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308 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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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, Gravatars
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 * Using IMAP:: Reading mail from @acronym{IMAP}.
633 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
634 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
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 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
704 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
705 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
706 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
710 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
714 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
718 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
719 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
720 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
724 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
725 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
726 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
728 The Gnus Diary Library
730 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
731 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
732 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
733 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
737 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
738 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
739 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
740 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
741 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
742 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
743 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
744 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
745 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
746 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
747 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
748 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
749 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
750 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
754 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
755 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
756 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
760 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
761 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
762 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
766 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
767 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
768 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
769 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
770 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
771 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
772 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
773 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
774 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
775 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
776 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
777 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
778 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
779 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
780 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
781 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
785 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
786 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
787 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
791 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
792 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
793 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
794 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
795 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
796 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
797 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
798 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
799 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
800 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
801 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
802 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
803 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
804 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
805 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
806 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
807 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
808 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
809 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
810 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
814 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
815 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
816 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
817 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
818 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
819 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
820 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
821 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
825 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
826 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
827 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were
829 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
830 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
831 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
835 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
836 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
837 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
838 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
842 * Spam Package Introduction::
843 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
844 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
845 * Spam and Ham Processors::
846 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
848 * Extending the Spam package::
849 * Spam Statistics Package::
851 Spam Statistics Package
853 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
854 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
855 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
859 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
860 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
861 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
862 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
863 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
864 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
865 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
866 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
867 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
871 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
872 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
873 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
874 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
875 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
876 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
877 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
878 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
879 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
883 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
884 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
885 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
886 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
887 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
888 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
889 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
893 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
894 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
895 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
896 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
900 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
901 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
902 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
903 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
904 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
905 * Group Info:: The group info format.
906 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
907 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
908 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
912 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
913 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
914 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
915 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
916 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
917 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
921 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
922 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
926 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
927 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
933 @chapter Starting Gnus
936 If you haven't used Emacs much before using Gnus, read @ref{Emacs for
941 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
942 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
943 your Emacs. If not, you should customize the variable
944 @code{gnus-select-method} as described in @ref{Finding the News}. For a
945 minimal setup for posting should also customize the variables
946 @code{user-full-name} and @code{user-mail-address}.
948 @findex gnus-other-frame
949 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
950 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
951 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
953 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
954 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
955 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
957 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
958 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
961 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
962 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
963 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
964 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
965 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
966 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
967 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
968 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
969 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
970 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
974 @node Finding the News
975 @section Finding the News
978 First of all, you should know that there is a special buffer called
979 @code{*Server*} that lists all the servers Gnus knows about. You can
980 press @kbd{^} from the Group buffer to see it. In the Server buffer,
981 you can press @kbd{RET} on a defined server to see all the groups it
982 serves (subscribed or not!). You can also add or delete servers, edit
983 a foreign server's definition, agentize or de-agentize a server, and
984 do many other neat things. @xref{Server Buffer}.
985 @xref{Foreign Groups}. @xref{Agent Basics}.
987 @vindex gnus-select-method
989 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
990 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
991 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
992 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
995 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
996 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
999 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1002 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1005 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1008 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1009 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1010 server is running Leafnode (which is a simple, standalone private news
1011 server); in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1013 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1015 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1016 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
1017 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1018 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1019 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1020 If that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1021 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1023 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1025 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1026 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1027 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1028 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1029 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1030 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1032 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1034 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1035 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1036 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1037 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1038 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1039 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1042 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1043 you would typically set this variable to
1046 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1049 Note: the @acronym{NNTP} back end stores marks in marks files
1050 (@pxref{NNTP marks}). This feature makes it easy to share marks between
1051 several Gnus installations, but may slow down things a bit when fetching
1052 new articles. @xref{NNTP marks}, for more information.
1055 @node The First Time
1056 @section The First Time
1057 @cindex first time usage
1059 If no startup files exist (@pxref{Startup Files}), Gnus will try to
1060 determine what groups should be subscribed by default.
1062 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1063 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
1064 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1065 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1068 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1069 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1070 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1072 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
1073 help you with most common problems.
1075 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
1076 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1080 @node The Server is Down
1081 @section The Server is Down
1082 @cindex server errors
1084 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
1085 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1086 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
1088 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1089 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1090 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1091 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1092 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1093 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1094 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1096 @findex gnus-no-server
1097 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1099 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1100 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1101 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
1102 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1103 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1104 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1105 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1109 @section Slave Gnusae
1112 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
1113 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1114 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
1115 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1117 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1118 @file{.newsrc} file.
1120 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
1121 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1122 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1123 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1124 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1125 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1126 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1129 Anyway, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1130 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
1131 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1132 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1133 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
1134 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1135 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1136 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1138 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1139 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1141 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1142 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1143 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1144 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1145 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1152 @cindex subscription
1154 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1155 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1156 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1157 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1158 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1159 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1160 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1161 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1162 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1165 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1166 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1167 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1171 @node Checking New Groups
1172 @subsection Checking New Groups
1174 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1175 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1176 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1177 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
1178 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1179 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1180 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1181 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1182 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1183 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1185 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1186 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1187 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1188 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1189 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1190 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
1191 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1192 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1193 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1194 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1195 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1197 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
1198 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1199 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1200 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1201 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1202 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1205 @node Subscription Methods
1206 @subsection Subscription Methods
1208 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1209 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1210 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1212 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1213 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1215 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1219 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1220 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1221 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1222 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1223 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1225 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1226 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1227 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1228 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1230 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1231 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1232 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1234 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1236 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1237 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1238 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1239 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1240 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1241 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1242 up. Or something like that.
1244 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1245 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1246 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
1247 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1248 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1250 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1251 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1252 Kill all new groups.
1254 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1255 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1256 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1257 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1258 topic parameter that looks like
1264 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1267 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1272 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1273 A closely related variable is
1274 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1275 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
1276 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1277 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1280 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1281 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1282 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1283 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1286 @node Filtering New Groups
1287 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1289 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1290 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1291 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1294 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1297 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1298 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1299 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1300 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1301 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1302 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1303 subscribing these groups.
1304 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1305 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1307 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1308 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1309 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1310 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1311 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1312 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1313 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1314 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1316 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1317 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1318 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1319 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1320 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1321 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1322 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1323 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1324 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, @code{nnimap}, and
1325 @code{nnmaildir}) subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this
1326 variable to @code{nil}.
1328 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-categories
1329 As if that wasn't enough, @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-categories} also
1330 allows you to specify that new groups should be subcribed based on the
1331 category their select methods belong to. The default is @samp{(mail
1332 post-mail)}, meaning that all new groups from mail-like backends
1333 should be subscribed automatically.
1335 New groups that match these variables are subscribed using
1336 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1339 @node Changing Servers
1340 @section Changing Servers
1341 @cindex changing servers
1343 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1344 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1345 very flaky and you want to use another.
1347 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1348 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1352 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1353 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1354 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1355 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1358 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1359 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1360 You can use the @kbd{M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups}
1361 command to clear out all data that you have on your native groups.
1364 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1365 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1366 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1367 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1369 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1370 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1371 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1372 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1373 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1374 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1375 cache for all groups).
1379 @section Startup Files
1380 @cindex startup files
1385 Most common Unix news readers use a shared startup file called
1386 @file{.newsrc}. This file contains all the information about what
1387 groups are subscribed, and which articles in these groups have been
1390 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1391 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1392 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1393 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1394 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1395 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1396 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1398 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1399 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1400 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1401 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1402 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1403 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1405 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1406 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1407 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1408 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1409 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
1410 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1411 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1412 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes Gnus ignore the
1413 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which can be
1414 convenient if you use a different news reader occasionally, and you
1415 want to read a different subset of the available groups with that
1418 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1419 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1420 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1421 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1422 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1423 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1424 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1425 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1426 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1427 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1428 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1429 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1431 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1432 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1433 @vindex version-control
1434 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1435 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1436 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1437 If you want version control for this file, set
1438 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1439 @code{version-control} variable.
1441 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1442 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1443 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1444 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1445 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1446 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1447 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1448 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1449 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1450 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1453 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1454 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1456 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1457 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1460 @vindex gnus-init-file
1461 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1462 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1463 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus-init} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1464 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1465 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1466 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1467 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1468 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1469 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1470 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order). If Emacs was invoked with
1471 the @option{-q} or @option{--no-init-file} options (@pxref{Initial
1472 Options, ,Initial Options, emacs, The Emacs Manual}), Gnus doesn't read
1473 @code{gnus-init-file}.
1478 @cindex dribble file
1481 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
1482 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1483 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1484 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1485 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1488 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1489 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1492 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1493 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
1494 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1496 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1497 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1498 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
1499 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1500 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1501 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1503 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1504 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1505 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1508 @node The Active File
1509 @section The Active File
1511 @cindex ignored groups
1513 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1514 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1515 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1517 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1518 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
1519 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1520 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
1521 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1522 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1523 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1526 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1527 @c if you set it to anything else.
1529 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1531 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1532 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
1533 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1535 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1536 you actually subscribe to.
1538 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1539 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
1540 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
1541 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1543 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1544 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1545 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1546 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1547 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1548 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1550 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1551 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1552 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1555 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
1556 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1557 @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1558 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1559 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1560 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1562 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1563 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1565 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1566 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1568 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1569 secondary select methods.
1572 @node Startup Variables
1573 @section Startup Variables
1577 @item gnus-load-hook
1578 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1579 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1580 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1581 times you start Gnus.
1583 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1584 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1585 A hook called as the first thing when Gnus is started.
1587 @item gnus-startup-hook
1588 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1589 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1591 @item gnus-started-hook
1592 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1593 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1596 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1597 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1598 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1599 generating the group buffer.
1601 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1602 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1603 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1604 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1605 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1606 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1607 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1608 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1610 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1611 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1612 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1613 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1614 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1615 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1617 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1618 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1619 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1621 @item gnus-use-backend-marks
1622 @vindex gnus-use-backend-marks
1623 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will store article marks both in the
1624 @file{.newsrc.eld} file and in the backends. This will slow down
1625 group operation some.
1631 @chapter Group Buffer
1632 @cindex group buffer
1634 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1636 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1637 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1638 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1639 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1640 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1641 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1642 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1643 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1644 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1645 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1646 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1647 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1648 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1649 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1650 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1651 @c human rights at 9...
1654 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1655 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1656 long as Gnus is active.
1660 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1661 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1662 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1663 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1664 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1665 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1666 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1667 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1673 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1674 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1675 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1676 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1677 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1678 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1679 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1680 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1681 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1682 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1683 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1684 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1685 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1686 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1687 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1688 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1689 * Non-ASCII Group Names:: Accessing groups of non-English names.
1690 * Searching:: Mail search engines.
1691 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1695 @node Group Buffer Format
1696 @section Group Buffer Format
1699 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1700 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1701 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1704 You can customize the Group Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
1705 customize-apropos RET gnus-group-tool-bar}. This feature is only
1708 The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly depending on the
1709 cursor position. Therefore, moving around in the Group Buffer is
1710 slower. You can disable this via the variable
1711 @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}. Its default value depends on your
1714 @node Group Line Specification
1715 @subsection Group Line Specification
1716 @cindex group buffer format
1718 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1719 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1721 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1724 25: news.announce.newusers
1725 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1730 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1731 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1732 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1733 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1735 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1736 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1737 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1738 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1739 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1740 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1742 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1744 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1745 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1746 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1747 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1748 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1750 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1751 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1752 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1754 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1759 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1762 Whether the group is subscribed.
1765 Level of subscribedness.
1768 Number of unread articles.
1771 Number of dormant articles.
1774 Number of ticked articles.
1777 Number of read articles.
1780 Number of unseen articles.
1783 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1784 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1786 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1787 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1788 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1789 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1790 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1791 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1792 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job.
1794 The nnml backend (@pxref{Mail Spool}) has a feature called ``group
1795 compaction'' which circumvents this deficiency: the idea is to
1796 renumber all articles from 1, removing all gaps between numbers, hence
1797 getting a correct total count. Other backends may support this in the
1798 future. In order to keep your total article count relatively up to
1799 date, you might want to compact your groups (or even directly your
1800 server) from time to time. @xref{Misc Group Stuff}, @xref{Server Commands}.
1803 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1806 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1815 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1816 comment element in the group parameters.
1819 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1820 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1821 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1825 @samp{m} if moderated.
1828 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1834 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1840 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1844 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1847 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1848 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1849 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1850 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1851 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1854 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1856 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1860 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1863 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1867 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1868 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1869 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1870 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1873 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1874 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1875 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1876 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1877 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1878 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1883 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1884 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1885 group, or a bogus native group.
1888 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1889 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1890 @cindex group mode line
1892 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1893 The mode line can be changed by setting
1894 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1895 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1899 The native news server.
1901 The native select method.
1905 @node Group Highlighting
1906 @subsection Group Highlighting
1907 @cindex highlighting
1908 @cindex group highlighting
1910 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1911 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1912 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1913 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1914 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1916 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1920 (cond (window-system
1921 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1922 (defface my-group-face-1
1923 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1924 (defface my-group-face-2
1925 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1926 "Second group face")
1927 (defface my-group-face-3
1928 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1929 (defface my-group-face-4
1930 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1931 (defface my-group-face-5
1932 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1934 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1935 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1936 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1937 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1938 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1939 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1942 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1944 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1951 The number of unread articles in the group.
1955 Whether the group is a mail group.
1957 The level of the group.
1959 The score of the group.
1961 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1963 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1964 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1966 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1967 topic being inserted.
1970 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1971 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1972 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1974 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1975 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1976 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1977 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
1980 @node Group Maneuvering
1981 @section Group Maneuvering
1982 @cindex group movement
1984 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1985 expected, hopefully.
1991 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1992 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1993 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1999 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2000 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2001 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2005 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2006 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2010 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2011 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2015 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2016 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2017 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2021 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2022 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2023 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2026 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2032 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2033 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2034 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2039 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2040 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2041 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2045 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2046 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2047 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2050 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2051 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2052 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2053 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2056 @vindex gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit
2057 If @code{gnus-summary-next-group-on-exit} is @code{t}, when a summary is
2058 exited, the point in the group buffer is moved to the next unread group.
2059 Otherwise, the point is set to the group just exited. The default is
2062 @node Selecting a Group
2063 @section Selecting a Group
2064 @cindex group selection
2069 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2070 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2071 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2072 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2073 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2074 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2075 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2076 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2077 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2078 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2080 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2081 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2082 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2084 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2085 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2090 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2091 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2092 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2093 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2094 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2098 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2099 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2100 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2101 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2102 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2103 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2104 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2105 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2106 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2107 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2110 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2111 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2112 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2113 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2114 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2117 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2118 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2119 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2120 doing any processing of its contents
2121 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2122 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2123 manner will have no permanent effects.
2127 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2128 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2129 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2130 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2131 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
2132 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2133 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2134 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2135 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2136 most recently will be fetched.
2138 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2139 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2140 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2143 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles
2144 In groups in some news servers, there might be a big gap between a few
2145 very old articles that will never be expired and the recent ones. In
2146 such a case, the server will return the data like @code{(1 . 30000000)}
2147 for the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, for example. Even if there
2148 are actually only the articles 1-10 and 29999900-30000000, Gnus doesn't
2149 know it at first and prepares for getting 30000000 articles. However,
2150 it will consume hundreds megabytes of memories and might make Emacs get
2151 stuck as the case may be. If you use such news servers, set the
2152 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} to a positive number.
2153 The value means that Gnus ignores articles other than this number of the
2154 latest ones in every group. For instance, the value 10000 makes Gnus
2155 get only the articles 29990001-30000000 (if the latest article number is
2156 30000000 in a group). Note that setting this variable to a number might
2157 prevent you from reading very old articles. The default value of the
2158 variable @code{gnus-newsgroup-maximum-articles} is @code{nil}, which
2159 means Gnus never ignores old articles.
2161 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2162 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2163 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2164 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2165 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2166 Which article this is controlled by the
2167 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2173 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2176 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2179 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2181 @item unseen-or-unread
2182 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2183 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2187 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2191 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2192 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2194 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2195 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2196 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2197 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2201 @node Subscription Commands
2202 @section Subscription Commands
2203 @cindex subscription
2205 The following commands allow for managing your subscriptions in the
2206 Group buffer. If you want to subscribe to many groups, it's probably
2207 more convenient to go to the @ref{Server Buffer}, and choose the
2208 server there using @kbd{RET} or @kbd{SPC}. Then you'll have the
2209 commands listed in @ref{Browse Foreign Server} at hand.
2217 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2218 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2219 Toggle subscription to the current group
2220 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2226 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2227 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2228 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2229 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2235 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2236 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2237 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2243 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2244 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2247 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2248 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2249 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2250 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2251 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2257 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2258 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2262 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2263 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2266 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2267 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2268 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2269 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2270 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2271 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2272 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2273 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2274 @file{.newsrc} file.
2278 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2288 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2289 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2290 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2291 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2292 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2293 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2298 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2299 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2300 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2304 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2305 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2306 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2308 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2309 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2310 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2311 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2312 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2313 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2320 @section Group Levels
2324 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2325 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2326 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2327 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2328 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2330 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2336 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2337 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2338 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2339 prompted for a level.
2342 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2343 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2344 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2345 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2346 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2347 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2348 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2349 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2350 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2351 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2352 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2353 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2354 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2355 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2356 reasons of efficiency.
2358 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2359 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2361 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2362 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2363 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2364 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2365 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2366 groups are hidden, in a way.
2368 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2369 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2370 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2371 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2372 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2373 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2375 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2376 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2377 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2378 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2379 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2380 list of killed groups.)
2382 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2383 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2384 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2386 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2387 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2388 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2389 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2390 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2391 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2392 relevant valid ranges.
2394 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2395 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2396 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2397 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2398 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2399 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2402 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2403 one with the best level.
2405 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2406 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2407 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2409 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2410 be called and the result will be used as value.
2413 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2414 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2415 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2416 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2419 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2420 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2421 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2422 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2424 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2425 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2426 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2427 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2428 to 5. The default is 6.
2432 @section Group Score
2437 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2438 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2439 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2442 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2443 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2444 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2445 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2446 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2447 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2448 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2449 least significant part.))
2451 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2452 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2453 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2454 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2455 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2456 action after each summary exit, you can add
2457 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2458 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2459 slow things down somewhat.
2462 @node Marking Groups
2463 @section Marking Groups
2464 @cindex marking groups
2466 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2467 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2468 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2469 bidding on those groups.
2471 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2472 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2473 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2481 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2482 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2488 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2489 Remove the mark from the current group
2490 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2494 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2495 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2499 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2500 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2504 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2505 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2509 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2510 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2511 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2514 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2516 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2517 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2518 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2519 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2520 the command to be executed.
2523 @node Foreign Groups
2524 @section Foreign Groups
2525 @cindex foreign groups
2527 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2528 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2529 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2530 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2533 Changes from the group editing commands are stored in
2534 @file{~/.newsrc.eld} (@code{gnus-startup-file}). An alternative is the
2535 variable @code{gnus-parameters}, @xref{Group Parameters}.
2541 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2542 @cindex making groups
2543 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2544 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2545 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2549 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2550 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2551 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2555 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2556 @cindex renaming groups
2557 Rename the current group to something else
2558 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2559 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2565 @findex gnus-group-customize
2566 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2570 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2571 @cindex renaming groups
2572 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2573 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2577 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2578 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2579 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2583 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2584 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2585 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2589 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2591 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2592 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2597 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2598 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2602 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2604 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2605 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2606 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2610 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2611 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2613 Make a group based on some file or other
2614 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2615 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2616 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2617 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2618 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2619 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2620 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2621 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2622 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2626 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2627 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2628 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2629 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2633 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2637 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2638 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2639 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2640 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2641 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2642 @xref{Web Searches}.
2644 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2645 to a particular group by using a match string like
2646 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2650 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2651 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2652 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2656 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2657 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2658 This function will delete the current group
2659 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2660 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2661 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2662 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2663 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2667 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2668 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2669 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2673 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2674 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2675 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2678 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2681 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2682 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2683 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2684 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2685 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2686 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2690 The following commands create ephemeral groups. They can be called not
2691 only from the Group buffer, but in any Gnus buffer.
2694 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2695 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group
2696 @vindex gnus-gmane-group-download-format
2697 Read an ephemeral group on Gmane.org. The articles are downloaded via
2698 HTTP using the URL specified by @code{gnus-gmane-group-download-format}.
2699 Gnus will prompt you for a group name, the start article number and an
2702 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2703 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group-url
2704 This command is similar to @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-gmane-group}, but
2705 the group name and the article number and range are constructed from a
2706 given @acronym{URL}. Supported @acronym{URL} formats include e.g.
2707 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12300/focus=12399},
2708 @url{http://thread.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2709 @url{http://article.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/},
2710 @url{http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.foo.bar/12345/}, and
2711 @url{http://news.gmane.org/group/gmane.foo.bar/thread=12345}.
2713 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2714 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group
2715 Read an Emacs bug report in an ephemeral group. Gnus will prompt for a
2716 bug number. The default is the number at point. The @acronym{URL} is
2717 specified in @code{gnus-bug-group-download-format-alist}.
2719 @item gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2720 @findex gnus-read-ephemeral-debian-bug-group
2721 Read a Debian bug report in an ephemeral group. Analog to
2722 @code{gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group}.
2725 Some of these command are also useful for article buttons, @xref{Article
2733 '("#\\([0-9]+\\)\\>" 1
2734 (string-match "\\<emacs\\>" (or gnus-newsgroup-name ""))
2735 gnus-read-ephemeral-emacs-bug-group 1))
2739 @node Group Parameters
2740 @section Group Parameters
2741 @cindex group parameters
2743 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2745 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2746 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2747 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2748 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2749 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2750 Additionally, you can set group parameters via the
2751 @code{gnus-parameters} variable, see below.
2753 Here's an example group parameter list:
2756 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2760 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2761 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2762 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2763 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2765 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2766 is an alist of regexps and values.
2768 The following group parameters can be used:
2773 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2776 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2779 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2780 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2781 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2782 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2783 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2785 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2786 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2787 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2788 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2789 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2790 list address instead.
2792 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2796 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2799 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2802 It is totally ignored
2803 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2804 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2806 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2807 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2808 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2809 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2810 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2812 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2813 @cindex mail list groups
2814 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2815 entering summary buffer.
2817 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2822 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2823 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2824 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2825 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2826 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2827 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2828 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2829 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2832 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2833 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2836 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2837 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2841 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2842 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2843 of whether it has any unread articles.
2845 This parameter cannot be set via @code{gnus-parameters}. See
2846 @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.
2848 @item broken-reply-to
2849 @cindex broken-reply-to
2850 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2851 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2852 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2853 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2854 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2855 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2859 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2860 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2864 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2865 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2866 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2871 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2872 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2873 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2874 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2875 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2876 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2877 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2879 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2880 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2881 doesn't accept articles.
2885 @cindex expiring mail
2886 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2887 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2888 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2890 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2893 @cindex total-expire
2894 @cindex expiring mail
2895 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2896 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2897 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2898 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2901 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2905 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2906 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2907 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2908 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2909 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2910 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2911 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2914 @cindex expiry-target
2915 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2916 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2919 @cindex score file group parameter
2920 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2921 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2922 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2925 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2926 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2927 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2928 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2931 @cindex admin-address
2932 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2933 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2934 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2935 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2939 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2940 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2944 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2947 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2948 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2951 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2955 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2957 Here are some examples:
2961 Display only unread articles.
2964 Display everything except expirable articles.
2966 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2967 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2971 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2972 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2973 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2974 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2975 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2979 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2980 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2981 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2985 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2986 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2987 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2991 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2992 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2993 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2995 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2997 @item ignored-charsets
2998 @cindex ignored-charset
2999 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
3000 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
3001 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
3003 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
3006 @cindex posting-style
3007 You can store additional posting style information for this group
3008 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
3009 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
3010 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
3011 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
3013 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
3014 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
3015 like this in the group parameters:
3020 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
3021 (signature "Funky Signature"))
3024 If you're using topics to organize your group buffer
3025 (@pxref{Group Topics}), note that posting styles can also be set in
3026 the topics parameters. Posting styles in topic parameters apply to all
3027 groups in this topic. More precisely, the posting-style settings for a
3028 group result from the hierarchical merging of all posting-style
3029 entries in the parameters of this group and all the topics it belongs
3035 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
3036 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
3040 If it is set, and the setting of @code{mail-sources} includes a
3041 @code{group} mail source (@pxref{Mail Sources}), the value is a
3042 mail source for this group.
3046 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
3047 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
3048 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
3049 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
3050 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
3054 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
3055 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
3056 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
3057 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
3059 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
3060 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
3061 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
3062 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
3065 if address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com" @{
3066 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3070 To generate tests for multiple email-addresses use a group parameter
3071 like @code{(sieve address "sender" ("name@@one.org" else@@two.org"))}.
3072 When generating a sieve script (@pxref{Sieve Commands}) Sieve code
3073 like the following is generated:
3076 if address "sender" ["name@@one.org", "else@@two.org"] @{
3077 fileinto "INBOX.list.sieve";
3081 See @pxref{Sieve Commands} for commands and variables that might be of
3082 interest in relation to the sieve parameter.
3084 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
3085 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
3087 @item (agent parameters)
3088 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of its parameters to
3089 control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
3090 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
3091 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
3092 minimize the configuration effort.
3094 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
3095 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
3096 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
3097 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
3098 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
3099 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
3100 @code{eval}ed there.
3102 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer
3103 if and only if @var{variable} has been bound as a variable. Otherwise,
3104 only evaluating the form will take place. So, you may want to bind the
3105 variable in advance using @code{defvar} or other if the result of the
3106 form needs to be set to it.
3108 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
3109 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3110 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3111 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3112 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3113 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3114 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3117 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3120 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3121 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3122 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3125 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3128 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3129 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3130 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3131 into the group parameters for the group.
3133 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3134 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3135 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group. If
3136 @code{dummy-variable} has been bound (see above), it will be set to the
3137 (meaningless) result of the @code{(ding)} form.
3139 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3140 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3141 following is added to a group parameter
3144 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3145 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3148 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3153 @vindex gnus-parameters
3154 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3155 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect (For this
3156 case see @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} as an alternative.).
3160 (setq gnus-parameters
3162 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3163 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3164 (gnus-summary-line-format
3165 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3169 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3173 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3177 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3180 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3181 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3183 @vindex gnus-parameters-case-fold-search
3184 By default, whether comparing the group name and one of those regexps
3185 specified in @code{gnus-parameters} is done in a case-sensitive manner
3186 or a case-insensitive manner depends on the value of
3187 @code{case-fold-search} at the time when the comparison is done. The
3188 value of @code{case-fold-search} is typically @code{t}; it means, for
3189 example, the element @code{("INBOX\\.FOO" (total-expire . t))} might be
3190 applied to both the @samp{INBOX.FOO} group and the @samp{INBOX.foo}
3191 group. If you want to make those regexps always case-sensitive, set the
3192 value of the @code{gnus-parameters-case-fold-search} variable to
3193 @code{nil}. Otherwise, set it to @code{t} if you want to compare them
3194 always in a case-insensitive manner.
3196 You can define different sorting to different groups via
3197 @code{gnus-parameters}. Here is an example to sort an @acronym{NNTP}
3198 group by reverse date to see the latest news at the top and an
3199 @acronym{RSS} group by subject. In this example, the first group is the
3200 Debian daily news group @code{gmane.linux.debian.user.news} from
3201 news.gmane.org. The @acronym{RSS} group corresponds to the Debian
3202 weekly news RSS feed
3203 @url{http://packages.debian.org/unstable/newpkg_main.en.rdf},
3209 '(("nntp.*gmane\\.debian\\.user\\.news"
3210 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3211 (gnus-article-sort-functions '((not gnus-article-sort-by-date)))
3212 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3213 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
3215 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3216 (gnus-article-sort-functions 'gnus-article-sort-by-subject)
3217 (gnus-use-adaptive-scoring nil)
3218 (gnus-use-scoring t)
3219 (gnus-score-find-score-files-function 'gnus-score-find-single)
3220 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%d %I%(%[ %s %]%)\n"))))
3224 @node Listing Groups
3225 @section Listing Groups
3226 @cindex group listing
3228 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3236 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3237 List all groups that have unread articles
3238 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3239 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3240 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3241 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3248 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3249 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3250 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3251 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3252 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3253 unsubscribed groups).
3257 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3258 List all unread groups on a specific level
3259 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3260 with no unread articles.
3264 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3265 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3266 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3267 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3272 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3273 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3277 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3278 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3279 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3283 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3284 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3288 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3289 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3290 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3291 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3292 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3293 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3294 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3295 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3299 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3300 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3301 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3305 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3306 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3307 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3311 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3312 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3316 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3317 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3321 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3322 List groups limited within the current selection
3323 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3327 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3328 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3332 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3333 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3337 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3338 @cindex visible group parameter
3339 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3340 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3341 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3342 get the same effect.
3344 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3345 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3346 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3347 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3348 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3351 @node Sorting Groups
3352 @section Sorting Groups
3353 @cindex sorting groups
3355 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3356 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3357 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3358 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3359 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3360 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3365 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3366 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3367 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3369 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3370 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3371 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3373 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3374 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3375 Sort by group level.
3377 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3378 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3379 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3381 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3382 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3383 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3384 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3386 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3387 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3388 Sort by number of unread articles.
3390 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3391 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3392 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3394 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3395 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3396 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3401 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3402 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3406 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3407 some sorting criteria:
3411 @kindex G S a (Group)
3412 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3413 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3414 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3417 @kindex G S u (Group)
3418 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3419 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3420 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3423 @kindex G S l (Group)
3424 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3425 Sort the group buffer by group level
3426 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3429 @kindex G S v (Group)
3430 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3431 Sort the group buffer by group score
3432 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3435 @kindex G S r (Group)
3436 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3437 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3438 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3441 @kindex G S m (Group)
3442 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3443 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3444 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3447 @kindex G S n (Group)
3448 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3449 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3450 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3454 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3455 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3457 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3458 commands will sort in reverse order.
3460 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3464 @kindex G P a (Group)
3465 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3466 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3467 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3470 @kindex G P u (Group)
3471 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3472 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3473 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3476 @kindex G P l (Group)
3477 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3478 Sort the groups by group level
3479 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3482 @kindex G P v (Group)
3483 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3484 Sort the groups by group score
3485 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3488 @kindex G P r (Group)
3489 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3490 Sort the groups by group rank
3491 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3494 @kindex G P m (Group)
3495 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3496 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3497 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3500 @kindex G P n (Group)
3501 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3502 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3503 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3506 @kindex G P s (Group)
3507 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3508 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3512 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3516 @node Group Maintenance
3517 @section Group Maintenance
3518 @cindex bogus groups
3523 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3524 Find bogus groups and delete them
3525 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3529 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3530 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3531 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3532 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3533 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3537 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3538 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3539 @cindex expiring mail
3540 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3541 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3542 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3543 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3546 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3547 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3548 @cindex expiring mail
3549 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3550 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3555 @node Browse Foreign Server
3556 @section Browse Foreign Server
3557 @cindex foreign servers
3558 @cindex browsing servers
3563 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3564 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3565 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3566 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3569 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3570 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3571 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3572 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3574 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3579 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3580 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3584 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3585 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3588 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3589 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3590 Enter the current group and display the first article
3591 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3594 @kindex RET (Browse)
3595 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3596 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3600 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3601 @vindex gnus-browse-subscribe-newsgroup-method
3602 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3603 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}). You
3604 can affect the way the new group is entered into the Group buffer
3605 using the variable @code{gnus-browse-subscribe-newsgroup-method}. See
3606 @pxref{Subscription Methods} for available options.
3612 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3613 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3617 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3618 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3622 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3623 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3624 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3629 @section Exiting Gnus
3630 @cindex exiting Gnus
3632 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
3637 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3638 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
3639 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3640 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3644 @findex gnus-group-exit
3645 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3646 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3650 @findex gnus-group-quit
3651 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3652 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3655 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3656 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3657 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3658 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
3659 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
3660 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3666 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3667 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3668 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3674 @section Group Topics
3677 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3678 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3679 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3680 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3681 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3682 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3686 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3687 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3698 2: alt.religion.emacs
3701 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3703 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3704 13: comp.sources.unix
3707 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3709 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3710 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3711 is a toggling command.)
3713 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3714 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3715 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3716 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3719 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3720 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3721 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3724 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3728 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3729 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3730 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3731 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3732 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3736 @node Topic Commands
3737 @subsection Topic Commands
3738 @cindex topic commands
3740 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3741 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3742 definitions slightly.
3744 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3745 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3746 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3747 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3748 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3749 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3751 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3758 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3759 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3760 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3764 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3766 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3767 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3768 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3769 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3772 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3773 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3774 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3775 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3779 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3780 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3781 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3782 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3788 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3789 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3790 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3794 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3795 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3796 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3799 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3800 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3801 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3802 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3803 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3805 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3806 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3810 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3811 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3818 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3820 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3821 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3822 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3823 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3824 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3825 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3829 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3835 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3836 Move the current group to some other topic
3837 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3838 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3842 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3843 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3847 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3848 Copy the current group to some other topic
3849 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3850 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3854 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3855 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3856 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3860 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3861 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3862 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3866 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3867 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3868 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3869 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3870 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3871 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3872 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3875 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3876 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3880 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3881 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3882 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3886 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3887 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3888 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3892 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3893 Toggle hiding empty topics
3894 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3898 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3899 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3900 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3901 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3904 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3905 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3906 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3907 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3908 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3911 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3912 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3913 @cindex expiring mail
3914 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3915 expiry process (if any)
3916 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3920 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3921 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3924 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3925 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3926 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3930 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3931 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3932 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3935 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3936 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3937 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3940 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3941 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3942 Go to the previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3946 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3947 @cindex group parameters
3948 @cindex topic parameters
3950 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3951 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3956 @node Topic Variables
3957 @subsection Topic Variables
3958 @cindex topic variables
3960 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3961 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3963 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3964 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3965 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3978 Number of groups in the topic.
3980 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3982 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3985 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3986 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3987 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3990 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3991 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3993 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3994 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3995 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3999 @subsection Topic Sorting
4000 @cindex topic sorting
4002 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
4008 @kindex T S a (Topic)
4009 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
4010 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
4011 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
4014 @kindex T S u (Topic)
4015 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
4016 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
4017 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
4020 @kindex T S l (Topic)
4021 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
4022 Sort the current topic by group level
4023 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
4026 @kindex T S v (Topic)
4027 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
4028 Sort the current topic by group score
4029 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
4032 @kindex T S r (Topic)
4033 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
4034 Sort the current topic by group rank
4035 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
4038 @kindex T S m (Topic)
4039 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
4040 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
4041 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
4044 @kindex T S e (Topic)
4045 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
4046 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
4047 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
4050 @kindex T S s (Topic)
4051 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
4052 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
4053 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
4054 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
4058 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
4059 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
4063 @node Topic Topology
4064 @subsection Topic Topology
4065 @cindex topic topology
4068 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
4075 2: alt.religion.emacs
4078 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4080 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4081 13: comp.sources.unix
4085 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
4086 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
4087 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
4092 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
4093 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
4097 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
4098 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
4099 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
4100 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
4101 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
4102 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
4104 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
4105 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
4106 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
4109 @node Topic Parameters
4110 @subsection Topic Parameters
4111 @cindex topic parameters
4113 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
4114 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
4115 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
4116 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
4117 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
4119 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
4124 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
4125 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
4126 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
4129 @item subscribe-level
4130 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
4131 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
4132 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
4136 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
4137 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
4138 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
4139 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
4146 2: alt.religion.emacs
4150 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4152 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4153 13: comp.sources.unix
4158 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4159 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4160 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4161 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4162 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4163 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4165 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4166 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4167 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4168 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4169 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4171 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4172 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4173 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4174 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4175 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4176 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4177 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4178 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4181 @node Non-ASCII Group Names
4182 @section Accessing groups of non-English names
4183 @cindex non-ascii group names
4185 There are some news servers that provide groups of which the names are
4186 expressed with their native languages in the world. For instance, in a
4187 certain news server there are some newsgroups of which the names are
4188 spelled in Chinese, where people are talking in Chinese. You can, of
4189 course, subscribe to such news groups using Gnus. Currently Gnus
4190 supports non-@acronym{ASCII} group names not only with the @code{nntp}
4191 back end but also with the @code{nnml} back end and the @code{nnrss}
4194 Every such group name is encoded by a certain charset in the server
4195 side (in an @acronym{NNTP} server its administrator determines the
4196 charset, but for groups in the other back ends it is determined by you).
4197 Gnus has to display the decoded ones for you in the group buffer and the
4198 article buffer, and needs to use the encoded ones when communicating
4199 with servers. However, Gnus doesn't know what charset is used for each
4200 non-@acronym{ASCII} group name. The following two variables are just
4201 the ones for telling Gnus what charset should be used for each group:
4204 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4205 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4206 An alist of select methods and charsets. The default value is
4207 @code{nil}. The names of groups in the server specified by that select
4208 method are all supposed to use the corresponding charset. For example:
4211 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4212 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4215 Charsets specified for groups with this variable are preferred to the
4216 ones specified for the same groups with the
4217 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} variable (see below).
4219 A select method can be very long, like:
4223 (nntp-address "news.gmane.org")
4224 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
4225 (nntp-open-connection-function
4226 nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
4227 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
4228 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
4229 ("-C" "-t" "-e" "none"))
4230 (nntp-via-address @dots{}))
4233 In that case, you can truncate it into @code{(nntp "gmane")} in this
4234 variable. That is, it is enough to contain only the back end name and
4237 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4238 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4239 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4240 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names.
4241 @code{((".*" . utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported,
4242 otherwise the default is @code{nil}. For example:
4245 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4246 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)
4250 Note that this variable is ignored if the match is made with
4251 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist}.
4254 Those two variables are used also to determine the charset for encoding
4255 and decoding non-@acronym{ASCII} group names that are in the back ends
4256 other than @code{nntp}. It means that it is you who determine it. If
4257 you do nothing, the charset used for group names in those back ends will
4258 all be @code{utf-8} because of the last element of
4259 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4261 There is one more important variable for non-@acronym{ASCII} group
4265 @item nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4266 @vindex nnmail-pathname-coding-system
4267 The value of this variable should be a coding system or @code{nil}. The
4268 default is @code{nil} in Emacs, or is the aliasee of the coding system
4269 named @code{file-name} (a certain coding system of which an alias is
4270 @code{file-name}) in XEmacs.
4272 The @code{nnml} back end, the @code{nnrss} back end, the @acronym{NNTP}
4273 marks feature (@pxref{NNTP marks}), the agent, and the cache use
4274 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names in those files and directories. This
4275 variable overrides the value of @code{file-name-coding-system} which
4276 specifies the coding system used when encoding and decoding those file
4277 names and directory names.
4279 In XEmacs (with the @code{mule} feature), @code{file-name-coding-system}
4280 is the only means to specify the coding system used to encode and decode
4281 file names. On the other hand, Emacs uses the value of
4282 @code{default-file-name-coding-system} if @code{file-name-coding-system}
4283 is @code{nil} or it is bound to the value of
4284 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} which is @code{nil}.
4286 Normally the value of @code{default-file-name-coding-system} in Emacs or
4287 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system} in XEmacs is initialized according
4288 to the locale, so you will need to do nothing if the value is suitable
4289 to encode and decode non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4291 The value of this variable (or @code{default-file-name-coding-system})
4292 does not necessarily need to be the same value that is determined by
4293 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} and
4294 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist}.
4296 If @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable is
4297 initialized by default to @code{iso-latin-1} for example, although you
4298 want to subscribe to the groups spelled in Chinese, that is the most
4299 typical case where you have to customize
4300 @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}. The @code{utf-8} coding system is
4301 a good candidate for it. Otherwise, you may change the locale in your
4302 system so that @code{default-file-name-coding-system} or this variable
4303 may be initialized to an appropriate value.
4306 Note that when you copy or move articles from a non-@acronym{ASCII}
4307 group to another group, the charset used to encode and decode group
4308 names should be the same in both groups. Otherwise the Newsgroups
4309 header will be displayed incorrectly in the article buffer.
4316 * nnir:: Searching on IMAP, with swish, namazu, etc.
4317 * nnmairix:: Searching maildir, MH or mbox with Mairix.
4322 FIXME: This node is a stub.
4324 FIXME: Add a brief overview of Gnus search capabilities. A brief
4325 comparison of nnir, nnmairix, contrib/gnus-namazu would be nice
4328 FIXME: Explain difference to @ref{Searching for Articles}, add reference
4334 FIXME: As a first step, convert the commentary of @file{nnir} to texi.
4338 @subsection nnmairix
4342 This paragraph describes how to set up mairix and the back end
4343 @code{nnmairix} for indexing and searching your mail from within
4344 Gnus. Additionally, you can create permanent ``smart'' groups which are
4345 bound to mairix searches and are automatically updated.
4348 * About mairix:: About the mairix mail search engine
4349 * nnmairix requirements:: What you will need for using nnmairix
4350 * What nnmairix does:: What does nnmairix actually do?
4351 * Setting up mairix:: Set up your mairix installation
4352 * Configuring nnmairix:: Set up the nnmairix back end
4353 * nnmairix keyboard shortcuts:: List of available keyboard shortcuts
4354 * Propagating marks:: How to propagate marks from nnmairix groups
4355 * nnmairix tips and tricks:: Some tips, tricks and examples
4356 * nnmairix caveats:: Some more stuff you might want to know
4359 @c FIXME: The markup in this section might need improvement.
4360 @c E.g. adding @samp, @var, @file, @command, etc.
4361 @c Cf. (info "(texinfo)Indicating")
4364 @subsubsection About mairix
4366 Mairix is a tool for indexing and searching words in locally stored
4367 mail. It was written by Richard Curnow and is licensed under the
4368 GPL. Mairix comes with most popular GNU/Linux distributions, but it also
4369 runs under Windows (with cygwin), Mac OS X and Solaris. The homepage can
4371 @uref{http://www.rpcurnow.force9.co.uk/mairix/index.html}
4373 Though mairix might not be as flexible as other search tools like
4374 swish++ or namazu, which you can use via the @code{nnir} back end, it
4375 has the prime advantage of being incredibly fast. On current systems, it
4376 can easily search through headers and message bodies of thousands and
4377 thousands of mails in well under a second. Building the database
4378 necessary for searching might take a minute or two, but only has to be
4379 done once fully. Afterwards, the updates are done incrementally and
4380 therefore are really fast, too. Additionally, mairix is very easy to set
4383 For maximum speed though, mairix should be used with mails stored in
4384 @code{Maildir} or @code{MH} format (this includes the @code{nnml} back
4385 end), although it also works with mbox. Mairix presents the search
4386 results by populating a @emph{virtual} maildir/MH folder with symlinks
4387 which point to the ``real'' message files (if mbox is used, copies are
4388 made). Since mairix already presents search results in such a virtual
4389 mail folder, it is very well suited for using it as an external program
4390 for creating @emph{smart} mail folders, which represent certain mail
4393 @node nnmairix requirements
4394 @subsubsection nnmairix requirements
4396 Mairix searches local mail---that means, mairix absolutely must have
4397 direct access to your mail folders. If your mail resides on another
4398 server (e.g. an @acronym{IMAP} server) and you happen to have shell
4399 access, @code{nnmairix} supports running mairix remotely, e.g. via ssh.
4401 Additionally, @code{nnmairix} only supports the following Gnus back
4402 ends: @code{nnml}, @code{nnmaildir}, and @code{nnimap}. You must use
4403 one of these back ends for using @code{nnmairix}. Other back ends, like
4404 @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnfolder} or @code{nnmh}, won't work.
4406 If you absolutely must use mbox and still want to use @code{nnmairix},
4407 you can set up a local @acronym{IMAP} server, which you then access via
4408 @code{nnimap}. This is a rather massive setup for accessing some mbox
4409 files, so just change to MH or Maildir already... However, if you're
4410 really, really passionate about using mbox, you might want to look into
4411 the package @file{mairix.el}, which comes with Emacs 23.
