm.exe
23756 The variable @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} controls which programs
23757 are used to display the @code{X-Face} header. If this variable is a
23758 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
23759 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
23760 If @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches the
23761 @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
23763 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
23771 @vindex gnus-x-face
23772 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
23773 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
23774 default colors are black and white.
23776 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
23777 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
23778 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
23779 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
23780 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
23781 XEmacs. Here are examples:
23784 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
23785 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23786 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
23787 (png . (:ascent 80))))
23789 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
23790 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
23791 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
23792 (png . (:relief -2))))
23795 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
23796 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
23797 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
23798 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
23799 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
23800 @samp{libcompface} library.
23803 If you use posting styles, you can use an @code{x-face-file} entry in
23804 @code{gnus-posting-styles}, @xref{Posting Styles}. If you don't, Gnus
23805 provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow easier
23806 insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages. You also need the
23807 above mentioned ImageMagick, netpbm or other image conversion packages
23808 (depending the values of the variables below) for these functions.
23810 @findex gnus-random-x-face
23811 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
23812 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
23813 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
23814 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
23815 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
23816 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
23817 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
23818 header data as a string.
23820 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
23821 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
23822 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
23823 randomly generated data.
23825 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
23826 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
23827 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
23828 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
23829 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
23831 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
23832 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23835 (setq message-required-news-headers
23836 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23837 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
23840 Using the last function would be something like this:
23843 (setq message-required-news-headers
23844 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23845 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
23846 (gnus-x-face-from-file
23847 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
23855 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces' implementations should really be harmonized.
23857 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
23858 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
23859 represent the author of the message.
23862 @findex gnus-article-display-face
23863 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
23864 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
23867 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
23868 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
23870 Viewing an @code{Face} header requires an Emacs that is able to display
23873 @c (if (featurep 'xemacs)
23875 @c (image-type-available-p 'png))
23877 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
23878 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
23880 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
23881 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
23882 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
23884 @findex gnus-face-from-file
23885 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
23886 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
23887 converts the file to Face format by using the
23888 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
23890 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
23891 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23894 (setq message-required-news-headers
23895 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23896 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
23897 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
23902 @subsection Smileys
23907 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
23912 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
23913 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
23915 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
23916 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23919 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
23922 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
23923 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
23924 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
23925 text and maps that to file names.
23927 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
23928 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
23929 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
23930 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
23931 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
23934 The following variables customize the appearance of the smileys:
23939 @vindex smiley-style
23940 Specifies the smiley style. Predefined smiley styles include
23941 @code{low-color} (small 13x14 pixel, three-color images), @code{medium}
23942 (more colorful images, 16x16 pixel), and @code{grayscale} (grayscale
23943 images, 14x14 pixel). The default depends on the height of the default
23946 @item smiley-data-directory
23947 @vindex smiley-data-directory
23948 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files. You shouldn't set this
23949 variable anymore. Customize @code{smiley-style} instead.
23951 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
23952 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
23953 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
23967 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
23968 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
23969 over your shoulder as you read news.
23971 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
23980 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
23981 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
23982 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
23983 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
23984 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
23985 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
23986 @code{GIF} formats.
23989 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23990 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
23991 point your Web browser at
23992 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
23994 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
23995 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
23997 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
23998 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
24001 @vindex gnus-picon-style
24002 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
24003 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
24004 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
24006 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
24010 @item gnus-picon-databases
24011 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
24012 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
24013 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
24014 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
24015 "/usr/local/faces")}.
24017 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
24018 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
24019 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
24020 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
24022 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
24023 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
24024 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
24025 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
24027 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
24028 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
24029 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
24030 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
24031 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
24033 @item gnus-picon-file-types
24034 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
24035 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
24036 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
24042 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
24045 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
24046 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
24047 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
24048 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
24049 unusual directory structure.
24051 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
24052 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
24053 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
24058 @subsubsection Toolbar
24062 @item gnus-use-toolbar
24063 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
24064 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
24065 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-@code{nil}, it should
24066 be one of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom},
24067 @code{right}, and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default
24068 toolbar, the rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those
24069 names show. The default is @code{default}.
24071 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
24072 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
24073 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
24074 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
24075 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
24076 The default is that of the default toolbar.
24078 @item gnus-group-toolbar
24079 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
24080 The toolbar in the group buffer.
24082 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
24083 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
24084 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
24086 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
24087 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
24088 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
24099 @node Fuzzy Matching
24100 @section Fuzzy Matching
24101 @cindex fuzzy matching
24103 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
24104 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
24106 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
24107 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
24108 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
24110 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
24111 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
24112 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
24113 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
24114 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
24117 @node Thwarting Email Spam
24118 @section Thwarting Email Spam
24122 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24124 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
24125 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
24126 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
24127 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
24128 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
24129 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
24130 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
24131 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
24134 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
24135 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
24136 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
24137 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
24138 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
24139 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
24141 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
24144 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
24145 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
24146 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
24147 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
24150 @node The problem of spam
24151 @subsection The problem of spam
24153 @cindex spam filtering approaches
24154 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
24156 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24158 First, some background on spam.
24160 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
24161 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
24162 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
24163 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
24164 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
24165 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
24166 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
24167 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
24168 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
24170 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
24171 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
24172 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
24173 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
24174 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
24175 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
24176 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
24177 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
24178 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
24181 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
24182 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
24183 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
24184 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
24185 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
24186 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
24187 from Bulgarian IPs.
24189 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
24190 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
24191 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
24192 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
24194 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
24195 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
24196 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
24197 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
24199 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
24200 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
24201 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
24202 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
24203 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
24204 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
24205 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
24206 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
24207 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
24209 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
24210 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
24211 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
24212 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
24213 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
24214 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
24215 down for some time because of the incident.
24217 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
24218 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
24219 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
24220 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
24221 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
24222 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
24223 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
24224 to store the database of spam analysis. Statistical analysis on the
24225 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
24226 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
24227 the server that it has misclassified mail.
24229 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
24230 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
24231 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
24232 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
24233 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
24234 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
24235 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
24238 @node Anti-Spam Basics
24239 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
24243 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
24245 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
24246 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
24248 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
24249 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
24250 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
24251 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
24252 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
24253 part of the mail address.)
24256 (setq message-default-news-headers
24257 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
24260 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
24261 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24265 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
24266 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
24267 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
24272 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
24273 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
24274 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
24275 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
24277 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
24278 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
24279 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
24280 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
24281 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
24282 your fancy split rule in this way:
24287 (to "larsi" "misc")
24291 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
24292 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
24293 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
24294 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
24295 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
24297 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
24298 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
24299 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
24300 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
24302 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
24306 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
24307 @cindex SpamAssassin
24308 @cindex Vipul's Razor
24311 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
24312 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
24313 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
24314 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
24315 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
24316 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
24317 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
24319 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
24320 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
24321 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
24324 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
24325 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
24326 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
24327 Specifiers}) follow.
24331 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
24335 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
24338 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
24339 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
24340 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
24343 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
24347 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
24350 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
24351 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
24355 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
24356 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
24357 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
24358 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
24361 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
24363 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
24367 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
24368 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
24372 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
24373 downloaded by default. You need to set
24374 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
24375 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
24377 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
24378 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
24379 spam. And here is the nifty function:
24382 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
24383 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
24385 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d" t)
24386 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
24390 @subsection Hashcash
24393 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
24394 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
24395 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
24396 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
24397 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
24399 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
24400 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
24401 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
24402 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
24403 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
24404 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
24405 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
24406 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
24407 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
24408 one of them separately.
24411 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
24412 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
24413 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
24414 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
24415 need to install to use this feature, see
24416 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
24417 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
24419 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
24420 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
24421 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
24424 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
24427 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
24431 @item hashcash-default-payment
24432 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
24433 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
24434 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
24437 @item hashcash-payment-alist
24438 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
24439 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
24440 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
24441 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
24442 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
24443 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
24444 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
24445 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
24447 @item hashcash-path
24448 @vindex hashcash-path
24449 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
24450 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
24451 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
24452 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
24453 when you generate hashcash payments.
24457 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
24458 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
24459 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
24460 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
24461 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
24462 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
24463 Hashcash Payments}).
24466 @section Spam Package
24467 @cindex spam filtering
24470 The Spam package provides Gnus with a centralized mechanism for
24471 detecting and filtering spam. It filters new mail, and processes
24472 messages according to whether they are spam or ham. (@dfn{Ham} is the
24473 name used throughout this manual to indicate non-spam messages.)
24476 * Spam Package Introduction::
24477 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
24478 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
24479 * Spam and Ham Processors::
24480 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
24482 * Extending the Spam package::
24483 * Spam Statistics Package::
24486 @node Spam Package Introduction
24487 @subsection Spam Package Introduction
24488 @cindex spam filtering
24489 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
24492 You must read this section to understand how the Spam package works.
24493 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
24495 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
24496 events. See @xref{Extending the Spam package}.
24498 @cindex spam-initialize
24499 @vindex spam-use-stat
24500 To use the Spam package, you @strong{must} first run the function
24501 @code{spam-initialize}:
24507 This autoloads @code{spam.el} and installs the various hooks necessary
24508 to let the Spam package do its job. In order to make use of the Spam
24509 package, you have to set up certain group parameters and variables,
24510 which we will describe below. All of the variables controlling the
24511 Spam package can be found in the @samp{spam} customization group.
24513 There are two ``contact points'' between the Spam package and the rest
24514 of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and leaving a group.
24516 Checking new mail for spam is done in one of two ways: while splitting
24517 incoming mail, or when you enter a group.
24519 The first way, checking for spam while splitting incoming mail, is
24520 suited to mail back ends such as @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap}, where
24521 new mail appears in a single spool file. The Spam package processes
24522 incoming mail, and sends mail considered to be spam to a designated
24523 ``spam'' group. @xref{Filtering Incoming Mail}.
24525 The second way is suited to back ends such as @code{nntp}, which have
24526 no incoming mail spool, or back ends where the server is in charge of
24527 splitting incoming mail. In this case, when you enter a Gnus group,
24528 the unseen or unread messages in that group are checked for spam.
24529 Detected spam messages are marked as spam. @xref{Detecting Spam in
24532 @cindex spam back ends
24533 In either case, you have to tell the Spam package what method to use
24534 to detect spam messages. There are several methods, or @dfn{spam back
24535 ends} (not to be confused with Gnus back ends!) to choose from: spam
24536 ``blacklists'' and ``whitelists'', dictionary-based filters, and so
24537 forth. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24539 In the Gnus summary buffer, messages that have been identified as spam
24540 always appear with a @samp{$} symbol.
24542 The Spam package divides Gnus groups into three categories: ham
24543 groups, spam groups, and unclassified groups. You should mark each of
24544 the groups you subscribe to as either a ham group or a spam group,
24545 using the @code{spam-contents} group parameter (@pxref{Group
24546 Parameters}). Spam groups have a special property: when you enter a
24547 spam group, all unseen articles are marked as spam. Thus, mail split
24548 into a spam group is automatically marked as spam.
24550 Identifying spam messages is only half of the Spam package's job. The
24551 second half comes into play whenever you exit a group buffer. At this
24552 point, the Spam package does several things:
24554 First, it calls @dfn{spam and ham processors} to process the articles
24555 according to whether they are spam or ham. There is a pair of spam
24556 and ham processors associated with each spam back end, and what the
24557 processors do depends on the back end. At present, the main role of
24558 spam and ham processors is for dictionary-based spam filters: they add
24559 the contents of the messages in the group to the filter's dictionary,
24560 to improve its ability to detect future spam. The @code{spam-process}
24561 group parameter specifies what spam processors to use. @xref{Spam and
24564 If the spam filter failed to mark a spam message, you can mark it
24565 yourself, so that the message is processed as spam when you exit the
24575 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24576 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
24577 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark
24578 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}).
24582 Similarly, you can unmark an article if it has been erroneously marked
24583 as spam. @xref{Setting Marks}.
24585 Normally, a ham message found in a non-ham group is not processed as
24586 ham---the rationale is that it should be moved into a ham group for
24587 further processing (see below). However, you can force these articles
24588 to be processed as ham by setting
24589 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
24590 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups}.
24592 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24593 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24594 The second thing that the Spam package does when you exit a group is
24595 to move ham articles out of spam groups, and spam articles out of ham
24596 groups. Ham in a spam group is moved to the group specified by the
24597 variable @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}, or the group parameter
24598 @code{ham-process-destination}. Spam in a ham group is moved to the
24599 group specified by the variable @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations},
24600 or the group parameter @code{spam-process-destination}. If these
24601 variables are not set, the articles are left in their current group.
24602 If an article cannot be moved (e.g., with a read-only backend such
24603 as @acronym{NNTP}), it is copied.
24605 If an article is moved to another group, it is processed again when
24606 you visit the new group. Normally, this is not a problem, but if you
24607 want each article to be processed only once, load the
24608 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and set the variable
24609 @code{spam-log-to-registry} to @code{t}. @xref{Spam Package
24610 Configuration Examples}.
24612 Normally, spam groups ignore @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations}.
24613 However, if you set @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only} to
24614 @code{nil}, spam will also be moved out of spam groups, depending on
24615 the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter.
24617 The final thing the Spam package does is to mark spam articles as
24618 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
24620 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
24621 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
24622 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
24624 @node Filtering Incoming Mail
24625 @subsection Filtering Incoming Mail
24626 @cindex spam filtering
24627 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
24630 To use the Spam package to filter incoming mail, you must first set up
24631 fancy mail splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}. The Spam package
24632 defines a special splitting function that you can add to your fancy
24633 split variable (either @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
24634 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on your mail back end):
24640 @vindex spam-split-group
24642 The @code{spam-split} function scans incoming mail according to your
24643 chosen spam back end(s), and sends messages identified as spam to a
24644 spam group. By default, the spam group is a group named @samp{spam},
24645 but you can change this by customizing @code{spam-split-group}. Make
24646 sure the contents of @code{spam-split-group} are an unqualified group
24647 name. For instance, in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server},
24648 the value @samp{spam} means @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The value
24649 @samp{nnimap+server:spam} is therefore wrong---it gives the group
24650 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam}.
24652 @code{spam-split} does not modify the contents of messages in any way.
24654 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
24655 Note for IMAP users: if you use the @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
24656 @code{spam-check-ifile}, and @code{spam-check-stat} spam back ends,
24657 you should also set the variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body}
24658 to @code{t}. These spam back ends are most useful when they can
24659 ``scan'' the full message body. By default, the nnimap back end only
24660 retrieves the message headers; @code{nnimap-split-download-body} tells
24661 it to retrieve the message bodies as well. We don't set this by
24662 default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and that is not an
24663 appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user. @xref{Splitting
24666 You have to specify one or more spam back ends for @code{spam-split}
24667 to use, by setting the @code{spam-use-*} variables. @xref{Spam Back
24668 Ends}. Normally, @code{spam-split} simply uses all the spam back ends
24669 you enabled in this way. However, you can tell @code{spam-split} to
24670 use only some of them. Why this is useful? Suppose you are using the
24671 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and @code{spam-use-blackholes} spam back
24672 ends, and the following split rule:
24675 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24676 (any "ding" "ding")
24678 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24683 The problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the ding
24684 folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam detected by
24685 SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through, when it's
24686 sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to the ding
24687 list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the invocation
24688 of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
24690 The solution is to let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, and
24691 perform the other @code{spam-split} rules (including a second
24692 invocation of the regex-headers check) after the ding rule. This is
24693 done by passing a parameter to @code{spam-split}:
24698 ;; @r{spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
24699 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24700 (any "ding" "ding")
24701 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
24703 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24708 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
24709 your particular needs, and target the results of those checks to a
24710 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
24711 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
24712 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
24713 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
24714 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
24716 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24717 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24718 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24719 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
24721 @c @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
24722 @c statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
24725 @node Detecting Spam in Groups
24726 @subsection Detecting Spam in Groups
24728 To detect spam when visiting a group, set the group's
24729 @code{spam-autodetect} and @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group
24730 parameters. These are accessible with @kbd{G c} or @kbd{G p}, as
24731 usual (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24733 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
24734 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
24735 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
24736 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
24738 By default, only unseen articles are processed for spam. You can
24739 force Gnus to recheck all messages in the group by setting the
24740 variable @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages} to @code{t}.
24742 If you use the @code{spam-autodetect} method of checking for spam, you
24743 can specify different spam detection methods for different groups.
24744 For instance, the @samp{ding} group may have @code{spam-use-BBDB} as
24745 the autodetection method, while the @samp{suspect} group may have the
24746 @code{spam-use-blacklist} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods
24747 enabled. Unlike with @code{spam-split}, you don't have any control
24748 over the @emph{sequence} of checks, but this is probably unimportant.
24750 @node Spam and Ham Processors
24751 @subsection Spam and Ham Processors
24752 @cindex spam filtering
24753 @cindex spam filtering variables
24754 @cindex spam variables
24757 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
24758 Spam and ham processors specify special actions to take when you exit
24759 a group buffer. Spam processors act on spam messages, and ham
24760 processors on ham messages. At present, the main role of these
24761 processors is to update the dictionaries of dictionary-based spam back
24762 ends such as Bogofilter (@pxref{Bogofilter}) and the Spam Statistics
24763 package (@pxref{Spam Statistics Filtering}).
24765 The spam and ham processors that apply to each group are determined by
24766 the group's@code{spam-process} group parameter. If this group
24767 parameter is not defined, they are determined by the variable
24768 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups}.
24770 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24771 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
24772 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
24773 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
24774 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
24775 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
24776 by customizing the corresponding variable
24777 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
24778 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
24779 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
24780 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
24781 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
24782 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
24783 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
24786 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
24788 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
24789 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
24790 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
24791 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
24792 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
24793 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
24794 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
24795 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
24796 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
24797 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
24798 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
24799 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
24800 processor which will study them as spam samples.
24802 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
24803 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
24804 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
24805 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
24806 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
24807 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
24808 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
24809 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
24812 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24813 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
24814 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
24815 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
24816 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
24817 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
24818 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
24823 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24824 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
24825 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
24826 you really want to.
24829 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
24830 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
24831 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
24832 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
24833 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
24834 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
24837 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24838 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
24839 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
24840 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
24841 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
24842 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
24843 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
24844 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
24845 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
24846 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
24847 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
24848 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
24849 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
24850 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
24851 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
24853 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24854 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24856 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24857 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
24858 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
24860 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
24861 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
24863 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
24864 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
24865 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
24866 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
24867 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
24869 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
24870 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
24871 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
24872 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
24873 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
24876 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24877 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
24878 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
24879 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
24880 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
24881 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
24882 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
24883 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
24884 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
24885 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
24886 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
24887 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
24888 group buffer then you need it here as well.
24890 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24891 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24893 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24894 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
24897 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
24898 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
24899 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
24900 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
24901 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
24902 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
24903 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
24905 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
24906 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
24907 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
24908 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
24910 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
24911 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
24912 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
24913 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
24914 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
24915 from the mail server.
24917 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
24918 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
24919 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
24920 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
24922 @node Spam Package Configuration Examples
24923 @subsection Spam Package Configuration Examples
24924 @cindex spam filtering
24925 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
24926 @cindex spam configuration examples
24929 @subsubheading Ted's setup
24931 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
24933 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
24934 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
24935 (gnus-registry-initialize)
24939 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
24941 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
24942 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
24943 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24944 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24945 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
24946 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
24947 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
24948 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
24949 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
24950 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
24951 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24952 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
24953 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
24954 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
24955 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24956 (any "ding" "ding")
24957 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
24959 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24962 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
24964 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
24965 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
24966 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
24967 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
24969 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24971 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
24972 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
24973 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
24974 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
24975 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24977 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
24978 ((spam-autodetect . t))
24980 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
24982 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
24983 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
24985 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
24986 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
24987 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
24989 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
24991 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
24992 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
24994 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
24995 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
24996 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
24998 (gnus-ticked-mark))
24999 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
25000 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
25001 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
25003 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
25004 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
25005 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
25009 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
25010 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
25012 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
25013 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
25014 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
25015 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
25016 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
25017 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
25018 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
25019 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
25020 @samp{training.spam} folders.
25022 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
25023 does most of the job for me:
25026 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
25027 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
25028 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
25029 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
25030 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
25031 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
25032 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
25037 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
25039 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
25040 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
25041 bogofilter or DCC).
25043 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
25044 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
25045 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark
25046 (@code{ham-marks}, @ref{Spam and Ham Processors}). On group exit,
25047 those messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want
25048 to have the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter)
25049 and deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
25051 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
25052 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
25053 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
25054 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
25055 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
25056 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
25058 @item @b{Ham folders:}
25060 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
25061 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
25062 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
25063 @samp{training.spam}.