4413 @node What nnmairix does
4414 @subsubsection What nnmairix does
4416 The back end @code{nnmairix} enables you to call mairix from within Gnus,
4417 either to query mairix with a search term or to update the
4418 database. While visiting a message in the summary buffer, you can use
4419 several pre-defined shortcuts for calling mairix, e.g. to quickly
4420 search for all mails from the sender of the current message or to
4421 display the whole thread associated with the message, even if the
4422 mails are in different folders.
4424 Additionally, you can create permanent @code{nnmairix} groups which are bound
4425 to certain mairix searches. This way, you can easily create a group
4426 containing mails from a certain sender, with a certain subject line or
4427 even for one specific thread based on the Message-ID. If you check for
4428 new mail in these folders (e.g. by pressing @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g}), they
4429 automatically update themselves by calling mairix.
4431 You might ask why you need @code{nnmairix} at all, since mairix already
4432 creates the group, populates it with links to the mails so that you can
4433 then access it with Gnus, right? Well, this @emph{might} work, but often
4434 does not---at least not without problems. Most probably you will get
4435 strange article counts, and sometimes you might see mails which Gnus
4436 claims have already been canceled and are inaccessible. This is due to
4437 the fact that Gnus isn't really amused when things are happening behind
4438 its back. Another problem can be the mail back end itself, e.g. if you
4439 use mairix with an @acronym{IMAP} server (I had Dovecot complaining
4440 about corrupt index files when mairix changed the contents of the search
4441 group). Using @code{nnmairix} should circumvent these problems.
4443 @code{nnmairix} is not really a mail back end---it's actually more like
4444 a wrapper, sitting between a ``real'' mail back end where mairix stores
4445 the searches and the Gnus front end. You can choose between three
4446 different mail back ends for the mairix folders: @code{nnml},
4447 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnimap}. @code{nnmairix} will call the mairix
4448 binary so that the search results are stored in folders named
4449 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>} on this mail back end, but it will
4450 present these folders in the Gnus front end only with @code{<NAME>}.
4451 You can use an existing mail back end where you already store your mail,
4452 but if you're uncomfortable with @code{nnmairix} creating new mail
4453 groups alongside your other mail, you can also create e.g. a new
4454 @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml} server exclusively for mairix, but then
4455 make sure those servers do not accidentally receive your new mail
4456 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). A special case exists if you want to use
4457 mairix remotely on an IMAP server with @code{nnimap}---here the mairix
4458 folders and your other mail must be on the same @code{nnimap} back end.
4460 @node Setting up mairix
4461 @subsubsection Setting up mairix
4463 First: create a backup of your mail folders (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}).
4465 Setting up mairix is easy: simply create a @file{.mairixrc} file with
4466 (at least) the following entries:
4469 # Your Maildir/MH base folder
4473 This is the base folder for your mails. All the following directories
4474 are relative to this base folder. If you want to use @code{nnmairix}
4475 with @code{nnimap}, this base directory has to point to the mail
4476 directory where the @acronym{IMAP} server stores the mail folders!
4479 maildir= ... your maildir folders which should be indexed ...
4480 mh= ... your nnml/mh folders which should be indexed ...
4481 mbox = ... your mbox files which should be indexed ...
4484 This specifies all your mail folders and mbox files (relative to the
4485 base directory!) you want to index with mairix. Note that the
4486 @code{nnml} back end saves mails in MH format, so you have to put those
4487 directories in the @code{mh} line. See the example at the end of this
4488 section and mairixrc's man-page for further details.
4494 @vindex nnmairix-group-prefix
4495 This should make sure that you don't accidentally index the mairix
4496 search results. You can change the prefix of these folders with the
4497 variable @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
4500 mformat= ... 'maildir' or 'mh' ...
4501 database= ... location of database file ...
4504 The @code{format} setting specifies the output format for the mairix
4505 search folder. Set this to @code{mh} if you want to access search results
4506 with @code{nnml}. Otherwise choose @code{maildir}.
4508 To summarize, here is my shortened @file{.mairixrc} file as an example:
4512 maildir=.personal:.work:.logcheck:.sent
4513 mh=../Mail/nnml/*...
4514 mbox=../mboxmail/mailarchive_year*
4517 database=~/.mairixdatabase
4520 In this case, the base directory is @file{~/Maildir}, where all my Maildir
4521 folders are stored. As you can see, the folders are separated by
4522 colons. If you wonder why every folder begins with a dot: this is
4523 because I use Dovecot as @acronym{IMAP} server, which again uses
4524 @code{Maildir++} folders. For testing nnmairix, I also have some
4525 @code{nnml} mail, which is saved in @file{~/Mail/nnml}. Since this has
4526 to be specified relative to the @code{base} directory, the @code{../Mail}
4527 notation is needed. Note that the line ends in @code{*...}, which means
4528 to recursively scan all files under this directory. Without the three
4529 dots, the wildcard @code{*} will not work recursively. I also have some
4530 old mbox files with archived mail lying around in @file{~/mboxmail}.
4531 The other lines should be obvious.
4533 See the man page for @code{mairixrc} for details and further options,
4534 especially regarding wildcard usage, which may be a little different
4535 than you are used to.
4537 Now simply call @code{mairix} to create the index for the first time.
4538 Note that this may take a few minutes, but every following index will do
4539 the updates incrementally and hence is very fast.
4541 @node Configuring nnmairix
4542 @subsubsection Configuring nnmairix
4544 In group mode, type @kbd{G b c}
4545 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). This will ask you for all
4546 necessary information and create a @code{nnmairix} server as a foreign
4547 server. You will have to specify the following:
4552 The @strong{name} of the @code{nnmairix} server---choose whatever you
4556 The name of the @strong{back end server} where mairix should store its
4557 searches. This must be a full server name, like @code{nnml:mymail}.
4558 Just hit @kbd{TAB} to see the available servers. Currently, servers
4559 which are accessed through @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnimap} and
4560 @code{nnml} are supported. As explained above, for locally stored
4561 mails, this can be an existing server where you store your mails.
4562 However, you can also create e.g. a new @code{nnmaildir} or @code{nnml}
4563 server exclusively for @code{nnmairix} in your secondary select methods
4564 (@pxref{Finding the News}). If you use a secondary @code{nnml} server
4565 just for mairix, make sure that you explicitly set the server variable
4566 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}, or you might lose mail
4567 (@pxref{nnmairix caveats}). If you want to use mairix remotely on an
4568 @acronym{IMAP} server, you have to choose the corresponding
4569 @code{nnimap} server here.
4572 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-search-options
4573 The @strong{command} to call the mairix binary. This will usually just
4574 be @code{mairix}, but you can also choose something like @code{ssh
4575 SERVER mairix} if you want to call mairix remotely, e.g. on your
4576 @acronym{IMAP} server. If you want to add some default options to
4577 mairix, you could do this here, but better use the variable
4578 @code{nnmairix-mairix-search-options} instead.
4581 The name of the @strong{default search group}. This will be the group
4582 where all temporary mairix searches are stored, i.e. all searches which
4583 are not bound to permanent @code{nnmairix} groups. Choose whatever you
4587 If the mail back end is @code{nnimap} or @code{nnmaildir}, you will be
4588 asked if you work with @strong{Maildir++}, i.e. with hidden maildir
4589 folders (=beginning with a dot). For example, you have to answer
4590 @samp{yes} here if you work with the Dovecot @acronym{IMAP}
4591 server. Otherwise, you should answer @samp{no} here.
4595 @node nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4596 @subsubsection nnmairix keyboard shortcuts
4603 @kindex G b c (Group)
4604 @findex nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group
4605 Creates @code{nnmairix} server and default search group for this server
4606 (@code{nnmairix-create-server-and-default-group}). You should have done
4607 this by now (@pxref{Configuring nnmairix}).
4610 @kindex G b s (Group)
4611 @findex nnmairix-search
4612 Prompts for query which is then sent to the mairix binary. Search
4613 results are put into the default search group which is automatically
4614 displayed (@code{nnmairix-search}).
4617 @kindex G b m (Group)
4618 @findex nnmairix-widget-search
4619 Allows you to create a mairix search or a permanent group more
4620 comfortably using graphical widgets, similar to a customization
4621 group. Just try it to see how it works (@code{nnmairix-widget-search}).
4624 @kindex G b i (Group)
4625 @findex nnmairix-search-interactive
4626 Another command for creating a mairix query more comfortably, but uses
4627 only the minibuffer (@code{nnmairix-search-interactive}).
4630 @kindex G b g (Group)
4631 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group
4632 Creates a permanent group which is associated with a search query
4633 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group}). The @code{nnmairix} back end
4634 automatically calls mairix when you update this group with @kbd{g} or
4638 @kindex G b q (Group)
4639 @findex nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group
4640 Changes the search query for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor
4641 (@code{nnmairix-group-change-query-this-group}).
4644 @kindex G b t (Group)
4645 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group
4646 Toggles the 'threads' parameter for the @code{nnmairix} group under cursor,
4647 i.e. if you want see the whole threads of the found messages
4648 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-threads-this-group}).
4651 @kindex G b u (Group)
4652 @findex nnmairix-update-database
4653 @vindex nnmairix-mairix-update-options
4654 Calls mairix binary for updating the database
4655 (@code{nnmairix-update-database}). The default parameters are @code{-F}
4656 and @code{-Q} for making this as fast as possible (see variable
4657 @code{nnmairix-mairix-update-options} for defining these default
4661 @kindex G b r (Group)
4662 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group
4663 Keep articles in this @code{nnmairix} group always read or unread, or leave the
4664 marks unchanged (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-readmarks-this-group}).
4667 @kindex G b d (Group)
4668 @findex nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group
4669 Recreate @code{nnmairix} group on the ``real'' mail back end
4670 (@code{nnmairix-group-delete-recreate-this-group}). You can do this if
4671 you always get wrong article counts with a @code{nnmairix} group.
4674 @kindex G b a (Group)
4675 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group
4676 Toggles the @code{allow-fast} parameters for group under cursor
4677 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-allowfast-this-group}). The default
4678 behavior of @code{nnmairix} is to do a mairix search every time you
4679 update or enter the group. With the @code{allow-fast} parameter set,
4680 mairix will only be called when you explicitly update the group, but not
4681 upon entering. This makes entering the group faster, but it may also
4682 lead to dangling symlinks if something changed between updating and
4683 entering the group which is not yet in the mairix database.
4686 @kindex G b p (Group)
4687 @findex nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group
4688 Toggle marks propagation for this group
4689 (@code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group}). (@pxref{Propagating
4693 @kindex G b o (Group)
4694 @findex nnmairix-propagate-marks
4695 Manually propagate marks (@code{nnmairix-propagate-marks}); needed only when
4696 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} is set to @code{nil}.
4705 @kindex $ m (Summary)
4706 @findex nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article
4707 Allows you to create a mairix query or group based on the current
4708 message using graphical widgets (same as @code{nnmairix-widget-search})
4709 (@code{nnmairix-widget-search-from-this-article}).
4712 @kindex $ g (Summary)
4713 @findex nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message
4714 Interactively creates a new search group with query based on the current
4715 message, but uses the minibuffer instead of graphical widgets
4716 (@code{nnmairix-create-search-group-from-message}).
4719 @kindex $ t (Summary)
4720 @findex nnmairix-search-thread-this-article
4721 Searches thread for the current article
4722 (@code{nnmairix-search-thread-this-article}). This is effectively a
4723 shortcut for calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{m:msgid} of the
4724 current article and enabled threads.
4727 @kindex $ f (Summary)
4728 @findex nnmairix-search-from-this-article
4729 Searches all messages from sender of the current article
4730 (@code{nnmairix-search-from-this-article}). This is a shortcut for
4731 calling @code{nnmairix-search} with @samp{f:From}.
4734 @kindex $ o (Summary)
4735 @findex nnmairix-goto-original-article
4736 (Only in @code{nnmairix} groups!) Tries determine the group this article
4737 originally came from and displays the article in this group, so that
4738 e.g. replying to this article the correct posting styles/group
4739 parameters are applied (@code{nnmairix-goto-original-article}). This
4740 function will use the registry if available, but can also parse the
4741 article file name as a fallback method.
4744 @kindex $ u (Summary)
4745 @findex nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article
4746 Remove possibly existing tick mark from original article
4747 (@code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article}). (@pxref{nnmairix
4752 @node Propagating marks
4753 @subsubsection Propagating marks
4755 First of: you really need a patched mairix binary for using the marks
4756 propagation feature efficiently. Otherwise, you would have to update
4757 the mairix database all the time. You can get the patch at
4759 @uref{http://www.randomsample.de/mairix-maildir-patch.tar}
4761 You need the mairix v0.21 source code for this patch; everything else
4762 is explained in the accompanied readme file. If you don't want to use
4763 marks propagation, you don't have to apply these patches, but they also
4764 fix some annoyances regarding changing maildir flags, so it might still
4767 With the patched mairix binary, you can use @code{nnmairix} as an
4768 alternative to mail splitting (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}). For
4769 example, instead of splitting all mails from @samp{david@@foobar.com}
4770 into a group, you can simply create a search group with the query
4771 @samp{f:david@@foobar.com}. This is actually what ``smart folders'' are
4772 all about: simply put everything in one mail folder and dynamically
4773 create searches instead of splitting. This is more flexible, since you
4774 can dynamically change your folders any time you want to. This also
4775 implies that you will usually read your mails in the @code{nnmairix}
4776 groups instead of your ``real'' mail groups.
4778 There is one problem, though: say you got a new mail from
4779 @samp{david@@foobar.com}; it will now show up in two groups, the
4780 ``real'' group (your INBOX, for example) and in the @code{nnmairix}
4781 search group (provided you have updated the mairix database). Now you
4782 enter the @code{nnmairix} group and read the mail. The mail will be
4783 marked as read, but only in the @code{nnmairix} group---in the ``real''
4784 mail group it will be still shown as unread.
4786 You could now catch up the mail group (@pxref{Group Data}), but this is
4787 tedious and error prone, since you may overlook mails you don't have
4788 created @code{nnmairix} groups for. Of course, you could first use
4789 @code{nnmairix-goto-original-article} (@pxref{nnmairix keyboard
4790 shortcuts}) and then read the mail in the original group, but that's
4791 even more cumbersome.
4793 Clearly, the easiest way would be if marks could somehow be
4794 automatically set for the original article. This is exactly what
4795 @emph{marks propagation} is about.
4797 Marks propagation is deactivated by default. You can activate it for a
4798 certain @code{nnmairix} group with
4799 @code{nnmairix-group-toggle-propmarks-this-group} (bound to @kbd{G b
4800 p}). This function will warn you if you try to use it with your default
4801 search group; the reason is that the default search group is used for
4802 temporary searches, and it's easy to accidentally propagate marks from
4803 this group. However, you can ignore this warning if you really want to.
4805 With marks propagation enabled, all the marks you set in a @code{nnmairix}
4806 group should now be propagated to the original article. For example,
4807 you can now tick an article (by default with @kbd{!}) and this mark should
4808 magically be set for the original article, too.
4810 A few more remarks which you may or may not want to know:
4812 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close
4813 Marks will not be set immediately, but only upon closing a group. This
4814 not only makes marks propagation faster, it also avoids problems with
4815 dangling symlinks when dealing with maildir files (since changing flags
4816 will change the file name). You can also control when to propagate marks
4817 via @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-upon-close} (see the doc-string for
4820 Obviously, @code{nnmairix} will have to look up the original group for every
4821 article you want to set marks for. If available, @code{nnmairix} will first use
4822 the registry for determining the original group. The registry is very
4823 fast, hence you should really, really enable the registry when using
4824 marks propagation. If you don't have to worry about RAM and disc space,
4825 set @code{gnus-registry-max-entries} to a large enough value; to be on
4826 the safe side, choose roughly the amount of mails you index with mairix.
4828 @vindex nnmairix-only-use-registry
4829 If you don't want to use the registry or the registry hasn't seen the
4830 original article yet, @code{nnmairix} will use an additional mairix
4831 search for determining the file name of the article. This, of course, is
4832 way slower than the registry---if you set hundreds or even thousands of
4833 marks this way, it might take some time. You can avoid this situation by
4834 setting @code{nnmairix-only-use-registry} to t.
4836 Maybe you also want to propagate marks the other way round, i.e. if you
4837 tick an article in a "real" mail group, you'd like to have the same
4838 article in a @code{nnmairix} group ticked, too. For several good
4839 reasons, this can only be done efficiently if you use maildir. To
4840 immediately contradict myself, let me mention that it WON'T work with
4841 @code{nnmaildir}, since @code{nnmaildir} stores the marks externally and
4842 not in the file name. Therefore, propagating marks to @code{nnmairix}
4843 groups will usually only work if you use an IMAP server which uses
4844 maildir as its file format.
4846 @vindex nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups
4847 If you work with this setup, just set
4848 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t} and see what
4849 happens. If you don't like what you see, just set it to @code{nil} again. One
4850 problem might be that you get a wrong number of unread articles; this
4851 usually happens when you delete or expire articles in the original
4852 groups. When this happens, you can recreate the @code{nnmairix} group on the
4853 back end using @kbd{G b d}.
4855 @node nnmairix tips and tricks
4856 @subsubsection nnmairix tips and tricks
4862 @findex nnmairix-update-groups
4863 I put all my important mail groups at group level 1. The mairix groups
4864 have group level 5, so they do not get checked at start up (@pxref{Group
4867 I use the following to check for mails:
4870 (defun my-check-mail-mairix-update (level)
4872 ;; if no prefix given, set level=1
4873 (gnus-group-get-new-news (or level 1))
4874 (nnmairix-update-groups "mairixsearch" t t)
4875 (gnus-group-list-groups))
4877 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map "g" 'my-check-mail-mairix-update)
4880 Instead of @samp{"mairixsearch"} use the name of your @code{nnmairix}
4881 server. See the doc string for @code{nnmairix-update-groups} for
4885 Example: search group for ticked articles
4887 For example, you can create a group for all ticked articles, where the
4888 articles always stay unread:
4890 Hit @kbd{G b g}, enter group name (e.g. @samp{important}), use
4891 @samp{F:f} as query and do not include threads.
4893 Now activate marks propagation for this group by using @kbd{G b p}. Then
4894 activate the always-unread feature by using @kbd{G b r} twice.
4896 So far so good---but how do you remove the tick marks in the @code{nnmairix}
4897 group? There are two options: You may simply use
4898 @code{nnmairix-remove-tick-mark-original-article} (bound to @kbd{$ u}) to remove
4899 tick marks from the original article. The other possibility is to set
4900 @code{nnmairix-propagate-marks-to-nnmairix-groups} to @code{t}, but see the above
4901 comments about this option. If it works for you, the tick marks should
4902 also exist in the @code{nnmairix} group and you can remove them as usual,
4903 e.g. by marking an article as read.
4905 When you have removed a tick mark from the original article, this
4906 article should vanish from the @code{nnmairix} group after you have updated the
4907 mairix database and updated the group. Fortunately, there is a function
4908 for doing exactly that: @code{nnmairix-update-groups}. See the previous code
4909 snippet and the doc string for details.
4912 Dealing with auto-subscription of mail groups
4914 As described before, all @code{nnmairix} groups are in fact stored on
4915 the mail back end in the form @samp{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can
4916 see them when you enter the back end server in the server buffer. You
4917 should not subscribe these groups! Unfortunately, these groups will
4918 usually get @emph{auto-subscribed} when you use @code{nnmaildir} or
4919 @code{nnml}, i.e. you will suddenly see groups of the form
4920 @samp{zz_mairix*} pop up in your group buffer. If this happens to you,
4921 simply kill these groups with C-k. For avoiding this, turn off
4922 auto-subscription completely by setting the variable
4923 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups} to @code{nil} (@pxref{Filtering New
4924 Groups}), or if you like to keep this feature use the following kludge
4925 for turning it off for all groups beginning with @samp{zz_}:
4928 (setq gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
4929 "^\\(nnml\\|nnfolder\\|nnmbox\\|nnmh\\|nnbabyl\\|nnmaildir\\).*:\\([^z]\\|z$\\|\\z[^z]\\|zz$\\|zz[^_]\\|zz_$\\).*")
4934 @node nnmairix caveats
4935 @subsubsection nnmairix caveats
4939 You can create a secondary @code{nnml} server just for nnmairix, but then
4940 you have to explicitly set the corresponding server variable
4941 @code{nnml-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}. Otherwise, new mail might get
4942 put into this secondary server (and would never show up again). Here's
4943 an example server definition:
4946 (nnml "mairix" (nnml-directory "mairix") (nnml-get-new-mail nil))
4949 (The @code{nnmaildir} back end also has a server variabe
4950 @code{get-new-mail}, but its default value is @code{nil}, so you don't
4951 have to explicitly set it if you use a @code{nnmaildir} server just for
4955 If you use the Gnus registry: don't use the registry with
4956 @code{nnmairix} groups (put them in
4957 @code{gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups}). Be @emph{extra careful} if
4958 you use @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}; mails which are
4959 split into @code{nnmairix} groups are usually gone for good as soon as
4960 you check the group for new mail (yes, it has happened to me...).
4963 Therefore: @emph{Never ever} put ``real'' mails into @code{nnmairix}
4964 groups (you shouldn't be able to, anyway).
4967 If you use the Gnus agent (@pxref{Gnus Unplugged}): don't agentize
4968 @code{nnmairix} groups (though I have no idea what happens if you do).
4971 mairix does only support us-ascii characters.
4974 @code{nnmairix} uses a rather brute force method to force Gnus to
4975 completely reread the group on the mail back end after mairix was
4976 called---it simply deletes and re-creates the group on the mail
4977 back end. So far, this has worked for me without any problems, and I
4978 don't see how @code{nnmairix} could delete other mail groups than its
4979 own, but anyway: you really should have a backup of your mail
4983 All necessary information is stored in the group parameters
4984 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). This has the advantage that no active file
4985 is needed, but also implies that when you kill a @code{nnmairix} group,
4986 it is gone for good.
4989 @findex nnmairix-purge-old-groups
4990 If you create and kill a lot of @code{nnmairix} groups, the
4991 ``zz_mairix-*'' groups will accumulate on the mail back end server. To
4992 delete old groups which are no longer needed, call
4993 @code{nnmairix-purge-old-groups}. Note that this assumes that you don't
4994 save any ``real'' mail in folders of the form
4995 @code{zz_mairix-<NAME>-<NUMBER>}. You can change the prefix of
4996 @code{nnmairix} groups by changing the variable
4997 @code{nnmairix-group-prefix}.
5000 The following only applies if you @emph{don't} use the mentioned patch
5001 for mairix (@pxref{Propagating marks}):
5003 A problem can occur when using @code{nnmairix} with maildir folders and
5004 comes with the fact that maildir stores mail flags like @samp{Seen} or
5005 @samp{Replied} by appending chars @samp{S} and @samp{R} to the message
5006 file name, respectively. This implies that currently you would have to
5007 update the mairix database not only when new mail arrives, but also when
5008 mail flags are changing. The same applies to new mails which are indexed
5009 while they are still in the @samp{new} folder but then get moved to
5010 @samp{cur} when Gnus has seen the mail. If you don't update the database
5011 after this has happened, a mairix query can lead to symlinks pointing to
5012 non-existing files. In Gnus, these messages will usually appear with
5013 ``(none)'' entries in the header and can't be accessed. If this happens
5014 to you, using @kbd{G b u} and updating the group will usually fix this.
5018 @node Misc Group Stuff
5019 @section Misc Group Stuff
5022 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
5023 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
5024 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
5025 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
5026 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
5033 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Group)
5034 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5035 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5038 (define-key gnus-group-mode-map (kbd "v j d")
5041 (gnus-group-jump-to-group "nndraft:drafts")))
5044 On keys reserved for users in Emacs and on keybindings in general
5045 @xref{Keymaps, Keymaps, , emacs, The Emacs Editor}.
5049 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
5050 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
5051 @xref{Server Buffer}.
5055 @findex gnus-group-post-news
5056 Start composing a message (a news by default)
5057 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
5058 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5059 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
5060 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
5061 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5065 @findex gnus-group-mail
5066 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
5067 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
5068 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5069 @xref{Composing Messages}.
5073 @findex gnus-group-news
5074 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
5075 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
5076 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
5078 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5079 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5080 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5081 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5082 for this to work though.
5086 @findex gnus-group-compact-group
5088 Compact the group under point (@code{gnus-group-compact-group}).
5089 Currently implemented only in nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes
5090 gaps between article numbers, hence getting a correct total article
5095 Variables for the group buffer:
5099 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
5100 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
5101 is called after the group buffer has been
5104 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
5105 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5106 is called after the group buffer is
5107 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
5110 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
5111 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
5112 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
5113 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
5115 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5116 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
5117 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
5118 whether they are empty or not.
5122 @node Scanning New Messages
5123 @subsection Scanning New Messages
5124 @cindex new messages
5125 @cindex scanning new news
5131 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
5132 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
5133 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
5134 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
5135 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
5136 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
5141 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
5142 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
5143 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
5144 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
5145 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
5146 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
5147 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
5149 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
5150 @cindex activating groups
5152 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
5153 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
5158 @findex gnus-group-restart
5159 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
5160 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
5161 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
5165 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
5166 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
5168 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
5169 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
5173 @node Group Information
5174 @subsection Group Information
5175 @cindex group information
5176 @cindex information on groups
5183 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
5184 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
5187 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
5188 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
5189 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
5190 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
5191 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
5192 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
5193 used for fetching the file.
5195 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
5196 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
5200 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
5202 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
5203 @cindex describing groups
5204 @cindex group description
5205 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
5206 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
5207 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
5211 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
5212 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
5213 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
5220 @findex gnus-version
5221 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
5225 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
5226 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
5229 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
5232 @findex gnus-info-find-node
5233 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
5237 @node Group Timestamp
5238 @subsection Group Timestamp
5240 @cindex group timestamps
5242 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
5243 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
5244 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
5247 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
5250 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
5252 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
5253 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
5256 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5257 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
5260 This will result in lines looking like:
5263 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
5264 0: custom 19961002T012713
5267 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
5268 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
5272 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5273 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
5276 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
5277 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
5281 (setq gnus-group-line-format
5282 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
5283 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
5284 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
5286 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
5292 @subsection File Commands
5293 @cindex file commands
5299 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
5300 @vindex gnus-init-file
5301 @cindex reading init file
5302 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
5303 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
5307 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
5308 @cindex saving .newsrc
5309 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
5310 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
5311 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
5314 @c @kindex Z (Group)
5315 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
5316 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
5321 @node Sieve Commands
5322 @subsection Sieve Commands
5323 @cindex group sieve commands
5325 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
5326 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
5327 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
5328 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
5329 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
5331 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5332 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
5333 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
5334 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
5335 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
5336 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
5337 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
5338 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
5339 regenerate the Sieve script.
5341 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
5342 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
5343 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
5344 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
5345 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
5346 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
5347 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
5348 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
5349 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
5350 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
5353 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
5354 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
5359 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
5365 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
5366 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5367 @cindex generating sieve script
5368 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
5369 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
5373 @findex gnus-sieve-update
5374 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
5375 @cindex updating sieve script
5376 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
5377 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
5378 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
5383 @node Summary Buffer
5384 @chapter Summary Buffer
5385 @cindex summary buffer
5387 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
5388 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
5390 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
5391 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
5393 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
5395 You can customize the Summary Mode tool bar, see @kbd{M-x
5396 customize-apropos RET gnus-summary-tool-bar}. This feature is only
5400 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Summary)
5401 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
5402 command or better use it as a prefix key. For example:
5404 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map (kbd "v -") "LrS") ;; lower subthread
5408 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
5409 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
5410 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
5411 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
5412 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
5413 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
5414 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
5415 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
5416 * Threading:: How threads are made.
5417 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
5418 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
5419 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
5420 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
5421 * Sticky Articles:: Article buffers that are not reused.
5422 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
5423 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
5424 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
5425 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
5426 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
5427 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
5428 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
5429 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
5430 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
5431 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
5432 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
5433 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
5434 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
5435 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
5436 or reselecting the current group.
5437 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
5438 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
5439 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
5440 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
5444 @node Summary Buffer Format
5445 @section Summary Buffer Format
5446 @cindex summary buffer format
5450 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
5451 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
5452 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
5458 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
5459 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
5460 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
5461 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
5464 @findex mail-extract-address-components
5465 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
5466 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
5467 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
5468 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
5469 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
5470 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
5471 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
5472 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
5473 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
5474 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead:
5477 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
5478 'mail-extract-address-components)
5481 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
5482 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
5483 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
5484 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
5487 @node Summary Buffer Lines
5488 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
5490 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5491 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
5492 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
5493 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
5494 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
5496 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
5497 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
5498 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
5499 possible to change this. Just write a new function
5500 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
5501 @xref{Positioning Point}.
5503 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
5505 The following format specification characters and extended format
5506 specification(s) are understood:
5512 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
5513 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
5515 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
5516 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
5517 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
5519 Full @code{From} header.
5521 The name (from the @code{From} header).
5523 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
5526 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
5527 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
5528 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
5529 may be more thorough.
5531 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
5534 Number of lines in the article.
5536 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
5537 in some methods (like nnfolder).
5539 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
5540 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
5542 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5544 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
5545 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
5558 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
5559 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
5560 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
5561 line-drawing glyphs.
5563 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5564 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
5565 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
5566 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5568 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5569 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
5570 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
5571 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
5573 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5574 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
5575 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
5576 instead. The default is @samp{}.
5578 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5579 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
5580 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
5582 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5583 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
5584 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
5586 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5587 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
5588 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
5590 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5591 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
5592 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
5597 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
5598 pushes everything after it off the screen).
5600 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
5601 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
5603 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
5604 for adopted articles.
5606 One space for each thread level.
5608 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
5610 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
5613 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
5614 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
5615 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
5618 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
5620 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
5621 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
5622 default level. If the difference between
5623 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
5624 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
5632 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
5634 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
5640 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
5641 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
5643 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
5644 article has any children.
5650 Desired cursor position (instead of after first colon).
5652 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
5653 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
5655 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
5656 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
5657 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
5658 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
5659 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
5660 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
5663 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
5664 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
5665 There can only be one such area.
5667 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
5668 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
5669 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
5670 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
5671 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
5672 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
5674 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
5675 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
5677 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
5680 @node To From Newsgroups
5681 @subsection To From Newsgroups
5685 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
5686 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
5687 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
5688 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
5689 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
5693 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
5694 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
5695 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
5699 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5700 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
5703 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
5704 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
5707 @findex gnus-extra-header
5708 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
5709 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
5710 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
5713 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
5717 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5718 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
5719 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
5720 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
5721 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
5722 headers are used instead.
5724 To distinguish regular articles from those where the @code{From} field
5725 has been swapped, a string is prefixed to the @code{To} or
5726 @code{Newsgroups} header in the summary line. By default the string is
5727 @samp{-> } for @code{To} and @samp{=> } for @code{Newsgroups}, you can
5728 customize these strings with @code{gnus-summary-to-prefix} and
5729 @code{gnus-summary-newsgroup-prefix}.
5733 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
5734 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
5735 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
5736 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
5737 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
5738 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
5741 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
5742 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
5743 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
5744 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
5746 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
5750 (setq gnus-extra-headers
5752 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
5753 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
5754 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
5755 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
5759 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
5762 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
5763 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
5766 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
5767 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
5768 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
5774 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
5775 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
5778 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
5779 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
5781 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
5782 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
5783 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
5784 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
5786 Here are the elements you can play with:
5792 Unprefixed group name.
5794 Current article number.
5796 Current article score.
5800 Number of unread articles in this group.
5802 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
5805 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
5806 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
5807 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
5808 and no unselected ones.
5810 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
5811 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
5813 Subject of the current article.
5815 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
5817 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
5819 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5821 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
5823 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
5825 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
5829 @node Summary Highlighting
5830 @subsection Summary Highlighting
5834 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5835 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
5836 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
5837 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
5838 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5840 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
5841 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
5842 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
5843 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
5845 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
5846 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
5847 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
5848 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
5850 @item gnus-summary-highlight
5851 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
5852 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
5853 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
5854 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
5855 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
5858 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
5859 ((> score default) . bold))
5861 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
5862 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
5866 @node Summary Maneuvering
5867 @section Summary Maneuvering
5868 @cindex summary movement
5870 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
5871 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
5873 None of these commands select articles.
5878 @kindex M-n (Summary)
5879 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
5880 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
5881 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
5882 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
5886 @kindex M-p (Summary)
5887 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
5888 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
5889 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
5890 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
5893 @kindex G g (Summary)
5894 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
5895 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
5896 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
5899 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
5900 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
5901 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
5902 to the group buffer.
5904 Variables related to summary movement:
5908 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
5909 @item gnus-auto-select-next
5910 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
5911 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
5912 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
5913 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
5914 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
5915 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
5916 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
5917 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
5918 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
5919 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
5920 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
5921 @pxref{Group Levels}.
5923 @item gnus-auto-select-same
5924 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
5925 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
5926 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
5927 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
5928 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
5929 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
5931 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
5933 @item gnus-summary-check-current
5934 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
5935 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
5936 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
5937 Instead, they will choose the current article.
5939 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
5940 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
5941 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
5942 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
5943 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
5944 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
5945 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
5946 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
5949 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
5950 the given number of lines from the top.
5952 @item gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
5953 @vindex gnus-summary-stop-at-end-of-message
5954 If non-@code{nil}, don't go to the next article when hitting
5955 @kbd{SPC}, and you're at the end of the article.
5960 @node Choosing Articles
5961 @section Choosing Articles
5962 @cindex selecting articles
5965 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
5966 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
5970 @node Choosing Commands
5971 @subsection Choosing Commands
5973 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
5974 and they all select and display an article.
5976 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
5977 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
5981 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5982 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5983 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5984 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5986 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5987 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5988 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5993 @kindex G n (Summary)
5994 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5995 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5996 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
6001 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
6002 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
6003 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
6008 @kindex G N (Summary)
6009 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
6010 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
6015 @kindex G P (Summary)
6016 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
6017 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
6020 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
6021 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
6022 Go to the next article with the same subject
6023 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
6026 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
6027 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
6028 Go to the previous article with the same subject
6029 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
6033 @kindex G f (Summary)
6035 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
6036 Go to the first unread article
6037 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
6041 @kindex G b (Summary)
6043 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
6044 Go to the unread article with the highest score
6045 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
6046 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
6051 @kindex G l (Summary)
6052 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
6053 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
6056 @kindex G o (Summary)
6057 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
6059 @cindex article history
6060 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
6061 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
6062 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
6063 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
6064 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
6065 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
6070 @kindex G j (Summary)
6071 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
6072 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
6073 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
6078 @node Choosing Variables
6079 @subsection Choosing Variables
6081 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
6084 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6085 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
6086 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
6087 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
6088 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
6089 the server and display it in the article buffer.
6091 @item gnus-select-article-hook
6092 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
6093 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. The default is
6094 @code{nil}. If you would like each article to be saved in the Agent as
6095 you read it, putting @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this
6098 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
6099 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
6100 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
6101 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
6102 @findex gnus-unread-mark
6103 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
6104 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
6105 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
6106 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-read-mark}. The only
6107 articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
6108 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
6109 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
6110 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
6111 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
6116 @node Paging the Article
6117 @section Scrolling the Article
6118 @cindex article scrolling
6123 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
6124 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
6125 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
6126 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
6127 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
6129 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
6130 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
6131 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
6132 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
6133 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
6134 what is considered uninteresting with
6135 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
6136 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
6139 @kindex DEL (Summary)
6140 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
6141 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
6144 @kindex RET (Summary)
6145 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
6146 Scroll the current article one line forward
6147 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
6150 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
6151 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
6152 Scroll the current article one line backward
6153 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
6157 @kindex A g (Summary)
6159 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
6160 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6161 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
6162 given a prefix, show a completely ``raw'' article, just the way it
6163 came from the server. If given a prefix twice (i.e., @kbd{C-u C-u
6164 g'}), fetch the current article, but don't run any of the article
6165 treatment functions.
6167 @cindex charset, view article with different charset
6168 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
6169 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
6170 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
6173 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
6178 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
6183 @kindex A < (Summary)
6184 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
6185 Scroll to the beginning of the article
6186 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
6191 @kindex A > (Summary)
6192 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
6193 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
6197 @kindex A s (Summary)
6199 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
6200 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
6201 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
6205 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
6206 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
6211 @node Reply Followup and Post
6212 @section Reply, Followup and Post
6215 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
6216 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
6217 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
6218 * Canceling and Superseding::
6222 @node Summary Mail Commands
6223 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
6225 @cindex composing mail
6227 Commands for composing a mail message:
6233 @kindex S r (Summary)
6235 @findex gnus-summary-reply
6236 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
6237 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
6238 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
6239 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
6244 @kindex S R (Summary)
6245 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
6246 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
6247 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6248 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
6249 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6252 @kindex S w (Summary)
6253 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
6254 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
6255 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
6256 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6257 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
6258 present, that's used instead.
6261 @kindex S W (Summary)
6262 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
6263 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
6264 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
6265 the process/prefix convention, but only uses the headers from the
6266 first article to determine the recipients.
6269 @kindex S v (Summary)
6270 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
6271 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
6272 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
6273 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
6274 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
6275 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
6278 @kindex S V (Summary)
6279 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
6280 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
6281 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
6282 command uses the process/prefix convention.
6285 @kindex S B r (Summary)
6286 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
6287 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
6288 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
6289 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
6290 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
6291 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
6292 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
6295 @kindex S B R (Summary)
6296 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
6297 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
6298 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
6299 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
6303 @kindex S o m (Summary)
6304 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
6305 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
6306 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
6307 Forward the current article to some other person
6308 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If no prefix is given, the message
6309 is forwarded according to the value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime})
6310 and (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6311 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6312 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6313 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6314 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6315 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6316 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME}
6322 @kindex S m (Summary)
6323 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
6324 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
6325 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
6326 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6327 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
6330 @kindex S i (Summary)
6331 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
6332 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
6333 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
6334 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
6336 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
6337 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
6338 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
6339 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
6340 for this to work though.
6343 @kindex S D b (Summary)
6344 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
6345 @cindex bouncing mail
6346 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
6347 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
6348 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
6349 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
6350 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
6351 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
6352 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
6353 very well fail, though.
6356 @kindex S D r (Summary)
6357 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
6358 Not to be confused with the previous command,
6359 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
6360 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
6361 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
6362 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
6363 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
6364 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
6365 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
6367 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
6368 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
6369 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
6370 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
6371 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
6373 This command understands the process/prefix convention
6374 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6377 @kindex S D e (Summary)
6378 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
6380 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
6381 if it were a new message before resending.
6384 @kindex S O m (Summary)
6385 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
6386 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
6387 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
6388 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6391 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
6392 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
6393 @cindex crossposting
6394 @cindex excessive crossposting
6395 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
6396 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
6398 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
6399 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
6400 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
6401 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
6402 command understands the process/prefix convention
6403 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
6407 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6408 Manual}, for more information.
6411 @node Summary Post Commands
6412 @subsection Summary Post Commands
6414 @cindex composing news
6416 Commands for posting a news article:
6422 @kindex S p (Summary)
6423 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
6424 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
6425 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
6426 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
6427 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
6432 @kindex S f (Summary)
6433 @findex gnus-summary-followup
6434 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
6435 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
6439 @kindex S F (Summary)
6441 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
6442 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
6443 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
6444 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
6445 process/prefix convention.
6448 @kindex S n (Summary)
6449 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
6450 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6451 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
6454 @kindex S N (Summary)
6455 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
6456 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
6457 message through mail and include the original message
6458 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
6459 the process/prefix convention.
6462 @kindex S o p (Summary)
6463 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
6464 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
6465 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}).
6466 If no prefix is given, the message is forwarded according to the value
6467 of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}) and
6468 (@code{message-forward-show-mml}); if the prefix is 1, decode the
6469 message and forward directly inline; if the prefix is 2, forward message
6470 as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 3, decode message and
6471 forward as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section; if the prefix is 4, forward message
6472 directly inline; otherwise, the message is forwarded as no prefix given
6473 but use the flipped value of (@code{message-forward-as-mime}). By
6474 default, the message is decoded and forwarded as an rfc822 @acronym{MIME} section.
6477 @kindex S O p (Summary)
6478 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
6480 @cindex making digests
6481 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
6482 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
6483 process/prefix convention.
6486 @kindex S u (Summary)
6487 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
6488 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
6489 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
6490 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
6493 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
6494 Manual}, for more information.
6497 @node Summary Message Commands
6498 @subsection Summary Message Commands
6502 @kindex S y (Summary)
6503 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
6504 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
6505 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
6506 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
6507 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6512 @node Canceling and Superseding
6513 @subsection Canceling Articles
6514 @cindex canceling articles
6515 @cindex superseding articles
6517 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
6518 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
6520 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
6522 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
6524 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
6525 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
6526 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
6527 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
6528 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
6529 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6531 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
6532 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
6535 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
6536 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
6537 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
6539 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
6540 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
6541 message, Message Manual}).
6543 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
6544 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
6545 your original article.
6547 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
6549 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
6550 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
6551 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
6554 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
6555 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
6556 have posted almost the same article twice.
6558 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
6559 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
6560 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
6561 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
6562 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
6563 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
6564 header by substituting one of those words for the word
6565 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
6566 you would do normally. The previous article will be
6567 canceled/superseded.
6569 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
6571 @node Delayed Articles
6572 @section Delayed Articles
6573 @cindex delayed sending
6574 @cindex send delayed
6576 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
6577 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
6578 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
6579 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
6582 (gnus-delay-initialize)
6585 @findex gnus-delay-article
6586 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
6587 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
6588 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
6589 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
6593 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
6594 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
6595 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
6596 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
6599 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
6600 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
6601 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
6604 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
6605 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
6606 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
6607 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
6608 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
6609 that means a time tomorrow.
6612 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
6613 couple of variables:
6616 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
6617 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
6618 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
6619 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
6621 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
6622 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
6623 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
6624 formats described above.
6626 @item gnus-delay-group
6627 @vindex gnus-delay-group
6628 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
6629 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
6630 value is @code{"delayed"}.
6632 @item gnus-delay-header
6633 @vindex gnus-delay-header
6634 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
6635 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
6636 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
6639 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
6640 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
6641 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
6642 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
6643 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
6645 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
6646 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
6647 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
6648 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
6649 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
6650 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
6651 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
6654 @item gnus-delay-initialize
6655 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
6656 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
6657 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
6658 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
6659 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
6660 argument is ignored.
6662 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
6663 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
6664 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
6667 When delaying an article with @kbd{C-c C-j}, Message mode will
6668 automatically add a @code{"Date"} header with the current time. In
6669 many cases you probably want the @code{"Date"} header to reflect the
6670 time the message is sent instead. To do this, you have to delete
6671 @code{Date} from @code{message-draft-headers}.
6674 @node Marking Articles
6675 @section Marking Articles
6676 @cindex article marking
6677 @cindex article ticking
6680 There are several marks you can set on an article.
6682 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
6683 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
6684 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
6686 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
6689 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
6693 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
6694 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
6695 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
6696 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
6697 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
6698 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
6702 @node Unread Articles
6703 @subsection Unread Articles
6705 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
6710 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
6711 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
6713 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
6714 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
6715 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
6716 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
6717 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
6718 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
6719 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
6722 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
6723 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
6725 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
6726 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
6727 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
6728 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
6732 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
6733 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
6735 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
6740 @subsection Read Articles
6741 @cindex expirable mark
6743 All the following marks mark articles as read.
6748 @vindex gnus-del-mark
6749 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
6750 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
6753 @vindex gnus-read-mark
6754 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
6757 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
6758 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
6759 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
6762 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
6763 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
6766 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
6767 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
6770 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
6771 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
6774 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
6775 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
6778 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
6779 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
6782 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
6783 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
6787 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
6788 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
6789 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
6793 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
6794 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
6796 One more special mark, though:
6800 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
6801 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
6803 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
6804 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
6805 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
6806 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
6812 @subsection Other Marks
6813 @cindex process mark
6816 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
6822 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
6823 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
6824 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
6825 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
6826 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
6829 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
6830 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
6831 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
6832 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
6835 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
6836 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
6837 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
6840 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
6841 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
6842 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6845 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
6846 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
6847 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
6848 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
6851 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
6852 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
6853 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
6854 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
6855 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
6856 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
6859 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
6860 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
6861 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
6862 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
6865 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
6866 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
6867 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
6868 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
6869 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
6873 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
6874 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
6875 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
6876 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
6877 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
6878 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
6881 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
6882 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
6883 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
6884 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
6885 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
6886 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
6890 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
6891 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
6892 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
6893 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
6894 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
6897 @vindex gnus-process-mark
6898 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
6899 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
6900 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
6901 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
6902 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
6906 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
6907 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
6908 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
6910 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
6911 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
6912 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
6916 @subsection Setting Marks
6917 @cindex setting marks
6919 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
6924 @kindex M c (Summary)
6925 @kindex M-u (Summary)
6926 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
6927 @cindex mark as unread
6928 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
6929 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
6935 @kindex M t (Summary)
6936 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
6937 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
6938 @xref{Article Caching}.