25066 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
25068 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
25070 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
25071 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
25072 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
25076 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
25079 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
25080 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
25081 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
25082 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
25083 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
25085 @node Spam Back Ends
25086 @subsection Spam Back Ends
25087 @cindex spam back ends
25089 The spam package offers a variety of back ends for detecting spam.
25090 Each back end defines a set of methods for detecting spam
25091 (@pxref{Filtering Incoming Mail}, @pxref{Detecting Spam in Groups}),
25092 and a pair of spam and ham processors (@pxref{Spam and Ham
25096 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
25097 * BBDB Whitelists::
25098 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
25099 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
25101 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
25103 * SpamAssassin back end::
25104 * ifile spam filtering::
25105 * Spam Statistics Filtering::
25109 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
25110 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
25111 @cindex spam filtering
25112 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
25113 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
25116 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
25118 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
25119 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
25120 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
25121 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
25126 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
25128 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
25129 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
25130 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
25131 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
25132 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25136 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
25138 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
25139 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
25140 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
25144 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
25146 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25147 customizing the group parameters or the
25148 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25149 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25150 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
25154 Instead of the obsolete
25155 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
25156 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
25157 the same way, we promise.
25161 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
25163 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25164 customizing the group parameters or the
25165 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25166 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25167 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
25172 Instead of the obsolete
25173 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
25174 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
25175 the same way, we promise.
25179 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
25180 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
25181 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
25182 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
25183 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
25185 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
25186 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
25187 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
25188 Emacs regular expression syntax.
25190 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
25191 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
25192 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
25193 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
25194 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
25195 @file{blacklist} respectively.
25197 @node BBDB Whitelists
25198 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
25199 @cindex spam filtering
25200 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
25201 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
25204 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
25206 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25207 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
25208 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
25209 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
25210 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
25211 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
25212 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25216 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
25218 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
25219 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
25220 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
25221 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
25222 classified as spammers.
25224 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
25225 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
25226 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
25227 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to t, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
25232 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
25234 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25235 customizing the group parameters or the
25236 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25237 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
25238 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
25243 Instead of the obsolete
25244 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
25245 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
25246 the same way, we promise.
25250 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
25251 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
25252 @cindex spam reporting
25253 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
25254 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
25257 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
25259 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25260 customizing the group parameters or the
25261 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25262 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25263 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
25266 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
25270 Instead of the obsolete
25271 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
25272 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
25273 same way, we promise.
25277 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
25279 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
25280 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
25281 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
25282 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
25283 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
25287 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
25289 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
25290 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
25291 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
25295 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25296 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
25297 @cindex spam filtering
25298 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
25301 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
25303 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
25304 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
25305 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
25306 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
25307 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
25308 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
25313 @subsubsection Blackholes
25314 @cindex spam filtering
25315 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
25318 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
25320 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
25321 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
25322 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
25323 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
25324 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
25325 contains outdated servers.
25327 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
25328 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
25329 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
25330 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
25331 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
25332 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
25336 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
25338 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
25342 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
25344 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
25345 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
25349 @defvar spam-use-dig
25351 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
25352 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
25356 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
25357 ham processor for blackholes.
25359 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
25360 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
25361 @cindex spam filtering
25362 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
25365 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
25367 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
25368 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
25369 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
25370 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
25371 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
25372 message is spam or ham, respectively.
25376 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
25378 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25379 the message, positively identify it as spam.
25383 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
25385 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
25386 the message, positively identify it as ham.
25390 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
25391 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
25394 @subsubsection Bogofilter
25395 @cindex spam filtering
25396 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
25399 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
25401 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25404 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
25405 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
25406 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
25407 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
25408 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
25409 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
25411 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
25412 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
25415 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
25416 processing will be turned off.
25418 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
25427 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
25428 Get the Bogofilter spamicity score (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}).
25431 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
25433 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
25434 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
25435 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
25436 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
25437 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
25438 installation documents for details.
25440 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
25444 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
25445 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25446 customizing the group parameters or the
25447 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25448 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
25449 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
25453 Instead of the obsolete
25454 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25455 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25456 the same way, we promise.
25459 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
25460 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25461 customizing the group parameters or the
25462 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25463 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25464 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
25465 of non-spam messages.
25469 Instead of the obsolete
25470 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
25471 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
25472 the same way, we promise.
25475 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
25477 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
25478 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
25479 database directory.
25483 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
25484 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25485 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
25486 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
25487 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
25488 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
25490 @node SpamAssassin back end
25491 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
25492 @cindex spam filtering
25493 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
25496 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
25498 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
25500 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
25501 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
25502 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
25503 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
25506 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
25507 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
25508 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
25509 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
25512 You should not enable this if you use
25513 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
25517 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
25519 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
25520 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
25522 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
25526 @defvar spam-spamassassin-program
25528 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
25529 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
25530 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
25531 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
25535 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
25536 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
25537 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
25538 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
25539 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
25540 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
25541 to test this functionality.
25543 @node ifile spam filtering
25544 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
25545 @cindex spam filtering
25546 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
25549 @defvar spam-use-ifile
25551 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
25552 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
25556 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
25558 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
25559 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
25560 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
25564 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
25566 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
25567 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
25568 the default value of @samp{spam}.
25571 @defvar spam-ifile-database
25573 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
25574 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
25578 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
25579 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
25580 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
25581 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
25584 @node Spam Statistics Filtering
25585 @subsubsection Spam Statistics Filtering
25586 @cindex spam filtering
25587 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
25591 This back end uses the Spam Statistics Emacs Lisp package to perform
25592 statistics-based filtering (@pxref{Spam Statistics Package}). Before
25593 using this, you may want to perform some additional steps to
25594 initialize your Spam Statistics dictionary. @xref{Creating a
25595 spam-stat dictionary}.
25597 @defvar spam-use-stat
25601 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
25602 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25603 customizing the group parameters or the
25604 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25605 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
25606 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
25610 Instead of the obsolete
25611 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25612 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25613 the same way, we promise.
25616 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
25617 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25618 customizing the group parameters or the
25619 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
25620 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
25621 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
25622 of non-spam messages.
25626 Instead of the obsolete
25627 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
25628 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
25629 the same way, we promise.
25632 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
25633 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
25634 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
25635 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
25636 @code{spam-split} are provided.
25639 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
25640 @cindex spam filtering
25644 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
25645 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
25646 installed separately.
25648 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
25649 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
25650 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
25651 mail as a spam mail or not.
25653 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
25654 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
25655 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
25657 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Spam Package})
25660 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
25661 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
25662 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
25663 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}. @xref{Spam
25664 Package}. In this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is
25665 filtered using SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be
25666 moved to @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham
25667 messages stay in @samp{INBOX}:
25670 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
25671 spam-split-group "Junk"
25672 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
25673 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
25674 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
25677 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
25678 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
25682 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
25683 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
25684 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
25688 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
25689 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
25690 store its analysis. This is controlled by the variable
25691 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
25692 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
25693 database to live somewhere special, set
25694 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
25697 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
25698 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
25699 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns
25700 the characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
25701 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
25702 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary
25703 buffer and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using
25704 @file{spam.el}'s spam- and ham-processors, which is much more
25705 convenient. For a detailed description of spam- and ham-processors,
25706 @xref{Spam Package}.
25708 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
25709 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25710 customizing the group parameter or the
25711 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25712 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
25713 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
25717 Instead of the obsolete
25718 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25719 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25720 the same way, we promise.
25723 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
25724 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
25725 customizing the group parameter or the
25726 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
25727 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
25728 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
25733 Instead of the obsolete
25734 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
25735 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
25736 the same way, we promise.
25739 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
25740 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
25743 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
25744 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
25745 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
25747 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
25748 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
25749 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
25750 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
25751 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
25752 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
25754 @node Extending the Spam package
25755 @subsection Extending the Spam package
25756 @cindex spam filtering
25757 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
25758 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
25760 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
25761 incoming mail, provide the following:
25769 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
25770 "True if blackbox should be used.")
25773 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
25775 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
25776 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
25777 register/unregister routines as a start, or other restister/unregister
25778 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
25779 register/unregister spam and ham.
25784 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
25785 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
25786 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
25787 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
25792 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
25799 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
25800 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
25802 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
25803 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
25804 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
25805 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
25808 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
25809 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
25810 Only applicable to spam groups.")
25812 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
25813 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
25814 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
25823 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
25824 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
25826 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
25827 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
25828 variable customization.
25832 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
25834 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
25835 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
25837 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
25838 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
25844 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
25846 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
25847 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
25848 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
25851 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
25853 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
25854 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
25858 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
25860 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
25861 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
25862 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
25866 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
25868 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
25869 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
25870 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
25873 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
25875 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
25876 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
25880 @code{spam-install-backend}
25882 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
25883 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
25884 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
25887 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
25889 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
25890 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
25891 never install such a back end.
25896 @node Spam Statistics Package
25897 @subsection Spam Statistics Package
25898 @cindex Paul Graham
25899 @cindex Graham, Paul
25900 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
25901 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
25902 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
25904 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
25905 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
25906 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
25907 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
25908 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
25909 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
25910 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
25911 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
25912 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
25915 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
25916 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
25917 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
25918 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
25919 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
25920 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
25921 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
25922 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
25924 The Spam Statistics package adds support to Gnus for this kind of
25925 filtering. It can be used as one of the back ends of the Spam package
25926 (@pxref{Spam Package}), or by itself.
25928 Before using the Spam Statistics package, you need to set it up.
25929 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
25930 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
25931 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
25932 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
25935 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
25936 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
25937 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
25940 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25941 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25943 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
25944 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
25945 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
25946 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
25947 need several hundred emails in both collections.
25949 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
25950 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
25951 per mail. Use the following:
25953 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
25954 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
25955 is treated as one spam mail.
25958 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
25959 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
25960 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
25963 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
25964 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds to
25965 the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
25966 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
25967 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds to the group
25968 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
25970 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
25971 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
25972 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
25973 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
25974 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
25977 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
25978 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
25979 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
25980 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
25983 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
25984 reset the dictionary.
25986 @defun spam-stat-reset
25987 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
25990 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
25991 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
25992 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
25993 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
25994 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
25995 only non-spam mails.
25997 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
25998 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
25999 to update the dictionary incrementally.
26002 @defun spam-stat-save
26003 Save the dictionary.
26006 @defvar spam-stat-file
26007 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
26008 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
26011 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
26012 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
26014 This section describes how to use the Spam statistics
26015 @emph{independently} of the @xref{Spam Package}.
26017 First, add the following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
26020 (require 'spam-stat)
26024 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
26027 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
26028 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
26029 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
26030 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
26032 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
26033 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
26034 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
26035 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
26038 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26039 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26043 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
26044 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
26047 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
26048 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
26049 expression are considered potential spam.
26052 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26053 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26054 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26058 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
26059 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
26060 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
26061 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
26062 mails, when creating the dictionary!
26065 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26066 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26067 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26071 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
26072 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
26073 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
26074 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
26075 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
26079 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
26080 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
26081 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
26082 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
26087 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
26088 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
26090 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
26092 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
26093 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
26094 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
26097 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
26098 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
26099 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
26102 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
26103 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
26104 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
26105 already been processed as non-spam.
26108 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
26109 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
26110 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
26111 been processed as spam.
26114 @defun spam-stat-save
26115 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
26116 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
26119 @defun spam-stat-load
26120 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
26121 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
26124 @defun spam-stat-score-word
26125 Return the spam score for a word.
26128 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
26129 Return the spam score for a buffer.
26132 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
26133 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
26134 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
26137 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
26138 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
26141 (require 'spam-stat)
26145 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
26148 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
26149 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26150 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26151 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26152 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
26153 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
26154 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26155 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26156 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
26157 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26158 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
26159 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
26160 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26161 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26164 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
26167 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
26168 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
26169 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
26170 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
26171 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
26172 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
26175 @node The Gnus Registry
26176 @section The Gnus Registry
26181 The Gnus registry is a package that tracks messages by their
26182 Message-ID across all backends. This allows Gnus users to do several
26183 cool things, be the envy of the locals, get free haircuts, and be
26184 experts on world issues. Well, maybe not all of those, but the
26185 features are pretty cool.
26187 Although they will be explained in detail shortly, here's a quick list
26188 of said features in case your attention span is... never mind.
26192 Split messages to their parent
26194 This keeps discussions in the same group. You can use the subject and
26195 the sender in addition to the Message-ID. Several strategies are
26199 Store custom flags and keywords
26201 The registry can store custom flags and keywords for a message. For
26202 instance, you can mark a message ``To-Do'' this way and the flag will
26203 persist whether the message is in the nnimap, nnml, nnmaildir,
26207 Store arbitrary data
26209 Through a simple ELisp API, the registry can remember any data for a
26210 message. A built-in inverse map, when activated, allows quick lookups
26211 of all messages matching a particular set of criteria.
26216 * Fancy splitting to parent::
26217 * Store custom flags and keywords::
26218 * Store arbitrary data::
26224 Fortunately, setting up the Gnus registry is pretty easy:
26227 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500
26228 gnus-registry-use-long-group-names t)
26230 (gnus-registry-initialize)
26233 This adds registry saves to Gnus newsrc saves (which happen on exit
26234 and when you press @kbd{s} from the @code{*Group*} buffer. It also
26235 adds registry calls to article actions in Gnus (copy, move, etc.) so
26236 it's not easy to undo the initialization. See
26237 @code{gnus-registry-initialize} for the gory details.
26239 Here are other settings used by the author of the registry (understand
26240 what they do before you copy them blindly).
26244 gnus-registry-split-strategy 'majority
26245 gnus-registry-ignored-groups '(("nntp" t)
26249 gnus-registry-max-entries 500000
26250 gnus-registry-use-long-group-names t
26251 gnus-registry-track-extra '(sender subject))
26254 They say: keep a lot of messages around, use long group names, track
26255 messages by sender and subject (not just parent Message-ID), and when
26256 the registry splits incoming mail, use a majority rule to decide where
26257 messages should go if there's more than one possibility. In addition,
26258 the registry should ignore messages in groups that match ``nntp'',
26259 ``nnrss'', ``spam'', or ``train.''
26261 You are doubtless impressed by all this, but you ask: ``I am a Gnus
26262 user, I customize to live. Give me more.'' Here you go, these are
26263 the general settings.
26265 @defvar gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups
26266 The groups that will not be followed by
26267 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}. They will still be
26268 remembered by the registry. This is a list of regular expressions.
26271 @defvar gnus-registry-ignored-groups
26272 The groups that will not be remembered by the registry. This is a
26273 list of regular expressions, also available through Group/Topic
26274 customization (so you can ignore or keep a specific group or a whole
26278 @defvar gnus-registry-use-long-group-names
26279 Whether the registry will use long group names. It's recommended to
26280 set this to @code{t}, although everything works if you don't. Future
26281 functionality will require it.
26284 @defvar gnus-registry-max-entries
26285 The number (an integer or @code{nil} for unlimited) of entries the
26286 registry will keep.
26289 @defvar gnus-registry-cache-file
26290 The file where the registry will be stored between Gnus sessions.
26293 @node Fancy splitting to parent
26294 @subsection Fancy splitting to parent
26296 Simply put, this lets you put followup e-mail where it belongs.
26298 Every message has a Message-ID, which is unique, and the registry
26299 remembers it. When the message is moved or copied, the registry will
26300 notice this and offer the new group as a choice to the splitting
26303 When a followup is made, usually it mentions the original message's
26304 Message-ID in the headers. The registry knows this and uses that
26305 mention to find the group where the original message lives. You only
26306 have to put a rule like this:
26309 (setq nnimap-my-split-fancy '(|
26311 ;; split to parent: you need this
26312 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
26314 ;; other rules, as an example
26320 in your fancy split setup. In addition, you may want to customize the
26321 following variables.
26323 @defvar gnus-registry-track-extra
26324 This is a list of symbols, so it's best to change it from the
26325 Customize interface. By default it's @code{nil}, but you may want to
26326 track @code{subject} and @code{sender} as well when splitting by parent.
26327 It may work for you. It can be annoying if your mail flow is large and
26328 people don't stick to the same groups.
26331 @defvar gnus-registry-split-strategy
26332 This is a symbol, so it's best to change it from the Customize
26333 interface. By default it's @code{nil}, but you may want to set it to
26334 @code{majority} or @code{first} to split by sender or subject based on
26335 the majority of matches or on the first found.
26338 @node Store custom flags and keywords
26339 @subsection Store custom flags and keywords
26341 The registry lets you set custom flags and keywords per message. You
26342 can use the Gnus->Registry Marks menu or the @kbd{M M x} keyboard
26343 shortcuts, where @code{x} is the first letter of the mark's name.
26345 @defvar gnus-registry-marks
26346 The custom marks that the registry can use. You can modify the
26347 default list, if you like. If you do, you'll have to exit Emacs
26348 before they take effect (you can also unload the registry and reload
26349 it or evaluate the specific macros you'll need, but you probably don't
26350 want to bother). Use the Customize interface to modify the list.
26352 By default this list has the @code{Important}, @code{Work},
26353 @code{Personal}, @code{To-Do}, and @code{Later} marks. They all have
26354 keyboard shortcuts like @kbd{M M i} for Important, using the first
26358 @defun gnus-registry-mark-article
26359 Call this function to mark an article with a custom registry mark. It
26360 will offer the available marks for completion.
26363 @node Store arbitrary data
26364 @subsection Store arbitrary data
26366 The registry has a simple API that uses a Message-ID as the key to
26367 store arbitrary data (as long as it can be converted to a list for
26370 @defun gnus-registry-store-extra-entry (id key value)
26371 Store @code{value} in the extra data key @code{key} for message
26375 @defun gnus-registry-delete-extra-entry (id key)
26376 Delete the extra data key @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26379 @defun gnus-registry-fetch-extra (id key)
26380 Get the extra data key @code{key} for message @code{id}.
26383 @defvar gnus-registry-extra-entries-precious
26384 If any extra entries are precious, their presence will make the
26385 registry keep the whole entry forever, even if there are no groups for
26386 the Message-ID and if the size limit of the registry is reached. By
26387 default this is just @code{(marks)} so the custom registry marks are
26392 @section Interaction with other modes
26397 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provides some useful functions for dired
26398 buffers. It is enabled with
26400 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
26405 @findex gnus-dired-attach
26406 @cindex attachments, selection via dired
26407 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
26408 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
26411 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
26412 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
26413 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
26417 @findex gnus-dired-print
26418 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
26419 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
26422 @node Various Various
26423 @section Various Various
26429 @item gnus-home-directory
26430 @vindex gnus-home-directory
26431 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
26432 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
26434 @item gnus-directory
26435 @vindex gnus-directory
26436 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
26437 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
26438 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
26440 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
26441 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
26442 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
26443 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
26445 @item gnus-default-directory
26446 @vindex gnus-default-directory
26447 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
26448 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
26449 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
26450 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
26451 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
26452 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
26455 @vindex gnus-verbose
26456 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
26457 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
26458 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
26459 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
26460 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
26462 @item gnus-verbose-backends
26463 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
26464 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
26465 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
26467 @item gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26468 @vindex gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
26469 This variable controls whether to add timestamps to messages that are
26470 controlled by @code{gnus-verbose} and @code{gnus-verbose-backends} and
26471 are issued. The default value is @code{nil} which means never to add
26472 timestamp. If it is @code{log}, add timestamps to only the messages
26473 that go into the @samp{*Messages*} buffer (in XEmacs, it is the
26474 @w{@samp{ *Message-Log*}} buffer). If it is neither @code{nil} nor
26475 @code{log}, add timestamps not only to log messages but also to the ones
26476 displayed in the echo area.
26478 @item nnheader-max-head-length
26479 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
26480 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
26481 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
26482 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
26483 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
26484 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
26485 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
26486 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
26487 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
26489 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
26490 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
26491 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
26492 read when doing the operation described above.
26494 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26495 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26497 @cindex invalid characters in file names
26498 @cindex characters in file names
26499 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
26500 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
26501 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
26505 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
26510 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
26511 Windows (phooey) systems.
26513 @item gnus-hidden-properties
26514 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
26515 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
26516 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
26517 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
26519 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
26520 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
26521 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
26522 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
26523 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
26525 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
26526 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
26527 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
26529 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26530 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
26532 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
26533 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
26534 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
26535 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
26538 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
26540 @item gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26541 @vindex gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
26542 Groups in which links in html articles are considered all safe. The
26543 value may be a regexp matching those groups, a list of group names, or
26544 @code{nil}. This overrides @code{mm-w3m-safe-url-regexp}. The default
26545 value is @code{"\\`nnrss[+:]"}. This is effective only when emacs-w3m
26546 renders html articles, i.e., in the case @code{mm-text-html-renderer} is
26547 set to @code{w3m}. @xref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization,
26548 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}.