6943 @kindex M ? (Summary)
6944 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
6945 Mark the current article as dormant
6946 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
6950 @kindex M d (Summary)
6952 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
6953 Mark the current article as read
6954 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
6958 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
6959 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
6960 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
6965 @kindex M k (Summary)
6966 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
6967 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
6968 and then select the next unread article
6969 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
6973 @kindex M K (Summary)
6974 @kindex C-k (Summary)
6975 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
6976 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
6977 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
6980 @kindex M C (Summary)
6981 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
6982 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
6983 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
6986 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
6987 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
6988 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
6989 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
6992 @kindex M H (Summary)
6993 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
6994 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
6995 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
6998 @kindex M h (Summary)
6999 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
7000 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
7001 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
7004 @kindex C-w (Summary)
7005 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
7006 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
7007 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
7010 @kindex M V k (Summary)
7011 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
7012 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
7013 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
7017 @kindex M e (Summary)
7019 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
7020 Mark the current article as expirable
7021 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
7024 @kindex M b (Summary)
7025 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
7026 Set a bookmark in the current article
7027 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
7030 @kindex M B (Summary)
7031 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
7032 Remove the bookmark from the current article
7033 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
7036 @kindex M V c (Summary)
7037 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
7038 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
7039 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7042 @kindex M V u (Summary)
7043 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
7044 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
7045 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
7048 @kindex M V m (Summary)
7049 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
7050 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
7051 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
7052 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
7055 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
7056 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
7057 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
7058 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
7059 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
7060 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
7061 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
7062 The default is @code{t}.
7065 @node Generic Marking Commands
7066 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
7068 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
7069 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
7070 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
7071 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
7072 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
7075 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
7076 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
7079 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
7080 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
7081 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
7082 to list in this manual.
7084 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
7085 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
7086 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
7087 article, you could say something like:
7091 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
7092 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7093 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
7101 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
7102 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
7106 @node Setting Process Marks
7107 @subsection Setting Process Marks
7108 @cindex setting process marks
7110 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
7111 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
7112 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
7113 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
7114 articles into the cache. For more information,
7115 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
7122 @kindex M P p (Summary)
7123 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
7124 Mark the current article with the process mark
7125 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
7126 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
7130 @kindex M P u (Summary)
7131 @kindex M-# (Summary)
7132 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
7133 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
7136 @kindex M P U (Summary)
7137 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
7138 Remove the process mark from all articles
7139 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
7142 @kindex M P i (Summary)
7143 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
7144 Invert the list of process marked articles
7145 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
7148 @kindex M P R (Summary)
7149 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
7150 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7151 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
7154 @kindex M P G (Summary)
7155 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
7156 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
7157 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
7160 @kindex M P r (Summary)
7161 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
7162 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
7165 @kindex M P g (Summary)
7166 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
7167 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
7170 @kindex M P t (Summary)
7171 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7172 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7173 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7176 @kindex M P T (Summary)
7177 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7178 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
7179 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7182 @kindex M P v (Summary)
7183 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
7184 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
7185 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
7188 @kindex M P s (Summary)
7189 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
7190 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
7193 @kindex M P S (Summary)
7194 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
7195 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
7196 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
7199 @kindex M P a (Summary)
7200 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
7201 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
7204 @kindex M P b (Summary)
7205 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
7206 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
7207 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
7210 @kindex M P k (Summary)
7211 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
7212 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
7213 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
7216 @kindex M P y (Summary)
7217 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
7218 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
7219 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
7222 @kindex M P w (Summary)
7223 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
7224 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
7225 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
7229 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
7230 set process marks based on article body contents.
7237 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
7238 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
7239 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
7242 Limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched from
7243 the servers. These commands don't query the server for additional
7250 @kindex / / (Summary)
7251 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
7252 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
7253 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
7257 @kindex / a (Summary)
7258 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
7259 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
7260 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
7264 @kindex / R (Summary)
7265 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient
7266 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some recipient
7267 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-recipient}). If given a prefix, exclude
7271 @kindex / A (Summary)
7272 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-address
7273 Limit the summary buffer to articles in which contents of From, To or Cc
7274 header match a given address (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-address}). If
7275 given a prefix, exclude matching articles.
7278 @kindex / S (Summary)
7279 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons
7280 Limit the summary buffer to articles that aren't part of any displayed
7281 threads (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-singletons}). If given a prefix,
7282 limit to articles that are part of displayed threads.
7285 @kindex / x (Summary)
7286 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
7287 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
7288 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
7289 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
7294 @kindex / u (Summary)
7296 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
7297 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
7298 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
7299 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
7300 dormant articles will also be excluded.
7303 @kindex / m (Summary)
7304 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
7305 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
7306 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
7309 @kindex / t (Summary)
7310 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
7311 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
7312 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
7313 articles younger than that number of days.
7316 @kindex / n (Summary)
7317 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
7318 With prefix @samp{n}, limit the summary buffer to the next @samp{n}
7319 articles. If not given a prefix, use the process marked articles
7320 instead. (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}).
7323 @kindex / w (Summary)
7324 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
7325 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
7326 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
7330 @kindex / . (Summary)
7331 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
7332 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
7333 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
7336 @kindex / v (Summary)
7337 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
7338 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
7339 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
7342 @kindex / p (Summary)
7343 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
7344 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
7345 group parameter predicate
7346 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
7347 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
7350 @kindex / r (Summary)
7351 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
7352 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
7353 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
7358 @kindex M S (Summary)
7359 @kindex / E (Summary)
7360 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
7361 Include all expunged articles in the limit
7362 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
7365 @kindex / D (Summary)
7366 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
7367 Include all dormant articles in the limit
7368 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
7371 @kindex / * (Summary)
7372 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
7373 Include all cached articles in the limit
7374 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
7377 @kindex / d (Summary)
7378 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
7379 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
7380 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
7383 @kindex / M (Summary)
7384 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
7385 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
7388 @kindex / T (Summary)
7389 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
7390 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
7393 @kindex / c (Summary)
7394 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
7395 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
7396 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
7399 @kindex / C (Summary)
7400 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
7401 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
7402 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
7403 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
7406 @kindex / b (Summary)
7407 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies
7408 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have bodies that match a
7409 certain regexp (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-bodies}). If given a
7410 prefix, reverse the limit. This command is quite slow since it
7411 requires selecting each article to find the matches.
7414 @kindex / h (Summary)
7415 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-headers
7416 Like the previous command, only limit to headers instead
7417 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-headers}).
7422 The following commands aren't limiting commands, but use the @kbd{/}
7427 @kindex / N (Summary)
7428 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
7429 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
7430 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
7433 @kindex / o (Summary)
7434 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
7435 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
7436 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
7444 @cindex article threading
7446 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
7447 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
7448 hierarchical fashion.
7450 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
7451 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
7452 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
7453 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
7454 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
7455 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
7456 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
7458 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
7462 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
7465 A tree-like article structure.
7468 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
7471 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
7472 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
7473 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
7474 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
7475 called loose threads.
7477 @item thread gathering
7478 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
7480 @item sparse threads
7481 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
7482 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
7488 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
7489 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
7493 @node Customizing Threading
7494 @subsection Customizing Threading
7495 @cindex customizing threading
7498 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
7499 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
7500 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
7501 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
7506 @subsubsection Loose Threads
7509 @cindex loose threads
7512 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
7513 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
7514 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
7515 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
7516 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
7517 read or killed the root in a previous session.
7519 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
7520 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
7521 There are four possible values:
7525 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
7526 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
7527 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
7528 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
7529 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
7534 @cindex adopting articles
7539 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
7540 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
7541 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
7542 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
7545 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
7546 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
7547 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
7548 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
7549 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
7550 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
7551 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
7552 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7553 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
7554 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
7557 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
7558 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
7559 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
7563 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
7564 display them after one another.
7567 Don't gather loose threads.
7570 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7571 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
7572 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
7573 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
7574 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
7575 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
7576 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
7577 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
7578 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
7579 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
7580 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
7582 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
7583 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
7584 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
7587 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7588 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
7589 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
7590 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
7591 simplification is used.
7593 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7594 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7595 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
7596 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
7598 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
7600 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
7606 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
7607 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
7608 "answer" "reference" "announce"
7609 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
7614 (mapconcat 'identity
7615 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
7617 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
7620 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
7623 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7624 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
7625 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
7626 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
7627 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
7628 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
7630 Useful functions to put in this list include:
7633 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
7634 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
7635 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
7637 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7638 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
7641 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
7642 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
7643 Remove excessive whitespace.
7645 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7646 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
7647 Remove all whitespace.
7650 You may also write your own functions, of course.
7653 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7654 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
7655 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
7656 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
7657 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
7658 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
7659 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
7660 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
7662 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7663 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7664 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
7665 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
7666 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
7667 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
7668 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
7669 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
7670 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
7674 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7675 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
7676 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
7677 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
7679 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7680 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
7681 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
7684 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
7688 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
7689 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
7695 @node Filling In Threads
7696 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
7699 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
7700 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
7701 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
7702 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
7703 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
7704 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
7705 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
7706 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
7707 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
7708 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
7709 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
7710 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
7713 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
7714 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
7715 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
7717 The server has to support @acronym{NOV} for any of this to work.
7719 @cindex Gmane, gnus-fetch-old-headers
7720 This feature can seriously impact performance it ignores all locally
7721 cached header entries. Setting it to @code{t} for groups for a server
7722 that doesn't expire articles (such as news.gmane.org), leads to very
7723 slow summary generation.
7725 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7726 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
7727 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
7730 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
7731 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
7732 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
7733 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
7734 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
7735 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
7736 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
7737 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
7738 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
7739 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
7740 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
7741 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
7742 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
7743 @code{nil} by default.
7745 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
7746 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
7747 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
7748 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
7749 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
7750 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
7753 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
7754 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
7755 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
7760 @node More Threading
7761 @subsubsection More Threading
7764 @item gnus-show-threads
7765 @vindex gnus-show-threads
7766 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
7767 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
7768 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
7769 slower and more awkward.
7771 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7772 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7773 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
7776 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
7777 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
7778 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
7783 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
7784 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
7785 gnus-article-unseen-p))
7788 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
7789 unread, but you get my drift.)
7792 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
7793 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
7794 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
7795 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
7796 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
7797 threads are expunged.
7799 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
7800 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
7801 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
7804 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7805 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
7806 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
7807 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
7808 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
7809 result in a new thread.
7811 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
7812 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
7813 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
7816 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7817 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
7818 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
7819 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
7820 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
7821 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
7822 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
7823 Setting this variable to an alternate value
7824 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
7825 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
7826 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
7831 @node Low-Level Threading
7832 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
7836 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
7837 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
7838 Hook run before parsing any headers.
7840 @item gnus-alter-header-function
7841 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
7842 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
7843 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
7844 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
7845 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
7846 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
7847 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
7848 meaningful. Here's one example:
7851 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
7853 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
7854 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
7856 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
7858 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
7865 @node Thread Commands
7866 @subsection Thread Commands
7867 @cindex thread commands
7873 @kindex T k (Summary)
7874 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
7875 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
7876 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
7877 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
7878 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
7883 @kindex T l (Summary)
7884 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
7885 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
7886 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
7887 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
7890 @kindex T i (Summary)
7891 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
7892 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
7893 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
7896 @kindex T # (Summary)
7897 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
7898 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
7899 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
7902 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
7903 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
7904 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
7905 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
7908 @kindex T T (Summary)
7909 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
7910 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
7913 @kindex T s (Summary)
7914 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
7915 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
7916 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
7919 @kindex T h (Summary)
7920 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
7921 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
7924 @kindex T S (Summary)
7925 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
7926 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
7929 @kindex T H (Summary)
7930 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
7931 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
7934 @kindex T t (Summary)
7935 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
7936 Re-thread the current article's thread
7937 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
7938 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
7941 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
7942 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
7943 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
7944 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
7947 @kindex T M-^ (Summary)
7948 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-children
7949 Make the current article the parent of the marked articles
7950 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-children}).
7954 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
7955 understand the numeric prefix.
7960 @kindex T n (Summary)
7962 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
7964 @kindex M-down (Summary)
7965 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
7966 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
7969 @kindex T p (Summary)
7971 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
7973 @kindex M-up (Summary)
7974 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
7975 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
7978 @kindex T d (Summary)
7979 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
7980 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
7983 @kindex T u (Summary)
7984 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
7985 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
7988 @kindex T o (Summary)
7989 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
7990 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
7993 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
7994 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
7995 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
7996 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
7997 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
7998 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
7999 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
8000 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
8001 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
8002 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
8003 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
8004 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
8008 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
8009 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
8011 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
8012 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
8013 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
8014 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8015 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
8016 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient
8017 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8018 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
8019 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
8020 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
8021 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
8022 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
8023 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
8024 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
8025 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
8027 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
8028 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
8029 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-recipient},
8030 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
8031 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date},
8032 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
8033 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
8034 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
8035 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
8036 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
8038 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
8039 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
8040 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
8042 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
8043 last function in the list. You should probably always include
8044 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
8045 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
8046 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
8047 ascending article order.
8049 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
8050 by number, you could do something like:
8053 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8054 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
8055 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
8056 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
8059 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
8060 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
8061 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
8062 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
8063 which the articles arrived.
8065 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
8069 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
8070 '((not gnus-thread-sort-by-number)
8071 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
8074 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
8075 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
8076 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
8077 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
8080 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
8081 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
8082 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-date
8083 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
8084 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
8085 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
8086 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
8087 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
8088 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-most-recent-number
8089 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
8090 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
8091 variable. It is very similar to the
8092 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
8093 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
8094 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
8095 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
8096 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
8097 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
8098 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
8100 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
8104 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
8105 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
8106 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
8109 You can define group specific sorting via @code{gnus-parameters},
8110 @xref{Group Parameters}.
8113 @node Asynchronous Fetching
8114 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
8115 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
8116 @cindex article pre-fetch
8119 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
8120 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
8121 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
8122 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
8123 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
8125 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
8126 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
8128 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
8129 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
8130 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
8131 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
8132 connection is blocked.
8134 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
8135 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
8136 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
8137 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
8139 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
8140 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
8141 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
8142 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
8145 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
8148 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
8149 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
8150 happen automatically.
8152 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
8153 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
8154 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
8155 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
8156 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
8157 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
8158 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
8160 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
8161 @findex gnus-async-unread-p
8162 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
8163 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
8164 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
8165 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
8166 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-unread-p}, which
8167 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
8168 article data structure as the only parameter.
8170 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
8171 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
8174 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
8175 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
8176 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
8177 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
8180 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
8183 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
8184 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
8185 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
8187 @vindex gnus-async-post-fetch-function
8188 @findex gnus-html-prefetch-images
8189 After an article has been prefetched, this
8190 @code{gnus-async-post-fetch-function} will be called. The buffer will
8191 be narrowed to the region of the article that was fetched. A useful
8192 value would be @code{gnus-html-prefetch-images}, which will prefetch
8193 and store images referenced in the article, so that you don't have to
8194 wait for them to be fetched when you read the article. This is useful
8195 for @acronym{HTML} messages that have external images.
8197 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
8198 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
8199 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
8200 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
8204 Remove articles when they are read.
8207 Remove articles when exiting the group.
8210 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
8212 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
8213 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
8214 @c from the next group.
8217 @node Article Caching
8218 @section Article Caching
8219 @cindex article caching
8222 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
8223 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
8224 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
8225 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
8226 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
8228 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
8230 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8231 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
8232 @vindex gnus-use-cache
8233 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
8234 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
8235 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
8236 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
8237 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
8239 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
8240 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
8241 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
8242 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
8243 as dormant, and don't worry.
8245 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
8247 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
8248 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
8249 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
8250 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
8251 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
8252 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
8253 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
8254 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
8255 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
8256 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
8258 @findex gnus-jog-cache
8259 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
8260 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
8261 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
8262 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
8263 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
8264 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
8265 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
8266 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
8267 not then be downloaded by this command.
8269 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
8270 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
8271 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
8272 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
8273 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
8274 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
8276 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
8277 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
8278 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
8279 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
8280 variables, the group is not cached.
8282 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
8283 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
8284 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
8285 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
8286 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
8287 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
8288 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
8289 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
8290 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
8293 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
8294 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
8295 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
8296 where, isn't that cool?
8298 @node Persistent Articles
8299 @section Persistent Articles
8300 @cindex persistent articles
8302 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
8303 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
8304 useful in my opinion.
8306 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
8307 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
8308 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
8309 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
8310 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
8311 the expiry going on at the news server.
8313 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
8314 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
8315 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
8321 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
8322 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
8325 @kindex M-* (Summary)
8326 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
8327 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
8328 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
8332 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
8334 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
8335 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
8336 interested in persistent articles:
8339 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
8342 @node Sticky Articles
8343 @section Sticky Articles
8344 @cindex sticky articles
8346 When you select an article the current article buffer will be reused
8347 according to the value of the variable
8348 @code{gnus-single-article-buffer}. If its value is non-@code{nil} (the
8349 default) all articles reuse the same article buffer. Else each group
8350 has its own article buffer.
8352 This implies that it's not possible to have more than one article buffer
8353 in a group at a time. But sometimes you might want to display all the
8354 latest emails from your mother, your father, your aunt, your uncle and
8355 your 17 cousins to coordinate the next christmas party.
8357 That's where sticky articles come in handy. A sticky article buffer
8358 basically is a normal article buffer, but it won't be reused when you
8359 select another article. You can make an article sticky with:
8363 @kindex A S (Summary)
8364 @findex gnus-sticky-article
8365 Make the current article sticky. If a prefix arg is given, ask for a
8366 name for this sticky article buffer.
8369 To close a sticky article buffer you can use these commands:
8375 Puts this sticky article buffer at the end of the list of all buffers.
8379 @findex gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffer
8380 Kills this sticky article buffer.
8383 To kill all sticky article buffers you can use:
8385 @defun gnus-kill-sticky-article-buffers ARG
8386 Kill all sticky article buffers.
8387 If a prefix ARG is given, ask for confirmation.
8390 @node Article Backlog
8391 @section Article Backlog
8393 @cindex article backlog
8395 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
8396 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
8397 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
8398 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
8399 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
8400 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
8401 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
8402 increase memory usage some.
8404 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
8405 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
8406 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
8407 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
8408 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
8409 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
8410 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
8412 The default value is 20.
8415 @node Saving Articles
8416 @section Saving Articles
8417 @cindex saving articles
8419 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
8420 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
8421 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
8422 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
8423 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
8425 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
8426 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
8427 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
8429 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
8430 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
8431 unwanted headers before saving the article.
8433 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
8434 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
8435 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
8436 deleted before saving.
8442 @kindex O o (Summary)
8444 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
8445 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
8446 Save the current article using the default article saver
8447 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
8450 @kindex O m (Summary)
8451 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
8452 Save the current article in a Unix mail box (mbox) file
8453 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
8456 @kindex O r (Summary)
8457 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
8458 Save the current article in Rmail format
8459 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}). This is mbox since Emacs 23,
8460 Babyl in older versions.
8463 @kindex O f (Summary)
8464 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
8465 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
8466 Save the current article in plain file format
8467 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
8470 @kindex O F (Summary)
8471 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
8472 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
8473 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
8476 @kindex O b (Summary)
8477 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
8478 Save the current article body in plain file format
8479 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
8482 @kindex O h (Summary)
8483 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
8484 Save the current article in mh folder format
8485 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
8488 @kindex O v (Summary)
8489 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
8490 Save the current article in a VM folder
8491 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
8495 @kindex O p (Summary)
8497 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
8498 @vindex gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command
8499 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
8500 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
8501 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
8502 complete headers in the piped output. The symbolic prefix @code{r} is
8503 special; it lets this command pipe a raw article including all headers.
8504 The @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} variable can be set
8505 to a string containing the default command and options (default
8509 @kindex O P (Summary)
8510 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
8511 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
8512 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
8513 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
8514 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
8515 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
8516 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
8520 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
8521 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
8522 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
8523 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
8524 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
8525 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
8526 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
8527 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
8528 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
8529 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
8530 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
8531 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
8535 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
8536 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
8537 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the eight ready-made
8538 functions below, or you can create your own.
8542 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8543 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
8544 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
8545 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8546 This is the default format, that used by the Rmail package. Since Emacs
8547 23, Rmail uses standard mbox format. Before this, it used the
8548 @dfn{Babyl} format. Accordingly, this command writes mbox format since
8549 Emacs 23, unless appending to an existing Babyl file. In older versions
8550 of Emacs, it always uses Babyl format. Uses the function in the
8551 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8552 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8554 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8555 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
8556 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
8557 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
8558 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8559 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
8561 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
8562 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
8563 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
8564 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8565 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
8566 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8567 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8569 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
8570 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
8571 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8572 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8573 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8574 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8576 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8577 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
8578 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
8579 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8580 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8582 @item gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8583 @findex gnus-summary-write-body-to-file
8584 Write the article body straight to an ordinary file. The file is
8585 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
8586 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
8587 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
8589 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8590 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
8591 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
8592 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
8593 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
8596 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
8597 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
8598 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
8599 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
8600 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
8602 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8603 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
8604 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
8605 reader to use this setting.
8607 @item gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8608 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-pipe
8609 Pipe the article to a shell command. This function takes optional two
8610 arguments COMMAND and RAW. Valid values for COMMAND include:
8614 The executable command name and possibly arguments.
8616 You will be prompted for the command in the minibuffer.
8617 @item the symbol @code{default}@*
8618 It will be replaced with the command which the variable
8619 @code{gnus-summary-pipe-output-default-command} holds or the command
8620 last used for saving.
8623 Non-@code{nil} value for RAW overrides @code{:decode} and
8624 @code{:headers} properties (see below) and the raw article including all
8625 headers will be piped.
8628 The symbol of each function may have the following properties:
8632 The value non-@code{nil} means save decoded articles. This is
8633 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-save-in-file},
8634 @code{gnus-summary-save-body-in-file},
8635 @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file},
8636 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}, and
8637 @code{gnus-summary-save-in-pipe}.
8640 The value specifies an alternative function which appends, not
8641 overwrites, articles to a file. This implies that when saving many
8642 articles at a time, @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} is bound to
8643 @code{t} and all articles are saved in a single file. This is
8644 meaningful only with @code{gnus-summary-write-to-file} and
8645 @code{gnus-summary-write-body-to-file}.
8648 The value specifies the symbol of a variable of which the value
8649 specifies headers to be saved. If it is omitted,
8650 @code{gnus-save-all-headers} and @code{gnus-saved-headers} control what
8651 headers should be saved.
8654 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
8655 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
8656 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
8657 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
8660 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
8661 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
8662 available functions that generate names:
8666 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
8667 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
8668 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8670 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
8671 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
8672 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
8674 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
8675 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
8676 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8678 @item gnus-plain-save-name
8679 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
8680 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
8682 @item gnus-sender-save-name
8683 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
8684 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
8687 @vindex gnus-split-methods
8688 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
8689 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
8690 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
8691 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
8695 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
8696 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
8697 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
8698 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
8701 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
8702 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
8703 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
8704 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
8705 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
8706 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
8707 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
8708 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
8709 called returns a string or a list of strings.
8711 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
8712 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
8713 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
8714 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
8716 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
8717 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
8718 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
8721 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
8722 lots of mail groups called things like
8723 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
8724 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
8725 following will do just that:
8728 (defun my-save-name (group)
8729 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
8730 (substring group (match-end 0))))
8732 (setq gnus-split-methods
8733 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
8738 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
8739 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
8740 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
8741 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
8742 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
8743 all the files in the top level directory
8744 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
8745 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
8746 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
8747 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
8749 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
8750 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
8751 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
8752 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
8753 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
8756 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
8760 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
8761 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
8762 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
8765 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
8766 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
8767 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
8768 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
8771 @node Decoding Articles
8772 @section Decoding Articles
8773 @cindex decoding articles
8775 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
8776 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
8779 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
8780 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
8781 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
8782 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
8783 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
8784 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
8788 @cindex article series
8789 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
8790 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
8791 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
8792 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
8793 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
8795 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
8796 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
8797 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
8799 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
8800 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
8801 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
8803 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
8804 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
8805 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
8808 @node Uuencoded Articles
8809 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
8811 @cindex uuencoded articles
8816 @kindex X u (Summary)
8817 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
8818 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
8819 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
8822 @kindex X U (Summary)
8823 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
8824 Uudecodes and saves the current series
8825 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8828 @kindex X v u (Summary)
8829 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
8830 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
8833 @kindex X v U (Summary)
8834 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
8835 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
8836 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
8840 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
8841 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
8842 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
8843 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
8844 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
8846 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
8847 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
8848 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
8849 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
8852 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
8853 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
8854 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
8855 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
8856 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
8857 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
8861 @node Shell Archives
8862 @subsection Shell Archives
8864 @cindex shell archives
8865 @cindex shared articles
8867 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
8868 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
8869 some commands to deal with these:
8874 @kindex X s (Summary)
8875 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
8876 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
8879 @kindex X S (Summary)
8880 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
8881 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
8884 @kindex X v s (Summary)
8885 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
8886 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
8889 @kindex X v S (Summary)
8890 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
8891 Unshars, views and saves the current series
8892 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
8896 @node PostScript Files
8897 @subsection PostScript Files
8903 @kindex X p (Summary)
8904 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
8905 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
8908 @kindex X P (Summary)
8909 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
8910 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
8911 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
8914 @kindex X v p (Summary)
8915 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
8916 View the current PostScript series
8917 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
8920 @kindex X v P (Summary)
8921 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
8922 View and save the current PostScript series
8923 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
8928 @subsection Other Files
8932 @kindex X o (Summary)
8933 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
8934 Save the current series
8935 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
8938 @kindex X b (Summary)
8939 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
8940 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
8941 doesn't really work yet.
8944 @kindex X Y (Summary)
8945 @findex gnus-uu-decode-yenc
8946 yEnc-decode the current series and save it (@code{gnus-uu-decode-yenc}).
8950 @node Decoding Variables
8951 @subsection Decoding Variables
8953 Adjective, not verb.
8956 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
8957 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
8958 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
8962 @node Rule Variables
8963 @subsubsection Rule Variables
8964 @cindex rule variables
8966 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
8967 variables are of the form
8970 (list '(regexp1 command2)
8977 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8978 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8980 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
8981 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
8984 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
8985 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
8988 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
8989 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
8990 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
8991 user and default view rules.
8993 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
8994 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
8995 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
9000 @node Other Decode Variables
9001 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
9004 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9006 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
9007 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
9008 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
9009 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
9010 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
9014 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
9015 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
9018 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
9019 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
9020 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
9023 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9024 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
9025 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
9026 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
9027 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
9030 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9031 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
9032 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
9034 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9035 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
9036 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
9037 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
9038 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
9041 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9042 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
9043 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
9045 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9046 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
9047 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
9048 looking for files to display.
9050 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
9051 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
9052 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
9055 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9056 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
9057 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
9060 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9061 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
9062 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
9065 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9066 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
9067 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
9070 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9071 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
9072 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
9073 decoded articles as unread.
9075 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9076 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
9077 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
9078 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
9080 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9081 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
9082 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
9084 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9085 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
9087 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
9088 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
9089 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
9090 @code{metamail} for viewing.
9092 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9093 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
9094 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
9095 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
9096 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
9097 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
9098 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
9099 simply dropped them.
9104 @node Uuencoding and Posting
9105 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
9109 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9110 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
9111 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
9112 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
9113 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
9114 for you when you post the article.
9116 @item gnus-uu-post-length
9117 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
9118 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
9119 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
9121 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
9122 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
9123 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
9124 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
9125 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
9126 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
9127 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
9129 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9130 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
9131 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
9132 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
9133 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
9134 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
9135 Default is @code{t}.
9141 @subsection Viewing Files
9142 @cindex viewing files
9143 @cindex pseudo-articles
9145 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
9146 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
9147 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
9148 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
9149 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
9150 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
9151 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
9153 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
9154 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
9155 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
9156 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
9158 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
9159 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
9160 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
9162 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
9163 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
9164 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
9165 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
9166 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
9168 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
9169 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
9170 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
9171 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
9172 a list of parameters to that command.
9174 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
9175 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
9176 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
9178 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
9179 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
9180 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
9183 @node Article Treatment
9184 @section Article Treatment
9186 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
9187 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
9188 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
9189 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
9190 these articles easier.
9193 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
9194 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
9195 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
9196 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
9197 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
9198 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
9199 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
9200 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
9201 * Article Display:: Display various stuff:
9202 X-Face, Picons, Gravatars, Smileys.
9203 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
9204 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
9208 @node Article Highlighting
9209 @subsection Article Highlighting
9210 @cindex highlighting
9212 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
9213 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
9218 @kindex W H a (Summary)
9219 @findex gnus-article-highlight
9220 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
9221 Do much highlighting of the current article
9222 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
9223 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
9226 @kindex W H h (Summary)
9227 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
9228 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
9229 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
9230 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
9231 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
9232 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
9233 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
9234 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
9235 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
9236 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
9237 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
9240 @kindex W H c (Summary)
9241 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
9242 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
9244 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
9247 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9249 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
9250 If the article size in bytes is bigger than this variable (which is
9251 25000 by default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
9253 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
9254 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
9255 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
9257 @item gnus-cite-face-list
9258 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
9259 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
9260 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
9261 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
9262 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
9264 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
9265 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
9266 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
9268 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9269 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
9270 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
9272 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9273 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
9274 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
9275 that it's a citation.
9277 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9278 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
9279 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
9281 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9282 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
9283 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
9285 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
9286 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
9287 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
9288 cited text belonging to the attribution.
9290 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9291 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
9292 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
9293 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
9294 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
9301 @kindex W H s (Summary)
9302 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9303 @vindex gnus-signature-face
9304 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
9305 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
9306 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
9307 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
9308 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
9313 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
9316 @node Article Fontisizing
9317 @subsection Article Fontisizing
9319 @cindex article emphasis
9321 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
9322 @kindex W e (Summary)
9323 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
9324 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
9325 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
9326 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
9328 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
9329 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
9330 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
9331 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
9332 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
9333 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
9334 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
9335 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
9339 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
9340 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
9341 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
9350 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
9351 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
9352 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
9353 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
9354 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
9355 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
9356 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
9357 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
9358 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
9359 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
9360 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
9361 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
9362 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
9364 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
9365 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
9366 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
9370 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
9373 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
9375 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
9376 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
9377 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
9378 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
9380 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
9383 @node Article Hiding
9384 @subsection Article Hiding
9385 @cindex article hiding
9387 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
9388 too much cruft in most articles.
9393 @kindex W W a (Summary)
9394 @findex gnus-article-hide
9395 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
9396 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
9397 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
9400 @kindex W W h (Summary)
9401 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
9402 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
9406 @kindex W W b (Summary)
9407 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9408 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
9409 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
9412 @kindex W W s (Summary)
9413 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
9414 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
9418 @kindex W W l (Summary)
9419 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
9420 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9421 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
9422 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
9423 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
9424 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
9425 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
9429 @item gnus-list-identifiers
9430 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
9431 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
9432 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
9437 @kindex W W P (Summary)
9438 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
9439 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
9440 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
9443 @kindex W W B (Summary)
9444 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
9445 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
9446 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9449 @cindex stripping advertisements
9450 @cindex advertisements
9451 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
9452 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
9453 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
9454 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
9455 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
9456 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
9457 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
9458 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
9459 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
9460 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
9466 (setq gnus-article-banner-alist
9468 "^\n*--~--~---------\\(.+\n\\)+")))
9471 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
9472 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
9473 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
9477 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9478 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
9479 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
9480 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
9481 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
9482 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
9483 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
9484 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
9485 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
9486 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
9487 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
9490 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
9491 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
9497 @kindex W W c (Summary)
9498 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
9499 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
9500 customizing the hiding:
9504 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
9505 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
9506 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
9507 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
9508 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
9509 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
9510 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
9515 Starting point of the hidden text.
9517 Ending point of the hidden text.
9519 Number of characters in the hidden region.
9521 Number of lines of hidden text.
9524 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
9525 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
9526 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
9527 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
9528 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
9533 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
9534 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
9536 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
9537 following two variables:
9540 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
9541 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
9542 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
9543 50), hide the cited text.
9545 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
9546 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
9547 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
9552 @kindex W W C (Summary)
9553 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
9554 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
9555 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
9556 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
9557 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
9561 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
9562 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
9563 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
9565 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
9566 citation customization.
9568 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
9572 @node Article Washing
9573 @subsection Article Washing
9575 @cindex article washing
9577 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
9578 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
9580 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
9581 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
9584 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
9585 articles by default.
9590 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
9591 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
9595 Force redisplaying of the current article
9596 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
9597 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
9598 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
9599 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
9602 @kindex W l (Summary)
9603 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
9604 Remove page breaks from the current article
9605 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
9609 @kindex W r (Summary)
9610 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
9611 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
9612 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
9613 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
9614 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
9615 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
9617 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
9618 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
9619 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
9620 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
9623 @kindex W m (Summary)
9624 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
9625 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
9628 @kindex W i (Summary)
9629 @findex gnus-summary-idna-message
9630 Decode IDNA encoded domain names in the current articles. IDNA
9631 encoded domain names looks like @samp{xn--bar}. If a string remain
9632 unencoded after running invoking this, it is likely an invalid IDNA
9633 string (@samp{xn--bar} is invalid). You must have GNU Libidn
9634 (@url{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/}) installed for this command
9639 @kindex W t (Summary)
9641 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
9642 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
9643 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
9646 @kindex W v (Summary)
9647 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
9648 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
9649 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
9652 @kindex W o (Summary)
9653 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
9654 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
9657 @kindex W d (Summary)
9658 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
9659 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
9661 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
9663 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
9664 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
9665 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
9666 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
9669 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
9670 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
9671 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
9672 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
9675 @kindex W U (Summary)
9676 @findex gnus-article-treat-non-ascii
9678 @cindex Non-@acronym{ASCII}
9679 Translate many non-@acronym{ASCII} characters into their
9680 @acronym{ASCII} equivalents (@code{gnus-article-treat-non-ascii}).
9681 This is mostly useful if you're on a terminal that has a limited font
9682 and does't show accented characters, ``advanced'' punctuation, and the
9683 like. For instance, @samp{»} is tranlated into @samp{>>}, and so on.
9686 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
9687 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
9688 @cindex Outlook Express
9689 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
9690 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
9691 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
9694 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
9695 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
9696 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
9697 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
9698 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
9699 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
9700 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
9701 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
9702 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
9703 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
9706 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
9707 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
9708 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
9709 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
9712 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
9713 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
9714 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
9715 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
9718 @kindex W w (Summary)
9719 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
9720 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
9722 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
9726 @kindex W Q (Summary)
9727 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
9728 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
9731 @kindex W C (Summary)
9732 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
9733 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
9734 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
9737 @kindex W c (Summary)
9738 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
9739 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
9740 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
9741 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
9742 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
9745 @kindex W q (Summary)
9746 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
9747 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
9748 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
9749 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
9750 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
9751 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
9752 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9753 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9754 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9757 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
9758 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
9759 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
9760 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
9761 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
9762 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9763 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
9764 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
9767 @kindex W Z (Summary)
9768 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
9769 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
9770 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
9771 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
9774 @kindex W A (Summary)
9775 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
9776 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
9777 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
9778 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
9779 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
9782 @kindex W u (Summary)
9783 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
9784 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
9785 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
9786 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
9787 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
9790 @kindex W h (Summary)
9791 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
9792 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
9793 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
9794 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
9796 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for. If it is a number,
9797 the charset defined in @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist}
9798 (@pxref{Paging the Article}) will be used.
9800 The default is to use the function specified by
9801 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
9802 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
9803 @acronym{HTML}. Pre-defined functions you can use include:
9807 Use Gnus simple html renderer.
9810 Use Gnus rendered based on w3m.
9816 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
9818 @item w3m-standalone
9819 Use @uref{http://w3m.sourceforge.net/, w3m}.
9822 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
9825 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
9828 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
9833 @kindex W b (Summary)
9834 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
9835 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
9836 @xref{Article Buttons}.
9839 @kindex W B (Summary)
9840 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
9841 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
9842 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
9845 @kindex W p (Summary)
9846 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
9847 Verify a signed control message
9848 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
9849 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
9850 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
9851 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
9852 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
9853 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
9856 @kindex W s (Summary)
9857 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
9858 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
9859 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
9860 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
9863 @kindex W a (Summary)
9864 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
9865 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
9866 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
9869 @kindex W E l (Summary)
9870 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
9871 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
9872 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
9875 @kindex W E m (Summary)
9876 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
9877 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
9878 lines with a single empty line.
9879 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
9882 @kindex W E t (Summary)
9883 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
9884 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
9885 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
9888 @kindex W E a (Summary)
9889 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
9890 Do all the three commands above
9891 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
9894 @kindex W E A (Summary)
9895 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
9896 Remove all blank lines
9897 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
9900 @kindex W E s (Summary)
9901 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
9902 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
9903 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
9906 @kindex W E e (Summary)
9907 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
9908 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
9909 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
9913 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
9916 @node Article Header
9917 @subsection Article Header
9919 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
9924 @kindex W G u (Summary)
9925 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
9926 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
9929 @kindex W G n (Summary)
9930 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
9931 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
9932 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
9935 @kindex W G f (Summary)
9936 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
9937 Fold all the message headers
9938 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
9941 @kindex W E w (Summary)
9942 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
9943 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
9944 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
9949 @node Article Buttons
9950 @subsection Article Buttons
9953 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
9954 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
9955 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
9956 button on these references.
9958 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
9959 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
9960 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
9961 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
9962 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
9966 @item gnus-button-alist
9967 @vindex gnus-button-alist
9968 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
9971 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
9977 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
9978 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
9979 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
9980 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
9981 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
9984 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
9985 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
9986 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
9989 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
9990 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
9991 avoid false matches. Often variables named
9992 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
9993 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
9995 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
9998 This function will be called when you click on this button.
10001 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
10002 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
10006 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
10009 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
10012 @item gnus-header-button-alist
10013 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
10014 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
10015 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
10016 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
10019 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
10022 @var{header} is a regular expression.
10025 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
10028 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
10029 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
10031 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
10033 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
10034 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
10035 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
10036 default values of the variables above.
10038 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
10040 @item gnus-button-man-handler
10041 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
10042 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
10043 argument with a string naming the man page.
10045 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
10047 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
10048 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
10049 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
10051 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
10052 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
10053 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
10054 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
10055 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
10056 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
10057 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
10058 @code{ask}, always query the user what to do. If it is a function, this
10059 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
10060 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
10061 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
10062 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
10064 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
10065 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
10066 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
10067 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
10068 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
10071 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
10072 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
10073 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
10074 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
10078 @item gnus-article-button-face
10079 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
10080 Face used on buttons.
10082 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
10083 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
10084 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
10088 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
10091 @node Article Button Levels
10092 @subsection Article button levels
10093 @cindex button levels
10094 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
10095 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
10096 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
10097 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
10098 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
10099 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
10100 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
10101 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
10104 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
10105 (setq gnus-parameters
10106 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
10107 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
10108 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
10113 @item gnus-button-browse-level
10114 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
10115 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
10116 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
10117 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
10118 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
10120 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
10121 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
10122 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
10123 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
10124 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
10125 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
10126 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
10127 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
10128 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
10129 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
10130 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
10131 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
10132 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
10134 @item gnus-button-man-level
10135 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
10136 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
10137 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
10139 @item gnus-button-message-level
10140 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
10141 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
10142 Related variables and functions include
10143 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
10144 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
10145 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
10146 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
10152 @subsection Article Date
10154 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
10155 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
10156 when the article was sent.
10161 @kindex W T u (Summary)
10162 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
10163 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
10164 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
10167 @kindex W T i (Summary)
10168 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
10170 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
10171 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
10174 @kindex W T l (Summary)
10175 @findex gnus-article-date-local
10176 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
10179 @kindex W T p (Summary)
10180 @findex gnus-article-date-english
10181 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
10182 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
10185 @kindex W T s (Summary)
10186 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
10187 @findex gnus-article-date-user
10188 @findex format-time-string
10189 Display the date using a user-defined format
10190 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
10191 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
10192 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
10193 for a list of possible format specs.
10196 @kindex W T e (Summary)
10197 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
10198 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
10199 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
10200 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
10201 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
10204 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
10207 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
10208 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
10209 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
10212 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
10213 into wonderful absurdities.
10215 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
10218 (gnus-start-date-timer)
10221 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
10222 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
10226 @kindex W T o (Summary)
10227 @findex gnus-article-date-original
10228 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
10229 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
10230 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
10231 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
10232 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
10236 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
10237 preferred format automatically.
10240 @node Article Display
10241 @subsection Article Display
10247 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
10248 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
10250 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
10251 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
10253 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
10254 headers (@pxref{Face}).
10256 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
10257 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
10259 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
10260 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
10262 Gravatars reside on-line and are fetched from
10263 @uref{http://www.gravatar.com/} (@pxref{Gravatars}).
10265 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
10266 they'll be removed.
10270 @kindex W D x (Summary)
10271 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
10272 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
10273 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
10276 @kindex W D d (Summary)
10277 @findex gnus-article-display-face
10278 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
10279 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
10282 @kindex W D s (Summary)
10283 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
10284 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
10287 @kindex W D f (Summary)
10288 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
10289 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
10292 @kindex W D m (Summary)
10293 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
10294 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
10295 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
10298 @kindex W D n (Summary)
10299 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
10300 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
10301 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
10304 @kindex W D g (Summary)
10305 @findex gnus-treat-from-gravatar
10306 Gravatarify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-gravatar}).
10309 @kindex W D h (Summary)
10310 @findex gnus-treat-mail-gravatar
10311 Gravatarify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
10312 (@code{gnus-treat-from-gravatar}).
10315 @kindex W D D (Summary)
10316 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
10317 Remove all images from the article buffer
10318 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
10321 @kindex W D W (Summary)
10322 @findex gnus-html-show-images
10323 If you're reading an @acronym{HTML} article rendered with
10324 @code{gnus-article-html}, then you can insert any blocked images in
10325 the buffer with this command.
10326 (@code{gnus-html-show-images}).
10332 @node Article Signature
10333 @subsection Article Signature
10335 @cindex article signature
10337 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
10338 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
10339 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
10340 that says what is to be considered a signature is
10341 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
10342 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
10343 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
10344 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
10345 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
10348 (setq gnus-signature-separator
10349 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
10350 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
10351 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
10352 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
10353 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
10354 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
10355 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
10358 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
10361 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
10362 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
10363 signature when displaying articles.
10367 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
10370 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
10373 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
10374 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
10376 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
10377 in question is not a signature.
10380 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
10381 listed above. Here's an example:
10384 (setq gnus-signature-limit
10385 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
10388 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
10389 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
10390 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
10391 signature after all.