26555 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
26556 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
26558 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
26560 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
26566 Not because of victories @*
26569 but for the common sunshine,@*
26571 the largess of the spring.
26575 but for the day's work done@*
26576 as well as I was able;@*
26577 not for a seat upon the dais@*
26578 but at the common table.@*
26583 @chapter Appendices
26586 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
26587 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
26588 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
26589 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
26590 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
26591 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
26592 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
26593 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
26594 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
26601 @cindex installing under XEmacs
26603 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
26604 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
26605 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
26606 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
26607 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{W3},
26608 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
26615 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
26616 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
26618 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
26619 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
26620 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
26621 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
26622 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
26624 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
26625 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
26626 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
26627 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
26628 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
26629 appropriate name, don't you think?)
26631 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
26632 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
26633 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
26634 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
26637 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
26638 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
26639 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
26640 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
26641 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
26642 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
26643 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
26644 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
26645 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
26649 @node Gnus Versions
26650 @subsection Gnus Versions
26652 @cindex September Gnus
26654 @cindex Quassia Gnus
26655 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
26658 @cindex Gnus versions
26660 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
26661 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
26662 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
26664 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
26665 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
26667 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
26668 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
26670 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
26671 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
26673 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
26674 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
26677 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun and was released as
26678 Gnus 5.10 on May 1st 2003 (24 releases).
26680 On the January 4th 2004, No Gnus was begun.
26682 On April 19, 2010 Gnus development was moved to Git. See
26683 http://git.gnus.org for details (http://www.gnus.org will be updated
26684 with the information when possible).
26686 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
26687 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
26688 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'', ``No Gnus'' -- don't panic.
26689 Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever
26690 you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach.
26691 Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
26694 @node Other Gnus Versions
26695 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
26698 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
26699 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
26700 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
26701 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
26703 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
26704 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
26705 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
26706 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
26713 What's the point of Gnus?
26715 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
26716 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
26717 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
26718 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
26719 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
26720 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
26721 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
26722 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
26723 keep track of millions of people who post?
26725 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
26726 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
26727 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
26728 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
26729 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
26730 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
26731 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
26732 every one of you to explore and invent.
26734 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
26735 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
26738 @node Compatibility
26739 @subsection Compatibility
26741 @cindex compatibility
26742 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
26743 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
26744 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
26749 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
26753 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
26756 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
26759 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
26760 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
26761 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
26762 important variables have their values copied into their global
26763 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
26764 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
26766 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
26767 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
26768 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
26769 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
26770 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
26774 @cindex highlighting
26775 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
26776 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
26777 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
26778 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
26779 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
26780 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
26783 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
26784 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
26785 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
26786 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
26788 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
26789 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
26790 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
26791 to stop doing it the old way.
26793 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
26795 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26797 @cindex reporting bugs
26799 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
26800 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
26801 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
26803 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
26804 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
26805 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
26806 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
26811 @subsection Conformity
26813 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
26814 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
26822 There are no known breaches of this standard.
26826 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
26828 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
26829 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
26830 We do have some breaches to this one.
26836 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
26837 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
26838 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
26839 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
26840 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
26845 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
26846 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
26847 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
26848 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
26850 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
26851 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
26852 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
26854 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
26855 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
26857 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
26860 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
26861 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
26862 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
26863 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
26864 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
26867 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
26868 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
26869 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
26870 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
26872 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
26873 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
26875 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
26876 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
26877 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
26878 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
26879 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
26880 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
26881 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
26882 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
26886 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
26887 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
26892 @subsection Emacsen
26898 This version of Gnus should work on:
26906 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
26910 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
26911 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
26912 Emacs versions. Particularly, Gnus 5.10.8 should also work on Emacs
26913 20.7 and XEmacs 21.1.
26915 @c No-merge comment: The paragraph added in v5-10 here must not be
26918 @node Gnus Development
26919 @subsection Gnus Development
26921 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
26922 discussion on the development mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}, where people
26923 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
26924 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
26925 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
26926 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
26927 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
26928 have names like ``Oort Gnus'' and ``No Gnus''. @xref{Gnus Versions}.
26930 After futzing around for 10-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
26931 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
26932 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.10.1'' instead. Normal people are
26933 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
26934 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup. This newgroup is mirrored to the
26935 mailing list @samp{info-gnus-english@@gnu.org} which is carried on Gmane
26936 as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.user}. These releases are finally integrated
26940 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26941 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26942 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26943 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26944 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26946 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
26947 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
26948 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
26949 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
26950 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
26951 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
26952 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
26953 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
26954 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
26955 can't be assumed to do so.
26957 So if you have problems with or questions about the alpha versions,
26958 direct those to the ding mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}. This list
26959 is also available on Gmane as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.general}.
26962 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26963 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26964 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26965 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26966 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26969 @subsection Contributors
26970 @cindex contributors
26972 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
26973 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
26974 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
26975 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
26976 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
26977 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
26978 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
26979 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
26980 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
26981 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
26983 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
26989 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
26992 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
26993 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
26994 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
26995 functionality and stuff.
26998 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
26999 well as numerous other things).
27002 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
27005 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
27008 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
27011 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
27014 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
27015 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
27018 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
27021 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
27024 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
27027 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
27030 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
27033 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
27036 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
27037 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
27040 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
27043 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
27046 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
27049 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
27053 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
27056 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
27059 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
27062 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
27063 well as autoconf support.
27067 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
27068 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
27070 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
27085 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
27087 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
27091 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
27101 Alexei V. Barantsev,
27116 Massimo Campostrini,
27121 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
27122 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
27126 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
27129 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
27135 Michael Welsh Duggan,
27140 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
27144 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
27152 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
27154 Michelangelo Grigni,
27158 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
27160 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
27162 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
27170 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
27171 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
27172 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
27174 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
27184 Peter Skov Knudsen,
27185 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
27187 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
27188 Thor Kristoffersen,
27191 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
27209 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
27210 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
27217 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
27222 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
27226 John McClary Prevost,
27232 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
27237 Christian von Roques,
27240 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
27247 Philippe Schnoebelen,
27249 Randal L. Schwartz,
27263 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
27268 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
27288 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
27289 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
27290 (550kB and counting).
27292 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
27295 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
27296 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
27300 @subsection New Features
27301 @cindex new features
27304 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
27305 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
27306 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
27307 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
27308 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
27309 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
27310 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
27313 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
27314 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
27315 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
27318 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
27320 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
27325 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
27326 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
27329 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
27330 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
27333 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
27336 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
27337 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
27338 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
27341 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
27342 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
27343 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
27344 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27347 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
27348 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27351 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
27352 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
27353 (@pxref{The Active File}).
27356 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
27357 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
27360 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
27361 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
27362 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27365 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
27366 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
27367 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
27370 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
27371 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
27374 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
27375 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
27378 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
27379 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27382 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
27383 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
27386 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
27387 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27390 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
27393 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
27394 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
27397 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
27398 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
27401 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
27402 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
27405 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
27408 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
27409 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27412 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
27416 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
27420 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
27421 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
27424 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
27430 @node September Gnus
27431 @subsubsection September Gnus
27435 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
27439 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
27444 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
27445 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
27449 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
27450 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
27454 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
27458 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
27459 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
27462 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
27466 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
27469 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
27472 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
27475 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
27479 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
27480 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
27483 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
27487 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
27491 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
27495 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
27499 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
27502 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
27503 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
27506 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
27510 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
27511 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
27514 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
27517 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
27518 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
27519 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
27522 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets.
27525 The Gnus cache is much faster.
27528 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
27532 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
27533 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
27536 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
27537 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
27540 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
27541 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
27544 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
27545 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
27546 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
27549 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
27550 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
27553 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
27556 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27559 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
27562 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
27565 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
27566 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
27569 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
27573 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
27576 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
27581 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
27584 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
27588 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
27591 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
27595 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
27598 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
27601 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
27602 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
27605 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
27606 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
27610 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
27611 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
27614 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
27618 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
27619 buffer to allow easier treatment.
27622 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
27625 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
27629 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
27633 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
27634 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
27637 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
27641 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
27642 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
27645 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
27646 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27649 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
27653 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
27656 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
27659 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
27665 @subsubsection Red Gnus
27667 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
27671 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
27678 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
27681 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
27682 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
27685 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
27686 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
27690 Article washing status can be displayed in the
27691 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
27694 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
27697 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
27698 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
27701 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
27705 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
27706 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
27710 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
27711 Server Internals}).
27714 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
27718 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
27721 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
27722 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
27725 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
27726 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
27727 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
27730 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
27731 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27734 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
27735 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
27738 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
27742 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
27743 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27746 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
27747 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
27750 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
27754 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
27757 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
27761 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
27762 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27765 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
27766 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27769 A new command for reading collections of documents
27770 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
27771 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
27774 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
27778 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
27779 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
27782 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
27783 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
27784 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
27787 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
27788 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
27792 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
27796 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
27800 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
27805 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
27809 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
27813 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
27814 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
27817 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
27823 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
27825 New features in Gnus 5.6:
27830 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
27831 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
27832 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
27835 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
27836 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
27837 group, which is created automatically.
27840 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
27844 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
27847 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
27848 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
27851 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
27855 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
27858 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
27859 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
27862 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
27865 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
27869 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
27870 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
27873 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
27874 control over simplification.
27877 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
27880 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
27884 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
27887 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
27890 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
27891 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
27892 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
27895 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
27896 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
27899 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
27903 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
27904 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
27907 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
27908 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
27911 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
27915 A history of where mails have been split is available.
27918 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
27921 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
27922 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
27925 A new function for citing in Message has been
27926 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
27929 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
27932 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
27936 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
27937 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
27940 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
27941 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
27944 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
27947 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
27951 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
27952 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
27954 New features in Gnus 5.8:
27959 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
27960 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
27962 If you used procmail like in
27965 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
27966 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
27967 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
27968 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
27971 this now has changed to
27975 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
27979 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
27982 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
27983 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
27986 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
27987 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
27990 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
27991 called to position point.
27994 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
27995 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
27998 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
27999 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
28002 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
28003 subtly different manner.