10394 @node Article Miscellanea
10395 @subsection Article Miscellanea
10399 @kindex A t (Summary)
10400 @findex gnus-article-babel
10401 Translate the article from one language to another
10402 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
10407 @node MIME Commands
10408 @section MIME Commands
10409 @cindex MIME decoding
10410 @cindex attachments
10411 @cindex viewing attachments
10413 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
10414 instance, @kbd{3 K v} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
10419 @kindex b (Summary)
10420 @kindex K v (Summary)
10421 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
10424 @kindex K o (Summary)
10425 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
10428 @kindex K O (Summary)
10429 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} part and strip it
10430 from the article. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred
10431 via the message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
10434 @kindex K r (Summary)
10435 Replace the @acronym{MIME} part with an external body.
10438 @kindex K d (Summary)
10439 Delete the @acronym{MIME} part and add some information about the
10443 @kindex K c (Summary)
10444 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
10447 @kindex K e (Summary)
10448 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
10451 @kindex K i (Summary)
10452 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
10455 @kindex K | (Summary)
10456 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
10459 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
10464 @kindex K H (Summary)
10465 @findex gnus-article-browse-html-article
10466 View @samp{text/html} parts of the current article with a WWW browser.
10467 Inline images embedded in a message using the @code{cid} scheme, as they
10468 are generally considered to be safe, will be processed properly. The
10469 message header is added to the beginning of every @acronym{HTML} part
10470 unless the prefix argument is given.
10472 Warning: Spammers use links to images (using the @code{http} scheme) in
10473 @acronym{HTML} articles to verify whether you have read the message. As
10474 this command passes the @acronym{HTML} content to the browser without
10475 eliminating these ``web bugs'' you should only use it for mails from
10478 If you always want to display @acronym{HTML} parts in the browser, set
10479 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} to @code{nil}.
10481 This command creates temporary files to pass @acronym{HTML} contents
10482 including images if any to the browser, and deletes them when exiting
10483 the group (if you want).
10486 @kindex K b (Summary)
10487 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
10488 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
10492 @kindex K m (Summary)
10493 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
10494 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
10495 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
10496 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
10497 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
10500 @kindex X m (Summary)
10501 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
10502 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
10503 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
10504 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10507 @kindex M-t (Summary)
10508 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
10509 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
10510 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
10513 @kindex W M w (Summary)
10514 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
10515 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
10516 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
10519 @kindex W M c (Summary)
10520 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
10521 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
10522 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
10524 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
10525 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
10526 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
10527 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
10528 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
10529 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10532 @kindex W M v (Summary)
10533 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
10534 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
10535 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
10539 Relevant variables:
10542 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
10543 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
10544 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10545 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
10548 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
10551 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
10555 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
10556 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
10557 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
10558 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
10559 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
10560 default is @code{t}.
10562 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
10563 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
10566 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
10567 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
10568 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
10569 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
10570 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}. Only
10571 single-part yEnc encoded attachments can be decoded. There's no support
10572 for encoding in Gnus.
10574 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
10575 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
10576 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10577 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
10578 displayed or this variable is overridden by
10579 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
10580 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
10581 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
10583 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
10584 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
10585 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
10586 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
10587 displayed. This variable overrides
10588 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
10589 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
10592 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
10593 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
10594 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
10596 You could also add @code{"multipart/alternative"} to this list to
10597 display radio buttons that allow you to choose one of two media types
10598 those mails include. See also @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}
10599 (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The
10600 Emacs MIME Manual}).
10602 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
10603 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
10604 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
10605 default value is @code{nil}.
10607 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
10608 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
10609 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
10610 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
10611 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
10612 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
10613 save all jpegs into some directory).
10615 Here's an example function the does the latter:
10618 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
10619 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
10621 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
10622 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
10623 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
10624 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
10625 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
10628 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
10629 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
10630 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
10632 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
10633 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
10634 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
10636 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
10637 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
10638 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
10640 If displaying @samp{text/html} is discouraged, see
10641 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}, images or other material inside a
10642 "multipart/related" part might be overlooked when this variable is
10643 @code{nil}. @ref{Display Customization, Display Customization, ,
10644 emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}.
10646 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
10647 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
10648 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If @code{t}, it
10649 overrides @code{nil} values of
10650 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
10651 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
10653 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10654 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10655 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
10656 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
10658 Ready-made functions include@*
10659 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
10660 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
10661 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
10662 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
10663 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
10664 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
10665 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
10666 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
10667 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10668 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10669 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10670 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
10672 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
10673 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
10675 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
10676 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
10677 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
10680 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
10681 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
10682 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
10683 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
10687 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
10696 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
10697 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
10698 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
10699 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
10700 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
10701 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
10702 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp}.
10704 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
10705 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
10706 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
10707 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
10709 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
10710 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
10711 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
10712 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
10713 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
10714 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
10715 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
10716 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
10717 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
10719 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
10720 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
10721 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
10722 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
10723 quoted-printable header encoding.
10725 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
10726 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
10727 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
10731 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
10734 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
10735 means encode all charsets),
10737 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
10738 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
10739 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
10746 @cindex coding system aliases
10747 @cindex preferred charset
10749 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
10750 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
10751 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
10753 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
10755 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
10756 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
10759 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
10760 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
10763 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
10764 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
10766 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
10769 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
10772 This will almost do the right thing.
10774 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
10778 (codepage-setup 1251)
10779 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
10783 @node Article Commands
10784 @section Article Commands
10791 @kindex A P (Summary)
10792 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
10793 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
10794 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
10795 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
10796 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
10797 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
10800 @vindex gnus-fetch-partial-articles
10801 @findex gnus-summary-show-complete-article
10802 If @code{<backend>-fetch-partial-articles} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
10803 fetch partial articles, if the backend it fetches them from supports
10804 it. Currently only @code{nnimap} does. If you're looking at a
10805 partial article, and want to see the complete article instead, then
10806 the @kbd{A C} command (@code{gnus-summary-show-complete-article}) will
10812 @node Summary Sorting
10813 @section Summary Sorting
10814 @cindex summary sorting
10816 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
10817 can't really see why you'd want that.
10822 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10823 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
10824 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
10826 @item C-c C-s C-m C-n
10827 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
10828 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number
10829 Sort by most recent article number
10830 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-number}).
10833 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
10834 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
10835 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
10838 @kindex C-c C-s C-t (Summary)
10839 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient
10840 Sort by recipient (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-recipient}).
10843 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
10844 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
10845 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
10848 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
10849 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
10850 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
10852 @item C-c C-s C-m C-d
10853 @kindex C-c C-s C-m C-d (Summary)
10854 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date
10855 Sort by most recent date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-most-recent-date}).
10858 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
10859 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
10860 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
10863 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
10864 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
10865 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
10868 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
10869 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
10870 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
10873 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
10874 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
10875 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
10878 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
10879 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
10880 Sort using the default sorting method
10881 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
10884 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
10885 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
10886 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
10887 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
10888 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
10891 If a prefix argument if given, the sort order is reversed.
10894 @node Finding the Parent
10895 @section Finding the Parent
10896 @cindex parent articles
10897 @cindex referring articles
10901 @kindex ^ (Summary)
10902 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
10903 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
10904 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
10905 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
10906 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
10907 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
10908 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
10909 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
10910 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
10912 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
10913 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
10914 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
10915 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
10916 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
10919 @item A R (Summary)
10920 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
10921 @kindex A R (Summary)
10922 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
10923 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
10925 @item A T (Summary)
10926 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
10927 @kindex A T (Summary)
10928 Display the full thread where the current article appears
10929 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
10930 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
10931 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
10932 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
10933 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
10934 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
10936 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
10937 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
10938 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
10939 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
10940 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
10941 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
10943 @item M-^ (Summary)
10944 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
10945 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
10947 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
10948 You can also ask Gnus for an arbitrary article, no matter what group it
10949 belongs to. @kbd{M-^} (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you
10950 for a @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read
10951 thingies that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}.
10952 You have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
10954 Gnus looks for the @code{Message-ID} in the headers that have already
10955 been fetched, but also tries all the select methods specified by
10956 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} if it is not found.
10959 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
10960 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
10961 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
10962 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
10963 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
10964 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
10967 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
10968 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
10969 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
10972 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
10973 then ask Google if that fails:
10976 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
10978 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
10981 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
10982 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
10983 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
10984 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
10985 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
10986 group. @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
10988 Fortunately, the special @code{nnregistry} back end is able to locate
10989 articles in any groups, regardless of their back end (@pxref{Registry
10990 Article Refer Method, fetching by @code{Message-ID} using the
10993 @node Alternative Approaches
10994 @section Alternative Approaches
10996 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
10997 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
11000 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
11001 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
11005 @node Pick and Read
11006 @subsection Pick and Read
11007 @cindex pick and read
11009 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
11010 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
11011 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
11012 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
11014 @findex gnus-pick-mode
11015 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
11016 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
11017 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
11018 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
11019 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
11021 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
11026 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
11027 Pick the article or thread on the current line
11028 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
11029 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
11030 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
11031 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
11032 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
11033 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
11036 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
11037 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
11038 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
11039 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
11043 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
11044 Unpick the thread or article
11045 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
11046 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
11047 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
11048 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
11049 the thread or article at that line.
11053 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
11054 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
11055 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
11056 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
11057 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
11058 will still be visible when you are reading.
11062 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
11063 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
11064 which is mapped to the same function
11065 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
11067 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
11070 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
11073 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
11074 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
11076 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
11077 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
11078 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
11080 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
11081 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
11082 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
11083 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
11084 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
11085 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
11086 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
11089 @node Binary Groups
11090 @subsection Binary Groups
11091 @cindex binary groups
11093 @findex gnus-binary-mode
11094 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
11095 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
11096 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
11097 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
11098 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
11099 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
11102 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
11103 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
11104 command, when you have turned on this mode
11105 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
11107 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
11108 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
11112 @section Tree Display
11115 @vindex gnus-use-trees
11116 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
11117 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
11118 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
11119 in the tree buffer.
11121 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
11124 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
11125 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
11126 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
11128 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
11129 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
11130 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
11131 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
11132 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
11134 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
11135 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
11136 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
11137 default is @code{modeline}.
11139 @item gnus-tree-line-format
11140 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
11141 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
11142 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
11143 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
11144 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
11145 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
11151 The name of the poster.
11153 The @code{From} header.
11155 The number of the article.
11157 The opening bracket.
11159 The closing bracket.
11164 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
11166 Variables related to the display are:
11169 @item gnus-tree-brackets
11170 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
11171 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
11172 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
11174 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
11175 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
11176 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
11178 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
11180 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
11181 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
11182 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
11183 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
11187 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
11188 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
11189 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
11190 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
11191 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
11192 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
11193 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
11194 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
11195 other windows displayed next to it.
11197 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
11201 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
11202 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
11205 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
11206 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
11207 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
11208 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
11209 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
11210 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
11211 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
11215 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
11218 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
11228 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
11233 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
11234 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
11236 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
11238 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
11244 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
11245 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
11246 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
11249 (setq gnus-use-trees t
11250 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
11251 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
11252 (gnus-add-configuration
11256 (summary 0.75 point)
11261 @xref{Window Layout}.
11264 @node Mail Group Commands
11265 @section Mail Group Commands
11266 @cindex mail group commands
11268 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
11269 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
11271 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
11272 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11277 @kindex B e (Summary)
11278 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
11279 @cindex expiring mail
11280 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
11281 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
11282 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
11283 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
11286 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
11287 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
11288 @cindex expiring mail
11289 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
11290 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
11291 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
11292 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
11295 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
11296 @cindex deleting mail
11297 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
11298 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
11299 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
11300 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
11301 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
11304 @kindex B m (Summary)
11306 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
11307 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
11308 Move the article from one mail group to another
11309 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
11310 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
11313 @kindex B c (Summary)
11315 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
11316 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
11317 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
11318 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
11319 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
11322 @kindex B B (Summary)
11323 @cindex crosspost mail
11324 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
11325 Crosspost the current article to some other group
11326 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
11327 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
11328 be properly updated.
11331 @kindex B i (Summary)
11332 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
11333 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
11334 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
11335 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
11338 @kindex B I (Summary)
11339 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
11340 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
11341 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
11342 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
11345 @kindex B r (Summary)
11346 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
11347 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
11348 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
11349 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
11350 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
11351 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
11352 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
11353 (which is the default).
11357 @kindex B w (Summary)
11358 @kindex e (Summary)
11359 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
11360 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
11361 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
11362 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
11363 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
11364 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
11365 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
11368 @kindex B q (Summary)
11369 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
11370 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
11371 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
11372 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
11375 @kindex B t (Summary)
11376 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
11377 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
11378 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
11381 @kindex B p (Summary)
11382 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
11383 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
11384 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
11385 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
11386 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
11387 article from your news server (or rather, from
11388 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
11389 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
11390 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
11391 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
11392 just not have arrived yet.
11395 @kindex K E (Summary)
11396 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
11397 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
11398 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
11399 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
11400 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
11404 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
11405 @cindex moving articles
11406 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
11407 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
11408 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
11409 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
11410 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
11411 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
11412 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
11415 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
11416 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
11417 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
11418 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
11422 @node Various Summary Stuff
11423 @section Various Summary Stuff
11426 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
11427 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
11428 * Summary Generation Commands::
11429 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
11433 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
11434 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
11435 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
11436 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
11437 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
11438 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
11440 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
11441 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
11442 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
11445 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
11446 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
11447 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
11449 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
11450 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
11451 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
11452 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
11453 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
11454 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
11457 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
11458 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
11459 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
11460 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
11461 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
11463 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
11464 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
11465 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
11468 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
11469 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
11470 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
11471 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
11472 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
11473 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
11474 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
11475 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
11476 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
11477 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
11479 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
11480 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
11481 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
11482 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
11483 list of articles to be selected.
11485 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
11486 the list in one particular group:
11489 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
11490 (if (string= group "some.group")
11491 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
11495 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
11496 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
11497 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
11498 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
11499 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
11502 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
11503 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
11504 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
11505 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
11506 variable will be used instead.
11508 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
11509 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
11510 buffers. For example:
11513 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
11514 '(message-use-followup-to
11515 (gnus-visible-headers .
11516 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
11519 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
11521 @vindex gnus-propagate-marks
11522 @item gnus-propagate-marks
11523 If non-@code{nil}, propagate marks to the backends for possible
11524 storing. @xref{NNTP marks}, and friends, for a more fine-grained
11530 @node Summary Group Information
11531 @subsection Summary Group Information
11536 @kindex H d (Summary)
11537 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
11538 Give a brief description of the current group
11539 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
11540 rereading the description from the server.
11543 @kindex H h (Summary)
11544 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
11545 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
11546 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
11549 @kindex H i (Summary)
11550 @findex gnus-info-find-node
11551 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
11555 @node Searching for Articles
11556 @subsection Searching for Articles
11561 @kindex M-s (Summary)
11562 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
11563 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
11564 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
11567 @kindex M-r (Summary)
11568 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
11569 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
11570 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
11573 @kindex M-S (Summary)
11574 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward
11575 Repeat the previous search forwards
11576 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-forward}).
11579 @kindex M-R (Summary)
11580 @findex gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward
11581 Repeat the previous search backwards
11582 (@code{gnus-summary-repeat-search-article-backward}).
11585 @kindex & (Summary)
11586 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
11587 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
11588 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
11589 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
11590 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
11591 search backward instead.
11593 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
11594 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
11597 @kindex M-& (Summary)
11598 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
11599 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
11600 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
11603 @node Summary Generation Commands
11604 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
11609 @kindex Y g (Summary)
11610 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
11611 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
11614 @kindex Y c (Summary)
11615 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
11616 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11617 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
11620 @kindex Y d (Summary)
11621 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
11622 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11623 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
11626 @kindex Y t (Summary)
11627 @findex gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles
11628 Pull all ticked articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
11629 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-ticked-articles}).
11634 @node Really Various Summary Commands
11635 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
11641 @kindex C-d (Summary)
11642 @kindex A D (Summary)
11643 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
11644 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
11645 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
11646 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
11647 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
11648 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
11649 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
11650 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
11653 @vindex gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit
11654 The variable @code{gnus-auto-select-on-ephemeral-exit} controls what
11655 article should be selected after exiting a digest group. Valid values
11660 Select the next article.
11663 Select the next unread article.
11665 @item next-noselect
11666 Move the cursor to the next article. This is the default.
11668 @item next-unread-noselect
11669 Move the cursor to the next unread article.
11672 If it has any other value or there is no next (unread) article, the
11673 article selected before entering to the digest group will appear.
11676 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
11677 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
11678 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
11679 several documents into one biiig group
11680 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
11681 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
11682 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
11683 command understands the process/prefix convention
11684 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
11687 @kindex C-t (Summary)
11688 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
11689 Toggle truncation of summary lines
11690 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
11691 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
11692 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
11695 @kindex = (Summary)
11696 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
11697 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
11698 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
11701 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
11702 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
11703 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11704 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
11707 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
11708 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
11709 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
11710 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
11715 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
11716 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
11717 @cindex summary exit
11718 @cindex exiting groups
11720 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
11721 group and return you to the group buffer.
11728 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
11729 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
11730 @kindex q (Summary)
11731 @findex gnus-summary-exit
11732 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
11733 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
11734 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
11735 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
11736 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
11737 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
11738 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
11739 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
11740 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
11741 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
11742 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
11746 @kindex Z E (Summary)
11747 @kindex Q (Summary)
11748 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
11749 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
11750 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
11754 @kindex Z c (Summary)
11755 @kindex c (Summary)
11756 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
11757 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
11758 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
11759 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
11762 @kindex Z C (Summary)
11763 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
11764 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
11765 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
11768 @kindex Z n (Summary)
11769 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
11770 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
11771 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
11774 @kindex Z p (Summary)
11775 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group
11776 Mark all articles as read and go to the previous group
11777 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-prev-group}).
11781 @kindex Z R (Summary)
11782 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
11783 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
11784 Exit this group, and then enter it again
11785 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
11786 all articles, both read and unread.
11790 @kindex Z G (Summary)
11791 @kindex M-g (Summary)
11792 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
11793 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
11794 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
11795 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
11796 articles, both read and unread.
11799 @kindex Z N (Summary)
11800 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
11801 Exit the group and go to the next group
11802 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
11805 @kindex Z P (Summary)
11806 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
11807 Exit the group and go to the previous group
11808 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
11811 @kindex Z s (Summary)
11812 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
11813 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
11814 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
11815 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
11816 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
11819 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
11820 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
11821 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
11822 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
11824 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
11825 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
11826 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
11827 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
11828 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
11829 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
11830 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
11831 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
11832 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
11833 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
11834 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
11835 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
11837 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
11839 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
11840 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
11841 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
11842 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
11843 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
11844 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
11845 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
11846 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
11847 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
11850 @node Crosspost Handling
11851 @section Crosspost Handling
11855 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
11856 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
11857 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
11858 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
11859 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
11862 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
11863 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
11864 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
11865 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
11866 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
11868 @cindex cross-posting
11870 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
11871 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
11872 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
11873 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
11874 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
11875 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
11876 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
11877 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
11878 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
11879 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
11880 the cross reference mechanism.
11882 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
11883 @cindex overview.fmt
11884 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
11885 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
11886 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
11887 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
11888 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
11889 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
11892 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
11893 set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
11894 considerably. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
11898 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
11901 @node Duplicate Suppression
11902 @section Duplicate Suppression
11904 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
11905 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
11906 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
11907 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
11912 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
11913 is evil and not very common.
11916 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
11917 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
11920 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
11921 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
11924 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
11927 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
11928 well, but these four are the most common situations.
11930 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
11931 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
11932 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
11933 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
11934 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
11935 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
11936 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
11939 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
11940 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
11941 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
11942 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
11943 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
11944 saw the article in.
11947 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
11948 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
11949 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
11951 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
11952 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
11953 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
11954 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
11955 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
11956 session are suppressed.
11958 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
11959 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
11960 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
11961 suppression list. The default is 10000.
11963 @item gnus-duplicate-file
11964 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
11965 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
11966 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
11969 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
11970 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
11971 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
11972 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
11973 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
11974 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
11975 to you to figure out, I think.
11980 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
11981 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
11982 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
11987 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
11988 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
11989 to GnuPG included with Emacs is called EasyPG (@pxref{Top, ,EasyPG,
11990 epa, EasyPG Assistant user's manual}), but PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg,
11991 PGG Manual}), and Mailcrypt are also supported.
11994 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
11995 or newer is recommended.
11999 The variables that control security functionality on reading/composing
12003 @item mm-verify-option
12004 @vindex mm-verify-option
12005 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
12006 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
12007 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
12009 @item mm-decrypt-option
12010 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
12011 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
12012 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
12013 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
12015 @item mm-sign-option
12016 @vindex mm-sign-option
12017 Option of creating signed parts. @code{nil}, use default signing
12018 keys; @code{guided}, ask user to select signing keys from the menu.
12020 @item mm-encrypt-option
12021 @vindex mm-encrypt-option
12022 Option of creating encrypted parts. @code{nil}, use the first
12023 public-key matching the @samp{From:} header as the recipient;
12024 @code{guided}, ask user to select recipient keys from the menu.
12027 @vindex mml1991-use
12028 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
12029 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but @code{pgg},
12030 and @code{mailcrypt} are also supported although
12031 deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available interface in
12035 @vindex mml2015-use
12036 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
12037 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{epg}, but
12038 @code{pgg}, and @code{mailcrypt} are also supported
12039 although deprecated. By default, Gnus uses the first available
12040 interface in this order.
12044 By default the buttons that display security information are not
12045 shown, because they clutter reading the actual e-mail. You can type
12046 @kbd{K b} manually to display the information. Use the
12047 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types} and
12048 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} variables to control this
12049 permanently. @ref{MIME Commands} for further details, and hints on
12050 how to customize these variables to always display security
12053 @cindex snarfing keys
12054 @cindex importing PGP keys
12055 @cindex PGP key ring import
12056 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
12057 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
12058 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
12059 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
12060 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
12061 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
12062 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
12063 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
12064 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
12067 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
12070 This happens to also be the default action defined in
12071 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
12073 More information on how to set things for sending outgoing signed and
12074 encrypted messages up can be found in the message manual
12075 (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
12078 @section Mailing List
12079 @cindex mailing list
12082 @kindex A M (summary)
12083 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
12084 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
12085 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
12086 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
12089 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
12094 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
12095 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
12096 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
12099 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
12100 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
12101 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
12104 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
12105 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
12106 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
12110 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
12111 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
12112 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
12115 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
12116 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
12117 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
12120 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
12121 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
12122 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
12127 @node Article Buffer
12128 @chapter Article Buffer
12129 @cindex article buffer
12131 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
12132 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
12133 tell Gnus otherwise.
12136 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
12137 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
12138 * HTML:: Reading @acronym{HTML} messages.
12139 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
12140 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
12141 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
12145 @node Hiding Headers
12146 @section Hiding Headers
12147 @cindex hiding headers
12148 @cindex deleting headers
12150 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
12151 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
12153 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
12154 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
12155 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
12156 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
12157 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
12158 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
12159 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
12160 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
12161 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
12163 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
12167 @item gnus-visible-headers
12168 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
12169 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
12170 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
12171 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
12173 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
12174 the article and the subject, you'd say:
12177 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
12180 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
12183 @item gnus-ignored-headers
12184 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
12185 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
12186 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
12187 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
12188 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
12190 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
12191 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
12194 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
12197 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
12200 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
12201 variable will have no effect.
12205 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
12206 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
12207 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
12208 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
12209 the headers are to be displayed.
12211 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
12212 and then the subject, you might say something like:
12215 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
12218 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
12219 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
12221 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
12222 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
12223 You can hide further boring headers by setting
12224 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
12225 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
12226 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
12227 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
12230 These conditions are:
12233 Remove all empty headers.
12235 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
12236 @code{Newsgroups} header.
12238 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
12239 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
12242 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
12245 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
12246 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
12248 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
12249 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
12251 Remove the @code{Cc} header if it only contains the address identical to
12252 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
12254 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
12257 Remove the @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} header if it is very long.
12259 Remove all @code{To} and/or @code{Cc} headers if there are more than one.
12262 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
12265 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
12266 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
12269 This is also the default value for this variable.
12273 @section Using MIME
12274 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12276 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
12277 while people stand around yawning.
12279 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
12280 while all newsreaders die of fear.
12282 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
12283 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
12284 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
12286 @vindex gnus-display-mime-function
12287 @findex gnus-display-mime
12288 Gnus pushes @acronym{MIME} articles through @code{gnus-display-mime-function}
12289 to display the @acronym{MIME} parts. This is @code{gnus-display-mime} by
12290 default, which creates a bundle of clickable buttons that can be used to
12291 display, save and manipulate the @acronym{MIME} objects.
12293 The following commands are available when you have placed point over a
12294 @acronym{MIME} button:
12297 @findex gnus-article-press-button
12298 @item RET (Article)
12299 @kindex RET (Article)
12300 @itemx BUTTON-2 (Article)
12301 Toggle displaying of the @acronym{MIME} object
12302 (@code{gnus-article-press-button}). If built-in viewers can not display
12303 the object, Gnus resorts to external viewers in the @file{mailcap}
12304 files. If a viewer has the @samp{copiousoutput} specification, the
12305 object is displayed inline.
12307 @findex gnus-mime-view-part
12308 @item M-RET (Article)
12309 @kindex M-RET (Article)
12311 Prompt for a method, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
12312 method (@code{gnus-mime-view-part}).
12314 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-type
12316 @kindex t (Article)
12317 View the @acronym{MIME} object as if it were a different @acronym{MIME} media type
12318 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-type}).
12320 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset
12322 @kindex C (Article)
12323 Prompt for a charset, and then view the @acronym{MIME} object using this
12324 charset (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-as-charset}).
12326 @findex gnus-mime-save-part
12328 @kindex o (Article)
12329 Prompt for a file name, and then save the @acronym{MIME} object
12330 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part}).
12332 @findex gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip
12333 @item C-o (Article)
12334 @kindex C-o (Article)
12335 Prompt for a file name, then save the @acronym{MIME} object and strip it from
12336 the article. Then proceed to article editing, where a reasonable
12337 suggestion is being made on how the altered article should look
12338 like. The stripped @acronym{MIME} object will be referred via the
12339 message/external-body @acronym{MIME} type.
12340 (@code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip}).
12342 @findex gnus-mime-replace-part
12344 @kindex r (Article)
12345 Prompt for a file name, replace the @acronym{MIME} object with an
12346 external body refering to the file via the message/external-body
12347 @acronym{MIME} type. (@code{gnus-mime-replace-part}).
12349 @findex gnus-mime-delete-part
12351 @kindex d (Article)
12352 Delete the @acronym{MIME} object from the article and replace it with some
12353 information about the removed @acronym{MIME} object
12354 (@code{gnus-mime-delete-part}).
12356 @c FIXME: gnus-auto-select-part should be documented here
12358 @findex gnus-mime-copy-part
12360 @kindex c (Article)
12361 Copy the @acronym{MIME} object to a fresh buffer and display this buffer
12362 (@code{gnus-mime-copy-part}). If given a prefix, copy the raw contents
12363 without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual
12364 charset stuff (see @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in
12365 @ref{Paging the Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and
12366 @file{.bz2} are automatically decompressed if
12367 @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled (@pxref{Compressed Files,,
12368 Accessing Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
12370 @findex gnus-mime-print-part
12372 @kindex p (Article)
12373 Print the @acronym{MIME} object (@code{gnus-mime-print-part}). This
12374 command respects the @samp{print=} specifications in the
12375 @file{.mailcap} file.
12377 @findex gnus-mime-inline-part
12379 @kindex i (Article)
12380 Insert the contents of the @acronym{MIME} object into the buffer
12381 (@code{gnus-mime-inline-part}) as @samp{text/plain}. If given a prefix, insert
12382 the raw contents without decoding. If given a numerical prefix, you can
12383 do semi-manual charset stuff (see
12384 @code{gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist} in @ref{Paging the
12385 Article}). Compressed files like @file{.gz} and @file{.bz2} are
12386 automatically decompressed depending on @code{jka-compr} regardless of
12387 @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed Files,, Accessing
12388 Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Editor}).
12390 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-internally
12392 @kindex E (Article)
12393 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an internal viewer. If no internal
12394 viewer is available, use an external viewer
12395 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-internally}).
12397 @findex gnus-mime-view-part-externally
12399 @kindex e (Article)
12400 View the @acronym{MIME} object with an external viewer.
12401 (@code{gnus-mime-view-part-externally}).
12403 @findex gnus-mime-pipe-part
12405 @kindex | (Article)
12406 Output the @acronym{MIME} object to a process (@code{gnus-mime-pipe-part}).
12408 @findex gnus-mime-action-on-part
12410 @kindex . (Article)
12411 Interactively run an action on the @acronym{MIME} object
12412 (@code{gnus-mime-action-on-part}).
12416 Gnus will display some @acronym{MIME} objects automatically. The way Gnus
12417 determines which parts to do this with is described in the Emacs
12418 @acronym{MIME} manual.
12420 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the article
12421 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
12422 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @acronym{MIME} has
12423 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
12424 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume button,
12425 because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you, and you
12426 try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the program
12427 to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly decides
12428 to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
12430 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
12432 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
12436 @section @acronym{HTML}
12437 @cindex @acronym{HTML}
12439 If you have @code{w3m} installed on your system, Gnus can display
12440 @acronym{HTML} articles in the article buffer. There are many Gnus
12441 add-ons for doing this, using various approaches, but there's one
12442 (sort of) built-in method that's used by default.
12444 For a complete overview, consult @xref{Display Customization,
12445 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. This
12446 section only describes the default method.
12449 @item mm-text-html-renderer
12450 @vindex mm-text-html-renderer
12451 If set to @code{gnus-article-html}, Gnus will use the built-in method,
12452 that's based on @code{w3m}.
12454 @item gnus-blocked-images
12455 @vindex gnus-blocked-images
12456 External images that have @acronym{URL}s that match this regexp won't
12457 be fetched and displayed. For instance, do block all @acronym{URL}s
12458 that have the string ``ads'' in them, do the following:
12461 (setq gnus-blocked-images "ads")
12464 This can also be a function to be evaluated. If so, it will be
12465 called with the group name as the parameter. The default value is
12466 @code{gnus-block-private-groups}, which will return @samp{"."} for
12467 anything that isn't a newsgroup. This means that no external images
12468 will be fetched as a result of reading mail, so that nobody can use
12469 web bugs (and the like) to track whether you've read email.
12471 Also @pxref{Misc Article} for @code{gnus-inhibit-images}.
12473 @item gnus-html-cache-directory
12474 @vindex gnus-html-cache-directory
12475 Gnus will download and cache images according to how
12476 @code{gnus-blocked-images} is set. These images will be stored in
12479 @item gnus-html-cache-size
12480 @vindex gnus-html-cache-size
12481 When @code{gnus-html-cache-size} bytes have been used in that
12482 directory, the oldest files will be deleted. The default is 500MB.
12484 @item gnus-html-frame-width
12485 @vindex gnus-html-frame-width
12486 The width to use when rendering HTML. The default is 70.
12488 @item gnus-max-image-proportion
12489 @vindex gnus-max-image-proportion
12490 How big pictures displayed are in relation to the window they're in.
12491 A value of 0.7 (the default) means that they are allowed to take up
12492 70% of the width and height of the window. If they are larger than
12493 this, and Emacs supports it, then the images will be rescaled down to
12494 fit these criteria.
12498 To use this, make sure that you have @code{w3m} and @code{curl}
12499 installed. If you have, then Gnus should display @acronym{HTML}
12504 @node Customizing Articles
12505 @section Customizing Articles
12506 @cindex article customization
12508 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
12509 exist. You can call these functions interactively
12510 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
12511 called automatically when you select the articles.
12513 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
12514 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
12515 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
12516 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
12518 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
12519 for sensible values.
12523 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
12526 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
12529 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
12532 @code{first}: Do this treatment on the first body part.
12535 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last body part.
12538 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
12542 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
12543 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
12544 regexps in the list.
12547 A list where the first element is not a string:
12549 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
12550 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
12551 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
12555 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
12560 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
12561 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
12562 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
12563 considered to contain just a single part.
12565 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
12566 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
12567 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
12568 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
12569 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
12570 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
12571 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
12574 @c Avoid sort of redundant entries in the same section for the printed
12575 @c manual, but add them in info to allow `i gnus-treat-foo-bar RET' or
12577 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize
12578 @vindex gnus-treat-buttonize-head
12579 @vindex gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences
12580 @vindex gnus-treat-overstrike
12581 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-cr
12582 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body
12583 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines
12584 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines
12585 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-pem
12586 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines
12587 @vindex gnus-treat-unsplit-urls
12588 @vindex gnus-treat-wash-html
12589 @vindex gnus-treat-date-english
12590 @vindex gnus-treat-date-iso8601
12591 @vindex gnus-treat-date-lapsed
12592 @vindex gnus-treat-date-local
12593 @vindex gnus-treat-date-original
12594 @vindex gnus-treat-date-user-defined
12595 @vindex gnus-treat-date-ut
12596 @vindex gnus-treat-from-picon
12597 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-picon
12598 @vindex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
12599 @vindex gnus-treat-from-gravatar
12600 @vindex gnus-treat-mail-gravatar
12601 @vindex gnus-treat-display-smileys
12602 @vindex gnus-treat-body-boundary
12603 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12604 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12605 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12606 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12607 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12608 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12609 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12610 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12611 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12612 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12613 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12614 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12615 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12616 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12617 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12618 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12619 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12620 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12621 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12622 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12623 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12626 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
12627 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
12628 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
12629 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
12632 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
12633 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
12635 @xref{Article Buttons}.
12637 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
12638 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
12639 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
12640 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
12641 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, first, integer)
12642 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
12643 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
12644 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
12645 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
12646 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
12648 @xref{Article Washing}.
12650 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
12651 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
12652 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
12653 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
12654 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
12655 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
12656 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
12658 @xref{Article Date}.
12660 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
12661 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
12662 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
12666 @item gnus-treat-from-gravatar (head)
12667 @item gnus-treat-mail-gravatar (head)
12671 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
12673 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
12675 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
12676 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
12677 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
12681 @vindex gnus-treat-display-x-face
12682 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
12686 @vindex gnus-treat-display-face
12687 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
12691 @vindex gnus-treat-emphasize
12692 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
12693 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-article
12694 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
12695 @vindex gnus-treat-fill-long-lines
12696 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
12697 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers
12698 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
12699 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation
12700 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
12701 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe
12702 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
12703 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-headers
12704 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
12705 @vindex gnus-treat-hide-signature
12706 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
12707 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-banner
12708 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
12709 @vindex gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers
12710 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
12712 @xref{Article Hiding}.
12714 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-citation
12715 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
12716 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-headers
12717 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
12718 @vindex gnus-treat-highlight-signature
12719 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
12721 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
12723 @vindex gnus-treat-play-sounds
12724 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
12725 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
12726 @vindex gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig
12727 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
12729 @vindex gnus-treat-unfold-headers
12730 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
12731 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-headers
12732 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
12733 @vindex gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups
12734 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
12735 @vindex gnus-treat-leading-whitespace
12736 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
12738 @xref{Article Header}.
12743 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
12744 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
12745 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
12746 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
12747 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
12751 @node Article Keymap
12752 @section Article Keymap
12754 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
12755 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
12756 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
12757 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
12760 @kindex v (Article)
12761 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Article)
12762 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
12763 command or better use it as a prefix key.
12765 A few additional keystrokes are available:
12770 @kindex SPACE (Article)
12771 @findex gnus-article-next-page
12772 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
12773 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
12776 @kindex DEL (Article)
12777 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
12778 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
12779 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
12782 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
12783 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
12784 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
12785 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
12786 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
12789 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
12790 @findex gnus-article-mail
12791 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
12792 given a prefix, include the mail.
12795 @kindex s (Article)
12796 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
12797 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
12798 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
12801 @kindex ? (Article)
12802 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
12803 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
12804 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
12807 @kindex TAB (Article)
12808 @findex gnus-article-next-button
12809 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
12810 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
12813 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
12814 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
12815 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
12818 @kindex R (Article)
12819 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
12820 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
12821 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If the region is active,
12822 only yank the text in the region.
12825 @kindex S W (Article)
12826 @findex gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original
12827 Send a wide reply to the current article and yank the current article
12828 (@code{gnus-article-wide-reply-with-original}). If the region is
12829 active, only yank the text in the region.
12832 @kindex F (Article)
12833 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
12834 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
12835 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If the region is active,
12836 only yank the text in the region.
12843 @section Misc Article
12847 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
12848 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
12849 @cindex article buffers, several
12850 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
12851 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
12854 @item gnus-widen-article-window
12855 @cindex gnus-widen-article-window
12856 If non-@code{nil}, selecting the article buffer with the @kbd{h}
12857 command will ``widen'' the article window to take the entire frame.
12859 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
12860 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
12861 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
12862 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
12863 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
12865 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
12866 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
12867 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
12868 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
12869 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
12870 the contents of the article buffer.
12872 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
12873 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
12874 Hook called in article mode buffers.
12876 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12877 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
12878 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
12879 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
12881 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
12882 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
12883 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
12884 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
12886 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
12887 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
12888 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
12889 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
12890 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
12891 with two extensions:
12896 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
12897 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
12898 performed. The characters and their meaning:
12903 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
12906 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
12909 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
12910 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
12911 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
12914 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
12917 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
12920 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasized strings in the article buffer.
12925 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
12929 @vindex gnus-break-pages
12931 @item gnus-break-pages
12932 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
12933 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
12934 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
12935 paging will not be done.
12937 @item gnus-page-delimiter
12938 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
12939 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
12943 @cindex internationalized domain names
12944 @vindex gnus-use-idna
12945 @item gnus-use-idna
12946 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
12947 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
12948 @samp{Cc} headers. @xref{IDNA, ,IDNA,message, The Message Manual},
12949 for how to compose such messages. This requires
12950 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
12951 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
12953 @vindex gnus-inhibit-images
12954 @item gnus-inhibit-images
12955 If this is non-@code{nil}, inhibit displaying of images inline in the
12956 article body. It is effective to images that are in articles as
12957 @acronym{MIME} parts, and images in @acronym{HTML} articles rendered
12958 when @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization,
12959 ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) is
12960 @code{shr} or @code{gnus-w3m}.
12965 @node Composing Messages
12966 @chapter Composing Messages
12967 @cindex composing messages
12970 @cindex sending mail
12975 @cindex using s/mime
12976 @cindex using smime
12978 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
12979 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
12980 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
12981 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
12982 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
12983 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
12986 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
12987 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
12988 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
12989 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
12990 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
12991 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
12992 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
12993 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
12994 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
12997 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
12998 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
13004 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
13007 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
13008 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
13009 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
13010 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
13011 @code{nil} include all headers.
13013 @item gnus-add-to-list
13014 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
13015 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
13016 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
13018 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
13019 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
13020 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you for a confirmation when you are
13021 about to reply to news articles by mail. If it is @code{nil}, nothing
13022 interferes in what you want to do. This can also be a function
13023 receiving the group name as the only parameter which should return
13024 non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is needed, or a regular expression
13025 matching group names, where confirmation should be asked for.
13027 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
13028 press @kbd{R} anyway, this variable might be for you.
13030 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
13031 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
13032 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
13033 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
13034 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
13039 @node Posting Server
13040 @section Posting Server
13042 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
13043 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
13045 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
13047 It can be quite complicated.
13049 @vindex gnus-post-method
13050 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
13051 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
13052 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
13053 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
13054 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
13055 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
13056 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
13057 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
13058 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
13061 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
13064 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
13065 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
13066 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
13067 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
13069 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
13070 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
13072 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
13073 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
13076 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
13077 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
13079 @vindex message-send-mail-function
13080 When sending mail, Message invokes the function specified by the
13081 variable @code{message-send-mail-function}. Gnus tries to set it to a
13082 value suitable for your system.
13083 @xref{Mail Variables, ,Mail Variables,message,Message manual}, for more
13086 @node POP before SMTP
13087 @section POP before SMTP
13088 @cindex pop before smtp
13089 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
13090 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
13092 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
13093 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
13094 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
13095 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
13096 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13099 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
13100 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
13104 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
13105 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
13106 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
13107 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
13108 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
13109 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
13110 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
13111 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
13113 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
13114 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
13115 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
13116 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
13117 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
13118 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
13121 (setq mail-source-primary-source
13122 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13123 :password "secret"))
13127 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
13128 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
13131 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
13133 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
13134 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13135 :password "secret")))
13136 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
13139 @node Mail and Post
13140 @section Mail and Post
13142 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
13146 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
13147 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
13148 @cindex mailing lists
13150 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
13151 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
13152 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
13153 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
13154 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
13155 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
13156 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
13157 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
13158 still a pain, though.
13160 @item gnus-user-agent
13161 @vindex gnus-user-agent
13164 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
13165 User-Agent header. It can be a list of symbols or a string. Valid
13166 symbols are @code{gnus} (show Gnus version) and @code{emacs} (show Emacs
13167 version). In addition to the Emacs version, you can add @code{codename}
13168 (show (S)XEmacs codename) or either @code{config} (show system
13169 configuration) or @code{type} (show system type). If you set it to a
13170 string, be sure to use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
13174 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
13175 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
13176 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
13179 @findex ispell-message
13181 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
13184 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
13185 you're in, you could say something like the following:
13188 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
13192 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
13193 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
13195 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
13198 Modify to suit your needs.
13200 @vindex gnus-message-highlight-citation
13201 If @code{gnus-message-highlight-citation} is t, different levels of
13202 citations are highlighted like in Gnus article buffers also in message
13205 @node Archived Messages
13206 @section Archived Messages
13207 @cindex archived messages
13208 @cindex sent messages
13210 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
13211 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
13212 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
13213 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
13216 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
13217 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
13220 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
13221 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
13222 use to store sent messages. The default is @code{"archive"}, and when
13223 actually being used it is expanded into:
13226 (nnfolder "archive"
13227 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
13228 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
13229 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
13230 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
13234 @vindex gnus-update-message-archive-method
13235 Note: a server like this is saved in the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file first
13236 so that it may be used as a real method of the server which is named
13237 @code{"archive"} (that is, for the case where
13238 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} is set to @code{"archive"}) ever
13239 since. If it once has been saved, it will never be updated by default
13240 even if you change the value of @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
13241 afterward. Therefore, the server @code{"archive"} doesn't necessarily
13242 mean the @code{nnfolder} server like this at all times. If you want the
13243 saved method to reflect always the value of
13244 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, set the
13245 @code{gnus-update-message-archive-method} variable to a non-@code{nil}
13246 value. The default value of this variable is @code{nil}.
13249 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
13250 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
13251 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
13252 directory chosen, you could say something like:
13255 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
13256 '(nnfolder "archive"
13257 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
13258 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
13259 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
13262 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
13264 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
13265 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
13266 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
13268 This variable can be used to do the following:
13272 Messages will be saved in that group.
13274 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
13275 message will not be stored in the select method given by
13276 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
13277 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
13278 has the default value shown above. Then setting
13279 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
13280 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
13281 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
13284 @item a list of strings
13285 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
13287 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
13288 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
13291 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
13296 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
13298 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
13301 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
13303 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
13306 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
13308 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13309 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
13310 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
13311 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
13314 More complex stuff:
13316 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13317 '((if (message-news-p)
13322 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
13323 messages in one file per month:
13326 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
13327 '((if (message-news-p)
13329 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
13332 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
13333 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
13335 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
13336 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
13337 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
13338 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
13339 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
13340 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
13341 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
13342 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
13343 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
13344 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
13346 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
13347 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
13348 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
13349 this will disable archiving.
13352 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
13353 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
13354 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
13356 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
13357 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
13358 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
13359 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
13360 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
13361 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
13362 changed in the future.
13367 @node Posting Styles
13368 @section Posting Styles
13369 @cindex posting styles
13372 All them variables, they make my head swim.
13374 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
13375 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
13376 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
13379 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
13380 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
13381 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
13382 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
13383 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
13388 (signature "Peace and happiness")
13389 (organization "What me?"))