28006 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
28007 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
28008 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
28011 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
28016 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
28019 New features in Gnus 5.10:
28023 @item Installation changes
28024 @c ***********************
28028 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
28030 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
28031 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
28032 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
28033 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
28034 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
28035 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
28036 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
28037 isn't save in general.
28040 Lisp files are now installed in @file{.../site-lisp/gnus/} by default.
28041 It defaulted to @file{.../site-lisp/} formerly. In addition to this,
28042 the new installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which
28043 will shadow the latest one are detected. You can then remove those
28044 shadows manually or remove them using @code{make
28045 remove-installed-shadows}.
28048 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
28050 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
28051 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
28052 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, if you want
28053 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
28054 the second parameter.
28056 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
28057 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
28058 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
28059 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
28060 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
28061 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
28062 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
28063 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
28064 cycle used under Unix systems.
28066 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} and @file{xemacs.mak}
28067 superfluous, so they have been removed.
28070 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
28072 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
28073 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
28076 @c FIXME: `gnus-load' is mentioned in README, which is not included in
28077 @c the repository. We should find a better place for this item.
28079 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
28081 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
28082 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
28083 lisp directory into load-path.
28085 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
28086 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
28090 @item New packages and libraries within Gnus
28091 @c *****************************************
28096 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
28097 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
28100 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
28102 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
28103 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
28104 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
28105 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
28108 Improved anti-spam features.
28110 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
28111 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
28112 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
28113 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
28114 are also new. @ref{Thwarting Email Spam} and @ref{Spam Package}.
28115 @c FIXME: @xref{Spam Package}?. Should this be under Misc?
28118 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
28120 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
28121 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
28122 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
28123 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
28124 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
28128 @item Changes in group mode
28129 @c ************************
28134 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
28138 Retrieval of charters and control messages
28140 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
28141 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
28144 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
28146 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
28147 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
28148 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
28149 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
28150 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
28153 (setq gnus-parameters
28155 (gnus-show-threads nil)
28156 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
28157 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
28158 (to-group . "\\1"))))
28162 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
28164 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
28165 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
28166 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
28167 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
28168 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
28169 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
28170 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
28171 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
28172 when getting new mail, remove the function.
28175 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
28177 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
28178 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
28179 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
28182 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
28183 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
28185 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
28186 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
28187 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
28189 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
28193 Old intermediate incoming mail files (@file{Incoming*}) are deleted
28194 after a couple of days, not immediately. @xref{Mail Source
28195 Customization}. (New in Gnus 5.10.10 / Emacs 22.2)
28199 @item Changes in summary and article mode
28200 @c **************************************
28205 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
28206 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
28207 region if the region is active.
28210 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
28211 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
28216 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
28217 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
28218 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
28219 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
28222 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
28227 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
28228 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
28230 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
28231 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
28235 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
28236 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
28239 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
28242 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
28243 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
28246 Warn about email replies to news
28248 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
28249 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
28253 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
28254 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
28258 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
28259 opposed to old but unread messages).
28262 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
28263 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
28266 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
28267 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
28270 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
28271 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
28274 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
28276 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
28277 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
28278 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
28279 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
28282 The new command @kbd{W Y f}
28283 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}) allows deuglifying broken
28284 Outlook (Express) articles.
28287 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
28289 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
28290 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
28291 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
28292 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
28294 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
28295 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
28296 message cited below.
28299 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now displayed graphically in
28302 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
28306 Face headers handling. @xref{Face}.
28309 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
28310 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
28313 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
28316 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
28318 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
28319 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
28320 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
28321 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
28322 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
28326 Deleting of attachments.
28328 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
28329 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
28330 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
28331 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
28332 that support editing.
28335 @code{gnus-default-charset}
28337 The default value is determined from the
28338 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
28339 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
28340 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
28343 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
28345 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
28346 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
28347 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
28350 Extended format specs.
28352 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
28353 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
28354 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
28355 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
28356 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
28357 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
28360 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
28361 @c FIXME: Was this a user-visible change?
28363 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
28364 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
28365 out other articles.
28368 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
28370 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
28371 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
28372 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
28373 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
28376 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
28380 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
28381 @c ****************************************************
28388 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
28389 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
28390 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
28393 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
28394 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
28397 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
28398 Gcc articles as read.
28401 Externalizing of attachments
28403 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
28404 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
28405 local files as external parts.
28408 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
28409 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
28412 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
28414 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
28415 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
28416 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
28417 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
28418 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
28419 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
28420 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
28421 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
28422 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
28425 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
28427 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
28428 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
28429 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
28430 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
28431 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
28432 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
28435 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
28436 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
28440 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. @xref{X-Face}.
28443 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
28445 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
28446 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
28447 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
28448 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
28449 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
28450 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
28451 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
28452 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
28453 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
28454 was inserted directly.
28457 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
28459 @c FIXME should that not be 'message-user-agent?
28460 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
28461 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
28462 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
28463 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
28466 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
28468 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
28470 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
28471 'bbdb-complete-name)
28475 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
28477 Add a new format of match like
28479 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
28480 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28482 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
28484 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
28485 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
28489 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
28491 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
28492 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
28493 need add those two headers too.
28496 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
28497 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
28498 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
28502 The option @code{mm-fill-flowed} can be used to disable treatment of
28503 ``format=flowed'' messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
28504 inline PGP signed messages. @xref{Flowed text, , Flowed text,
28505 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
28506 @c This entry is also present in the node "No Gnus".
28509 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
28511 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
28514 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
28516 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
28520 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
28522 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
28523 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
28524 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
28525 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
28526 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
28527 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
28528 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
28529 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
28532 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
28533 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
28535 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
28536 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
28537 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
28538 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
28541 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
28544 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
28545 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
28548 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to the symbol
28551 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
28552 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
28553 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
28554 invalidate the digital signature.
28557 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
28558 decompressed when activated.
28559 @c FIXME: Does this affect article or message mode?
28562 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
28564 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
28565 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
28566 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
28567 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
28568 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
28571 @item You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer.
28572 See @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} and @code{mml-dnd-attach-options}.
28573 @xref{MIME, ,MIME, message, Message Manual}.
28574 @c New in 5.10.9 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.1)
28576 @item @code{auto-fill-mode} is enabled by default in Message mode.
28577 See @code{message-fill-column}. @xref{Various Message Variables, ,
28578 Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
28579 @c New in Gnus 5.10.12 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.3)
28583 @item Changes in back ends
28584 @c ***********************
28588 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
28591 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
28594 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
28596 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
28599 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
28601 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
28602 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
28603 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
28604 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
28605 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
28606 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
28607 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
28608 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
28609 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
28610 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
28611 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
28621 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
28622 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
28625 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
28626 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
28627 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
28628 message, Message Manual}).
28631 The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
28632 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars: @kbd{M-x
28633 customize-apropos RET -tool-bar$} should get you started. This is a new
28634 feature in Gnus 5.10.10. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
28636 @item The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly
28637 in the group buffer, see the variable @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}.
28638 Its default value depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature
28643 @item Miscellaneous changes
28644 @c ************************
28651 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
28652 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
28653 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
28654 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
28655 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
28656 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
28657 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
28658 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
28659 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
28660 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
28661 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
28662 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
28663 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
28664 is not needed any more.
28667 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
28669 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
28670 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
28671 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
28676 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
28677 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
28678 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
28682 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
28685 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
28687 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
28694 @subsubsection No Gnus
28697 New features in No Gnus:
28698 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
28700 @include gnus-news.texi
28706 @section The Manual
28710 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
28711 either @code{texi2dvi}
28713 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
28714 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
28716 to get what you hold in your hands now.
28718 The following conventions have been used:
28723 This is a @samp{string}
28726 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
28729 This is a @file{file}
28732 This is a @code{symbol}
28736 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
28740 (setq flargnoze "yes")
28743 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
28746 (setq flumphel 'yes)
28749 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
28750 ever get them confused.
28754 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
28755 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
28756 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
28757 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
28758 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
28759 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
28760 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
28766 @node On Writing Manuals
28767 @section On Writing Manuals
28769 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
28770 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
28771 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
28772 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
28773 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
28774 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code go hand
28777 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
28778 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
28779 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
28782 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
28783 reference manual as source material. It would look quite different.
28788 @section Terminology
28790 @cindex terminology
28795 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
28796 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
28797 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
28798 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
28799 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
28803 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
28804 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
28805 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
28806 not posting, and replying is not following up.
28810 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
28814 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
28819 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
28820 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
28821 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
28822 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
28823 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
28824 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
28825 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
28826 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
28827 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
28830 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
28831 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
28832 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
28833 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
28834 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
28835 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
28837 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
28838 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
28839 access the articles.
28841 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
28842 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
28843 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
28848 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
28849 default, way of getting news.
28853 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
28854 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
28859 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
28860 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
28864 A message that has been posted as news.
28867 @cindex mail message
28868 A message that has been mailed.
28872 A mail message or news article
28876 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
28881 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
28886 A line from the head of an article.
28890 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
28891 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
28893 @item @acronym{NOV}
28894 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
28895 @acronym{NOV} stands for News OverView, which is a type of news server
28896 header which provide datas containing the condensed header information
28897 of articles. They are produced by the server itself; in the @code{nntp}
28898 back end Gnus uses the ones that the @acronym{NNTP} server makes, but
28899 Gnus makes them by itself for some backends (in particular, @code{nnml}).
28901 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
28902 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
28903 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
28904 normal @sc{head} format.
28906 The @acronym{NOV} data consist of one or more text lines (@pxref{Text
28907 Lines, ,Motion by Text Lines, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual})
28908 where each line has the header information of one article. The header
28909 information is a tab-separated series of the header's contents including
28910 an article number, a subject, an author, a date, a message-id,
28913 Those data enable Gnus to generate summary lines quickly. However, if
28914 the server does not support @acronym{NOV} or you disable it purposely or
28915 for some reason, Gnus will try to generate the header information by
28916 parsing each article's headers one by one. It will take time.
28917 Therefore, it is not usually a good idea to set nn*-nov-is-evil
28918 (@pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}) to a non-@code{nil} value unless you
28919 know that the server makes wrong @acronym{NOV} data.
28923 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
28924 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
28925 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
28926 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
28927 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
28928 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
28930 @item killed groups
28931 @cindex killed groups
28932 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
28933 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
28935 @item zombie groups
28936 @cindex zombie groups
28937 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
28940 @cindex active file
28941 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
28942 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
28943 is rather large, as you might surmise.