13391 (signature "Death to everybody"))
13392 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
13393 (organization "Emacs is it")))
13396 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
13397 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
13398 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
13399 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
13400 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
13401 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
13402 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
13403 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
13405 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
13406 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
13407 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
13408 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
13409 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
13410 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
13411 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
13412 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
13413 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
13414 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
13415 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
13416 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
13417 said to @dfn{match}.
13419 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
13420 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
13421 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
13422 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
13423 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
13424 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
13425 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
13426 name can be one of:
13429 @item @code{signature}
13430 @item @code{signature-file}
13431 @item @code{x-face-file}
13432 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
13433 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
13437 Note that the @code{signature-file} attribute honors the variable
13438 @code{message-signature-directory}.
13440 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
13441 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
13442 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
13443 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
13444 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
13446 The attribute value can be a string, a function with zero arguments
13447 (the return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used)
13448 or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be
13449 used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
13450 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current
13451 article are available through the @code{message-reply-headers}
13452 variable, which is a vector of the following headers: number subject
13453 from date id references chars lines xref extra.
13455 In the case of a string value, if the @code{match} is a regular
13456 expression, a @samp{gnus-match-substitute-replacement} is proceed on
13457 the value to replace the positional parameters @samp{\@var{n}} by the
13458 corresponding parenthetical matches (see @xref{Replacing the Text that
13459 Matched, , Text Replacement, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.)
13461 @vindex message-reply-headers
13463 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
13464 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
13465 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
13467 @findex message-mail-p
13468 @findex message-news-p
13470 So here's a new example:
13473 (setq gnus-posting-styles
13475 (signature-file "~/.signature")
13477 (x-face-file "~/.xface")
13478 (x-url (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
13479 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
13481 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
13482 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
13483 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
13484 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
13485 (signature my-news-signature))
13486 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
13487 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
13488 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
13489 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
13490 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
13491 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
13492 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
13493 (address "user@@bar.foo")
13494 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
13495 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
13497 (From (with-current-buffer gnus-article-buffer
13498 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
13500 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
13503 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
13504 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
13505 if you fill many roles.
13506 You may also use @code{message-alternative-emails} instead.
13507 @xref{Message Headers, ,Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
13513 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
13514 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
13515 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
13516 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
13517 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
13519 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
13520 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
13521 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
13522 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
13523 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
13527 @vindex nndraft-directory
13528 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
13529 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
13530 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
13531 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
13532 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
13533 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
13535 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
13536 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
13537 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
13538 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
13539 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
13540 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
13541 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
13542 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
13543 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
13545 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
13546 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
13547 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
13548 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
13549 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
13550 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
13551 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
13552 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
13553 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
13554 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
13555 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
13556 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
13557 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
13558 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
13560 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
13561 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
13562 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
13564 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
13565 @kindex D e (Draft)
13566 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
13567 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
13568 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
13570 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
13573 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
13574 @kindex D s (Draft)
13575 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
13576 @kindex D S (Draft)
13577 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
13578 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
13579 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
13580 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
13581 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
13584 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
13585 @kindex D t (Draft)
13586 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
13587 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
13588 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
13590 Finally, if you want to delete a draft, use the normal @kbd{B DEL}
13591 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13594 @node Rejected Articles
13595 @section Rejected Articles
13596 @cindex rejected articles
13598 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
13599 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
13600 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
13601 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
13603 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
13604 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
13605 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
13606 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
13607 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
13609 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
13610 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
13611 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
13613 @node Signing and encrypting
13614 @section Signing and encrypting
13616 @cindex using s/mime
13617 @cindex using smime
13619 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
13620 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
13621 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
13622 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
13624 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
13625 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
13626 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
13627 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
13628 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
13629 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
13630 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
13631 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
13632 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
13633 automatically encrypted messages.
13635 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
13636 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
13637 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
13642 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
13643 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
13645 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13648 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
13649 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13651 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13654 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
13655 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
13657 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13660 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
13661 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
13663 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
13666 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
13667 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
13669 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
13672 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
13673 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
13675 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
13678 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
13679 @findex mml-unsecure-message
13680 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
13684 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
13686 @node Select Methods
13687 @chapter Select Methods
13688 @cindex foreign groups
13689 @cindex select methods
13691 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
13692 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
13693 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
13694 personal mail group.
13696 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
13697 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
13698 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
13699 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
13700 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
13701 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
13703 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
13704 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
13706 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
13709 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
13710 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
13711 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
13712 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
13713 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
13715 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
13718 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
13719 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
13720 * Using IMAP:: Reading mail from @acronym{IMAP}.
13721 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
13722 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
13723 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files.
13724 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
13725 * Email Based Diary:: Using mails to manage diary events in Gnus.
13726 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
13730 @node Server Buffer
13731 @section Server Buffer
13733 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
13734 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
13735 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
13736 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
13737 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
13738 back end represents a virtual server.
13740 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
13741 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
13742 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
13743 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
13745 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
13746 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
13747 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
13748 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
13749 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
13750 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
13751 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
13753 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
13754 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
13757 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
13758 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
13759 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
13760 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
13761 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
13762 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
13763 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
13766 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
13767 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
13770 @node Server Buffer Format
13771 @subsection Server Buffer Format
13772 @cindex server buffer format
13774 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
13775 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
13776 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
13777 variable, with some simple extensions:
13782 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
13785 The name of this server.
13788 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
13791 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
13794 Whether this server is agentized.
13797 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
13798 The mode line can also be customized by using the
13799 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
13800 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
13810 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
13813 @node Server Commands
13814 @subsection Server Commands
13815 @cindex server commands
13821 @cindex keys, reserved for users (Server)
13822 The key @kbd{v} is reserved for users. You can bind it to some
13823 command or better use it as a prefix key.
13827 @findex gnus-server-add-server
13828 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
13832 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
13833 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
13837 @findex gnus-server-show-server
13838 Show the definition of a server (@code{gnus-server-show-server}).
13841 @kindex SPACE (Server)
13842 @findex gnus-server-read-server
13843 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
13847 @findex gnus-server-exit
13848 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
13852 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
13853 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
13857 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
13858 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
13862 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
13863 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
13867 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
13868 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
13872 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
13873 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
13874 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
13879 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
13880 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
13881 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
13882 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
13886 @findex gnus-server-compact-server
13888 Compact all groups in the server under point
13889 (@code{gnus-server-compact-server}). Currently implemented only in
13890 nnml (@pxref{Mail Spool}). This removes gaps between article numbers,
13891 hence getting a correct total article count.
13895 Some more commands for closing, disabling, and re-opening servers are
13896 listed in @ref{Unavailable Servers}.
13899 @node Example Methods
13900 @subsection Example Methods
13902 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
13905 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
13908 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
13914 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
13915 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
13918 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
13919 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
13921 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
13922 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
13926 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
13929 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
13930 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
13932 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
13933 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
13934 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
13938 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
13941 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
13944 Here's the method for a public spool:
13948 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
13949 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
13955 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
13956 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
13957 on the firewall machine and connect with
13958 @uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/, netcat} from there to the
13959 @acronym{NNTP} server.
13960 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
13961 should probably look something like this:
13965 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)
13966 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
13967 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host"))
13970 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
13971 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
13972 configuration to the example above:
13975 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13978 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}. Here's an example for
13979 an indirect connection:
13982 (setq gnus-select-method
13984 (nntp-address "news.server.example")
13985 (nntp-via-user-name "intermediate_user_name")
13986 (nntp-via-address "intermediate.host.example")
13987 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
13988 (nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches ("-C"))
13989 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat)))
13992 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
13993 provide automatic authorization, of course.
13995 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
13996 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
13997 netcat connection to the news server as follows:
14001 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14002 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
14003 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
14007 @node Creating a Virtual Server
14008 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
14010 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
14011 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
14013 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
14014 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
14015 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
14017 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
14019 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
14020 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
14021 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
14022 will contain the following:
14032 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
14033 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
14036 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
14037 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
14038 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
14041 @node Server Variables
14042 @subsection Server Variables
14043 @cindex server variables
14044 @cindex server parameters
14046 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
14047 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
14048 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
14049 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
14050 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
14052 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
14053 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
14054 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
14055 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
14056 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
14057 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
14058 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
14059 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
14060 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
14064 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
14065 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
14066 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
14069 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
14071 @node Servers and Methods
14072 @subsection Servers and Methods
14074 Wherever you would normally use a select method
14075 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
14076 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
14077 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
14081 @node Unavailable Servers
14082 @subsection Unavailable Servers
14084 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
14085 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
14086 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
14087 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
14088 actually the case or not.
14090 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
14091 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
14092 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
14093 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
14094 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
14095 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
14096 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
14097 it will regard that server as ``down''.
14099 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
14100 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
14102 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
14103 with the following commands:
14109 @findex gnus-server-open-server
14110 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
14111 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
14115 @findex gnus-server-close-server
14116 Close the connection (if any) to the server
14117 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
14121 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
14122 Mark the current server as unreachable
14123 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
14126 @kindex M-o (Server)
14127 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
14128 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
14129 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
14132 @kindex M-c (Server)
14133 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
14134 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
14135 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
14139 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
14140 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
14141 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
14145 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
14146 Copy a server and give it a new name
14147 (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}). This can be useful if you have a
14148 complex method definition, and want to use the same definition towards
14149 a different (physical) server.
14153 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
14154 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
14160 @section Getting News
14161 @cindex reading news
14162 @cindex news back ends
14164 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
14165 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
14166 or it can read from a local spool.
14169 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
14170 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
14178 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
14179 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
14180 server as the, uhm, address.
14182 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
14183 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
14184 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
14185 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14187 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
14188 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
14189 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
14191 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
14196 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
14197 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
14198 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
14200 @cindex authentication
14201 @cindex nntp authentication
14202 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
14203 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
14204 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
14205 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
14206 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
14207 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
14208 present in this hook.
14210 @item nntp-authinfo-function
14211 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
14212 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
14213 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
14214 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
14215 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
14216 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
14217 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
14218 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
14219 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
14220 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
14221 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
14225 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
14228 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
14230 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
14231 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
14232 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
14233 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
14234 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
14235 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
14236 @samp{force} is explained below.
14240 Here's an example file:
14243 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
14244 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
14247 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
14248 have to be first, for instance.
14250 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
14251 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
14252 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
14253 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
14254 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
14255 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
14256 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
14258 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
14259 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
14265 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
14266 previously mentioned.
14268 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
14270 @item nntp-server-action-alist
14271 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
14272 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
14273 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
14274 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
14277 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
14278 '(("innd" (ding))))
14281 You probably don't want to do that, though.
14283 The default value is
14286 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
14287 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
14288 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
14291 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
14292 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
14294 @item nntp-maximum-request
14295 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
14296 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
14297 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
14298 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
14299 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
14300 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
14301 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
14303 @item nntp-connection-timeout
14304 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
14305 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
14306 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
14307 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
14308 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
14309 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
14310 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
14311 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
14312 no timeouts are done.
14314 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
14315 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
14316 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
14317 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
14320 @item nntp-xover-commands
14321 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
14322 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
14324 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
14325 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
14329 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
14330 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
14331 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
14332 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
14333 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
14334 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
14335 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
14336 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
14337 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
14338 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
14339 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
14341 @item nntp-xref-number-is-evil
14342 @vindex nntp-xref-number-is-evil
14343 When Gnus refers to an article having the @code{Message-ID} that a user
14344 specifies or having the @code{Message-ID} of the parent article of the
14345 current one (@pxref{Finding the Parent}), Gnus sends a @code{HEAD}
14346 command to the @acronym{NNTP} server to know where it is, and the server
14347 returns the data containing the pairs of a group and an article number
14348 in the @code{Xref} header. Gnus normally uses the article number to
14349 refer to the article if the data shows that that article is in the
14350 current group, while it uses the @code{Message-ID} otherwise. However,
14351 some news servers, e.g., ones running Diablo, run multiple engines
14352 having the same articles but article numbers are not kept synchronized
14353 between them. In that case, the article number that appears in the
14354 @code{Xref} header varies by which engine is chosen, so you cannot refer
14355 to the parent article that is in the current group, for instance. If
14356 you connect to such a server, set this variable to a non-@code{nil}
14357 value, and Gnus never uses article numbers. For example:
14360 (setq gnus-select-method
14362 (nntp-address "newszilla.example.com")
14363 (nntp-xref-number-is-evil t)
14367 The default value of this server variable is @code{nil}.
14369 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
14370 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
14371 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
14373 @item nntp-record-commands
14374 @vindex nntp-record-commands
14375 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
14376 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
14377 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
14378 that doesn't seem to work.
14380 @item nntp-open-connection-function
14381 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
14382 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
14383 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
14384 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
14385 Seven pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped
14386 in two categories: direct connection functions (four pre-made), and
14387 indirect ones (three pre-made).
14389 @item nntp-never-echoes-commands
14390 @vindex nntp-never-echoes-commands
14391 Non-@code{nil} means the nntp server never echoes commands. It is
14392 reported that some nntps server doesn't echo commands. So, you may want
14393 to set this to non-@code{nil} in the method for such a server setting
14394 @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream} for
14395 example. The default value is @code{nil}. Note that the
14396 @code{nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands} variable
14397 overrides the @code{nil} value of this variable.
14399 @item nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
14400 @vindex nntp-open-connection-functions-never-echo-commands
14401 List of functions that never echo commands. Add or set a function which
14402 you set to @code{nntp-open-connection-function} to this list if it does
14403 not echo commands. Note that a non-@code{nil} value of the
14404 @code{nntp-never-echoes-commands} variable overrides this variable. The
14405 default value is @code{(nntp-open-network-stream)}.
14407 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
14408 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
14409 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
14410 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
14411 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
14412 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
14413 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
14416 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
14419 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
14420 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
14422 @item nntp-server-list-active-group
14423 If @code{nil}, then always use @samp{GROUP} instead of @samp{LIST
14424 ACTIVE}. This is usually slower, but on misconfigured servers that
14425 don't update their active files often, this can help.
14431 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
14432 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
14433 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
14434 * NNTP marks:: Storing marks for @acronym{NNTP} servers.
14438 @node Direct Functions
14439 @subsubsection Direct Functions
14440 @cindex direct connection functions
14442 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
14443 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
14444 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
14445 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14448 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
14449 @item nntp-open-network-stream
14450 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
14451 remote system. If both Emacs and the server supports it, the
14452 connection will be upgraded to an encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS}
14453 connection automatically.
14456 The same as the above, but don't do automatic @acronym{STARTTLS} upgrades.
14458 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
14459 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
14460 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
14461 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
14462 installed. You then define a server as follows:
14465 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
14466 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
14468 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
14469 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
14470 (nntp-port-number 563)
14471 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
14474 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
14475 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
14476 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
14477 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
14478 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
14479 then define a server as follows:
14482 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
14483 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
14485 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
14486 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
14487 (nntp-port-number 563)
14488 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
14491 @findex nntp-open-netcat-stream
14492 @item nntp-open-netcat-stream
14493 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server using the @code{netcat}
14494 program. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have
14495 the default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
14496 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
14497 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
14498 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
14502 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14503 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-netcat-stream)
14504 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
14507 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
14508 session, which is not a good idea.
14510 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
14511 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
14512 Like @code{nntp-open-netcat-stream}, but uses @code{telnet} rather than
14513 @code{netcat}. @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things
14514 like line-end-conversion, but sometimes netcat is simply
14515 not available. The previous example would turn into:
14519 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
14520 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
14521 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
14522 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
14527 @node Indirect Functions
14528 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
14529 @cindex indirect connection functions
14531 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
14532 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14533 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
14534 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
14535 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
14536 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14539 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
14540 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
14541 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then uses @code{netcat} to connect
14542 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
14543 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
14545 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
14548 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
14549 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
14550 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
14551 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
14553 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14554 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14555 List of strings to be used as the switches to
14556 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
14557 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
14558 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections.
14561 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
14562 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
14563 Does essentially the same, but uses @code{telnet} instead of @samp{netcat}
14564 to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
14565 @code{telnet} is a bit less robust because of things like
14566 line-end-conversion, but sometimes @code{netcat} is simply not available.
14568 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14571 @item nntp-telnet-command
14572 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
14573 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
14574 intermediate host. The default is @samp{telnet}.
14576 @item nntp-telnet-switches
14577 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
14578 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14579 @code{nntp-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{("-8")}.
14581 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
14582 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
14583 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
14584 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
14586 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14587 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
14588 List of strings to be used as the switches to
14589 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. If you use @samp{ssh}, you may need to set
14590 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
14591 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
14592 host. The default is @code{nil}.
14595 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14596 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14598 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14599 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
14600 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
14601 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
14603 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
14606 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
14607 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
14608 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
14611 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
14612 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
14613 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
14614 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
14616 @item nntp-via-user-password
14617 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
14618 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
14620 @item nntp-via-envuser
14621 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
14622 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
14623 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
14624 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
14626 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
14627 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
14628 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
14629 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
14633 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
14634 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
14638 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
14643 @item nntp-via-user-name
14644 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
14645 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
14647 @item nntp-via-address
14648 @vindex nntp-via-address
14649 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
14654 @node Common Variables
14655 @subsubsection Common Variables
14657 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
14658 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
14659 affected (the values of the following variables will be used as the
14660 default if each virtual @code{nntp} server doesn't specify those server
14661 variables individually).
14665 @item nntp-pre-command
14666 @vindex nntp-pre-command
14667 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
14668 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
14669 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}). This is
14670 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
14673 @vindex nntp-address
14674 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
14676 @item nntp-port-number
14677 @vindex nntp-port-number
14678 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14679 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
14680 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
14681 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
14682 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
14683 not work with named ports.
14685 @item nntp-end-of-line
14686 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
14687 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
14688 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
14689 using a non native telnet connection function.
14691 @item nntp-netcat-command
14692 @vindex nntp-netcat-command
14693 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
14694 @samp{netcat}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
14695 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
14698 @item nntp-netcat-switches
14699 @vindex nntp-netcat-switches
14700 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-netcat-command}. The default
14706 @subsubsection NNTP marks
14707 @cindex storing NNTP marks
14709 Gnus stores marks (@pxref{Marking Articles}) for @acronym{NNTP}
14710 servers in marks files. A marks file records what marks you have set
14711 in a group and each file is specific to the corresponding server.
14712 Marks files are stored in @file{~/News/marks}
14713 (@code{nntp-marks-directory}) under a classic hierarchy resembling
14714 that of a news server, for example marks for the group
14715 @samp{gmane.discuss} on the news.gmane.org server will be stored in
14716 the file @file{~/News/marks/news.gmane.org/gmane/discuss/.marks}.
14718 Marks files are useful because you can copy the @file{~/News/marks}
14719 directory (using rsync, scp or whatever) to another Gnus installation,
14720 and it will realize what articles you have read and marked. The data
14721 in @file{~/News/marks} has priority over the same data in
14722 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
14724 Note that marks files are very much server-specific: Gnus remembers
14725 the article numbers so if you don't use the same servers on both
14726 installations things are most likely to break (most @acronym{NNTP}
14727 servers do not use the same article numbers as any other server).
14728 However, if you use servers A, B, C on one installation and servers A,
14729 D, E on the other, you can sync the marks files for A and then you'll
14730 get synchronization for that server between the two installations.
14732 Using @acronym{NNTP} marks can possibly incur a performance penalty so
14733 if Gnus feels sluggish, try setting the @code{nntp-marks-is-evil}
14734 variable to @code{t}. Marks will then be stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
14740 @item nntp-marks-is-evil
14741 @vindex nntp-marks-is-evil
14742 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any marks files. The
14743 default is @code{nil}.
14745 @item nntp-marks-directory
14746 @vindex nntp-marks-directory
14747 The directory where marks for nntp groups will be stored.
14753 @subsection News Spool
14757 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
14758 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
14759 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
14762 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
14763 anything else) as the address.
14765 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
14766 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
14767 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
14768 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
14772 @item nnspool-inews-program
14773 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
14774 Program used to post an article.
14776 @item nnspool-inews-switches
14777 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
14778 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
14780 @item nnspool-spool-directory
14781 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
14782 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
14783 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
14785 @item nnspool-nov-directory
14786 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
14787 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
14788 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
14790 @item nnspool-lib-dir
14791 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
14792 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
14794 @item nnspool-active-file
14795 @vindex nnspool-active-file
14796 The name of the active file.
14798 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
14799 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
14800 The name of the group descriptions file.
14802 @item nnspool-history-file
14803 @vindex nnspool-history-file
14804 The name of the news history file.
14806 @item nnspool-active-times-file
14807 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
14808 The name of the active date file.
14810 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
14811 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
14812 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
14815 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14816 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
14818 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
14819 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
14820 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
14827 @section Using IMAP
14830 The most popular mail backend is probably @code{nnimap}, which
14831 provides access to @acronym{IMAP} servers. @acronym{IMAP} servers
14832 store mail remotely, so the client doesn't store anything locally.
14833 This means that it's a convenient choice when you're reading your mail
14834 from different locations, or with different user agents.
14837 * Connecting to an IMAP Server:: Getting started with @acronym{IMAP}.
14838 * Customizing the IMAP Connection:: Variables for @acronym{IMAP} connection.
14839 * Client-Side IMAP Splitting:: Put mail in the correct mail box.
14843 @node Connecting to an IMAP Server
14844 @subsection Connecting to an IMAP Server
14846 Connecting to an @acronym{IMAP} can be very easy. Type @kbd{B} in the
14847 group buffer, or (if your primary interest is reading email), say
14851 (setq gnus-select-method
14852 '(nnimap "imap.gmail.com"))
14855 You'll be prompted for a user name and password. If you grow tired of
14856 that, then add the following to your @file{~/.authinfo} file:
14859 machine imap.gmail.com login <username> password <password> port imap
14862 That should basically be it for most users.
14865 @node Customizing the IMAP Connection
14866 @subsection Customizing the IMAP Connection
14868 Here's an example method that's more complex:
14871 (nnimap "imap.gmail.com"
14872 (nnimap-inbox "INBOX")
14873 (nnimap-split-methods default)
14875 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14879 @item nnimap-address
14880 The address of the server, like @samp{imap.gmail.com}.
14882 @item nnimap-server-port
14883 If the server uses a non-standard port, that can be specified here. A
14884 typical port would be @code{"imap"} or @code{"imaps"}.
14886 @item nnimap-stream
14887 How @code{nnimap} should connect to the server. Possible values are:
14891 This is the default, and this first tries the @code{ssl} setting, and
14892 then tries the @code{network} setting.
14895 This uses standard @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
14898 Non-encrypted and unsafe straight socket connection, but will upgrade
14899 to encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS} if both Emacs and the server
14903 Encrypted @acronym{STARTTLS} over the normal @acronym{IMAP} port.
14906 If you need to tunnel via other systems to connect to the server, you
14907 can use this option, and customize @code{nnimap-shell-program} to be
14912 @item nnimap-authenticator
14913 Some @acronym{IMAP} servers allow anonymous logins. In that case,
14914 this should be set to @code{anonymous}.
14916 @item nnimap-expunge
14917 If non-@code{nil}, expunge articles after deleting them. This is always done
14918 if the server supports UID EXPUNGE, but it's not done by default on
14919 servers that doesn't support that command.
14921 @item nnimap-streaming
14922 Virtually all @code{IMAP} server support fast streaming of data. If
14923 you have problems connecting to the server, try setting this to @code{nil}.
14925 @item nnimap-fetch-partial-articles
14926 If non-@code{nil}, fetch partial articles from the server. If set to
14927 a string, then it's interpreted as a regexp, and parts that have
14928 matching types will be fetched. For instance, @samp{"text/"} will
14929 fetch all textual parts, while leaving the rest on the server.
14934 @node Client-Side IMAP Splitting
14935 @subsection Client-Side IMAP Splitting
14937 Many people prefer to do the sorting/splitting of mail into their mail
14938 boxes on the @acronym{IMAP} server. That way they don't have to
14939 download the mail they're not all that interested in.
14941 If you do want to do client-side mail splitting, then the following
14942 variables are relevant:
14946 This is the @acronym{IMAP} mail box that will be scanned for new mail.
14948 @item nnimap-split-methods
14949 Uses the same syntax as @code{nnmail-split-methods} (@pxref{Splitting
14950 Mail}), except the symbol @code{default}, which means that it should
14951 use the value of the @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable.
14953 @item nnimap-split-fancy
14954 Uses the same syntax as @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
14956 @item nnimap-unsplittable-articles
14957 List of flag symbols to ignore when doing splitting. That is,
14958 articles that have these flags won't be considered when splitting.
14959 The default is @samp{(%Deleted %Seen)}.
14965 @section Getting Mail
14966 @cindex reading mail
14969 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
14973 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
14974 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
14975 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
14976 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
14977 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
14978 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
14979 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
14980 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
14981 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
14982 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
14983 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
14984 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
14985 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
14989 @node Mail in a Newsreader
14990 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
14992 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
14993 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
14994 of a culture shock.
14996 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
14997 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
14999 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
15000 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
15001 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
15002 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
15004 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
15006 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
15007 deleted? How awful!
15009 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
15010 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
15011 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
15012 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
15015 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
15016 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
15017 they want to treat a message.
15019 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
15020 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
15021 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
15022 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
15023 archived somewhere else.
15025 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
15026 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
15027 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
15028 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
15029 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
15031 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
15032 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
15033 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
15035 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
15036 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
15039 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
15040 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
15041 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
15042 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
15043 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
15045 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
15046 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
15047 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
15048 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
15049 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
15050 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
15054 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
15055 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
15057 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
15058 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
15059 and things will happen automatically.
15061 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
15062 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15065 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
15068 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
15069 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
15070 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
15071 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
15072 like any other group.
15074 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
15077 (setq nnmail-split-methods
15078 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15079 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
15083 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
15084 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
15085 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
15088 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
15089 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
15090 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
15093 @node Splitting Mail
15094 @subsection Splitting Mail
15095 @cindex splitting mail
15096 @cindex mail splitting
15097 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
15099 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
15100 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
15101 to be split into groups.
15104 (setq nnmail-split-methods
15105 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15106 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
15107 ("mail.other" "")))
15110 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
15111 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
15112 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
15113 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
15114 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
15115 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
15116 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
15119 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
15123 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
15124 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15126 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15127 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
15128 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
15129 mail belongs in that group.
15131 @cindex @samp{bogus} group
15132 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
15133 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{""} so that it matches any mails
15134 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
15135 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first rule
15136 to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled. In
15137 that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) If no rule matched, the mail
15138 will end up in the @samp{bogus} group. When new groups are created by
15139 splitting mail, you may want to run @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to
15140 see the new groups. This also applies to the @samp{bogus} group.
15142 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
15143 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
15144 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
15145 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
15146 thinks should carry this mail message.
15148 This variable can also be a fancy split method. For the syntax,
15149 see @ref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15151 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
15152 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
15153 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
15154 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
15156 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
15157 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
15158 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
15159 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
15160 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{""}) group.
15162 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
15165 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
15166 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
15167 links. If that's the case for you, set
15168 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
15169 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
15171 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
15172 @findex nnmail-split-history
15173 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
15174 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
15175 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
15176 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
15179 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
15180 Header lines longer than the value of
15181 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
15184 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
15185 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
15186 By default, splitting does not decode headers, so you can not match on
15187 non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. But it is useful if you want to match
15188 articles based on the raw header data. To enable it, set the
15189 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} variable to a non-@code{nil} value.
15190 In addition, the value of the @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
15191 variable is used for decoding non-@acronym{MIME} encoded string when
15192 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} is non-@code{nil}. The default
15193 value is @code{nil} which means not to decode non-@acronym{MIME} encoded
15194 string. A suitable value for you will be @code{undecided} or be the
15195 charset used normally in mails you are interested in.
15197 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
15198 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
15199 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
15200 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
15201 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
15202 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
15203 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
15204 other kinds of entries.)
15206 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
15207 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
15208 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
15209 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
15210 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
15211 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
15212 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
15213 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
15214 month's rent money.
15218 @subsection Mail Sources
15220 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
15221 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
15222 maildir, for instance.
15225 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
15226 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
15227 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
15231 @node Mail Source Specifiers
15232 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
15234 @cindex mail server
15237 @cindex mail source
15239 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
15240 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
15245 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
15248 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
15249 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
15250 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
15253 The @code{mail-sources} is global for all mail groups. You can specify
15254 an additional mail source for a particular group by including the
15255 @code{group} mail specifier in @code{mail-sources}, and setting a
15256 @code{mail-source} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) specifying
15257 a single mail source. When this is used, @code{mail-sources} is
15258 typically just @code{(group)}; the @code{mail-source} parameter for a
15259 group might look like this:
15262 (mail-source . (file :path "home/user/spools/foo.spool"))
15265 This means that the group's (and only this group's) messages will be
15266 fetched from the spool file @samp{/user/spools/foo.spool}.
15268 The following mail source types are available:
15272 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
15278 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
15279 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
15280 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
15284 Script run before/after fetching mail.
15287 An example file mail source:
15290 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
15293 Or using the default file name:
15299 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
15300 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
15301 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
15302 mail spool while moving the mail.
15304 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
15308 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
15311 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
15315 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
15318 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
15320 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
15323 Alter this script to fit the @samp{movemail} and temporary
15324 file you want to use.
15328 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
15329 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
15330 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
15331 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
15332 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
15333 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
15334 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
15335 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
15336 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
15337 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
15339 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
15340 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
15341 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
15342 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
15348 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
15352 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
15356 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
15357 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
15358 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
15359 predicate are considered.
15363 Script run before/after fetching mail.
15367 An example directory mail source:
15370 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
15375 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
15381 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
15382 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
15385 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
15386 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
15387 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
15388 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
15389 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
15392 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
15396 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
15397 the user is prompted.
15400 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
15401 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
15404 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
15407 The valid format specifier characters are:
15411 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
15412 included in this string.
15415 The name of the server.
15418 The port number of the server.
15421 The user name to use.
15424 The password to use.
15427 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15428 corresponding keywords.
15431 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
15432 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
15435 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
15436 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
15439 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
15440 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
15441 mail should be moved to.
15443 @item :authentication
15444 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
15445 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
15450 @vindex pop3-movemail
15451 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
15452 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
15453 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server}
15454 is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be left on the @acronym{POP} server
15455 after fetching when using @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers
15456 maintain no state information between sessions, so what the client
15457 believes is there and what is actually there may not match up. If they
15458 do not, then you may get duplicate mails or the whole thing can fall
15459 apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
15461 Here are some examples for getting mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
15462 Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server, using the default user
15463 name, and default fetcher:
15469 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
15472 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
15473 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
15476 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
15479 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
15483 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
15484 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
15485 contains exactly one mail.
15491 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
15492 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
15495 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
15496 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
15498 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
15499 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
15500 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
15503 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
15504 from locking problems).
15508 Two example maildir mail sources:
15511 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
15512 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
15516 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
15521 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
15522 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
15523 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
15524 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
15525 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{Using IMAP}, for more information.
15531 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
15532 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
15535 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
15536 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
15539 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
15543 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
15547 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
15548 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
15549 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
15550 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
15552 @item :authentication
15553 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
15554 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
15555 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
15556 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
15559 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
15560 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
15561 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
15567 Make sure nothing is interfering with the output of the program, e.g.,
15568 don't forget to redirect the error output to the void. The valid format
15569 specifier characters are:
15573 The name of the server.
15576 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
15579 The port number of the server.
15582 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
15583 corresponding keywords.
15586 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
15587 which normally is the mailbox which receives incoming mail.
15590 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
15591 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
15592 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
15593 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
15594 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
15595 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
15598 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
15599 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
15600 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
15601 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
15604 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
15605 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
15609 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
15612 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
15614 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
15618 Get the actual mail source from the @code{mail-source} group parameter,
15619 @xref{Group Parameters}.
15624 @item Common Keywords
15625 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
15631 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
15632 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
15637 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
15642 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
15643 useful when you use local mail and news.
15648 @subsubsection Function Interface
15650 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
15651 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
15652 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
15653 consider the following mail-source setting:
15656 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
15657 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
15660 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
15661 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
15662 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
15663 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
15664 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
15666 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
15669 @node Mail Source Customization
15670 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
15672 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
15673 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
15677 @item mail-source-crash-box
15678 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
15679 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
15680 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
15683 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
15684 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
15685 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
15686 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
15687 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
15688 (the deletion will only happen when receiving new mail). You may also
15689 set @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
15690 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
15691 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{10} in alpha Gnusae
15692 and @code{2} in released Gnusae. @xref{Gnus Development}.
15694 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15695 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
15696 If non-@code{nil}, ask for confirmation before deleting old incoming
15697 files. This variable only applies when
15698 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
15700 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
15701 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
15702 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
15704 @item mail-source-directory
15705 @vindex mail-source-directory
15706 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
15707 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
15708 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
15709 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
15711 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15712 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
15713 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
15714 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
15715 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
15716 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a
15719 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
15720 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
15721 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
15723 @item mail-source-movemail-program
15724 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
15725 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
15726 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
15731 @node Fetching Mail
15732 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
15734 @vindex mail-sources
15735 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
15736 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
15737 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
15739 If this variable is @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to
15740 fetch mail by themselves.
15742 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
15743 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
15748 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15749 :password "secret")))
15752 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
15756 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
15757 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
15760 :password "secret")))
15764 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
15765 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
15766 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
15767 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
15768 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
15769 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
15773 @node Mail Back End Variables
15774 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
15776 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
15780 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15781 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
15782 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
15783 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
15785 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
15786 @item nnmail-split-hook
15787 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
15788 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
15789 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
15790 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
15791 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
15792 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
15793 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
15794 in the buffer will show up in any files.
15795 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
15798 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15799 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15800 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15801 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15802 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
15803 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
15804 starting to handle the new mail) and
15805 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
15806 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
15807 default file modes the new mail files get:
15810 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
15811 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
15813 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
15814 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
15817 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
15818 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
15819 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
15820 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
15821 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
15822 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
15823 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
15825 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
15826 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
15827 @findex delete-file
15828 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
15830 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15831 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
15832 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
15833 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
15834 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
15836 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15837 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
15838 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
15839 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
15840 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
15842 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
15843 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
15844 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
15849 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
15850 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
15851 @cindex mail splitting
15852 @cindex fancy mail splitting
15854 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
15855 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
15856 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
15857 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
15858 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
15859 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
15861 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
15864 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
15865 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
15866 ;; @r{from real errors.}
15867 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
15869 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
15870 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
15871 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
15872 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
15873 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
15874 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
15875 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
15876 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
15877 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
15878 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
15879 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
15880 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
15881 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
15882 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
15883 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
15884 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
15885 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
15889 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
15890 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
15891 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
15896 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
15897 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
15899 @c Don't fold this line.
15900 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split} [@var{invert-partial}])
15901 The split can be a list containing at least three elements. If the
15902 first element @var{field} (a regexp matching a header) contains
15903 @var{value} (also a regexp) then store the message as specified by
15906 If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp) matches some string after
15907 @var{field} and before the end of the matched @var{value}, the
15908 @var{split} is ignored. If none of the @var{restrict} clauses match,
15909 @var{split} is processed.
15911 The last element @var{invert-partial} is optional. If it is
15912 non-@code{nil}, the match-partial-words behavior controlled by the
15913 variable @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} (see below) is
15914 be inverted. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
15916 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
15917 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
15918 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
15919 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
15920 stored in one or more groups.
15922 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
15923 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
15924 process all @var{split}s in the list.
15927 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
15928 this message. Use with extreme caution.
15930 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
15931 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
15932 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
15933 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
15936 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
15937 body of the messages:
15940 (defun split-on-body ()
15944 (goto-char (point-min))
15945 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
15949 The buffer is narrowed to the header of the message in question when
15950 @var{function} is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called
15951 after @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
15952 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
15953 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
15954 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
15955 (@pxref{Client-Side IMAP Splitting}).
15957 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
15958 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
15959 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
15960 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
15961 should return a split.
15964 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
15968 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
15970 Normally, @var{value} in these splits must match a complete @emph{word}
15971 according to the fundamental mode syntax table. In other words, all
15972 @var{value}'s will be implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers,
15973 which are word delimiters. Therefore, if you use the following split,
15977 (any "joe" "joemail")
15981 messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will normally not be filed
15982 in @samp{joemail}. If you want to alter this behavior, you can use any
15983 of the following three ways:
15987 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
15988 You can set the @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} variable
15989 to non-@code{nil} in order to ignore word boundaries and instead the
15990 match becomes more like a grep. This variable controls whether partial
15991 words are matched during fancy splitting. The default value is
15994 Note that it influences all @var{value}'s in your split rules.
15997 @var{value} beginning with @code{.*} ignores word boundaries in front of
15998 a word. Similarly, if @var{value} ends with @code{.*}, word boundaries
15999 in the rear of a word will be ignored. For example, the @var{value}
16000 @code{"@@example\\.com"} does not match @samp{foo@@example.com} but
16001 @code{".*@@example\\.com"} does.
16004 You can set the @var{invert-partial} flag in your split rules of the
16005 @samp{(@var{field} @var{value} @dots{})} types, aforementioned in this
16006 section. If the flag is set, word boundaries on both sides of a word
16007 are ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
16008 @code{nil}. Contrarily, if the flag is set, word boundaries are not
16009 ignored even if @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} is
16010 non-@code{nil}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
16013 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
16014 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
16015 they are expanded as specified by the variable
16016 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
16017 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
16018 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
16019 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
16023 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
16025 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
16026 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
16028 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
16031 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
16032 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
16033 when all this splitting is performed.
16035 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
16036 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
16037 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
16040 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
16043 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
16044 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
16046 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
16047 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
16048 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
16049 groupings 1 through 9.
16051 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
16052 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
16053 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
16054 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
16055 groups when users send to an address using different case
16056 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
16059 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
16060 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
16061 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
16062 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
16063 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
16064 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
16065 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
16066 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
16067 it once per thread.
16069 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
16070 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
16071 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
16072 using the colon feature, like so:
16074 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
16075 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
16077 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
16078 ;; @r{other splits go here}
16082 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
16083 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
16084 in the file specified by the variable
16085 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
16086 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
16087 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
16088 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
16089 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
16090 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
16091 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
16092 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
16093 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
16094 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
16095 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
16096 300 kBytes in size.)
16097 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
16098 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
16099 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
16100 messages goes into the new group.
16102 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
16103 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
16104 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
16105 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
16106 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
16107 ``outgoing'' group.
16110 @node Group Mail Splitting
16111 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
16112 @cindex mail splitting
16113 @cindex group mail splitting
16115 @findex gnus-group-split
16116 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
16117 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
16118 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
16119 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
16120 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
16121 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
16122 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
16123 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
16125 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
16126 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
16127 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
16128 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
16130 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
16131 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
16132 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
16133 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
16134 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
16135 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
16136 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
16138 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
16139 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
16140 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
16141 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
16142 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
16143 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
16144 @code{gnus-group-split}.
16146 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
16147 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
16148 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
16149 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
16150 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
16151 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
16152 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
16153 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
16154 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
16155 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
16156 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
16157 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
16158 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
16160 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
16165 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
16166 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
16168 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
16169 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
16170 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
16171 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
16173 ((split-spec . catch-all))
16176 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
16177 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
16178 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
16181 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
16182 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
16183 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
16187 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
16188 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
16189 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
16193 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
16196 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
16197 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
16198 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
16199 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
16200 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
16201 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
16202 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
16203 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
16204 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
16206 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
16207 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
16208 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
16209 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
16210 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
16211 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
16212 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
16213 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
16214 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
16216 @findex gnus-group-split-update
16217 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
16218 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
16219 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
16220 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
16221 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
16224 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
16227 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
16228 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
16229 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
16230 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
16231 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
16234 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
16235 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
16236 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
16237 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
16239 @node Incorporating Old Mail
16240 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
16241 @cindex incorporating old mail
16242 @cindex import old mail
16244 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
16245 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
16246 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
16249 Doing so can be quite easy.
16251 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
16252 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
16253 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
16254 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
16255 your @code{nnml} groups.
16261 Go to the group buffer.
16264 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
16265 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
16268 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
16271 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
16272 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16275 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
16276 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
16279 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
16280 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
16281 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
16282 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
16283 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
16285 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
16286 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
16287 using the new mail back end.
16290 @node Expiring Mail
16291 @subsection Expiring Mail
16292 @cindex article expiry
16293 @cindex expiring mail
16295 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
16296 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
16297 different approach to mail reading.
16299 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
16300 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
16301 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
16302 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
16303 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
16304 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
16307 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
16308 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
16309 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
16310 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
16311 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
16312 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
16313 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
16314 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
16315 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
16317 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
16318 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
16319 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
16320 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
16321 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
16322 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
16323 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
16326 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
16327 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
16328 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
16329 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
16330 into its own group.)
16332 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
16333 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
16334 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
16335 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
16336 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
16337 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
16338 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
16339 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
16342 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
16343 Groups that match the regular expression
16344 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
16345 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
16346 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
16348 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
16349 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
16350 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
16351 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
16352 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
16354 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
16356 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
16357 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
16358 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
16361 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
16362 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
16363 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
16364 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
16365 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
16367 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
16368 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
16371 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
16372 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
16375 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
16376 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
16378 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
16379 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
16380 don't really mix very well.
16382 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
16383 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
16384 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
16385 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
16388 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
16389 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
16390 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
16391 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
16394 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16396 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16398 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
16400 ((string= group "mail.junk")
16402 ((string= group "important")
16408 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
16409 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
16411 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
16412 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
16413 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
16416 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
16417 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16419 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
16420 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
16421 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
16422 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
16423 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
16424 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
16425 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
16426 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
16427 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
16428 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
16429 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
16430 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
16431 name or @code{delete}.
16433 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
16435 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
16438 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
16439 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
16440 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
16441 expire mail to groups according to the variable
16442 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
16445 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
16446 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
16447 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
16448 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
16449 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
16452 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
16453 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
16454 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
16455 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
16456 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
16457 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
16459 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
16460 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
16461 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
16462 easier for procmail users.
16464 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
16465 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
16466 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
16467 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
16468 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
16469 caution. Even more dangerous is the
16470 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
16471 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
16472 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
16473 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
16474 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
16475 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
16476 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
16479 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
16481 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
16482 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
16483 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
16484 auto-expire turned on.
16486 @vindex gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable
16487 The expirable marks of articles will be removed when copying or moving
16488 them to a group in which auto-expire is not turned on. This is for
16489 preventing articles from being expired unintentionally. On the other
16490 hand, to a group that has turned auto-expire on, the expirable marks of
16491 articles that are copied or moved will not be changed by default. I.e.,
16492 when copying or moving to such a group, articles that were expirable
16493 will be left expirable and ones that were not expirable will not be
16494 marked as expirable. So, even though in auto-expire groups, some
16495 articles will never get expired (unless you read them again). If you
16496 don't side with that behavior that unexpirable articles may be mixed
16497 into auto-expire groups, you can set
16498 @code{gnus-mark-copied-or-moved-articles-as-expirable} to a
16499 non-@code{nil} value. In that case, articles that have been read will
16500 be marked as expirable automatically when being copied or moved to a
16501 group that has auto-expire turned on. The default value is @code{nil}.
16505 @subsection Washing Mail
16506 @cindex mail washing
16507 @cindex list server brain damage
16508 @cindex incoming mail treatment
16510 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
16511 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
16512 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
16513 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
16514 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
16515 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
16517 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
16518 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
16519 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
16522 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
16523 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
16524 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
16525 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
16528 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
16529 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
16530 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
16531 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
16532 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
16535 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
16536 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
16537 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
16538 Emacs running on MS machines.
16542 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
16543 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
16544 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
16545 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
16548 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16549 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
16550 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
16551 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
16553 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
16554 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
16555 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
16556 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
16557 into a feature by documenting it.)
16559 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16560 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
16561 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
16562 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
16563 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
16564 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
16565 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
16568 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
16569 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
16572 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
16573 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
16576 This can also be done non-destructively with
16577 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
16579 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
16580 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
16581 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
16583 @item nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16584 @findex nnmail-ignore-broken-references
16585 @c @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
16588 Some mail user agents (e.g. Eudora and Pegasus) produce broken
16589 @code{References} headers, but correct @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This
16590 function will get rid of the @code{References} header if the headers
16591 contain a line matching the regular expression
16592 @code{nnmail-broken-references-mailers}.
16596 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16597 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
16598 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
16602 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
16603 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
16604 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
16611 @subsection Duplicates
16613 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
16614 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
16615 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
16616 @cindex duplicate mails
16617 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
16618 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
16619 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
16620 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
16621 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
16622 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
16623 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
16624 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
16625 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
16626 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
16627 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
16628 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
16629 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
16631 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
16632 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
16633 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
16634 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
16636 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
16639 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
16640 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
16644 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
16645 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
16646 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
16647 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
16648 (any mail "mail.misc")
16649 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16655 (setq nnmail-split-methods
16656 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
16657 ;; @r{Other rules.}
16661 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
16662 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
16663 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
16664 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
16665 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
16668 @node Not Reading Mail
16669 @subsection Not Reading Mail
16671 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
16672 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
16673 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
16675 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
16676 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
16677 mail, which should help.
16679 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16680 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16681 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16682 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16683 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
16684 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
16685 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old (pre-Emacs
16686 23) Rmail file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
16687 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
16688 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
16689 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
16691 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
16692 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
16696 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
16697 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
16699 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
16700 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
16701 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
16703 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
16704 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
16705 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
16709 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
16710 * Babyl:: Babyl was used by older versions of Rmail.
16711 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
16712 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
16713 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
16714 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
16715 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
16720 @node Unix Mail Box
16721 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
16723 @cindex unix mail box
16725 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16726 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16727 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
16728 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
16729 which group it belongs in.
16731 Virtual server settings:
16734 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
16735 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
16736 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
16739 @item nnmbox-active-file
16740 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
16741 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
16742 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
16744 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
16745 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
16746 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
16747 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
16752 @subsubsection Babyl
16755 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16756 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16757 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box to store mail.
16758 @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail article to say which
16759 group it belongs in.
16761 Virtual server settings:
16764 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
16765 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
16766 The name of the Babyl file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
16768 @item nnbabyl-active-file
16769 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
16770 The name of the active file for the Babyl file. The default is
16771 @file{~/.rmail-active}
16773 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16774 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
16775 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
16781 @subsubsection Mail Spool
16783 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
16785 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
16786 format. It should be used with some caution.
16788 @vindex nnml-directory
16789 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
16790 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
16791 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
16792 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
16794 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
16797 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
16798 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
16799 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
16800 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
16801 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
16802 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
16803 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
16804 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
16806 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
16807 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
16808 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
16809 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
16811 @cindex self contained nnml servers
16813 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
16814 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
16815 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
16816 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
16817 for a group are usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
16818 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
16819 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
16820 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
16823 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
16824 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
16825 them next time it starts.
16827 Virtual server settings:
16830 @item nnml-directory
16831 @vindex nnml-directory
16832 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
16833 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
16836 @item nnml-active-file
16837 @vindex nnml-active-file
16838 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
16839 @file{~/Mail/active}.
16841 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
16842 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
16843 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
16844 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
16846 @item nnml-get-new-mail
16847 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
16848 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
16851 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
16852 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
16853 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
16854 default is @code{nil}.
16856 @item nnml-nov-file-name
16857 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
16858 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
16860 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16861 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
16862 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
16864 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
16865 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
16866 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
16867 default is @code{nil}.
16869 @item nnml-marks-file-name
16870 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
16871 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
16873 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
16874 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
16875 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
16876 files. This requires @code{auto-compression-mode} to be enabled
16877 (@pxref{Compressed Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
16878 If the value of @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is a string, it is used
16879 as the file extension specifying the compression program. You can set it
16880 to @samp{.bz2} if your Emacs supports it. A value of @code{t} is
16881 equivalent to @samp{.gz}.
16883 @item nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16884 @vindex nnml-compressed-files-size-threshold
16885 Default size threshold for compressed message files. Message files with
16886 bodies larger than that many characters will be automatically compressed
16887 if @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil}.
16891 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
16892 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
16893 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
16894 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
16895 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
16896 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
16897 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
16902 @subsubsection MH Spool
16904 @cindex mh-e mail spool
16906 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
16907 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
16908 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
16909 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
16912 Virtual server settings:
16915 @item nnmh-directory
16916 @vindex nnmh-directory
16917 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
16918 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
16921 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
16922 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
16923 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
16927 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
16928 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
16929 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
16930 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
16931 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
16932 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
16933 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
16938 @subsubsection Maildir
16942 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
16943 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
16944 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
16945 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
16946 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
16949 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
16950 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
16951 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
16952 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
16953 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
16954 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
16955 that appear as group in Gnus.
16957 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
16958 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
16959 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
16961 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
16962 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
16963 another, and you will keep your marks.
16965 Virtual server settings:
16969 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
16970 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
16971 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
16972 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
16973 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
16974 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
16975 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
16976 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
16977 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
16978 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
16980 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
16981 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
16982 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
16983 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
16984 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
16985 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
16986 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
16987 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
16988 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
16989 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
16992 @item target-prefix
16993 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
16994 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
16995 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
16998 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
16999 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
17000 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
17001 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
17002 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
17003 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
17004 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
17005 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
17006 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
17008 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
17009 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
17010 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
17011 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
17012 symlinks pointing to them will be).
17014 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
17015 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
17016 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
17017 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
17018 @code{force} argument.
17020 @item directory-files
17021 This should be a function with the same interface as
17022 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
17023 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
17024 parameter is optional; the default is
17025 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
17026 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
17027 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
17028 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
17029 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
17030 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
17033 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
17034 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
17035 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
17036 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
17037 value is @code{nil}.
17039 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
17040 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
17041 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
17042 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
17043 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
17046 @subsubsection Group parameters
17048 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
17049 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
17050 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
17051 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
17052 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
17053 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
17056 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
17057 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
17058 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
17059 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
17060 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
17061 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
17062 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
17063 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
17064 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
17068 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
17069 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
17070 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
17071 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
17072 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (the
17073 @code{expiry-wait} group parameter overrides @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}
17074 and makes @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} ineffective). If you
17075 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
17076 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
17077 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
17078 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
17079 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
17080 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
17083 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
17085 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
17087 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
17088 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
17089 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
17090 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
17091 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
17092 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
17093 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
17094 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
17095 article. So that form can refer to
17096 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
17097 article. @emph{Even if this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir}
17098 does not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
17099 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
17102 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
17103 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
17104 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
17105 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
17106 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
17107 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
17108 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
17109 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
17110 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
17111 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
17112 contain extra copies of the articles.
17114 @item directory-files
17115 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
17116 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
17117 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
17118 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
17120 @item distrust-Lines:
17121 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
17122 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
17123 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
17126 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
17127 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
17128 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
17129 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
17130 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
17131 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
17134 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
17135 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
17136 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
17137 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
17138 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
17139 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
17140 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
17142 @item nov-cache-size
17143 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
17144 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
17145 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
17146 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
17147 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
17148 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
17149 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
17150 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
17151 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
17152 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
17153 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
17156 @subsubsection Article identification
17157 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
17158 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
17159 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
17160 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
17161 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
17162 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
17163 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
17164 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
17165 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
17166 request the article in the summary buffer.
17168 @subsubsection NOV data
17169 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
17170 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
17171 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
17172 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
17173 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
17174 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
17175 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
17176 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
17177 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
17178 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
17179 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
17181 @subsubsection Article marks
17182 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
17183 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
17184 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
17185 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
17186 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
17187 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
17188 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
17189 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
17191 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
17192 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
17193 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
17194 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
17195 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
17196 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
17197 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
17198 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
17199 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
17203 @subsubsection Mail Folders
17205 @cindex mbox folders
17206 @cindex mail folders
17208 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
17209 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
17210 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
17211 numbers and arrival dates.
17213 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
17215 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
17216 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
17217 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
17218 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
17219 Marks for a group are usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
17220 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
17221 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
17222 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
17223 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
17224 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
17226 Virtual server settings:
17229 @item nnfolder-directory
17230 @vindex nnfolder-directory
17231 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
17232 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
17233 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
17235 @item nnfolder-active-file
17236 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
17237 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
17239 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
17240 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
17241 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
17242 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
17244 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
17245 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
17246 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
17247 default is @code{t}
17249 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
17250 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
17251 @cindex backup files
17252 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
17253 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
17254 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
17255 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
17258 (defun turn-off-backup ()
17259 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
17261 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
17264 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
17265 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
17266 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
17267 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
17268 extract some information from it before removing it.
17270 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
17271 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
17272 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
17273 default is @code{nil}.
17275 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
17276 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
17277 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
17279 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
17280 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
17281 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
17282 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
17284 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
17285 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
17286 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
17287 default is @code{nil}.
17289 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
17290 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
17291 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
17293 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
17294 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
17295 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
17296 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
17301 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
17302 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
17303 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
17304 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
17305 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
17306 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
17309 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
17310 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
17312 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
17313 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
17314 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
17315 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
17316 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
17318 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
17319 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
17320 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
17321 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
17322 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
17323 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
17324 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
17325 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
17328 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
17329 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
17330 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
17331 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
17336 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
17337 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
17338 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
17339 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
17340 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
17341 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
17342 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
17343 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
17344 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
17345 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
17346 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
17347 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
17348 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
17353 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
17354 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
17355 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
17356 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
17357 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
17358 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
17359 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
17360 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
17361 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
17362 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
17363 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
17364 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
17365 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
17366 course, and is still maintained within Emacs. Since Emacs 23, it
17367 uses standard mbox format rather than Babyl.
17369 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
17370 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
17375 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
17376 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
17377 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
17378 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
17379 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
17380 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
17381 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
17382 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
17383 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
17384 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
17385 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
17386 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
17387 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
17388 provided by the active file and overviews.
17390 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
17391 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
17392 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
17393 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
17394 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
17397 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
17398 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
17403 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
17404 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
17405 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
17406 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
17407 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
17408 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
17409 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
17413 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
17414 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
17415 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
17416 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
17417 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
17418 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
17419 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
17420 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
17421 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
17423 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
17424 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
17425 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
17426 friendly mail back end all over.
17430 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
17431 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
17434 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
17435 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
17436 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
17437 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
17438 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}.
17439 (Use @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this
17440 slows you down or takes up very much space, a non-block-structured
17443 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
17444 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
17445 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
17446 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
17447 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
17448 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
17449 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
17450 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
17451 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
17452 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
17453 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
17455 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
17456 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
17457 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
17458 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
17459 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
17462 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
17463 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
17464 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
17465 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
17466 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
17467 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
17468 removed in the future.
17470 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
17471 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
17472 on your file system.
17474 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
17475 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
17480 @node Browsing the Web
17481 @section Browsing the Web
17483 @cindex browsing the web
17487 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
17488 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
17489 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
17490 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
17491 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
17492 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
17493 even know what a news group is.
17495 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
17496 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
17497 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
17498 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
17499 you mad in the end.
17501 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
17504 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
17505 interfaces to these sources.
17509 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
17510 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
17511 * Customizing W3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/W3 from Gnus.
17514 All the web sources require Emacs/W3 and the url library or those
17515 alternatives to work.
17517 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
17518 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
17519 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
17520 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
17521 though, you should be ok.
17523 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
17524 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
17525 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
17526 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
17527 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
17529 @node Archiving Mail
17530 @subsection Archiving Mail
17531 @cindex archiving mail
17532 @cindex backup of mail
17534 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
17535 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
17536 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
17537 marks is fairly simple.
17539 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
17540 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
17543 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
17544 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
17545 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
17546 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
17547 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
17548 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
17549 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
17550 before you restore the data.
17552 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
17553 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
17554 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
17555 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
17556 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
17557 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
17558 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
17559 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
17560 is unnecessary in that case.
17563 @subsection Web Searches
17568 @cindex Usenet searches
17569 @cindex searching the Usenet
17571 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
17572 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
17573 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
17574 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
17575 searches without having to use a browser.
17577 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
17578 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
17579 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
17580 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
17581 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
17583 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
17584 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
17585 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
17586 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
17587 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
17588 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
17589 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
17590 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
17591 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
17592 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
17595 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
17596 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
17597 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
17598 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
17599 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
17600 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
17602 You must have the @code{url} and @code{W3} package or those alternatives
17603 (try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{mm-url} variable group)
17604 installed to be able to use @code{nnweb}.
17606 Virtual server variables:
17611 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
17612 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
17613 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
17616 @vindex nnweb-search
17617 The search string to feed to the search engine.
17619 @item nnweb-max-hits
17620 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
17621 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
17624 @item nnweb-type-definition
17625 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
17626 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
17627 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
17632 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
17636 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
17639 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
17642 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
17646 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
17657 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
17658 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
17659 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
17660 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
17661 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
17663 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
17664 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
17666 Note: you had better use Emacs which supports the @code{utf-8} coding
17667 system because @acronym{RSS} uses UTF-8 for encoding non-@acronym{ASCII}
17668 text by default. It is also used by default for non-@acronym{ASCII}
17671 @kindex G R (Group)
17672 Use @kbd{G R} from the group buffer to subscribe to a feed---you will be
17673 prompted for the location, the title and the description of the feed.
17674 The title, which allows any characters, will be used for the group name
17675 and the name of the group data file. The description can be omitted.
17677 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
17678 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET y}, then
17679 subscribe to groups.
17681 The @code{nnrss} back end saves the group data file in
17682 @code{nnrss-directory} (see below) for each @code{nnrss} group. File
17683 names containing non-@acronym{ASCII} characters will be encoded by the
17684 coding system specified with the @code{nnmail-pathname-coding-system}
17685 variable or other. Also @xref{Non-ASCII Group Names}, for more
17688 The @code{nnrss} back end generates @samp{multipart/alternative}
17689 @acronym{MIME} articles in which each contains a @samp{text/plain} part
17690 and a @samp{text/html} part.
17693 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
17694 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
17697 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
17698 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
17702 @defun nnrss-opml-export
17703 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
17704 @acronym{OPML} format.
17707 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
17710 @item nnrss-directory
17711 @vindex nnrss-directory
17712 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
17713 @file{~/News/rss/}.
17715 @item nnrss-file-coding-system
17716 @vindex nnrss-file-coding-system
17717 The coding system used when reading and writing the @code{nnrss} groups
17718 data files. The default is the value of
17719 @code{mm-universal-coding-system} (which defaults to @code{emacs-mule}
17720 in Emacs or @code{escape-quoted} in XEmacs).
17722 @item nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17723 @vindex nnrss-ignore-article-fields
17724 Some feeds update constantly article fields during their publications,
17725 e.g. to indicate the number of comments. However, if there is
17726 a difference between the local article and the distant one, the latter
17727 is considered to be new. To avoid this and discard some fields, set this
17728 variable to the list of fields to be ignored. The default is
17729 @code{'(slash:comments)}.
17731 @item nnrss-use-local
17732 @vindex nnrss-use-local
17733 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
17734 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
17735 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
17736 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
17737 download script using @command{wget}.
17740 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
17741 the summary buffer.
17744 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
17745 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
17747 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
17749 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
17750 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
17753 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
17757 (require 'browse-url)
17759 (defun browse-nnrss-url (arg)
17761 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
17764 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
17765 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
17768 (browse-url (cdr url))
17769 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
17770 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
17772 (eval-after-load "gnus"
17773 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
17774 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
17775 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
17778 Even if you have added @samp{text/html} to the
17779 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} variable (@pxref{Display
17780 Customization, ,Display Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME
17781 Manual}) since you don't want to see @acronym{HTML} parts, it might be
17782 more useful especially in @code{nnrss} groups to display
17783 @samp{text/html} parts. Here's an example of setting
17784 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} as a group parameter (@pxref{Group
17785 Parameters}) in order to display @samp{text/html} parts only in
17786 @code{nnrss} groups:
17789 ;; @r{Set the default value of @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives}.}
17790 (eval-after-load "gnus-sum"
17792 'gnus-newsgroup-variables
17793 '(mm-discouraged-alternatives
17794 . '("text/html" "image/.*"))))
17796 ;; @r{Display @samp{text/html} parts in @code{nnrss} groups.}
17799 '("\\`nnrss:" (mm-discouraged-alternatives nil)))
17803 @node Customizing W3
17804 @subsection Customizing W3
17810 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/W3 (or those
17811 alternatives) to display web pages. Emacs/W3 is documented in its own
17812 manual, but there are some things that may be more relevant for Gnus
17815 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/W3 follow links
17816 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
17817 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
17820 (eval-after-load "w3"
17822 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
17823 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
17824 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
17825 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
17827 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
17830 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in W3-rendered
17831 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
17835 @node Other Sources
17836 @section Other Sources
17838 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
17839 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
17843 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
17844 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
17845 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
17846 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
17850 @node Directory Groups
17851 @subsection Directory Groups
17853 @cindex directory groups
17855 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
17856 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
17859 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
17860 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
17861 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
17862 back end to read directories. Big deal.
17864 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
17865 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
17866 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
17867 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
17868 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
17870 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
17872 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
17873 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
17874 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
17875 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
17878 @node Anything Groups
17879 @subsection Anything Groups
17882 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
17883 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
17884 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
17887 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
17888 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
17889 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
17890 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
17891 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
17892 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
17893 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
17894 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
17895 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
17896 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
17899 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
17900 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
17901 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
17902 in the article buffer, just as usual.
17904 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
17905 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
17906 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
17907 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
17909 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
17910 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
17911 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
17912 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
17913 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
17914 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
17915 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
17916 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
17921 @item nneething-map-file-directory
17922 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
17923 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
17924 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
17926 @item nneething-exclude-files
17927 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
17928 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
17929 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
17931 @item nneething-include-files
17932 @vindex nneething-include-files
17933 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
17934 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
17936 @item nneething-map-file
17937 @vindex nneething-map-file
17938 Name of the map files.
17942 @node Document Groups
17943 @subsection Document Groups
17945 @cindex documentation group
17948 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
17949 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
17959 The standard Unix mbox file.
17961 @cindex MMDF mail box
17963 The MMDF mail box format.
17966 Several news articles appended into a file.
17968 @cindex rnews batch files
17970 The rnews batch transport format.
17973 Netscape mail boxes.
17976 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
17978 @item standard-digest
17979 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
17982 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
17984 @item lanl-gov-announce
17985 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
17987 @cindex git commit messages
17989 @code{git} commit messages.
17991 @cindex forwarded messages
17992 @item rfc822-forward
17993 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
17996 The Outlook mail box.
17999 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
18002 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
18005 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
18008 An RFC934-forwarded message.
18014 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
18017 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
18023 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
18024 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
18025 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
18028 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
18029 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
18030 group. And that's it.
18032 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
18033 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
18034 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
18035 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
18036 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
18037 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
18038 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
18039 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
18040 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
18041 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
18043 Virtual server variables:
18046 @item nndoc-article-type
18047 @vindex nndoc-article-type
18048 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
18049 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
18050 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
18051 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
18052 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
18054 @item nndoc-post-type
18055 @vindex nndoc-post-type
18056 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
18057 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
18062 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
18066 @node Document Server Internals
18067 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
18069 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
18070 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
18071 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
18072 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
18074 First, here's an example document type definition:
18078 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
18079 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
18082 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
18083 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
18084 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
18085 types can be defined with very few settings:
18088 @item first-article
18089 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
18090 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
18093 @item article-begin
18094 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
18095 says what the beginning of each article looks like. To do more
18096 complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you can
18097 use @code{article-begin-function} instead of this.
18099 @item article-begin-function
18100 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the beginning
18101 of each article. This setting overrides @code{article-begin}.
18104 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
18105 article. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a
18106 simple regexp, you can use @code{head-begin-function} instead of this.
18108 @item head-begin-function
18109 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
18110 the article. This setting overrides @code{head-begin}.
18113 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
18114 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
18117 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
18118 to @samp{^\n}. To do more complicated things that cannot be dealt with
18119 a simple regexp, you can use @code{body-begin-function} instead of this.
18121 @item body-begin-function
18122 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
18123 of the article. This setting overrides @code{body-begin}.
18126 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article. To do
18127 more complicated things that cannot be dealt with a simple regexp, you
18128 can use @code{body-end-function} instead of this.
18130 @item body-end-function
18131 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
18132 the article. This setting overrides @code{body-end}.
18135 If present, this should match the beginning of the file. All text
18136 before this regexp will be totally ignored.
18139 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
18140 regexp will be totally ignored.
18144 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
18145 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
18146 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
18147 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
18148 something that's palatable for Gnus:
18151 @item prepare-body-function
18152 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
18153 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
18154 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
18156 @item article-transform-function
18157 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
18158 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
18159 body of the article.
18161 @item generate-head-function
18162 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
18163 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
18164 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
18165 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
18167 @item generate-article-function
18168 If present, this function is called to generate an entire article that
18169 Gnus can understand. It is called with the article number as a
18170 parameter when requesting all articles.
18172 @item dissection-function
18173 If present, this function is called to dissect a document by itself,
18174 overriding @code{first-article}, @code{article-begin},
18175 @code{article-begin-function}, @code{head-begin},
18176 @code{head-begin-function}, @code{head-end}, @code{body-begin},
18177 @code{body-begin-function}, @code{body-end}, @code{body-end-function},
18178 @code{file-begin}, and @code{file-end}.
18182 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
18187 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18188 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
18189 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
18190 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
18191 (head-end . "^ ?$")
18192 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
18193 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
18194 (subtype digest guess))
18197 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
18198 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
18199 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
18200 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
18201 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
18203 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
18204 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
18205 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
18206 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
18207 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
18208 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
18209 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
18210 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
18211 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
18212 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
18213 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
18214 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
18217 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
18218 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
18219 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
18222 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
18223 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
18224 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
18226 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
18232 @item nngateway-address
18233 @vindex nngateway-address
18234 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
18236 @item nngateway-header-transformation
18237 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
18238 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
18239 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
18240 transformation should be called, and defaults to
18241 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
18242 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
18245 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
18246 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
18247 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
18250 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
18253 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
18256 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
18259 The following pre-defined functions exist:
18261 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
18264 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
18265 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
18266 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
18268 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
18270 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
18271 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
18272 @code{nngateway-address}.
18280 (setq gnus-post-method
18282 "mail2news@@replay.com"
18283 (nngateway-header-transformation
18284 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
18287 So, to use this, simply say something like:
18290 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
18295 @node Combined Groups
18296 @section Combined Groups
18298 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
18302 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
18306 @node Virtual Groups
18307 @subsection Virtual Groups
18309 @cindex virtual groups
18310 @cindex merging groups
18312 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
18315 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
18316 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
18317 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
18319 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
18320 regexp to match component groups.
18322 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
18323 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
18324 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
18325 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
18326 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
18327 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
18328 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
18329 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
18331 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
18332 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
18335 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
18338 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
18339 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
18341 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
18342 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
18343 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
18344 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
18347 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
18350 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
18351 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
18352 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
18354 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
18355 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
18356 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
18357 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
18358 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
18360 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
18361 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
18362 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
18364 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
18365 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} variable is non-@code{nil} (which
18366 is the default), @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread
18367 articles when entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil}
18368 and you read articles in a component group after the virtual group has
18369 been activated, the read articles from the component group will show up
18370 when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this effect if you
18371 have two virtual groups that have a component group in common. If
18372 that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}. Or you can
18373 just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before you enter
18374 it---it'll have much the same effect.
18376 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
18377 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
18378 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
18379 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
18380 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
18381 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
18382 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
18384 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
18385 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
18387 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
18388 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
18392 @node Email Based Diary
18393 @section Email Based Diary
18395 @cindex email based diary
18398 This section describes a special mail back end called @code{nndiary},
18399 and its companion library @code{gnus-diary}. It is ``special'' in the
18400 sense that it is not meant to be one of the standard alternatives for
18401 reading mail with Gnus. See @ref{Choosing a Mail Back End} for that.
18402 Instead, it is used to treat @emph{some} of your mails in a special way,
18403 namely, as event reminders.
18405 Here is a typical scenario:
18409 You've got a date with Andy Mc Dowell or Bruce Willis (select according
18410 to your sexual preference) in one month. You don't want to forget it.
18412 So you send a ``reminder'' message (actually, a diary one) to yourself.
18414 You forget all about it and keep on getting and reading new mail, as usual.
18416 From time to time, as you type `g' in the group buffer and as the date
18417 is getting closer, the message will pop up again to remind you of your
18418 appointment, just as if it were new and unread.
18420 Read your ``new'' messages, this one included, and start dreaming again
18421 of the night you're gonna have.
18423 Once the date is over (you actually fell asleep just after dinner), the
18424 message will be automatically deleted if it is marked as expirable.
18427 The Gnus Diary back end has the ability to handle regular appointments
18428 (that wouldn't ever be deleted) as well as punctual ones, operates as a
18429 real mail back end and is configurable in many ways. All of this is
18430 explained in the sections below.
18433 * The NNDiary Back End:: Basic setup and usage.
18434 * The Gnus Diary Library:: Utility toolkit on top of nndiary.
18435 * Sending or Not Sending:: A final note on sending diary messages.
18439 @node The NNDiary Back End
18440 @subsection The NNDiary Back End
18442 @cindex the nndiary back end
18444 @code{nndiary} is a back end very similar to @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
18445 Spool}). Actually, it could appear as a mix of @code{nnml} and
18446 @code{nndraft}. If you know @code{nnml}, you're already familiar with
18447 the message storing scheme of @code{nndiary}: one file per message, one
18448 directory per group.
18450 Before anything, there is one requirement to be able to run
18451 @code{nndiary} properly: you @emph{must} use the group timestamp feature
18452 of Gnus. This adds a timestamp to each group's parameters. @ref{Group
18453 Timestamp} to see how it's done.
18456 * Diary Messages:: What makes a message valid for nndiary.
18457 * Running NNDiary:: NNDiary has two modes of operation.
18458 * Customizing NNDiary:: Bells and whistles.
18461 @node Diary Messages
18462 @subsubsection Diary Messages
18463 @cindex nndiary messages
18464 @cindex nndiary mails
18466 @code{nndiary} messages are just normal ones, except for the mandatory
18467 presence of 7 special headers. These headers are of the form
18468 @code{X-Diary-<something>}, @code{<something>} being one of
18469 @code{Minute}, @code{Hour}, @code{Dom}, @code{Month}, @code{Year},
18470 @code{Time-Zone} and @code{Dow}. @code{Dom} means ``Day of Month'', and
18471 @code{dow} means ``Day of Week''. These headers actually behave like
18472 crontab specifications and define the event date(s):
18476 For all headers except the @code{Time-Zone} one, a header value is
18477 either a star (meaning all possible values), or a list of fields
18478 (separated by a comma).
18480 A field is either an integer, or a range.
18482 A range is two integers separated by a dash.
18484 Possible integer values are 0--59 for @code{Minute}, 0--23 for
18485 @code{Hour}, 1--31 for @code{Dom}, 1--12 for @code{Month}, above 1971
18486 for @code{Year} and 0--6 for @code{Dow} (0 meaning Sunday).
18488 As a special case, a star in either @code{Dom} or @code{Dow} doesn't
18489 mean ``all possible values'', but ``use only the other field''. Note
18490 that if both are star'ed, the use of either one gives the same result.
18492 The @code{Time-Zone} header is special in that it can only have one
18493 value (@code{GMT}, for instance). A star doesn't mean ``all possible
18494 values'' (because it makes no sense), but ``the current local time
18495 zone''. Most of the time, you'll be using a star here. However, for a
18496 list of available time zone values, see the variable
18497 @code{nndiary-headers}.
18500 As a concrete example, here are the diary headers to add to your message
18501 for specifying ``Each Monday and each 1st of month, at 12:00, 20:00,
18502 21:00, 22:00, 23:00 and 24:00, from 1999 to 2010'' (I'll let you find
18507 X-Diary-Hour: 12, 20-24
18510 X-Diary-Year: 1999-2010
18512 X-Diary-Time-Zone: *
18515 @node Running NNDiary
18516 @subsubsection Running NNDiary
18517 @cindex running nndiary
18518 @cindex nndiary operation modes
18520 @code{nndiary} has two modes of operation: ``traditional'' (the default)
18521 and ``autonomous''. In traditional mode, @code{nndiary} does not get new
18522 mail by itself. You have to move (@kbd{B m}) or copy (@kbd{B c}) mails
18523 from your primary mail back end to nndiary groups in order to handle them
18524 as diary messages. In autonomous mode, @code{nndiary} retrieves its own
18525 mail and handles it independently from your primary mail back end.
18527 One should note that Gnus is not inherently designed to allow several
18528 ``master'' mail back ends at the same time. However, this does make
18529 sense with @code{nndiary}: you really want to send and receive diary
18530 messages to your diary groups directly. So, @code{nndiary} supports
18531 being sort of a ``second primary mail back end'' (to my knowledge, it is
18532 the only back end offering this feature). However, there is a limitation
18533 (which I hope to fix some day): respooling doesn't work in autonomous
18536 In order to use @code{nndiary} in autonomous mode, you have several
18541 Allow @code{nndiary} to retrieve new mail by itself. Put the following
18542 line in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
18545 (setq nndiary-get-new-mail t)
18548 You must arrange for diary messages (those containing @code{X-Diary-*}
18549 headers) to be split in a private folder @emph{before} Gnus treat them.
18550 Again, this is needed because Gnus cannot (yet ?) properly handle
18551 multiple primary mail back ends. Getting those messages from a separate
18552 source will compensate this misfeature to some extent.
18554 As an example, here's my procmailrc entry to store diary files in
18555 @file{~/.nndiary} (the default @code{nndiary} mail source file):
18564 Once this is done, you might want to customize the following two options
18565 that affect the diary mail retrieval and splitting processes:
18567 @defvar nndiary-mail-sources
18568 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
18569 @code{mail-sources} variable. It obeys the same syntax, and defaults to
18570 @code{(file :path "~/.nndiary")}.
18573 @defvar nndiary-split-methods
18574 This is the diary-specific replacement for the standard
18575 @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable. It obeys the same syntax.
18578 Finally, you may add a permanent @code{nndiary} virtual server
18579 (something like @code{(nndiary "diary")} should do) to your
18580 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}.
18582 Hopefully, almost everything (see the TODO section in
18583 @file{nndiary.el}) will work as expected when you restart Gnus: in
18584 autonomous mode, typing @kbd{g} and @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer, will
18585 also get your new diary mails and split them according to your
18586 diary-specific rules, @kbd{F} will find your new diary groups etc.
18588 @node Customizing NNDiary
18589 @subsubsection Customizing NNDiary
18590 @cindex customizing nndiary
18591 @cindex nndiary customization
18593 Now that @code{nndiary} is up and running, it's time to customize it.
18594 The custom group is called @code{nndiary} (no, really ?!). You should
18595 browse it to figure out which options you'd like to tweak. The following
18596 two variables are probably the only ones you will want to change:
18598 @defvar nndiary-reminders
18599 This is the list of times when you want to be reminded of your
18600 appointments (e.g. 3 weeks before, then 2 days before, then 1 hour
18601 before and that's it). Remember that ``being reminded'' means that the
18602 diary message will pop up as brand new and unread again when you get new
18606 @defvar nndiary-week-starts-on-monday
18607 Rather self-explanatory. Otherwise, Sunday is assumed (this is the
18612 @node The Gnus Diary Library
18613 @subsection The Gnus Diary Library
18615 @cindex the gnus diary library
18617 Using @code{nndiary} manually (I mean, writing the headers by hand and
18618 so on) would be rather boring. Fortunately, there is a library called
18619 @code{gnus-diary} written on top of @code{nndiary}, that does many
18620 useful things for you.
18622 In order to use it, add the following line to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
18625 (require 'gnus-diary)
18628 Also, you shouldn't use any @code{gnus-user-format-function-[d|D]}
18629 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} provides both of these
18630 (sorry if you used them before).
18634 * Diary Summary Line Format:: A nicer summary buffer line format.
18635 * Diary Articles Sorting:: A nicer way to sort messages.
18636 * Diary Headers Generation:: Not doing it manually.
18637 * Diary Group Parameters:: Not handling them manually.
18640 @node Diary Summary Line Format
18641 @subsubsection Diary Summary Line Format
18642 @cindex diary summary buffer line
18643 @cindex diary summary line format
18645 Displaying diary messages in standard summary line format (usually
18646 something like @samp{From Joe: Subject}) is pretty useless. Most of
18647 the time, you're the one who wrote the message, and you mostly want to
18648 see the event's date.
18650 @code{gnus-diary} provides two supplemental user formats to be used in
18651 summary line formats. @code{D} corresponds to a formatted time string
18652 for the next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00''),
18653 while @code{d} corresponds to an approximative remaining time until the
18654 next occurrence of the event (e.g. ``in 6 months, 1 week'').
18656 For example, here's how Joe's birthday is displayed in my
18657 @code{nndiary+diary:birthdays} summary buffer (note that the message is
18658 expirable, but will never be deleted, as it specifies a periodic event):
18661 E Sat, Sep 22 01, 12:00: Joe's birthday (in 6 months, 1 week)
18664 In order to get something like the above, you would normally add the
18665 following line to your diary groups'parameters:
18668 (gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z %uD: %(%s%) (%ud)\n")
18671 However, @code{gnus-diary} does it automatically (@pxref{Diary Group
18672 Parameters}). You can however customize the provided summary line format
18673 with the following user options:
18675 @defvar gnus-diary-summary-line-format
18676 Defines the summary line format used for diary groups (@pxref{Summary
18677 Buffer Lines}). @code{gnus-diary} uses it to automatically update the
18678 diary groups'parameters.
18681 @defvar gnus-diary-time-format
18682 Defines the format to display dates in diary summary buffers. This is
18683 used by the @code{D} user format. See the docstring for details.
18686 @defvar gnus-diary-delay-format-function
18687 Defines the format function to use for displaying delays (remaining
18688 times) in diary summary buffers. This is used by the @code{d} user
18689 format. There are currently built-in functions for English and French;
18690 you can also define your own. See the docstring for details.
18693 @node Diary Articles Sorting
18694 @subsubsection Diary Articles Sorting
18695 @cindex diary articles sorting
18696 @cindex diary summary lines sorting
18697 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule
18698 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule
18699 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-schedule
18701 @code{gnus-diary} provides new sorting functions (@pxref{Sorting the
18702 Summary Buffer} ) called @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule},
18703 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-schedule} and
18704 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-schedule}. These functions let you organize
18705 your diary summary buffers from the closest event to the farthest one.
18707 @code{gnus-diary} automatically installs
18708 @code{gnus-summary-sort-by-schedule} as a menu item in the summary
18709 buffer's ``sort'' menu, and the two others as the primary (hence
18710 default) sorting functions in the group parameters (@pxref{Diary Group
18713 @node Diary Headers Generation
18714 @subsubsection Diary Headers Generation
18715 @cindex diary headers generation
18716 @findex gnus-diary-check-message
18718 @code{gnus-diary} provides a function called
18719 @code{gnus-diary-check-message} to help you handle the @code{X-Diary-*}
18720 headers. This function ensures that the current message contains all the
18721 required diary headers, and prompts you for values or corrections if
18724 This function is hooked into the @code{nndiary} back end, so that
18725 moving or copying an article to a diary group will trigger it
18726 automatically. It is also bound to @kbd{C-c C-f d} in
18727 @code{message-mode} and @code{article-edit-mode} in order to ease the
18728 process of converting a usual mail to a diary one.
18730 This function takes a prefix argument which will force prompting of
18731 all diary headers, regardless of their presence or validity. That way,
18732 you can very easily reschedule an already valid diary message, for
18735 @node Diary Group Parameters
18736 @subsubsection Diary Group Parameters
18737 @cindex diary group parameters
18739 When you create a new diary group, or visit one, @code{gnus-diary}
18740 automatically checks your group parameters and if needed, sets the
18741 summary line format to the diary-specific value, installs the
18742 diary-specific sorting functions, and also adds the different
18743 @code{X-Diary-*} headers to the group's posting-style. It is then easier
18744 to send a diary message, because if you use @kbd{C-u a} or @kbd{C-u m}
18745 on a diary group to prepare a message, these headers will be inserted
18746 automatically (although not filled with proper values yet).
18748 @node Sending or Not Sending
18749 @subsection Sending or Not Sending
18751 Well, assuming you've read all of the above, here are two final notes on
18752 mail sending with @code{nndiary}:
18756 @code{nndiary} is a @emph{real} mail back end. You really send real diary
18757 messsages for real. This means for instance that you can give
18758 appointments to anybody (provided they use Gnus and @code{nndiary}) by
18759 sending the diary message to them as well.
18761 However, since @code{nndiary} also has a @code{request-post} method, you
18762 can also use @kbd{C-u a} instead of @kbd{C-u m} on a diary group and the
18763 message won't actually be sent; just stored locally in the group. This
18764 comes in very handy for private appointments.
18767 @node Gnus Unplugged
18768 @section Gnus Unplugged
18773 @cindex Gnus unplugged
18775 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
18776 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
18777 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
18778 read news. Believe it or not.
18780 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
18781 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
18782 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
18783 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
18784 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
18786 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
18787 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
18788 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
18789 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
18790 reading news on a machine.
18792 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
18793 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
18794 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
18796 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
18799 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
18800 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
18801 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
18802 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
18803 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
18804 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
18805 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
18806 * Agent and flags:: How the Agent maintains flags.
18807 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
18808 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
18809 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
18810 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
18811 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
18812 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
18817 @subsection Agent Basics
18819 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
18821 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
18822 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
18823 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
18824 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
18826 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
18827 connected to the net continuously.
18829 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
18830 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
18832 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
18833 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
18834 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
18835 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
18836 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
18838 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
18839 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
18840 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
18841 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
18842 they're kinda like plugged always).
18844 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
18845 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
18846 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
18849 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
18850 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
18851 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
18852 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
18853 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
18855 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
18860 @findex gnus-unplugged
18861 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
18862 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
18863 already fetched while in this mode.
18866 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
18867 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
18868 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
18869 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
18870 Source Specifiers}).
18873 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
18874 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
18875 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
18876 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
18877 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
18880 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
18881 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
18882 then you read the news offline.
18885 And then you go to step 2.
18888 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
18894 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
18895 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
18896 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
18897 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
18898 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
18899 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
18900 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
18901 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
18904 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
18905 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
18906 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
18907 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
18909 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
18910 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
18911 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
18912 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
18913 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
18914 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
18918 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
18922 @node Agent Categories
18923 @subsection Agent Categories
18925 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
18926 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
18927 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
18928 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
18929 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
18930 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
18931 you're interested in the articles anyway.
18933 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
18934 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
18935 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
18936 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
18937 buffer for creating and managing categories.
18939 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
18940 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
18941 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
18942 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
18943 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
18946 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
18947 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
18948 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
18949 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
18950 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
18951 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
18955 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
18956 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
18957 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
18961 @node Category Syntax
18962 @subsubsection Category Syntax
18964 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
18965 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
18966 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
18969 @cindex Agent Parameters
18972 The list of groups that are in this category.
18974 @item agent-predicate
18975 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
18976 are eligible for downloading; and
18979 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
18980 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
18981 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
18983 @item agent-enable-expiration
18984 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
18985 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
18986 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
18987 only groups that should not be expired.
18989 @item agent-days-until-old
18990 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
18991 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
18993 @item agent-low-score
18994 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
18996 @item agent-high-score
18997 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
18999 @item agent-short-article
19000 an integer that overrides the value of
19001 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
19003 @item agent-long-article
19004 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
19006 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
19007 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
19008 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
19009 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
19010 undownloaded faces.
19013 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
19016 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
19017 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
19018 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
19021 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
19022 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
19023 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
19024 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
19026 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
19027 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
19028 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
19030 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
19031 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
19032 operators sprinkled in between.
19034 Perhaps some examples are in order.
19036 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
19037 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
19043 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
19044 short (for some value of ``short'').
19046 Here's a more complex predicate:
19055 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
19056 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
19059 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
19060 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
19061 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
19063 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
19064 you want to do, you can write your own.
19066 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
19067 bound to the value determined by calling
19068 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
19069 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
19070 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
19071 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
19072 predicate to individual groups.
19076 True if the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
19077 lines; default 100.
19080 True if the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
19081 lines; default 200.
19084 True if the article has a download score less than
19085 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
19088 True if the article has a download score greater than
19089 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
19092 True if the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
19093 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
19094 checksum and sees whether articles match.
19103 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
19104 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
19105 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
19108 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
19109 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
19110 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
19111 something along the lines of the following:
19114 (defun my-article-old-p ()
19115 "Say whether an article is old."
19116 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
19117 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
19120 with the predicate then defined as:
19123 (not my-article-old-p)
19126 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
19127 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
19131 (require 'gnus-agent)
19132 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
19133 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
19134 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
19137 and simply specify your predicate as:
19143 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
19144 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
19145 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
19146 just don't give a damn.
19148 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
19149 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
19150 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
19151 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
19152 parameters like so:
19155 (agent-predicate . short)
19158 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
19159 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
19160 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
19162 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
19165 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
19168 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
19169 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
19170 predicate is assumed to be a list.
19173 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
19174 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
19175 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
19176 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
19177 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
19178 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
19180 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
19181 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
19182 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
19183 if it's to be specific to that group.
19185 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
19192 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
19193 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
19199 Category specification
19203 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
19209 Group/Topic Parameter specification
19212 (agent-score ("from"
19213 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
19218 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
19224 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
19225 keywords stated above.
19231 Category specification
19234 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
19240 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
19244 Group Parameter specification
19247 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
19250 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
19255 Use @code{normal} score files
19257 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
19258 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
19259 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
19260 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
19262 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
19263 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
19264 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
19265 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
19269 Category Specification
19276 Group Parameter specification
19279 (agent-score . file)
19284 @node Category Buffer
19285 @subsubsection Category Buffer
19287 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
19288 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
19289 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
19291 The following commands are available in this buffer:
19295 @kindex q (Category)
19296 @findex gnus-category-exit
19297 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
19300 @kindex e (Category)
19301 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
19302 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
19303 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
19306 @kindex k (Category)
19307 @findex gnus-category-kill
19308 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
19311 @kindex c (Category)
19312 @findex gnus-category-copy
19313 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
19316 @kindex a (Category)
19317 @findex gnus-category-add
19318 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
19321 @kindex p (Category)
19322 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
19323 Edit the predicate of the current category
19324 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
19327 @kindex g (Category)
19328 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
19329 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
19330 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
19333 @kindex s (Category)
19334 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
19335 Edit the download score rule of the current category
19336 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
19339 @kindex l (Category)
19340 @findex gnus-category-list
19341 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
19345 @node Category Variables
19346 @subsubsection Category Variables
19349 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
19350 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
19351 Hook run in category buffers.
19353 @item gnus-category-line-format
19354 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
19355 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
19356 Variables}). Valid elements are:
19360 The name of the category.
19363 The number of groups in the category.
19366 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
19367 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
19368 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
19370 @item gnus-agent-short-article
19371 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
19372 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
19374 @item gnus-agent-long-article
19375 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
19376 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
19378 @item gnus-agent-low-score
19379 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
19380 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
19383 @item gnus-agent-high-score
19384 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
19385 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
19388 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
19389 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
19390 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
19391 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
19392 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
19393 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
19394 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
19395 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
19399 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
19400 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
19401 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
19402 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
19403 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
19404 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
19405 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
19410 @node Agent Commands
19411 @subsection Agent Commands
19412 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
19413 @kindex J j (Agent)
19415 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
19416 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
19417 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
19421 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
19422 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
19423 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
19429 @node Group Agent Commands
19430 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
19434 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
19435 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
19436 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
19437 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
19440 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
19441 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
19442 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
19445 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
19446 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
19447 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
19448 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
19451 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
19452 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
19453 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
19454 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
19457 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
19458 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
19459 Add the current group to an Agent category
19460 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
19461 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19464 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
19465 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
19466 Remove the current group from its category, if any
19467 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
19468 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
19471 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
19472 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19473 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
19479 @node Summary Agent Commands
19480 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
19484 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
19485 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
19486 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
19489 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
19490 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
19491 Remove the downloading mark from the article
19492 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
19496 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
19497 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
19498 Toggle whether to download the article
19499 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
19503 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
19504 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
19505 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
19508 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
19509 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
19510 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
19511 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
19514 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
19515 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series
19516 Download all processable articles in this group.
19517 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-series}).