28946 @cindex bogus groups
28947 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
28948 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
28949 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
28952 @cindex activating groups
28953 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
28954 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
28955 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
28959 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
28960 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
28961 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
28965 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
28967 @item select method
28968 @cindex select method
28969 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
28972 @item virtual server
28973 @cindex virtual server
28974 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
28975 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
28976 whole is a virtual server.
28980 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
28981 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
28984 @item ephemeral groups
28985 @cindex ephemeral groups
28986 @cindex temporary groups
28987 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
28988 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
28989 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
28992 @cindex solid groups
28993 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
28994 group buffer are solid groups.
28996 @item sparse articles
28997 @cindex sparse articles
28998 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
28999 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
29003 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
29004 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
29008 @cindex thread root
29009 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
29010 articles in the thread.
29014 An article that has responses.
29018 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
29022 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
29023 specified by RFC 1153.
29026 @cindex splitting, terminology
29027 @cindex mail sorting
29028 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
29029 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
29030 incorrectly called mail filtering.
29036 @node Customization
29037 @section Customization
29038 @cindex general customization
29040 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
29041 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
29042 for some quite common situations.
29045 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
29046 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
29047 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
29048 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
29052 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
29053 @subsection Slow/Expensive Connection
29055 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
29056 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
29057 Gnus has to get from the server.
29061 @item gnus-read-active-file
29062 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
29063 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
29064 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29065 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
29066 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
29068 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
29069 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
29070 Usually this one must @emph{always} be @code{nil} (which is the
29071 default). If, for example, you wish to not use @acronym{NOV}
29072 (@pxref{Terminology}) with the @code{nntp} back end (@pxref{Crosspost
29073 Handling}), set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to a non-@code{nil} value
29074 instead of setting this. But you normally do not need to set
29075 @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} since Gnus by itself will detect whether the
29076 @acronym{NNTP} server supports @acronym{NOV}. Anyway, grabbing article
29077 headers from the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast if you tell
29078 Gnus not to use @acronym{NOV}.
29080 As the variables for the other back ends, there are
29081 @code{nndiary-nov-is-evil}, @code{nndir-nov-is-evil},
29082 @code{nnfolder-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnimap-nov-is-evil},
29083 @code{nnml-nov-is-evil}, and @code{nnspool-nov-is-evil}. Note that a
29084 non-@code{nil} value for @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} overrides all those
29089 @node Slow Terminal Connection
29090 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
29092 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
29093 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
29094 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
29098 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
29099 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
29100 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
29101 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
29102 horizontal and vertical recentering.
29104 @item gnus-visible-headers
29105 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
29106 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
29107 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
29108 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
29110 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
29112 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
29113 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
29114 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
29117 @item gnus-use-full-window
29118 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
29119 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
29120 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
29121 want to read them anyway.
29123 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
29124 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
29128 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
29129 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
29130 lines, which might save some time.
29134 @node Little Disk Space
29135 @subsection Little Disk Space
29138 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
29139 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
29143 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
29144 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
29145 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29146 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29149 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
29150 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
29151 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
29152 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
29155 @item gnus-save-killed-list
29156 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
29157 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
29158 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
29159 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
29165 @subsection Slow Machine
29166 @cindex slow machine
29168 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
29169 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
29171 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
29172 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
29174 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
29175 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
29176 summary buffer faster. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
29180 @node Troubleshooting
29181 @section Troubleshooting
29182 @cindex troubleshooting
29184 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
29192 Make sure your computer is switched on.
29195 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
29196 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
29200 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
29202 @samp{No Gnus v0.10} @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change this line!
29204 you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old @file{.el}
29205 files lying around. Delete these.
29208 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
29209 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
29212 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
29213 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
29214 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
29215 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
29216 something like that.
29219 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
29222 @cindex reporting bugs
29224 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
29226 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
29227 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
29228 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
29229 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
29231 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
29232 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
29233 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
29234 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
29237 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
29238 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
29239 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
29240 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
29241 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
29242 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
29244 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
29245 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
29246 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
29250 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
29251 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
29254 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
29255 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
29256 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
29257 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
29258 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
29259 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
29260 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
29261 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
29262 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
29263 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
29264 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
29265 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
29266 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
29267 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
29272 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
29273 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
29274 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
29275 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
29276 helps isolating the real problem areas).
29278 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
29279 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
29280 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
29281 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
29282 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
29283 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
29284 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
29285 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
29286 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
29287 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
29288 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
29289 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
29290 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
29293 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
29294 @cindex ding mailing list
29295 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
29296 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
29297 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
29298 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
29302 @node Gnus Reference Guide
29303 @section Gnus Reference Guide
29305 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
29306 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
29307 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
29308 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
29311 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
29312 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
29313 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
29314 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
29315 and general methods of operation.
29318 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
29319 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
29320 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
29321 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
29322 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
29323 * Group Info:: The group info format.
29324 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
29325 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
29326 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
29330 @node Gnus Utility Functions
29331 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
29332 @cindex Gnus utility functions
29333 @cindex utility functions
29335 @cindex internal variables
29337 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
29338 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
29339 Below is a list of the most common ones.
29343 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
29344 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
29345 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
29347 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
29348 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
29349 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
29351 @item gnus-group-real-name
29352 @findex gnus-group-real-name
29353 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
29356 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
29357 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
29358 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
29359 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
29361 @item gnus-get-info
29362 @findex gnus-get-info
29363 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
29365 @item gnus-group-unread
29366 @findex gnus-group-unread
29367 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
29371 @findex gnus-active
29372 The active entry for @var{group}.
29374 @item gnus-set-active
29375 @findex gnus-set-active
29376 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
29378 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29379 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
29380 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
29383 @item gnus-continuum-version
29384 @findex gnus-continuum-version
29385 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
29386 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
29389 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
29390 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
29391 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
29393 @item gnus-news-group-p
29394 @findex gnus-news-group-p
29395 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
29397 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29398 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
29399 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
29401 @item gnus-server-to-method
29402 @findex gnus-server-to-method
29403 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
29405 @item gnus-server-equal
29406 @findex gnus-server-equal
29407 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
29409 @item gnus-group-native-p
29410 @findex gnus-group-native-p
29411 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
29413 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
29414 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
29415 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
29417 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
29418 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
29419 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
29421 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
29422 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
29423 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
29424 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
29426 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
29427 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
29428 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
29430 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
29431 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
29432 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
29434 @item gnus-check-backend-function
29435 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
29436 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
29437 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
29440 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
29444 @item gnus-read-method
29445 @findex gnus-read-method
29446 Prompts the user for a select method.
29451 @node Back End Interface
29452 @subsection Back End Interface
29454 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
29455 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
29456 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
29457 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
29458 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
29459 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
29461 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
29462 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
29463 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
29464 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
29465 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
29466 been opened, the function should fail.
29468 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
29469 name. Take this example:
29473 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
29474 (nntp-port-number 4324))
29477 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
29478 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
29480 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
29481 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
29482 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
29484 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
29485 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
29486 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
29488 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
29489 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
29490 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
29491 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
29492 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
29493 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
29496 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
29497 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
29498 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
29499 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
29502 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
29503 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
29504 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
29505 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
29506 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
29507 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
29508 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
29509 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
29510 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
29511 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
29513 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
29514 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
29515 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
29516 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
29517 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
29518 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
29519 of numbers as long as possible.
29521 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
29522 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
29523 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
29525 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
29528 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
29531 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
29532 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
29533 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
29534 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
29535 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
29536 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
29540 @node Required Back End Functions
29541 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
29545 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
29547 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
29548 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
29549 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
29550 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
29552 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
29553 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
29554 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
29555 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
29557 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
29558 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
29559 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
29560 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
29561 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
29562 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
29563 number, do maximum fetches.
29565 Here's an example HEAD:
29568 221 1056 Article retrieved.
29569 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
29570 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
29571 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
29572 Subject: Re: Something very droll
29573 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
29574 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
29576 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
29577 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
29578 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
29582 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
29583 these in the data buffer.
29585 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
29589 head = error / valid-head
29590 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
29591 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
29592 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
29593 header = <text> eol
29597 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
29599 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
29600 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
29604 nov-buffer = *nov-line
29605 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
29606 field = <text except TAB>
29609 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
29613 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
29615 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
29616 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
29618 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
29619 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
29620 server. In fact, it should do so.
29622 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
29623 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
29626 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
29628 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
29629 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
29632 There should be no data returned.
29635 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
29637 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
29638 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
29639 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
29640 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
29642 There should be no data returned.
29645 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
29647 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
29648 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
29649 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
29650 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
29652 There should be no data returned.
29655 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
29657 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
29659 There should be no data returned.
29662 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
29664 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
29665 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
29666 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
29667 it would be nice if that were possible.
29669 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
29670 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
29671 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
29672 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
29673 into its article buffer.
29675 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
29676 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
29677 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
29678 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
29679 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
29680 on successful article retrieval.
29683 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST INFO)
29685 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
29686 making @var{group} the current group.
29688 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
29691 If @var{info}, it allows the backend to update the group info
29694 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
29697 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
29700 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
29701 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
29702 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
29703 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
29704 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
29705 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
29706 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
29707 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
29708 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
29712 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
29713 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
29714 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
29718 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29720 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
29721 a no-op on most back ends.
29723 There should be no data returned.
29726 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
29728 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
29731 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
29734 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
29735 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
29738 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
29739 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
29740 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
29741 and the highest as 0.
29744 active-file = *active-line
29745 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
29747 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
29750 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
29751 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
29752 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
29755 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
29757 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
29758 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
29759 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
29760 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
29761 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
29762 clear if the posting could not be completed.
29764 There should be no result data from this function.
29769 @node Optional Back End Functions
29770 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
29774 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
29776 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
29777 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
29778 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
29780 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
29781 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
29782 former is in the same format as the data from
29783 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
29784 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
29787 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
29791 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
29793 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
29794 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
29795 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
29796 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
29797 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
29798 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
29799 the network resources).
29801 There should be no result data from this function.
29804 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
29806 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
29807 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
29808 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
29809 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
29810 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
29811 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
29812 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
29813 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
29815 There should be no result data from this function.
29818 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
29820 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
29821 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
29822 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
29823 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
29824 propagate the mark information to the server.
29826 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
29829 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
29832 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
29833 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
29834 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
29835 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
29836 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
29837 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
29838 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
29839 possible, not limit itself to these.
29841 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
29842 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
29843 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
29844 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
29846 An example action list:
29849 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
29850 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
29851 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
29854 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
29855 mark on (currently not used for anything).
29857 There should be no result data from this function.
29859 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
29861 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
29862 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
29863 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
29864 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
29865 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
29867 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
29868 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
29869 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
29872 There should be no result data from this function.
29875 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
29877 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
29878 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
29879 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
29880 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
29881 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
29882 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
29883 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
29884 local if that's practical.
29886 There should be no result data from this function.
29889 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
29891 The result data from this function should be a description of
29895 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
29897 description = <text>
29900 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
29902 The result data from this function should be the description of all
29903 groups available on the server.
29906 description-buffer = *description-line
29910 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
29912 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
29913 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
29914 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
29915 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
29916 in the active buffer format.
29918 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
29919 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
29920 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
29921 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
29922 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
29923 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
29924 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
29927 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29929 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
29931 There should be no return data.
29934 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
29936 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
29937 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
29938 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
29939 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
29940 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
29943 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
29946 There should be no result data returned.
29949 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
29951 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
29952 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
29954 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
29955 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
29956 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
29957 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
29958 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
29959 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
29961 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
29962 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
29965 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29966 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29968 There should be no data returned.
29971 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
29973 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
29974 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
29975 this function in short order.
29977 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29978 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29980 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
29981 article for that group.
29983 There should be no data returned.
29986 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
29988 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
29989 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
29991 There should be no data returned.
29994 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
29996 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
29997 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
29998 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
30000 There should be no data returned.
30003 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
30005 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
30006 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
30008 There should be no data returned.
30013 @node Error Messaging
30014 @subsubsection Error Messaging
30016 @findex nnheader-report
30017 @findex nnheader-get-report
30018 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
30019 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
30020 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
30021 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
30022 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
30023 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
30026 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
30028 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
30031 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
30032 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
30033 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
30034 takes one argument---the server symbol.
30036 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
30037 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
30038 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
30041 @node Writing New Back Ends
30042 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
30044 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
30045 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
30046 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
30047 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
30048 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
30051 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
30052 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
30053 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
30055 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
30056 package called @code{nnoo}.
30058 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
30059 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
30065 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
30066 parameters. For instance:
30069 (nnoo-declare nndir
30073 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
30074 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
30077 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
30078 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
30079 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
30081 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
30082 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
30083 a function in those back ends.
30086 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30087 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30088 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30091 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
30092 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
30093 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
30095 @item nnoo-define-basics
30096 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
30100 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30104 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
30105 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
30106 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
30108 @item nnoo-map-functions
30109 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
30110 functions from the parent back ends.
30113 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30114 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30115 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
30118 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
30119 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
30120 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
30121 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
30124 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
30125 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
30126 haven't already been defined.
30132 nnmh-request-newgroups)
30136 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
30137 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
30138 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
30143 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
30146 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
30147 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
30151 (require 'nnheader)
30155 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
30157 (nnoo-declare nndir
30160 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
30161 "Where nndir will look for groups."
30162 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
30164 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
30165 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
30168 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
30170 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
30171 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
30172 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
30174 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
30175 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
30177 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
30179 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
30181 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
30182 (setq nndir-directory
30183 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
30185 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
30186 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
30187 (push `(nndir-current-group
30188 ,(file-name-nondirectory
30189 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30191 (push `(nndir-top-directory
30192 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
30194 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
30196 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
30197 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30198 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
30199 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
30200 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
30204 nnmh-status-message
30206 nnmh-request-newgroups))
30212 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30213 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
30215 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
30216 @findex gnus-declare-backend
30217 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
30218 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
30219 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
30221 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
30222 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
30227 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
30230 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
30232 The abilities can be:
30236 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
30238 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
30240 This back end supports both mail and news.
30242 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
30245 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
30246 articles and groups.
30248 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
30249 true for almost all back ends.
30250 @item prompt-address
30251 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
30252 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
30253 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
30257 @node Mail-like Back Ends
30258 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
30260 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
30261 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
30262 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
30263 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
30266 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
30267 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
30268 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
30271 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
30272 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
30275 This function takes four parameters.
30279 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
30282 @item exit-function
30283 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
30285 @item temp-directory
30286 Where the temporary files should be stored.
30289 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
30290 performed for one group only.
30293 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
30294 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
30295 find the article number assigned to this article.
30297 The function also uses the following variables:
30298 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
30299 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
30300 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
30301 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
30305 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
30306 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
30310 @node Score File Syntax
30311 @subsection Score File Syntax
30313 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
30314 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
30315 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
30317 Here's a typical score file:
30321 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
30328 BNF definition of a score file:
30331 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
30332 element = rule / atom
30333 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
30334 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
30335 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
30336 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
30338 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
30339 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
30340 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
30341 date-header = "date"
30342 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30343 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30344 score = "nil" / <integer>
30345 date = "nil" / <natural number>
30346 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
30347 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
30348 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
30349 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
30350 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30351 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30352 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
30353 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
30354 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
30355 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
30356 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
30357 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
30358 exclude-files / read-only / touched
30359 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
30360 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
30361 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
30362 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
30363 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
30364 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
30365 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
30366 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
30367 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
30368 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
30369 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
30370 eval = "eval" space <form>
30371 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
30374 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
30377 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
30378 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
30379 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
30380 one looong line, then that's ok.
30382 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
30383 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
30387 @subsection Headers
30389 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
30390 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
30391 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
30392 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
30394 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
30395 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
30396 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
30397 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
30398 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
30399 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
30400 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
30402 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
30403 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
30404 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
30405 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
30406 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
30408 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
30409 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
30415 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
30416 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
30418 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
30419 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
30420 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
30421 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
30423 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
30427 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
30430 is transformed into
30433 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
30436 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
30437 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
30440 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
30443 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
30444 is slightly tricky:
30447 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
30453 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
30456 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
30462 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
30469 and is equal to the previous range.
30471 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
30472 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
30473 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
30477 range = simple-range / normal-range
30478 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
30479 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
30480 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
30481 number *[ " " contents ]
30484 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
30485 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
30486 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
30487 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
30488 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
30493 @subsection Group Info
30495 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
30496 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
30497 describes the group.
30499 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
30500 second is a more complex one:
30503 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
30505 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
30506 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
30508 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
30511 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
30512 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
30513 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
30514 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
30515 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
30516 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
30517 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
30518 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
30519 this section is about.
30521 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
30522 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
30523 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
30525 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
30528 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
30529 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
30530 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
30531 group = quote <string> quote
30532 ralevel = rank / level
30533 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30534 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
30535 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
30537 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
30538 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
30539 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
30540 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
30543 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
30544 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
30547 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
30548 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
30551 @item gnus-info-group
30552 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
30553 @findex gnus-info-group
30554 @findex gnus-info-set-group
30555 Get/set the group name.
30557 @item gnus-info-rank
30558 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
30559 @findex gnus-info-rank
30560 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
30561 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
30563 @item gnus-info-level
30564 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
30565 @findex gnus-info-level
30566 @findex gnus-info-set-level
30567 Get/set the group level.
30569 @item gnus-info-score
30570 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
30571 @findex gnus-info-score
30572 @findex gnus-info-set-score
30573 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
30575 @item gnus-info-read
30576 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
30577 @findex gnus-info-read
30578 @findex gnus-info-set-read
30579 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
30581 @item gnus-info-marks
30582 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
30583 @findex gnus-info-marks
30584 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
30585 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
30587 @item gnus-info-method
30588 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
30589 @findex gnus-info-method
30590 @findex gnus-info-set-method
30591 Get/set the group select method.
30593 @item gnus-info-params
30594 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
30595 @findex gnus-info-params
30596 @findex gnus-info-set-params
30597 Get/set the group parameters.
30600 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
30601 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
30603 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
30604 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
30605 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
30606 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
30609 @node Extended Interactive
30610 @subsection Extended Interactive
30611 @cindex interactive
30612 @findex gnus-interactive
30614 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
30615 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
30616 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
30619 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
30620 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
30625 The best thing to do would have been to implement
30626 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
30627 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
30628 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
30629 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
30630 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
30631 @code{interactive}.
30633 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
30638 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
30639 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
30643 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
30644 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
30645 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
30648 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
30652 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
30656 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
30662 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
30663 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
30667 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
30668 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
30669 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
30671 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
30672 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
30673 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
30674 Gnus, that's very useful.
30676 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
30677 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
30678 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
30679 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
30680 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
30681 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
30682 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
30683 following function:
30686 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
30690 (,function ,@@args))
30694 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
30695 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
30696 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
30699 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
30700 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
30701 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
30703 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
30704 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
30705 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
30708 @node Various File Formats
30709 @subsection Various File Formats
30712 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
30713 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
30717 @node Active File Format
30718 @subsubsection Active File Format
30720 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
30721 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
30724 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
30727 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
30728 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
30729 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
30730 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
30731 no.general 1000 900 y
30734 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
30737 active = *group-line
30738 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
30739 group = <non-white-space string>
30741 high-number = <non-negative integer>
30742 low-number = <positive integer>
30743 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
30746 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
30747 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
30750 @node Newsgroups File Format
30751 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
30753 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
30754 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
30755 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
30758 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
30759 Here's the definition:
30763 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
30764 group = <non-white-space string>
30766 description = <string>
30771 @node Emacs for Heathens
30772 @section Emacs for Heathens
30774 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
30775 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
30776 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
30777 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
30778 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
30779 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
30780 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
30784 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
30785 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
30790 @subsection Keystrokes
30794 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
30797 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
30800 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
30801 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
30802 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
30803 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
30804 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
30805 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
30807 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
30808 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
30809 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
30810 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
30811 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
30812 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
30813 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
30815 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
30816 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
30817 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
30818 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
30819 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
30820 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
30821 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
30823 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
30824 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
30825 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
30826 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
30827 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
30833 @subsection Emacs Lisp
30835 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
30836 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
30837 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
30838 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
30840 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
30841 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
30842 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
30843 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
30844 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
30845 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
30846 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
30847 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
30848 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
30849 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
30851 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
30852 write the following:
30855 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
30858 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
30859 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
30860 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
30861 change how Gnus works.
30863 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
30864 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
30865 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
30866 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
30867 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
30869 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
30870 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
30871 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
30875 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
30879 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
30882 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
30883 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
30886 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
30889 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
30890 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
30893 @include gnus-faq.texi
30895 @node GNU Free Documentation License
30896 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
30897 @include doclicense.texi
30915 @c Local Variables:
30917 @c coding: iso-8859-1