19520 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
19521 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
19522 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
19523 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
19528 @node Server Agent Commands
19529 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
19533 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
19534 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
19535 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
19536 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
19539 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
19540 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
19541 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
19542 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
19547 @node Agent Visuals
19548 @subsection Agent Visuals
19550 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
19551 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
19552 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
19553 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
19554 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
19555 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
19556 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
19557 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
19558 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
19559 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
19561 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
19562 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
19563 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
19564 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
19565 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
19566 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
19567 the download status of each article so that you always know which
19568 articles will be available when unplugged.
19570 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
19571 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
19572 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
19573 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
19574 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
19575 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
19576 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
19577 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
19579 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
19580 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
19581 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
19582 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
19583 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
19584 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
19585 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
19586 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
19587 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
19589 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
19590 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
19591 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
19592 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
19593 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
19594 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
19595 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
19596 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
19597 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
19598 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
19600 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
19601 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
19602 group parameter to @code{t}. This parameter, like all other agent
19603 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}),
19604 a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an individual group
19605 (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19607 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
19608 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
19609 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
19610 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
19611 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
19612 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
19613 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
19614 expiring'' articles.
19616 @node Agent as Cache
19617 @subsection Agent as Cache
19619 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
19620 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
19621 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
19622 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
19623 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
19624 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
19625 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
19626 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
19627 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
19629 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
19630 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
19631 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
19632 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
19633 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
19636 @subsection Agent Expiry
19638 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
19639 @findex gnus-agent-expire
19640 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
19641 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
19642 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
19643 @cindex agent expiry
19644 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
19645 @cindex expiry, in Gnus agent
19647 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
19648 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
19649 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
19650 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
19651 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
19652 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
19653 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
19654 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
19656 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
19657 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
19658 synchronized with the group.
19660 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
19661 prevent expiration in selected groups.
19663 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
19664 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
19665 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
19666 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
19667 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
19668 be kept indefinitely.
19670 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
19671 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
19672 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
19673 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
19675 @node Agent Regeneration
19676 @subsection Agent Regeneration
19678 @cindex agent regeneration
19679 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
19680 @cindex regeneration
19682 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
19683 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
19684 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
19685 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
19686 internal inconsistencies.
19688 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
19689 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
19690 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
19691 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
19692 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
19693 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
19695 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
19696 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
19697 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
19698 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
19699 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
19700 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
19702 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19703 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
19704 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
19705 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
19706 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
19707 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
19710 @node Agent and flags
19711 @subsection Agent and flags
19713 The Agent works with any Gnus back end including those, such as
19714 nnimap, that store flags (read, ticked, etc) on the server. Sadly,
19715 the Agent does not actually know which backends keep their flags in
19716 the backend server rather than in @file{.newsrc}. This means that the
19717 Agent, while unplugged or disconnected, will always record all changes
19718 to the flags in its own files.
19720 When you plug back in, Gnus will then check to see if you have any
19721 changed any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the
19722 server. This behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
19724 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19725 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19726 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19727 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19728 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19729 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19731 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
19732 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
19733 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
19734 in the group buffer.
19736 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
19737 all local flags to the server, but rather by incrementally updated the
19738 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
19739 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group then
19740 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
19741 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
19742 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
19743 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
19745 @node Agent and IMAP
19746 @subsection Agent and IMAP
19748 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
19749 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
19750 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
19751 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
19753 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
19754 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
19759 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
19762 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
19766 @node Outgoing Messages
19767 @subsection Outgoing Messages
19769 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
19770 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
19771 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
19773 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
19774 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
19775 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
19777 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
19778 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
19779 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
19780 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
19783 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
19784 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
19785 ask you to confirm your action (see
19786 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
19788 @node Agent Variables
19789 @subsection Agent Variables
19794 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
19795 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
19796 automatically mark some back ends as agentized. You may change which
19797 back ends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
19799 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
19800 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
19803 @item gnus-agent-directory
19804 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
19805 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
19806 @file{~/News/agent/}.
19808 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
19809 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
19810 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
19811 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
19812 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
19815 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19816 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
19817 Hook run when connecting to the network.
19819 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19820 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
19821 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
19823 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19824 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
19825 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
19827 @item gnus-agent-cache
19828 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
19829 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
19830 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
19831 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
19833 @item gnus-agent-go-online
19834 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
19835 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
19836 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
19837 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
19838 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
19839 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
19842 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19843 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
19844 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
19845 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
19846 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
19847 read. The default is @code{t}.
19849 @item gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19850 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
19851 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
19852 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
19853 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
19854 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
19855 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
19857 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19858 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
19859 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
19860 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
19861 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
19862 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
19863 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
19864 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
19865 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
19866 over and over again.
19868 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19869 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
19870 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
19871 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
19872 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
19873 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
19874 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
19875 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
19876 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
19877 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
19878 However, all articles parsed prior to losing the connection will be
19879 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
19882 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
19883 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
19884 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
19885 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
19886 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
19887 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
19888 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
19889 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
19890 is only valid if the Agent is used.
19892 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19893 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
19894 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
19895 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
19896 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
19897 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
19899 The valid values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
19900 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
19901 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
19902 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
19903 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
19905 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
19906 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
19907 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
19908 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
19909 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
19910 mail. The default is @code{t}.
19912 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19913 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
19914 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
19915 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
19916 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
19918 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19919 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
19920 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
19921 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
19922 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
19923 which back ends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
19924 to agentize remote back ends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
19925 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
19926 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
19927 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
19928 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
19933 @node Example Setup
19934 @subsection Example Setup
19936 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
19937 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
19938 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
19941 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
19942 ;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
19943 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
19945 ;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
19946 ;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
19947 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
19949 ;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
19950 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
19952 ;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
19953 ;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
19954 ;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
19957 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
19958 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
19961 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
19962 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
19963 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
19964 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
19965 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
19968 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
19969 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
19970 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
19971 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
19972 back all the killed groups.)
19974 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
19975 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
19976 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
19979 @node Batching Agents
19980 @subsection Batching Agents
19981 @findex gnus-agent-batch
19983 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
19984 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
19985 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
19987 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
19988 following incantation:
19992 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
19996 @node Agent Caveats
19997 @subsection Agent Caveats
19999 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
20000 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
20004 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
20006 @strong{No}. If you want this behavior, add
20007 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
20008 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
20010 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
20011 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
20013 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
20017 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
20018 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
20019 locally stored articles.
20026 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
20027 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
20028 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
20031 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
20032 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
20033 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
20034 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
20035 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
20037 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
20038 before generating the summary buffer.
20040 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
20041 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
20042 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
20044 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
20045 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
20046 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
20047 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
20050 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
20051 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
20052 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
20053 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
20054 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
20055 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
20056 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
20057 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
20058 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
20059 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
20060 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
20061 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
20062 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
20063 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
20064 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
20065 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
20069 @node Summary Score Commands
20070 @section Summary Score Commands
20071 @cindex score commands
20073 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
20074 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
20075 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
20076 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
20077 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
20079 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
20080 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
20081 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
20082 score file the current one.
20084 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
20089 @kindex V s (Summary)
20090 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
20091 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
20094 @kindex V S (Summary)
20095 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
20096 Display the score of the current article
20097 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
20100 @kindex V t (Summary)
20101 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
20102 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
20103 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
20104 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
20105 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
20106 score file and edit it.
20109 @kindex V w (Summary)
20110 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
20111 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
20114 @kindex V R (Summary)
20115 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
20116 Run the current summary through the scoring process
20117 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
20118 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
20119 effect you're having.
20122 @kindex V c (Summary)
20123 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
20124 Make a different score file the current
20125 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
20128 @kindex V e (Summary)
20129 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
20130 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
20131 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
20135 @kindex V f (Summary)
20136 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
20137 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
20138 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
20141 @kindex V F (Summary)
20142 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
20143 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
20144 after editing score files.
20147 @kindex V C (Summary)
20148 @findex gnus-score-customize
20149 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
20150 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
20154 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
20159 @kindex V m (Summary)
20160 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
20161 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
20162 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
20165 @kindex V x (Summary)
20166 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
20167 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
20168 expunge all articles below this score
20169 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
20172 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
20173 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
20176 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
20177 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
20181 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
20182 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
20184 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
20185 keys are available:
20189 Score on the author name.
20192 Score on the subject line.
20195 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
20198 Score on the @code{References} line.
20204 Score on the number of lines.
20207 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
20210 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
20211 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
20214 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
20215 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
20216 @file{ADAPT} files.)
20225 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
20231 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
20232 what headers you are scoring on.
20244 Substring matching.
20247 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
20276 Greater than number.
20281 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
20282 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
20283 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
20288 Temporary score entry.
20291 Permanent score entry.
20294 Immediately scoring.
20298 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
20299 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
20300 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
20304 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
20305 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
20306 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
20307 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
20309 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
20310 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
20311 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
20312 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
20313 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
20315 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
20316 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
20317 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
20318 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
20319 current score file.
20321 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
20322 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
20323 pretend they are keymaps or not.
20326 @node Group Score Commands
20327 @section Group Score Commands
20328 @cindex group score commands
20330 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
20335 @kindex W e (Group)
20336 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
20337 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
20338 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
20341 @kindex W f (Group)
20342 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
20343 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
20344 all the time. This command will flush the cache
20345 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
20349 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
20351 @findex gnus-batch-score
20352 @cindex batch scoring
20354 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
20358 @node Score Variables
20359 @section Score Variables
20360 @cindex score variables
20364 @item gnus-use-scoring
20365 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
20366 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
20367 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
20369 @item gnus-kill-killed
20370 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
20371 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
20372 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
20373 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
20374 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
20375 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
20376 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
20378 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
20379 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
20380 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
20381 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
20382 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
20384 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
20385 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
20386 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
20387 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
20389 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
20390 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
20391 @cindex score cache
20392 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
20393 score files. However, this might make your Emacs grow big and
20394 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
20395 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
20396 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
20397 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
20398 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
20401 @item gnus-save-score
20402 @vindex gnus-save-score
20403 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
20404 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
20405 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
20407 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
20408 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
20409 across group visits.
20411 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
20412 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
20413 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
20414 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
20415 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
20416 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
20417 manually entered data.
20419 @item gnus-summary-default-score
20420 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
20421 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
20423 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
20424 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
20425 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
20426 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
20427 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
20428 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
20430 @item gnus-score-over-mark
20431 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
20432 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
20433 default. Default is @samp{+}.
20435 @item gnus-score-below-mark
20436 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
20437 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
20438 default. Default is @samp{-}.
20440 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
20441 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
20442 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
20443 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
20445 Predefined functions available are:
20448 @item gnus-score-find-single
20449 @findex gnus-score-find-single
20450 Only apply the group's own score file.
20452 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
20453 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
20454 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
20455 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
20456 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
20457 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
20458 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
20459 then a regexp match is done.
20461 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
20462 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
20464 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
20465 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
20466 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
20467 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
20469 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
20470 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
20471 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
20472 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
20473 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
20477 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
20478 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
20479 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
20480 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
20481 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
20482 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
20483 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
20486 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
20487 overall score file, you could use the value
20489 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
20490 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
20493 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
20494 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
20495 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
20496 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
20497 are expired. It's 7 by default.
20499 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
20500 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
20501 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
20502 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
20503 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
20504 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
20505 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
20506 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
20508 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
20509 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
20510 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
20512 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
20513 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
20514 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
20515 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
20516 threading---according to the current value of
20517 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
20518 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
20519 simplified in this manner.
20524 @node Score File Format
20525 @section Score File Format
20526 @cindex score file format
20528 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
20529 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
20530 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
20532 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
20536 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
20538 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
20540 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
20542 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
20547 (mark-and-expunge -10)
20551 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
20552 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
20553 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
20554 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
20558 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
20559 Scoring}, for a different approach.
20561 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
20562 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
20563 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
20565 Six keys are supported by this alist:
20570 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
20571 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
20572 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
20573 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
20574 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
20575 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
20576 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
20577 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
20578 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
20579 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
20580 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
20581 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
20582 to articles that matches these score entries.
20584 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
20585 score entry has one to four elements.
20589 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
20590 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
20594 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
20595 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
20596 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
20597 is successful. If this element is not present, the
20598 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
20599 instead. This is 1000 by default.
20602 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
20603 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
20604 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
20605 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
20606 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
20609 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
20610 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
20611 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
20612 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
20615 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
20616 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
20617 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
20618 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
20619 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
20620 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
20621 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
20622 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
20623 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
20624 instead, if you feel like.
20627 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
20628 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
20629 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
20630 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
20631 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
20632 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
20636 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
20637 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
20641 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
20642 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
20644 These predicates are true if
20647 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
20650 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
20651 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
20658 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
20659 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
20660 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
20661 it's not. I think.)
20663 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
20664 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
20665 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
20666 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
20669 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
20670 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
20671 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
20672 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
20673 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
20674 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
20675 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
20679 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
20680 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
20681 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
20682 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
20683 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
20684 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
20685 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
20686 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
20689 @item Head, Body, All
20690 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
20694 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
20695 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
20696 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
20697 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
20698 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
20699 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
20700 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
20704 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
20705 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
20706 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
20707 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
20708 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
20709 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
20710 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
20711 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
20712 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
20713 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
20714 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
20718 @cindex score file atoms
20720 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20721 lower than this number will be marked as read.
20724 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20725 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
20727 @item mark-and-expunge
20728 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
20729 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
20732 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
20733 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
20734 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
20735 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
20736 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
20739 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
20740 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
20743 @item exclude-files
20744 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
20745 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
20749 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}ed. This element will be
20750 ignored when handling global score files.
20753 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
20754 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
20755 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
20756 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
20759 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
20760 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
20761 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
20762 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
20764 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
20768 (mark-and-expunge -100)
20771 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
20772 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
20773 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{c y}) the
20774 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
20775 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
20777 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
20778 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
20779 scoring rules exist.
20782 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
20783 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
20784 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
20785 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
20786 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
20787 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
20788 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20789 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
20790 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
20791 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
20792 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
20796 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
20797 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
20798 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
20799 file for a number of groups.
20802 @cindex local variables
20803 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
20804 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
20805 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
20806 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
20807 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
20812 @node Score File Editing
20813 @section Score File Editing
20815 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
20816 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
20817 with a mode for that.
20819 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
20820 additional commands:
20825 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
20826 @findex gnus-score-edit-exit
20827 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
20828 (@code{gnus-score-edit-exit}).
20831 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
20832 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
20833 Insert the current date in numerical format
20834 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
20835 you were wondering.
20838 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
20839 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
20840 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
20841 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
20842 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
20847 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
20849 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
20850 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
20852 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
20853 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
20856 @node Adaptive Scoring
20857 @section Adaptive Scoring
20858 @cindex adaptive scoring
20860 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
20861 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
20862 stupidity, to be precise.
20864 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
20865 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
20866 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
20867 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
20868 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
20869 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
20870 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
20871 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
20872 variable to @code{(word line)}.
20874 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20875 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
20876 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
20877 might look something like this:
20880 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
20881 '((gnus-unread-mark)
20882 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
20883 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
20884 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
20885 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
20886 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
20887 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
20888 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
20889 (gnus-ancient-mark)
20890 (gnus-low-score-mark)
20891 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
20894 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
20895 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
20896 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
20897 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
20898 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
20899 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
20902 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
20903 will be applied to each article.
20905 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
20906 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
20907 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
20908 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
20910 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
20911 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
20912 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
20913 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
20915 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
20916 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
20917 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
20918 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
20920 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
20921 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
20922 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
20923 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
20924 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
20925 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
20927 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
20928 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
20929 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
20931 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
20932 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
20933 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
20935 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
20936 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
20937 let you use different rules in different groups.
20939 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
20940 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
20941 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
20944 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
20945 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
20946 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
20947 default) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
20949 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
20950 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
20951 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
20952 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
20953 the length of the match is less than
20954 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
20955 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
20958 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20959 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
20960 headers. If you adapt on words, the
20961 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
20962 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
20965 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
20966 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
20967 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
20968 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
20969 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
20972 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
20973 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
20974 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
20975 score with 30 points.
20977 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
20978 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
20979 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
20980 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
20981 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
20983 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
20984 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
20985 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
20986 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
20987 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
20989 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
20990 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
20991 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
20992 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
20994 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
20995 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
20996 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
20997 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
20999 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
21000 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
21001 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
21002 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
21003 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
21005 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
21006 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
21007 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
21009 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
21010 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
21011 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
21012 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
21015 @node Home Score File
21016 @section Home Score File
21018 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
21019 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
21020 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
21021 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
21023 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
21024 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
21025 could perhaps use the same home score file.
21027 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
21028 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
21033 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
21037 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
21038 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
21042 A list. The elements in this list can be:
21046 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
21047 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
21050 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
21051 be used as the home score file. The function will be called with the
21052 name of the group as the parameter.
21055 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
21058 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
21063 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
21066 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21067 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
21070 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
21071 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
21073 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
21075 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21076 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
21079 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
21080 Other functions include
21083 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
21084 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
21085 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
21086 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
21090 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
21091 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
21092 their own home score files:
21095 (setq gnus-home-score-file
21096 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
21097 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
21098 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
21099 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
21102 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
21103 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
21104 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
21105 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
21106 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
21108 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
21109 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
21110 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
21111 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
21112 precedence over this variable.
21115 @node Followups To Yourself
21116 @section Followups To Yourself
21118 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
21119 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
21120 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
21121 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
21122 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
21123 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
21127 @item gnus-score-followup-article
21128 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
21129 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
21132 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
21133 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
21134 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
21138 @vindex message-sent-hook
21139 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
21140 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
21142 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
21146 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
21147 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
21151 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
21152 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
21155 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
21156 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
21161 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
21165 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
21166 is system-dependent.
21169 @node Scoring On Other Headers
21170 @section Scoring On Other Headers
21171 @cindex scoring on other headers
21173 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
21174 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
21175 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
21176 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
21177 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
21179 @vindex gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring
21180 You can inhibit this slow scoring on headers or body by setting the
21181 variable @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring}. If
21182 @code{gnus-inhibit-slow-scoring} is regexp, slow scoring is inhibited if
21183 the group matches the regexp. If it is t, slow scoring on it is
21184 inhibited for all groups.
21186 Now, there's not much you can do about the slowness for news groups, but for
21187 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
21188 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
21189 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
21190 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
21192 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21195 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
21196 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
21199 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
21200 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
21201 time if you have much mail.
21203 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
21204 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
21210 @section Scoring Tips
21211 @cindex scoring tips
21217 @cindex scoring crossposts
21218 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
21219 the @code{Xref} header.
21221 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
21224 @item Multiple crossposts
21225 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
21226 more than, say, 3 groups:
21229 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
21233 @item Matching on the body
21234 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
21235 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
21236 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
21237 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
21238 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
21239 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
21240 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
21243 @item Marking as read
21244 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
21245 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
21246 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
21250 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
21252 @item Negated character classes
21253 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
21254 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
21255 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
21259 @node Reverse Scoring
21260 @section Reverse Scoring
21261 @cindex reverse scoring
21263 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
21264 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
21265 like this in your score file:
21269 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
21274 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
21275 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
21278 @node Global Score Files
21279 @section Global Score Files
21280 @cindex global score files
21282 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
21283 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
21284 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
21286 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
21287 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
21288 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
21290 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
21291 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
21292 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
21293 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
21294 files are applicable to which group.
21296 To use the score file
21297 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
21298 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
21302 (setq gnus-global-score-files
21303 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
21304 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
21307 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
21309 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
21310 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
21311 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
21312 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
21314 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
21315 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
21317 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
21318 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
21319 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
21320 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
21321 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
21322 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
21324 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
21330 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
21332 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
21334 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
21336 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
21337 lowered out of existence.
21339 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
21340 articles completely.
21343 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
21344 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
21345 old articles for a long time.
21348 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
21349 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
21350 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
21351 holding our breath yet?
21355 @section Kill Files
21358 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
21359 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
21360 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
21362 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
21363 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
21364 files into score files.
21366 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
21367 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
21368 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
21369 that isn't a very good idea.
21371 Normal kill files look like this:
21374 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21375 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
21379 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
21380 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
21382 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
21383 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
21386 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
21391 @kindex M-k (Summary)
21392 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
21393 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
21396 @kindex M-K (Summary)
21397 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
21398 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
21401 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
21406 @kindex M-k (Group)
21407 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
21408 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
21411 @kindex M-K (Group)
21412 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
21413 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
21416 Kill file variables:
21419 @item gnus-kill-file-name
21420 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
21421 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
21422 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
21423 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
21424 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
21425 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
21427 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
21428 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
21429 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
21430 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
21433 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
21434 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
21435 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
21436 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
21437 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
21438 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
21439 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
21440 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
21441 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
21443 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
21444 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
21445 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
21450 @node Converting Kill Files
21451 @section Converting Kill Files
21453 @cindex converting kill files
21455 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
21456 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
21457 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
21460 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Emacs by default.
21461 You can fetch it from the contrib directory of the Gnus distribution or
21463 @uref{http://heim.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
21465 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
21466 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
21467 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
21471 @node Advanced Scoring
21472 @section Advanced Scoring
21474 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
21475 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
21476 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
21477 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
21478 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
21480 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
21484 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
21485 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
21486 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
21490 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
21491 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
21493 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
21494 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
21495 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
21496 non-@code{nil} value.
21498 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
21499 operator, and various match operators.
21506 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
21507 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
21508 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
21513 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
21514 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
21515 then this operator will return @code{false}.
21520 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
21521 logical negation of the value of its argument.
21525 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
21526 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
21527 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
21528 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
21529 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
21530 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
21531 the ancestry you want to go.
21533 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
21534 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
21535 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
21536 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
21537 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
21540 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
21541 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
21543 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
21544 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
21547 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
21548 when he's talking about Gnus:
21553 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21554 ("subject" "Gnus"))
21561 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
21565 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21572 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
21573 really don't want to read what he's written:
21577 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
21578 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigil Logge")))
21582 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
21583 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
21584 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
21591 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
21592 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
21593 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
21594 ("body" "white.*socks"))
21598 Suppose you're reading a high volume group and you're only interested
21599 in replies. The plan is to score down all articles that don't have
21600 subject that begin with "Re:", "Fw:" or "Fwd:" and then score up all
21601 parents of articles that have subjects that begin with reply marks.
21604 ((! ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
21606 ((1- ("subject" "re:\\|fwd?:" r))
21610 The possibilities are endless.
21612 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
21613 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
21615 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
21616 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
21617 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
21618 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
21619 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
21620 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
21621 @samp{subject}) first.
21623 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
21624 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
21635 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
21636 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
21642 ("subject" "Gnus")))
21649 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
21650 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
21655 @section Score Decays
21656 @cindex score decays
21659 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
21660 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
21661 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
21662 use them in any sensible way.
21664 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
21665 @findex gnus-decay-score
21666 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
21667 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
21668 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
21669 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
21670 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
21671 If @code{gnus-decay-scores} is a regexp, only score files matching this
21672 regexp are treated. E.g. you may set it to @samp{\\.ADAPT\\'} if only
21673 @emph{adaptive} score files should be decayed. The decay itself if
21674 performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function} function, which is
21675 @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the definition of that
21679 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
21680 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
21681 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
21683 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
21685 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
21687 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
21688 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
21689 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
21690 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
21691 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
21693 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
21697 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
21698 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
21699 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
21700 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
21704 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
21707 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
21710 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
21714 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
21715 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
21716 the new score, which should be an integer.
21718 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
21719 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
21724 @include message.texi
21725 @chapter Emacs MIME
21726 @include emacs-mime.texi
21728 @include sieve.texi
21740 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
21741 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
21742 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
21743 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
21744 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
21745 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
21746 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
21747 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
21748 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
21749 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
21750 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
21751 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
21752 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
21753 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
21754 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
21755 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
21756 * Thwarting Email Spam:: Simple ways to avoid unsolicited commercial email.
21757 * Spam Package:: A package for filtering and processing spam.
21758 * The Gnus Registry:: A package for tracking messages by Message-ID.
21759 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
21760 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
21764 @node Process/Prefix
21765 @section Process/Prefix
21766 @cindex process/prefix convention
21768 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
21769 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
21771 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
21772 command to be performed on.
21776 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
21777 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
21778 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
21779 with the current one.
21781 @vindex transient-mark-mode
21782 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
21783 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
21785 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
21786 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
21789 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
21790 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
21792 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
21795 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
21796 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
21797 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
21798 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
21800 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
21801 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
21802 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
21803 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
21804 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
21805 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
21806 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
21807 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
21809 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
21810 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
21811 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
21812 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
21813 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
21817 @section Interactive
21818 @cindex interaction
21822 @item gnus-novice-user
21823 @vindex gnus-novice-user
21824 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
21825 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
21826 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
21827 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
21830 @item gnus-expert-user
21831 @vindex gnus-expert-user
21832 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
21833 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing,
21834 no matter how strange. For example, quitting Gnus, exiting a group
21835 without an update, catching up with a group, deleting expired
21836 articles, and replying by mail to a news message will not require
21839 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
21840 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
21841 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
21842 is @code{t} by default.
21844 @item gnus-interactive-exit
21845 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
21846 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21851 @node Symbolic Prefixes
21852 @section Symbolic Prefixes
21853 @cindex symbolic prefixes
21855 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
21856 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
21857 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
21858 rule of 900 to the current article.
21860 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
21861 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
21862 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
21863 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
21864 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
21865 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
21866 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
21868 @kindex M-i (Summary)
21869 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
21870 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
21871 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
21872 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
21873 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
21874 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
21875 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
21876 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
21878 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
21879 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
21880 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
21882 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
21886 @node Formatting Variables
21887 @section Formatting Variables
21888 @cindex formatting variables
21890 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
21891 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
21892 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
21893 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
21894 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
21897 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
21898 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
21899 lots of percentages everywhere.
21902 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
21903 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
21904 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
21905 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
21906 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
21907 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
21908 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
21909 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
21912 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
21913 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
21914 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
21915 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
21916 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
21917 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
21918 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
21919 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
21921 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
21922 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
21924 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
21925 @findex gnus-update-format
21926 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
21927 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
21928 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
21929 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
21933 @node Formatting Basics
21934 @subsection Formatting Basics
21936 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
21937 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
21938 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
21940 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
21941 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
21942 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
21943 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
21944 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
21947 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
21948 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
21949 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
21950 less than 4 characters wide.
21952 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
21953 @samp{%&user-date;}.
21956 @node Mode Line Formatting
21957 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
21959 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
21960 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
21961 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
21962 with the following two differences:
21967 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
21970 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
21971 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
21972 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
21973 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
21974 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
21975 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
21976 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
21981 @node Advanced Formatting
21982 @subsection Advanced Formatting
21984 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
21985 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
21986 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
21987 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
21989 These are the valid modifiers:
21994 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
21998 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
22003 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
22006 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
22011 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
22014 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
22017 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
22020 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
22026 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
22031 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
22032 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
22033 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
22034 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
22035 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
22036 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
22037 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
22039 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
22040 last operation, padding.
22042 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
22043 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
22044 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
22045 @xref{Compilation}.
22048 @node User-Defined Specs
22049 @subsection User-Defined Specs
22051 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
22052 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
22053 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
22054 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
22055 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
22056 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
22057 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
22058 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
22059 should protect against that.
22061 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
22062 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
22064 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
22065 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
22066 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
22067 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
22071 @node Formatting Fonts
22072 @subsection Formatting Fonts
22075 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22076 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
22077 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
22078 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
22079 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
22083 @vindex gnus-face-0
22084 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
22085 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
22086 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
22087 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
22088 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
22089 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
22091 @cindex %<<, %>>, guillemets
22092 @c @cindex %<<, %>>, %«, %», guillemets
22093 @vindex gnus-balloon-face-0
22094 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
22095 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
22096 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
22097 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
22098 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
22099 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
22100 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
22101 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
22102 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
22103 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
22104 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
22107 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
22110 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
22111 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
22112 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
22114 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
22115 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
22116 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
22117 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
22118 ;; @r{Set the color.}
22119 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
22120 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
22122 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
22123 (setq gnus-group-line-format
22124 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
22127 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
22128 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
22130 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
22131 mode-line variables.
22133 @node Positioning Point
22134 @subsection Positioning Point
22136 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
22137 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
22138 line. You can customize this behavior in three different ways.
22140 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
22142 @findex gnus-goto-colon
22143 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
22144 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
22146 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
22147 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
22148 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
22153 @subsection Tabulation
22155 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
22156 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
22157 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
22158 about lining up the following text afterwards.
22160 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
22161 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
22163 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22164 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
22165 This is the soft tabulator.
22167 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
22168 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
22169 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
22172 @node Wide Characters
22173 @subsection Wide Characters
22175 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
22176 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
22177 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
22179 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
22180 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
22181 these countries, that's not true.
22183 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
22184 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
22185 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
22186 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
22190 @node Window Layout
22191 @section Window Layout
22192 @cindex window layout
22194 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
22196 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
22197 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
22198 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
22199 @code{t} by default.
22201 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
22202 glitches. Use at your own peril.
22204 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
22205 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
22206 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
22209 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)))
22210 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22214 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
22215 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
22216 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
22217 possible names is listed below.
22219 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
22220 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
22223 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
22227 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
22228 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
22229 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
22230 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
22231 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
22232 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
22233 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
22234 size spec per split.
22236 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
22237 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
22238 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
22239 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
22240 present) gets focus.
22242 Here's a more complicated example:
22245 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
22246 (summary 0.25 point)
22250 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
22251 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
22252 occupy, not a percentage.
22254 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
22255 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
22256 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
22257 be used as a split.
22259 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
22262 (article (horizontal 1.0
22266 (summary 0.25 point)
22270 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
22271 @code{horizontal} thingie?
22273 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
22274 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
22275 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
22276 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
22277 the screen is to be given to this strip.
22279 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
22280 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
22281 lines from the splits.
22283 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
22288 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
22289 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
22290 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
22291 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
22292 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
22293 size = number | frame-params
22294 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
22298 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
22299 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
22300 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
22301 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
22303 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
22304 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
22305 @cindex window height
22306 @cindex window width
22307 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
22308 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
22309 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
22310 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
22311 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
22312 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
22314 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
22315 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
22316 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
22317 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
22319 @findex gnus-configure-frame
22320 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
22321 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
22322 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
22323 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
22324 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
22325 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
22326 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
22327 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
22328 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
22329 configuration list.
22332 (gnus-configure-frame
22336 (article 0.3 point))
22344 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
22345 @code{frame} split:
22348 (gnus-configure-frame
22351 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
22353 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
22354 (user-position . t)
22355 (left . -1) (top . 1))
22360 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
22361 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
22362 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
22363 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
22364 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
22365 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
22366 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
22367 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
22369 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
22370 be found in its default value.
22372 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
22373 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
22374 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
22378 (message (horizontal 1.0
22379 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
22381 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
22386 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
22387 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
22388 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
22393 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
22394 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
22395 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
22396 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
22397 (name . "Message"))
22398 (message 1.0 point))))
22401 @findex gnus-add-configuration
22402 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
22403 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
22404 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
22405 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
22408 (gnus-add-configuration
22409 '(article (vertical 1.0
22411 (summary .25 point)
22415 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
22416 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
22417 Gnus has been loaded.
22419 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
22420 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
22421 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
22422 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
22423 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
22425 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
22426 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
22427 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
22430 @subsection Example Window Configurations
22434 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
22435 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
22450 (gnus-add-configuration
22453 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22455 (summary 0.16 point)
22458 (gnus-add-configuration
22461 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
22462 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
22468 @node Faces and Fonts
22469 @section Faces and Fonts
22474 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
22475 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
22476 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
22481 @section Compilation
22482 @cindex compilation
22483 @cindex byte-compilation
22485 @findex gnus-compile
22487 Remember all those line format specification variables?
22488 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
22489 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
22490 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
22491 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
22492 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
22495 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
22496 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
22497 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
22498 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
22499 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
22500 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
22501 them into the @file{~/.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
22505 @section Mode Lines
22508 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
22509 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
22510 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
22511 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
22512 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
22513 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
22514 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
22517 @cindex display-time
22519 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
22520 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
22521 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
22522 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
22523 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
22524 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
22525 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
22526 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
22529 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
22531 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
22532 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
22534 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
22535 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
22536 (length display-time-string)))))
22539 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
22540 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
22541 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
22542 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
22543 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
22546 @node Highlighting and Menus
22547 @section Highlighting and Menus
22549 @cindex highlighting
22552 @vindex gnus-visual
22553 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
22554 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
22555 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
22558 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
22559 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
22562 @item group-highlight
22563 Do highlights in the group buffer.
22564 @item summary-highlight
22565 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
22566 @item article-highlight
22567 Do highlights in the article buffer.
22569 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
22571 Create menus in the group buffer.
22573 Create menus in the summary buffers.
22575 Create menus in the article buffer.
22577 Create menus in the browse buffer.
22579 Create menus in the server buffer.
22581 Create menus in the score buffers.
22583 Create menus in all buffers.
22586 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
22587 buffers, you could say something like:
22590 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
22593 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
22596 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
22599 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
22600 in all Gnus buffers.
22602 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
22605 @item gnus-mouse-face
22606 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
22607 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
22608 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
22612 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
22616 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
22617 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
22618 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
22620 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
22621 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
22622 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
22624 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
22625 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
22626 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
22628 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
22629 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
22630 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
22632 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
22633 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
22634 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
22636 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
22637 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
22638 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
22648 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
22649 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
22650 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
22651 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
22652 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
22654 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
22655 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
22656 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
22658 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
22659 been idle for thirty minutes:
22662 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
22665 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
22669 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
22672 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
22673 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
22674 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
22676 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
22677 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
22678 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
22679 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
22681 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
22682 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
22683 @var{idle} minutes.
22685 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
22686 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
22689 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
22690 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
22691 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
22693 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
22694 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
22695 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
22696 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
22698 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
22699 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22701 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
22703 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
22706 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
22707 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
22708 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
22709 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
22710 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
22711 @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
22712 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
22713 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
22714 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
22715 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
22717 @findex gnus-demon-init
22718 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
22719 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
22720 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
22721 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
22722 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
22724 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
22725 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
22726 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
22734 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
22735 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
22736 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
22738 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
22739 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
22740 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
22741 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
22742 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
22743 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
22744 @code{undo} function.
22746 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
22747 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
22748 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
22749 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
22750 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
22751 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
22752 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
22753 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
22754 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
22755 never be totally undoable.
22757 @findex gnus-undo-mode
22758 @vindex gnus-use-undo
22760 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
22761 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
22762 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
22763 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
22767 @node Predicate Specifiers
22768 @section Predicate Specifiers
22769 @cindex predicate specifiers
22771 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
22772 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
22773 to type all that much.
22775 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
22780 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
22781 gnus-article-unread-p)
22784 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
22785 functions all take one parameter.
22787 @findex gnus-make-predicate
22788 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
22789 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
22790 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
22795 @section Moderation
22798 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
22799 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
22800 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
22803 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
22807 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
22810 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
22812 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
22817 You split your incoming mail by matching on
22818 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
22819 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
22822 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
22823 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
22826 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
22827 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
22831 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
22834 (setq gnus-moderated-list
22835 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
22839 @node Fetching a Group
22840 @section Fetching a Group
22841 @cindex fetching a group
22843 @findex gnus-fetch-group
22844 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
22845 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
22846 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
22847 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
22848 It takes the group name as a parameter.
22851 @node Image Enhancements
22852 @section Image Enhancements
22854 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
22855 support images, Emacs 22 does.} and up, are able to display pictures and
22856 stuff, so Gnus has taken advantage of that.
22859 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
22860 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
22861 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
22862 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
22863 * Gravatars:: Display the avatar of people you read.
22864 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
22872 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
22873 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
22874 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
22878 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
22879 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
22880 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
22888 Viewing an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
22889 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions have), or that you
22890 have suitable conversion or display programs installed. If your Emacs
22891 has image support the default action is to display the face before the
22892 @code{From} header. If there's no native @code{X-Face} support, Gnus
22893 will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using external programs
22894 from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends, see below. For XEmacs it's
22895 faster if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support. The
22896 default action under Emacs without image support is to fork off the
22897 @code{display} program.
22899 On a GNU/Linux system, the @code{display} program is included in the
22900 ImageMagick package. For external conversion programs look for packages
22901 with names like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.
22902 On Windows, you may use the packages @code{netpbm} and @code{compface}
22903 from @url{http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net}. You need to add the
22904 @code{bin} directory to your @code{PATH} environment variable.
22905 @c In fact only the following DLLs and binaries seem to be required:
22906 @c compface1.dll uncompface.exe libnetpbm10.dll icontopbm.exe
22908 The variable @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} controls which programs
22909 are used to display the @code{X-Face} header. If this variable is a
22910 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
22911 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
22912 If @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches the
22913 @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
22915 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
22923 @vindex gnus-x-face
22924 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
22925 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
22926 default colors are black and white.
22928 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
22929 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
22930 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
22931 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
22932 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
22933 XEmacs. Here are examples:
22936 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
22937 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
22938 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
22939 (png . (:ascent 80))))
22941 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
22942 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
22943 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
22944 (png . (:relief -2))))
22947 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
22948 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
22949 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
22950 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
22951 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
22952 @samp{libcompface} library.
22955 If you use posting styles, you can use an @code{x-face-file} entry in
22956 @code{gnus-posting-styles}, @xref{Posting Styles}. If you don't, Gnus
22957 provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow easier
22958 insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages. You also need the
22959 above mentioned ImageMagick, netpbm or other image conversion packages
22960 (depending the values of the variables below) for these functions.
22962 @findex gnus-random-x-face
22963 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
22964 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
22965 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
22966 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
22967 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
22968 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
22969 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
22970 header data as a string.
22972 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
22973 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
22974 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
22975 randomly generated data.
22977 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
22978 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
22979 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
22980 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
22981 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
22983 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
22984 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22987 (setq message-required-news-headers
22988 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22989 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
22992 Using the last function would be something like this:
22995 (setq message-required-news-headers
22996 (nconc message-required-news-headers
22997 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
22998 (gnus-x-face-from-file
22999 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
23007 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces' implementations should really be harmonized.
23009 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
23010 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
23011 represent the author of the message.
23014 @findex gnus-article-display-face
23015 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
23016 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
23019 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
23020 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
23022 Viewing an @code{Face} header requires an Emacs that is able to display
23025 @c (if (featurep 'xemacs)
23027 @c (image-type-available-p 'png))
23029 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
23030 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
23032 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
23033 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
23034 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
23036 @findex gnus-face-from-file
23037 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
23038 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
23039 converts the file to Face format by using the
23040 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
23042 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
23043 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23046 (setq message-required-news-headers
23047 (nconc message-required-news-headers
23048 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
23049 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
23054 @subsection Smileys
23059 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
23064 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
23065 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
23067 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
23068 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23071 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
23074 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
23075 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
23076 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
23077 text and maps that to file names.
23079 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
23080 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
23081 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
23082 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
23083 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
23086 The following variables customize the appearance of the smileys:
23091 @vindex smiley-style
23092 Specifies the smiley style. Predefined smiley styles include
23093 @code{low-color} (small 13x14 pixel, three-color images), @code{medium}
23094 (more colorful images, 16x16 pixel), and @code{grayscale} (grayscale
23095 images, 14x14 pixel). The default depends on the height of the default
23098 @item smiley-data-directory
23099 @vindex smiley-data-directory
23100 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files. You shouldn't set this
23101 variable anymore. Customize @code{smiley-style} instead.
23103 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
23104 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
23105 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
23119 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
23120 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
23121 over your shoulder as you read news.
23123 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
23132 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
23133 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
23134 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
23135 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
23136 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
23137 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
23138 @code{GIF} formats.
23141 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23142 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
23143 point your Web browser at
23144 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
23146 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
23147 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
23149 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
23150 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
23153 @vindex gnus-picon-style
23154 The variable @code{gnus-picon-style} controls how picons are displayed.
23155 If @code{inline}, the textual representation is replaced. If
23156 @code{right}, picons are added right to the textual representation.
23158 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
23162 @item gnus-picon-databases
23163 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
23164 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
23165 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
23166 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
23167 "/usr/local/faces")}.
23169 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
23170 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
23171 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23172 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
23174 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
23175 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
23176 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
23177 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
23179 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
23180 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
23181 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
23182 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
23183 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
23185 @item gnus-picon-file-types
23186 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
23187 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
23188 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
23190 @item gnus-picon-inhibit-top-level-domains
23191 @vindex gnus-picon-inhibit-top-level-domains
23192 If non-@code{nil} (which is the default), don't display picons for
23193 things like @samp{.net} and @samp{.de}, which aren't usually very
23199 @subsection Gravatars
23203 \include{gravatars}
23207 A gravatar is an image registered to an e-mail address.
23209 You can submit yours on-line at @uref{http://www.gravatar.com}.
23211 The following variables offer control over how things are displayed.
23215 @item gnus-gravatar-size
23216 @vindex gnus-gravatar-size
23217 The size in pixels of gravatars. Gravatars are always square, so one
23218 number for the size is enough.
23220 @item gnus-gravatar-properties
23221 @vindex gnus-gravatar-properties
23222 List of image properties applied to Gravatar images.
23224 @item gnus-gravatar-too-ugly
23225 @vindex gnus-gravatar-too-ugly
23226 Regexp that matches mail addresses or names of people of which avatars
23227 should not be displayed, or @code{nil}. It default to the value of
23228 @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (@pxref{X-Face}).
23232 If you want to see them in the From field, set:
23234 (setq gnus-treat-from-gravatar 'head)
23237 If you want to see them in the Cc and To fields, set:
23240 (setq gnus-treat-mail-gravatar 'head)
23245 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
23248 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23249 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
23250 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
23251 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
23252 unusual directory structure.
23254 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23255 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
23256 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
23261 @subsubsection Toolbar
23265 @item gnus-use-toolbar
23266 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
23267 This variable specifies the position to display the toolbar. If
23268 @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If it is non-@code{nil}, it should
23269 be one of the symbols @code{default}, @code{top}, @code{bottom},
23270 @code{right}, and @code{left}. @code{default} means to use the default
23271 toolbar, the rest mean to display the toolbar on the place which those
23272 names show. The default is @code{default}.
23274 @item gnus-toolbar-thickness
23275 @vindex gnus-toolbar-thickness
23276 Cons of the height and the width specifying the thickness of a toolbar.
23277 The height is used for the toolbar displayed on the top or the bottom,
23278 the width is used for the toolbar displayed on the right or the left.
23279 The default is that of the default toolbar.
23281 @item gnus-group-toolbar
23282 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
23283 The toolbar in the group buffer.
23285 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
23286 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
23287 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
23289 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23290 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
23291 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
23302 @node Fuzzy Matching
23303 @section Fuzzy Matching
23304 @cindex fuzzy matching
23306 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
23307 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
23309 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
23310 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
23311 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
23313 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
23314 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
23315 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
23316 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
23317 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
23320 @node Thwarting Email Spam
23321 @section Thwarting Email Spam
23325 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23327 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
23328 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
23329 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
23330 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
23331 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
23332 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
23333 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
23334 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
23337 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
23338 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
23339 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
23340 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
23341 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
23342 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
23344 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
23347 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
23348 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
23349 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
23350 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
23353 @node The problem of spam
23354 @subsection The problem of spam
23356 @cindex spam filtering approaches
23357 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
23359 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23361 First, some background on spam.
23363 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
23364 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
23365 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
23366 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
23367 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
23368 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
23369 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
23370 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
23371 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
23373 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
23374 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
23375 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
23376 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
23377 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
23378 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
23379 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
23380 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
23381 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
23384 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
23385 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
23386 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
23387 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
23388 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
23389 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
23390 from Bulgarian IPs.
23392 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
23393 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
23394 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
23395 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
23397 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
23398 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
23399 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
23400 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
23402 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
23403 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
23404 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
23405 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
23406 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
23407 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
23408 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
23409 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
23410 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
23412 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
23413 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
23414 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
23415 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
23416 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
23417 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
23418 down for some time because of the incident.
23420 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
23421 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
23422 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
23423 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
23424 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
23425 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
23426 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
23427 to store the database of spam analysis. Statistical analysis on the
23428 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
23429 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
23430 the server that it has misclassified mail.
23432 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
23433 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
23434 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
23435 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
23436 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
23437 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
23438 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
23441 @node Anti-Spam Basics
23442 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
23446 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
23448 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
23449 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
23451 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
23452 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
23453 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
23454 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
23455 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
23456 part of the mail address.)
23459 (setq message-default-news-headers
23460 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
23463 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23464 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23468 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
23469 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
23470 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
23475 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
23476 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
23477 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
23478 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
23480 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
23481 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
23482 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
23483 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
23484 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
23485 your fancy split rule in this way:
23490 (to "larsi" "misc")
23494 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
23495 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
23496 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
23497 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
23498 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
23500 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
23501 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
23502 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
23503 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
23505 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
23509 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
23510 @cindex SpamAssassin
23511 @cindex Vipul's Razor
23514 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
23515 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
23516 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
23517 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
23518 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
23519 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
23520 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
23522 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
23523 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
23524 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
23527 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
23528 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
23529 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
23530 Specifiers}) follow.
23534 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
23538 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
23541 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
23542 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
23543 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
23546 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
23550 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
23553 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
23554 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
23558 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
23559 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
23560 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
23561 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
23564 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
23566 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
23570 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
23571 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
23575 Note that with the nnimap back end, message bodies will not be
23576 downloaded by default. You need to set
23577 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
23578 (@pxref{Client-Side IMAP Splitting}).
23580 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
23581 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
23582 spam. And here is the nifty function:
23585 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
23586 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
23588 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d" t)
23589 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
23593 @subsection Hashcash
23596 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
23597 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
23598 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
23599 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
23600 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
23602 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
23603 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
23604 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
23605 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
23606 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
23607 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
23608 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
23609 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
23610 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
23611 one of them separately.
23614 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
23615 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
23616 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
23617 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
23618 need to install to use this feature, see
23619 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
23620 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
23622 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
23623 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
23624 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
23627 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
23630 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
23634 @item hashcash-default-payment
23635 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
23636 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
23637 should consist of. By default this is 20. Suggested useful values
23640 @item hashcash-payment-alist
23641 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
23642 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
23643 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
23644 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
23645 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
23646 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
23647 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
23648 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
23650 @item hashcash-path
23651 @vindex hashcash-path
23652 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
23653 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's @code{nil}
23654 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
23655 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
23656 when you generate hashcash payments.
23660 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
23661 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
23662 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
23663 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
23664 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} back end to validate hashcash
23665 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
23666 Hashcash Payments}).
23669 @section Spam Package
23670 @cindex spam filtering
23673 The Spam package provides Gnus with a centralized mechanism for
23674 detecting and filtering spam. It filters new mail, and processes
23675 messages according to whether they are spam or ham. (@dfn{Ham} is the
23676 name used throughout this manual to indicate non-spam messages.)
23679 * Spam Package Introduction::
23680 * Filtering Incoming Mail::
23681 * Detecting Spam in Groups::
23682 * Spam and Ham Processors::
23683 * Spam Package Configuration Examples::
23685 * Extending the Spam package::
23686 * Spam Statistics Package::
23689 @node Spam Package Introduction
23690 @subsection Spam Package Introduction
23691 @cindex spam filtering
23692 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
23695 You must read this section to understand how the Spam package works.
23696 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
23698 Make sure you read the section on the @code{spam.el} sequence of
23699 events. See @xref{Extending the Spam package}.
23701 @cindex spam-initialize
23702 @vindex spam-use-stat
23703 To use the Spam package, you @strong{must} first run the function
23704 @code{spam-initialize}:
23710 This autoloads @code{spam.el} and installs the various hooks necessary
23711 to let the Spam package do its job. In order to make use of the Spam
23712 package, you have to set up certain group parameters and variables,
23713 which we will describe below. All of the variables controlling the
23714 Spam package can be found in the @samp{spam} customization group.
23716 There are two ``contact points'' between the Spam package and the rest
23717 of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and leaving a group.
23719 Checking new mail for spam is done in one of two ways: while splitting
23720 incoming mail, or when you enter a group.
23722 The first way, checking for spam while splitting incoming mail, is
23723 suited to mail back ends such as @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap}, where
23724 new mail appears in a single spool file. The Spam package processes
23725 incoming mail, and sends mail considered to be spam to a designated
23726 ``spam'' group. @xref{Filtering Incoming Mail}.
23728 The second way is suited to back ends such as @code{nntp}, which have
23729 no incoming mail spool, or back ends where the server is in charge of
23730 splitting incoming mail. In this case, when you enter a Gnus group,
23731 the unseen or unread messages in that group are checked for spam.
23732 Detected spam messages are marked as spam. @xref{Detecting Spam in
23735 @cindex spam back ends
23736 In either case, you have to tell the Spam package what method to use
23737 to detect spam messages. There are several methods, or @dfn{spam back
23738 ends} (not to be confused with Gnus back ends!) to choose from: spam
23739 ``blacklists'' and ``whitelists'', dictionary-based filters, and so
23740 forth. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
23742 In the Gnus summary buffer, messages that have been identified as spam
23743 always appear with a @samp{$} symbol.
23745 The Spam package divides Gnus groups into three categories: ham
23746 groups, spam groups, and unclassified groups. You should mark each of
23747 the groups you subscribe to as either a ham group or a spam group,
23748 using the @code{spam-contents} group parameter (@pxref{Group
23749 Parameters}). Spam groups have a special property: when you enter a
23750 spam group, all unseen articles are marked as spam. Thus, mail split
23751 into a spam group is automatically marked as spam.
23753 Identifying spam messages is only half of the Spam package's job. The
23754 second half comes into play whenever you exit a group buffer. At this
23755 point, the Spam package does several things:
23757 First, it calls @dfn{spam and ham processors} to process the articles
23758 according to whether they are spam or ham. There is a pair of spam
23759 and ham processors associated with each spam back end, and what the
23760 processors do depends on the back end. At present, the main role of
23761 spam and ham processors is for dictionary-based spam filters: they add
23762 the contents of the messages in the group to the filter's dictionary,
23763 to improve its ability to detect future spam. The @code{spam-process}
23764 group parameter specifies what spam processors to use. @xref{Spam and
23767 If the spam filter failed to mark a spam message, you can mark it
23768 yourself, so that the message is processed as spam when you exit the
23776 @kindex $ (Summary)
23777 @kindex M-d (Summary)
23778 @kindex S x (Summary)
23779 @kindex M s x (Summary)
23780 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
23781 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
23782 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark
23783 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}).
23787 Similarly, you can unmark an article if it has been erroneously marked
23788 as spam. @xref{Setting Marks}.
23790 Normally, a ham message found in a non-ham group is not processed as
23791 ham---the rationale is that it should be moved into a ham group for
23792 further processing (see below). However, you can force these articles
23793 to be processed as ham by setting
23794 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
23795 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups}.
23797 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
23798 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
23799 The second thing that the Spam package does when you exit a group is
23800 to move ham articles out of spam groups, and spam articles out of ham
23801 groups. Ham in a spam group is moved to the group specified by the
23802 variable @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}, or the group parameter
23803 @code{ham-process-destination}. Spam in a ham group is moved to the
23804 group specified by the variable @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations},
23805 or the group parameter @code{spam-process-destination}. If these
23806 variables are not set, the articles are left in their current group.
23807 If an article cannot be moved (e.g., with a read-only backend such
23808 as @acronym{NNTP}), it is copied.
23810 If an article is moved to another group, it is processed again when
23811 you visit the new group. Normally, this is not a problem, but if you
23812 want each article to be processed only once, load the
23813 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and set the variable
23814 @code{spam-log-to-registry} to @code{t}. @xref{Spam Package
23815 Configuration Examples}.
23817 Normally, spam groups ignore @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations}.
23818 However, if you set @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only} to
23819 @code{nil}, spam will also be moved out of spam groups, depending on
23820 the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter.
23822 The final thing the Spam package does is to mark spam articles as
23823 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
23825 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
23826 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
23827 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
23829 @node Filtering Incoming Mail
23830 @subsection Filtering Incoming Mail
23831 @cindex spam filtering
23832 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
23835 To use the Spam package to filter incoming mail, you must first set up
23836 fancy mail splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}. The Spam package
23837 defines a special splitting function that you can add to your fancy
23838 split variable (either @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
23839 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on your mail back end):
23845 @vindex spam-split-group
23847 The @code{spam-split} function scans incoming mail according to your
23848 chosen spam back end(s), and sends messages identified as spam to a
23849 spam group. By default, the spam group is a group named @samp{spam},
23850 but you can change this by customizing @code{spam-split-group}. Make
23851 sure the contents of @code{spam-split-group} are an unqualified group
23852 name. For instance, in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server},
23853 the value @samp{spam} means @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The value
23854 @samp{nnimap+server:spam} is therefore wrong---it gives the group
23855 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam}.
23857 @code{spam-split} does not modify the contents of messages in any way.
23859 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
23860 Note for IMAP users: if you use the @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
23861 @code{spam-check-ifile}, and @code{spam-check-stat} spam back ends,
23862 you should also set the variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to
23863 @code{t}. These spam back ends are most useful when they can ``scan''
23864 the full message body. By default, the nnimap back end only retrieves
23865 the message headers; @code{nnimap-split-download-body} tells it to
23866 retrieve the message bodies as well. We don't set this by default
23867 because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and that is not an
23868 appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user. @xref{Client-Side
23871 You have to specify one or more spam back ends for @code{spam-split}
23872 to use, by setting the @code{spam-use-*} variables. @xref{Spam Back
23873 Ends}. Normally, @code{spam-split} simply uses all the spam back ends
23874 you enabled in this way. However, you can tell @code{spam-split} to
23875 use only some of them. Why this is useful? Suppose you are using the
23876 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and @code{spam-use-blackholes} spam back
23877 ends, and the following split rule:
23880 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
23881 (any "ding" "ding")
23883 ;; @r{default mailbox}
23888 The problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the ding
23889 folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam detected by
23890 SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through, when it's
23891 sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to the ding
23892 list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the invocation
23893 of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
23895 The solution is to let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, and
23896 perform the other @code{spam-split} rules (including a second
23897 invocation of the regex-headers check) after the ding rule. This is
23898 done by passing a parameter to @code{spam-split}:
23903 ;; @r{spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
23904 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
23905 (any "ding" "ding")
23906 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
23908 ;; @r{default mailbox}
23913 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
23914 your particular needs, and target the results of those checks to a
23915 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
23916 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
23917 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
23918 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
23919 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
23921 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
23922 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
23923 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
23924 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. @xref{Spam Back Ends}.
23926 @c @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
23927 @c statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
23930 @node Detecting Spam in Groups
23931 @subsection Detecting Spam in Groups
23933 To detect spam when visiting a group, set the group's
23934 @code{spam-autodetect} and @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group
23935 parameters. These are accessible with @kbd{G c} or @kbd{G p}, as
23936 usual (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
23938 You should set the @code{spam-use-*} variables for whatever spam back
23939 ends you intend to use. The reason is that when loading
23940 @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on what
23941 @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
23943 By default, only unseen articles are processed for spam. You can
23944 force Gnus to recheck all messages in the group by setting the
23945 variable @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages} to @code{t}.
23947 If you use the @code{spam-autodetect} method of checking for spam, you
23948 can specify different spam detection methods for different groups.
23949 For instance, the @samp{ding} group may have @code{spam-use-BBDB} as
23950 the autodetection method, while the @samp{suspect} group may have the
23951 @code{spam-use-blacklist} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods
23952 enabled. Unlike with @code{spam-split}, you don't have any control
23953 over the @emph{sequence} of checks, but this is probably unimportant.
23955 @node Spam and Ham Processors
23956 @subsection Spam and Ham Processors
23957 @cindex spam filtering
23958 @cindex spam filtering variables
23959 @cindex spam variables
23962 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
23963 Spam and ham processors specify special actions to take when you exit
23964 a group buffer. Spam processors act on spam messages, and ham
23965 processors on ham messages. At present, the main role of these
23966 processors is to update the dictionaries of dictionary-based spam back
23967 ends such as Bogofilter (@pxref{Bogofilter}) and the Spam Statistics
23968 package (@pxref{Spam Statistics Filtering}).
23970 The spam and ham processors that apply to each group are determined by
23971 the group's@code{spam-process} group parameter. If this group
23972 parameter is not defined, they are determined by the variable
23973 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups}.
23975 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
23976 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
23977 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
23978 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
23979 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
23980 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
23981 by customizing the corresponding variable
23982 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
23983 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
23984 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
23985 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
23986 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
23987 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
23988 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
23991 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
23993 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
23994 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
23995 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
23996 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
23997 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
23998 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
23999 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
24000 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
24001 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
24002 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
24003 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
24004 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
24005 processor which will study them as spam samples.
24007 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
24008 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
24009 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
24010 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
24011 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
24012 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
24013 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
24014 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
24017 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24018 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
24019 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
24020 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
24021 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
24022 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
24023 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
24028 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
24029 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
24030 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
24031 you really want to.
24034 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
24035 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
24036 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
24037 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
24038 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
24039 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
24042 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
24043 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
24044 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
24045 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
24046 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
24047 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
24048 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
24049 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
24050 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
24051 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
24052 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
24053 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
24054 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
24055 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
24056 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
24058 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24059 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24061 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24062 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
24063 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
24065 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
24066 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
24068 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
24069 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
24070 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
24071 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
24072 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
24074 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
24075 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
24076 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
24077 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
24078 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
24081 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
24082 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
24083 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
24084 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
24085 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
24086 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
24087 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
24088 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
24089 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
24090 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
24091 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
24092 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
24093 group buffer then you need it here as well.
24095 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only back end such as
24096 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
24098 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
24099 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
24102 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
24103 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
24104 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
24105 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
24106 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
24107 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
24108 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
24110 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
24111 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
24112 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
24113 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
24115 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
24116 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
24117 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
24118 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
24119 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
24120 from the mail server.
24122 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
24123 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
24124 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
24125 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
24127 @node Spam Package Configuration Examples
24128 @subsection Spam Package Configuration Examples
24129 @cindex spam filtering
24130 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
24131 @cindex spam configuration examples
24134 @subsubheading Ted's setup
24136 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
24138 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
24139 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
24140 (gnus-registry-initialize)
24144 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
24146 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
24147 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
24148 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
24149 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24150 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
24151 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
24152 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
24153 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
24154 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
24155 ;; @r{for nnimap you'll probably want to set nnimap-split-methods, see the manual}
24156 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
24157 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
24158 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
24159 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
24160 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
24161 (any "ding" "ding")
24162 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
24164 ;; @r{default mailbox}
24167 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
24169 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
24170 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
24171 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
24172 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
24174 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24176 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
24177 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
24178 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
24179 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
24180 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
24182 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
24183 ((spam-autodetect . t))
24185 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
24187 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
24188 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
24190 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
24191 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
24192 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
24194 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
24196 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
24197 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
24199 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
24200 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
24201 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
24203 (gnus-ticked-mark))
24204 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
24205 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
24206 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
24208 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
24209 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
24210 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
24214 @subsubheading Using @code{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
24215 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24217 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
24218 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
24219 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
24220 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
24221 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
24222 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
24223 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
24224 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
24225 @samp{training.spam} folders.
24227 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
24228 does most of the job for me:
24231 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
24232 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
24233 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
24234 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
24235 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
24236 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
24237 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
24242 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
24244 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
24245 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
24246 bogofilter or DCC).
24248 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
24249 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
24250 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark
24251 (@code{ham-marks}, @ref{Spam and Ham Processors}). On group exit,
24252 those messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want
24253 to have the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter)
24254 and deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
24256 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
24257 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
24258 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
24259 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
24260 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
24261 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
24263 @item @b{Ham folders:}
24265 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
24266 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
24267 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
24268 @samp{training.spam}.
24271 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
24273 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
24275 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
24276 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
24277 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
24281 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
24284 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
24285 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
24286 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
24287 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
24288 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
24290 @node Spam Back Ends
24291 @subsection Spam Back Ends
24292 @cindex spam back ends
24294 The spam package offers a variety of back ends for detecting spam.
24295 Each back end defines a set of methods for detecting spam
24296 (@pxref{Filtering Incoming Mail}, @pxref{Detecting Spam in Groups}),
24297 and a pair of spam and ham processors (@pxref{Spam and Ham
24301 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
24302 * BBDB Whitelists::
24303 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
24304 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
24306 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
24308 * SpamAssassin back end::
24309 * ifile spam filtering::
24310 * Spam Statistics Filtering::
24314 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
24315 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
24316 @cindex spam filtering
24317 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
24318 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
24321 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
24323 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
24324 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
24325 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
24326 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
24331 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
24333 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
24334 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
24335 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24336 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
24337 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24341 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
24343 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
24344 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24345 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
24349 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
24351 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24352 customizing the group parameters or the
24353 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24354 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24355 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
24359 Instead of the obsolete
24360 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
24361 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
24362 the same way, we promise.
24366 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
24368 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24369 customizing the group parameters or the
24370 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24371 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24372 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24377 Instead of the obsolete
24378 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
24379 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
24380 the same way, we promise.
24384 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
24385 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
24386 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
24387 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
24388 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
24390 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
24391 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
24392 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
24393 Emacs regular expression syntax.
24395 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
24396 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
24397 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
24398 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
24399 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
24400 @file{blacklist} respectively.
24402 @node BBDB Whitelists
24403 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
24404 @cindex spam filtering
24405 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
24406 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
24409 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
24411 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24412 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
24413 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
24414 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
24415 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
24416 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
24417 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24421 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
24423 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
24424 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
24425 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
24426 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
24427 classified as spammers.
24429 While @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} @emph{can} be used as an alias
24430 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} as far as @code{spam.el} is concerned, it is
24431 @emph{not} a separate back end. If you set
24432 @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} to t, @emph{all} your BBDB splitting
24437 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
24439 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24440 customizing the group parameters or the
24441 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24442 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
24443 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
24448 Instead of the obsolete
24449 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
24450 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
24451 the same way, we promise.
24455 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
24456 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
24457 @cindex spam reporting
24458 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24459 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
24462 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
24464 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24465 customizing the group parameters or the
24466 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24467 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24468 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
24471 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
24475 Instead of the obsolete
24476 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
24477 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
24478 same way, we promise.
24482 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
24484 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
24485 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
24486 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
24487 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
24488 @code{spam-report.el} will fetch the number from the article headers.
24492 @defvar spam-report-user-mail-address
24494 Mail address exposed in the User-Agent spam reports to Gmane. It allows
24495 the Gmane administrators to contact you in case of misreports. The
24496 default is @code{user-mail-address}.
24500 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
24501 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
24502 @cindex spam filtering
24503 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
24506 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
24508 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
24509 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
24510 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
24511 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
24512 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
24513 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
24518 @subsubsection Blackholes
24519 @cindex spam filtering
24520 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
24523 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
24525 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
24526 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
24527 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
24528 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
24529 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
24530 contains outdated servers.
24532 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
24533 @code{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
24534 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
24535 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
24536 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
24537 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
24541 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
24543 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
24547 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
24549 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
24550 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
24554 @defvar spam-use-dig
24556 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
24557 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
24561 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
24562 ham processor for blackholes.
24564 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
24565 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
24566 @cindex spam filtering
24567 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
24570 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
24572 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
24573 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
24574 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
24575 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
24576 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
24577 message is spam or ham, respectively.
24581 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
24583 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
24584 the message, positively identify it as spam.
24588 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
24590 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
24591 the message, positively identify it as ham.
24595 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
24596 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
24599 @subsubsection Bogofilter
24600 @cindex spam filtering
24601 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
24604 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
24606 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
24609 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
24610 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
24611 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
24612 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
24613 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
24614 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
24616 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
24617 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
24620 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
24621 processing will be turned off.
24623 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
24632 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
24633 Get the Bogofilter spamicity score (@code{spam-bogofilter-score}).
24636 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
24638 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
24639 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
24640 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
24641 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
24642 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
24643 installation documents for details.
24645 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
24649 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
24650 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24651 customizing the group parameters or the
24652 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24653 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
24654 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
24658 Instead of the obsolete
24659 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
24660 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
24661 the same way, we promise.
24664 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
24665 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24666 customizing the group parameters or the
24667 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24668 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
24669 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
24670 of non-spam messages.
24674 Instead of the obsolete
24675 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
24676 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
24677 the same way, we promise.
24680 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
24682 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
24683 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
24684 database directory.
24688 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
24689 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
24690 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
24691 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
24692 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
24693 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
24695 @node SpamAssassin back end
24696 @subsubsection SpamAssassin back end
24697 @cindex spam filtering
24698 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
24701 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
24703 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
24705 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
24706 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
24707 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
24708 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
24711 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
24712 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
24713 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
24714 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
24717 You should not enable this if you use
24718 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
24722 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
24724 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
24725 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
24727 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
24731 @defvar spam-spamassassin-program
24733 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
24734 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
24735 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
24736 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
24740 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
24741 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
24742 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
24743 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
24744 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
24745 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
24746 to test this functionality.
24748 @node ifile spam filtering
24749 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
24750 @cindex spam filtering
24751 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
24754 @defvar spam-use-ifile
24756 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
24757 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
24761 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
24763 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
24764 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
24765 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
24769 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
24771 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
24772 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
24773 the default value of @samp{spam}.
24776 @defvar spam-ifile-database
24778 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
24779 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
24783 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
24784 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
24785 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
24786 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
24789 @node Spam Statistics Filtering
24790 @subsubsection Spam Statistics Filtering
24791 @cindex spam filtering
24792 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
24796 This back end uses the Spam Statistics Emacs Lisp package to perform
24797 statistics-based filtering (@pxref{Spam Statistics Package}). Before
24798 using this, you may want to perform some additional steps to
24799 initialize your Spam Statistics dictionary. @xref{Creating a
24800 spam-stat dictionary}.
24802 @defvar spam-use-stat
24806 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
24807 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24808 customizing the group parameters or the
24809 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24810 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
24811 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
24815 Instead of the obsolete
24816 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
24817 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
24818 the same way, we promise.
24821 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
24822 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24823 customizing the group parameters or the
24824 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
24825 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
24826 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
24827 of non-spam messages.
24831 Instead of the obsolete
24832 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
24833 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
24834 the same way, we promise.
24837 This enables @code{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
24838 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
24839 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
24840 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
24841 @code{spam-split} are provided.
24844 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
24845 @cindex spam filtering
24849 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
24850 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
24851 installed separately.
24853 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
24854 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
24855 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
24856 mail as a spam mail or not.
24858 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
24859 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
24860 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
24862 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Spam Package})
24865 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
24866 To enable SpamOracle usage by @code{spam.el}, set the variable
24867 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
24868 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}. @xref{Spam
24869 Package}. In this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is
24870 filtered using SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be
24871 moved to @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham
24872 messages stay in @samp{INBOX}:
24875 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
24876 spam-split-group "Junk"
24877 ;; @r{for nnimap you'll probably want to set nnimap-split-methods, see the manual}
24878 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
24879 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
24882 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
24883 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
24887 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
24888 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
24889 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
24893 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
24894 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
24895 store its analysis. This is controlled by the variable
24896 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
24897 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
24898 database to live somewhere special, set
24899 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
24902 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
24903 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
24904 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns
24905 the characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
24906 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
24907 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary
24908 buffer and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using
24909 @file{spam.el}'s spam- and ham-processors, which is much more
24910 convenient. For a detailed description of spam- and ham-processors,
24911 @xref{Spam Package}.
24913 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
24914 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24915 customizing the group parameter or the
24916 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
24917 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
24918 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
24922 Instead of the obsolete
24923 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
24924 that you use @code{(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
24925 the same way, we promise.
24928 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
24929 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
24930 customizing the group parameter or the
24931 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
24932 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
24933 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
24938 Instead of the obsolete
24939 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
24940 that you use @code{(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
24941 the same way, we promise.
24944 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
24945 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
24948 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
24949 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
24950 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
24952 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
24953 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
24954 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
24955 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
24956 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
24957 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
24959 @node Extending the Spam package
24960 @subsection Extending the Spam package
24961 @cindex spam filtering
24962 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
24963 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
24965 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
24966 incoming mail, provide the following:
24974 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
24975 "True if blackbox should be used.")
24978 Write @code{spam-check-blackbox} if Blackbox can check incoming mail.
24980 Write @code{spam-blackbox-register-routine} and
24981 @code{spam-blackbox-unregister-routine} using the bogofilter
24982 register/unregister routines as a start, or other restister/unregister
24983 routines more appropriate to Blackbox, if Blackbox can
24984 register/unregister spam and ham.
24989 The @code{spam-check-blackbox} function should return @samp{nil} or
24990 @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other conventions. See the
24991 existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can
24992 do, and stick to the template unless you fully understand the reasons
24997 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
25004 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
25005 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
25007 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
25008 variables. Instead the form @code{(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
25009 @code{(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
25010 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
25013 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
25014 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
25015 Only applicable to spam groups.")
25017 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
25018 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
25019 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
25028 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
25029 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
25031 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
25032 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
25033 variable customization.
25037 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
25039 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
25040 @code{gnus.el} if Blackbox can check incoming mail for spam contents.
25042 Finally, use the appropriate @code{spam-install-*-backend} function in
25043 @code{spam.el}. Here are the available functions.
25049 @code{spam-install-backend-alias}
25051 This function will simply install an alias for a back end that does
25052 everything like the original back end. It is currently only used to
25053 make @code{spam-use-BBDB-exclusive} act like @code{spam-use-BBDB}.
25056 @code{spam-install-nocheck-backend}
25058 This function installs a back end that has no check function, but can
25059 register/unregister ham or spam. The @code{spam-use-gmane} back end is
25063 @code{spam-install-checkonly-backend}
25065 This function will install a back end that can only check incoming mail
25066 for spam contents. It can't register or unregister messages.
25067 @code{spam-use-blackholes} and @code{spam-use-hashcash} are such
25071 @code{spam-install-statistical-checkonly-backend}
25073 This function installs a statistical back end (one which requires the
25074 full body of a message to check it) that can only check incoming mail
25075 for contents. @code{spam-use-regex-body} is such a filter.
25078 @code{spam-install-statistical-backend}
25080 This function install a statistical back end with incoming checks and
25081 registration/unregistration routines. @code{spam-use-bogofilter} is
25085 @code{spam-install-backend}
25087 This is the most normal back end installation, where a back end that can
25088 check and register/unregister messages is set up without statistical
25089 abilities. The @code{spam-use-BBDB} is such a back end.
25092 @code{spam-install-mover-backend}
25094 Mover back ends are internal to @code{spam.el} and specifically move
25095 articles around when the summary is exited. You will very probably
25096 never install such a back end.
25101 @node Spam Statistics Package
25102 @subsection Spam Statistics Package
25103 @cindex Paul Graham
25104 @cindex Graham, Paul
25105 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
25106 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
25107 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
25109 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
25110 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
25111 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
25112 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
25113 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
25114 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
25115 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
25116 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
25117 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
25120 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
25121 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
25122 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
25123 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
25124 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
25125 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
25126 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
25127 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
25129 The Spam Statistics package adds support to Gnus for this kind of
25130 filtering. It can be used as one of the back ends of the Spam package
25131 (@pxref{Spam Package}), or by itself.
25133 Before using the Spam Statistics package, you need to set it up.
25134 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
25135 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
25136 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
25137 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
25140 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
25141 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
25142 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
25145 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25146 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
25148 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
25149 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
25150 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
25151 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
25152 need several hundred emails in both collections.
25154 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
25155 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
25156 per mail. Use the following:
25158 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
25159 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
25160 is treated as one spam mail.
25163 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
25164 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
25165 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
25168 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
25169 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds to
25170 the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
25171 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
25172 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds to the group
25173 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
25175 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
25176 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
25177 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
25178 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
25179 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
25182 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
25183 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
25184 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
25185 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
25188 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
25189 reset the dictionary.
25191 @defun spam-stat-reset
25192 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
25195 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
25196 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
25197 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
25198 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
25199 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
25200 only non-spam mails.
25202 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
25203 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
25204 to update the dictionary incrementally.
25207 @defun spam-stat-save
25208 Save the dictionary.
25211 @defvar spam-stat-file
25212 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
25213 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
25216 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
25217 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
25219 This section describes how to use the Spam statistics
25220 @emph{independently} of the @xref{Spam Package}.
25222 First, add the following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25225 (require 'spam-stat)
25229 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
25232 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
25233 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
25234 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
25235 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
25237 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
25238 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
25239 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
25240 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
25243 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25244 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25248 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
25249 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
25252 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
25253 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
25254 expression are considered potential spam.
25257 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25258 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25259 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25263 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
25264 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
25265 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
25266 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
25267 mails, when creating the dictionary!
25270 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25271 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25272 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25276 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
25277 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
25278 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
25279 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
25280 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
25284 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
25285 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
25286 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
25287 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
25292 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25293 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
25295 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
25297 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
25298 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
25299 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25302 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
25303 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
25304 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
25307 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
25308 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
25309 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
25310 already been processed as non-spam.
25313 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
25314 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
25315 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
25316 been processed as spam.
25319 @defun spam-stat-save
25320 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
25321 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25324 @defun spam-stat-load
25325 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
25326 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
25329 @defun spam-stat-score-word
25330 Return the spam score for a word.
25333 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
25334 Return the spam score for a buffer.
25337 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
25338 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
25339 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
25342 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
25343 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
25346 (require 'spam-stat)
25350 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
25353 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25354 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25355 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25356 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25357 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25358 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25359 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25360 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25361 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25362 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25363 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
25364 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
25365 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25366 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25369 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
25372 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
25373 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
25374 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
25375 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
25376 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
25377 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
25380 @node The Gnus Registry
25381 @section The Gnus Registry
25386 The Gnus registry is a package that tracks messages by their
25387 Message-ID across all backends. This allows Gnus users to do several
25388 cool things, be the envy of the locals, get free haircuts, and be
25389 experts on world issues. Well, maybe not all of those, but the
25390 features are pretty cool.
25392 Although they will be explained in detail shortly, here's a quick list
25393 of said features in case your attention span is... never mind.
25397 Split messages to their parent
25399 This keeps discussions in the same group. You can use the subject and
25400 the sender in addition to the Message-ID. Several strategies are
25404 Refer to messages by ID
25406 Commands like @code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article} can take
25407 advantage of the registry to jump to the referred article, regardless
25408 of the group the message is in.
25411 Store custom flags and keywords
25413 The registry can store custom flags and keywords for a message. For
25414 instance, you can mark a message ``To-Do'' this way and the flag will
25415 persist whether the message is in the nnimap, nnml, nnmaildir,
25419 Store arbitrary data
25421 Through a simple ELisp API, the registry can remember any data for a
25422 message. A built-in inverse map, when activated, allows quick lookups
25423 of all messages matching a particular set of criteria.
25428 * Fancy splitting to parent::
25429 * Registry Article Refer Method::
25430 * Store custom flags and keywords::
25431 * Store arbitrary data::
25437 Fortunately, setting up the Gnus registry is pretty easy:
25440 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500
25441 gnus-registry-use-long-group-names t)
25443 (gnus-registry-initialize)
25446 This adds registry saves to Gnus newsrc saves (which happen on exit
25447 and when you press @kbd{s} from the @code{*Group*} buffer. It also
25448 adds registry calls to article actions in Gnus (copy, move, etc.) so
25449 it's not easy to undo the initialization. See
25450 @code{gnus-registry-initialize} for the gory details.
25452 Here are other settings used by the author of the registry (understand
25453 what they do before you copy them blindly).
25457 gnus-registry-split-strategy 'majority
25458 gnus-registry-ignored-groups '(("nntp" t)
25462 gnus-registry-max-entries 500000
25463 gnus-registry-use-long-group-names t
25464 gnus-registry-track-extra '(sender subject))
25467 They say: keep a lot of messages around, use long group names, track
25468 messages by sender and subject (not just parent Message-ID), and when
25469 the registry splits incoming mail, use a majority rule to decide where
25470 messages should go if there's more than one possibility. In addition,
25471 the registry should ignore messages in groups that match ``nntp'',
25472 ``nnrss'', ``spam'', or ``train.''
25474 You are doubtless impressed by all this, but you ask: ``I am a Gnus
25475 user, I customize to live. Give me more.'' Here you go, these are
25476 the general settings.
25478 @defvar gnus-registry-unfollowed-groups
25479 The groups that will not be followed by
25480 @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent}. They will still be
25481 remembered by the registry. This is a list of regular expressions.
25484 @defvar gnus-registry-ignored-groups
25485 The groups that will not be remembered by the registry. This is a
25486 list of regular expressions, also available through Group/Topic
25487 customization (so you can ignore or keep a specific group or a whole
25491 @defvar gnus-registry-use-long-group-names
25492 Whether the registry will use long group names. It's recommended to
25493 set this to @code{t}, although everything works if you don't. Future
25494 functionality will require it.
25497 @defvar gnus-registry-max-entries
25498 The number (an integer or @code{nil} for unlimited) of entries the
25499 registry will keep.
25502 @defvar gnus-registry-cache-file
25503 The file where the registry will be stored between Gnus sessions.
25506 @node Registry Article Refer Method
25507 @subsection Fetching by @code{Message-ID} Using the Registry
25509 The registry knows how to map each @code{Message-ID} to the group it's
25510 in. This can be leveraged to enhance the ``article refer method'',
25511 the thing that tells Gnus how to look up an article given its
25512 Message-ID (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
25515 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
25517 The @code{nnregistry} refer method does exactly that. It has the
25518 advantage that an article may be found regardless of the group it's
25519 in---provided its @code{Message-ID} is known to the registry. It can
25520 be enabled by augmenting the start-up file with something along these
25524 ;; Keep enough entries to have a good hit rate when referring to an
25525 ;; article using the registry. Use long group names so that Gnus
25526 ;; knows where the article is.
25527 (setq gnus-registry-max-entries 2500
25528 gnus-registry-use-long-group-names t)
25530 (gnus-registry-initialize)
25532 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
25535 (nnweb "gmane" (nnweb-type gmane))))
25538 The example above instructs Gnus to first look up the article in the
25539 current group, or, alternatively, using the registry, and finally, if
25540 all else fails, using Gmane.
25542 @node Fancy splitting to parent
25543 @subsection Fancy splitting to parent
25545 Simply put, this lets you put followup e-mail where it belongs.
25547 Every message has a Message-ID, which is unique, and the registry
25548 remembers it. When the message is moved or copied, the registry will
25549 notice this and offer the new group as a choice to the splitting
25552 When a followup is made, usually it mentions the original message's
25553 Message-ID in the headers. The registry knows this and uses that
25554 mention to find the group where the original message lives. You only
25555 have to put a rule like this:
25558 (setq nnimap-my-split-fancy '(|
25560 ;; split to parent: you need this
25561 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
25563 ;; other rules, as an example
25569 in your fancy split setup. In addition, you may want to customize the
25570 following variables.
25572 @defvar gnus-registry-track-extra
25573 This is a list of symbols, so it's best to change it from the
25574 Customize interface. By default it's @code{nil}, but you may want to
25575 track @code{subject} and @code{sender} as well when splitting by parent.
25576 It may work for you. It can be annoying if your mail flow is large and
25577 people don't stick to the same groups.
25580 @defvar gnus-registry-split-strategy
25581 This is a symbol, so it's best to change it from the Customize
25582 interface. By default it's @code{nil}, but you may want to set it to
25583 @code{majority} or @code{first} to split by sender or subject based on
25584 the majority of matches or on the first found.
25587 @node Store custom flags and keywords
25588 @subsection Store custom flags and keywords
25590 The registry lets you set custom flags and keywords per message. You
25591 can use the Gnus->Registry Marks menu or the @kbd{M M x} keyboard
25592 shortcuts, where @code{x} is the first letter of the mark's name.
25594 @defvar gnus-registry-marks
25595 The custom marks that the registry can use. You can modify the
25596 default list, if you like. If you do, you'll have to exit Emacs
25597 before they take effect (you can also unload the registry and reload
25598 it or evaluate the specific macros you'll need, but you probably don't
25599 want to bother). Use the Customize interface to modify the list.
25601 By default this list has the @code{Important}, @code{Work},
25602 @code{Personal}, @code{To-Do}, and @code{Later} marks. They all have
25603 keyboard shortcuts like @kbd{M M i} for Important, using the first
25607 @defun gnus-registry-mark-article
25608 Call this function to mark an article with a custom registry mark. It
25609 will offer the available marks for completion.
25612 @node Store arbitrary data
25613 @subsection Store arbitrary data
25615 The registry has a simple API that uses a Message-ID as the key to
25616 store arbitrary data (as long as it can be converted to a list for
25619 @defun gnus-registry-store-extra-entry (id key value)
25620 Store @code{value} in the extra data key @code{key} for message
25624 @defun gnus-registry-delete-extra-entry (id key)
25625 Delete the extra data key @code{key} for message @code{id}.
25628 @defun gnus-registry-fetch-extra (id key)
25629 Get the extra data key @code{key} for message @code{id}.
25632 @defvar gnus-registry-extra-entries-precious
25633 If any extra entries are precious, their presence will make the
25634 registry keep the whole entry forever, even if there are no groups for
25635 the Message-ID and if the size limit of the registry is reached. By
25636 default this is just @code{(marks)} so the custom registry marks are
25641 @section Interaction with other modes
25646 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provides some useful functions for dired
25647 buffers. It is enabled with
25649 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
25654 @findex gnus-dired-attach
25655 @cindex attachments, selection via dired
25656 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
25657 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
25660 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
25661 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
25662 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
25666 @findex gnus-dired-print
25667 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
25668 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
25671 @node Various Various
25672 @section Various Various
25678 @item gnus-home-directory
25679 @vindex gnus-home-directory
25680 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
25681 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
25683 @item gnus-directory
25684 @vindex gnus-directory
25685 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
25686 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
25687 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
25689 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{~/.gnus.el} file is read.
25690 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
25691 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
25692 @file{~/.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
25694 @item gnus-default-directory
25695 @vindex gnus-default-directory
25696 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
25697 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
25698 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
25699 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
25700 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
25701 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
25704 @vindex gnus-verbose
25705 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
25706 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
25707 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
25708 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
25709 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
25711 @item gnus-verbose-backends
25712 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
25713 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
25714 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
25716 @item gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
25717 @vindex gnus-add-timestamp-to-message
25718 This variable controls whether to add timestamps to messages that are
25719 controlled by @code{gnus-verbose} and @code{gnus-verbose-backends} and
25720 are issued. The default value is @code{nil} which means never to add
25721 timestamp. If it is @code{log}, add timestamps to only the messages
25722 that go into the @samp{*Messages*} buffer (in XEmacs, it is the
25723 @w{@samp{ *Message-Log*}} buffer). If it is neither @code{nil} nor
25724 @code{log}, add timestamps not only to log messages but also to the ones
25725 displayed in the echo area.
25727 @item nnheader-max-head-length
25728 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
25729 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
25730 as little as possible. This variable (default 8192) specifies
25731 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
25732 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
25733 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
25734 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
25735 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
25736 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
25738 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
25739 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
25740 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
25741 read when doing the operation described above.
25743 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25744 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25746 @cindex invalid characters in file names
25747 @cindex characters in file names
25748 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
25749 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
25750 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
25754 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
25759 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
25760 Windows (phooey) systems.
25762 @item gnus-hidden-properties
25763 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
25764 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
25765 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
25766 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
25768 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
25769 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
25770 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
25771 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
25772 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
25774 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
25775 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
25776 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
25778 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
25779 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
25781 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
25782 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
25783 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
25784 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
25787 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
25789 @item gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
25790 @vindex gnus-safe-html-newsgroups
25791 Groups in which links in html articles are considered all safe. The
25792 value may be a regexp matching those groups, a list of group names, or
25793 @code{nil}. This overrides @code{mm-w3m-safe-url-regexp}. The default
25794 value is @code{"\\`nnrss[+:]"}. This is effective only when emacs-w3m
25795 renders html articles, i.e., in the case @code{mm-text-html-renderer} is
25796 set to @code{w3m}. @xref{Display Customization, ,Display Customization,
25797 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}.
25804 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
25805 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
25807 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
25809 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
25815 Not because of victories @*
25818 but for the common sunshine,@*
25820 the largess of the spring.
25824 but for the day's work done@*
25825 as well as I was able;@*
25826 not for a seat upon the dais@*
25827 but at the common table.@*
25832 @chapter Appendices
25835 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
25836 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
25837 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
25838 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
25839 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
25840 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
25841 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
25842 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
25843 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
25850 @cindex installing under XEmacs
25852 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
25853 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
25854 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
25855 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
25856 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{W3},
25857 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
25864 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
25865 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
25867 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
25868 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
25869 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
25870 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
25871 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
25873 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
25874 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
25875 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
25876 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
25877 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
25878 appropriate name, don't you think?)
25880 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
25881 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
25882 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
25883 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
25886 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
25887 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
25888 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
25889 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
25890 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
25891 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
25892 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
25893 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
25894 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
25898 @node Gnus Versions
25899 @subsection Gnus Versions
25901 @cindex September Gnus
25903 @cindex Quassia Gnus
25904 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
25907 @cindex Gnus versions
25909 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
25910 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
25911 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
25913 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
25914 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
25916 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
25917 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
25919 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
25920 It was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
25922 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
25923 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
25926 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun and was released as
25927 Gnus 5.10 on May 1st 2003 (24 releases).
25929 On the January 4th 2004, No Gnus was begun.
25931 On April 19, 2010 Gnus development was moved to Git. See
25932 http://git.gnus.org for details (http://www.gnus.org will be updated
25933 with the information when possible).
25935 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
25936 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
25937 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'', ``No Gnus'' -- don't panic.
25938 Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever
25939 you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach.
25940 Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
25943 @node Other Gnus Versions
25944 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
25947 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
25948 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
25949 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
25950 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
25952 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
25953 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
25954 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
25955 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
25962 What's the point of Gnus?
25964 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
25965 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
25966 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
25967 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
25968 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
25969 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
25970 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
25971 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
25972 keep track of millions of people who post?
25974 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
25975 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
25976 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
25977 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
25978 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
25979 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
25980 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
25981 every one of you to explore and invent.
25983 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
25984 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
25987 @node Compatibility
25988 @subsection Compatibility
25990 @cindex compatibility
25991 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
25992 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
25993 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
25998 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
26002 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
26005 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
26008 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
26009 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
26010 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
26011 important variables have their values copied into their global
26012 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
26013 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
26015 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
26016 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
26017 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
26018 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
26019 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
26023 @cindex highlighting
26024 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
26025 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
26026 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
26027 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
26028 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
26029 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
26032 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
26033 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
26034 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
26035 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
26037 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
26038 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
26039 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
26040 to stop doing it the old way.
26042 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
26044 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26046 @cindex reporting bugs
26048 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
26049 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
26050 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
26052 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
26053 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
26054 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
26055 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
26060 @subsection Conformity
26062 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
26063 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
26071 There are no known breaches of this standard.
26075 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
26077 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
26078 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
26079 We do have some breaches to this one.
26085 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
26086 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
26087 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
26088 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
26089 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
26094 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
26095 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
26096 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
26097 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
26099 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
26100 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
26101 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
26103 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
26104 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
26106 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
26109 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
26110 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
26111 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
26112 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
26113 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
26116 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
26117 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
26118 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RFC 1991/2440 format.
26119 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
26121 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
26122 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
26124 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
26125 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
26126 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
26127 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
26128 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
26129 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
26130 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
26131 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
26135 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
26136 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
26141 @subsection Emacsen
26147 This version of Gnus should work on:
26155 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
26159 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
26160 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
26161 Emacs versions. Particularly, Gnus 5.10.8 should also work on Emacs
26162 20.7 and XEmacs 21.1.
26164 @c No-merge comment: The paragraph added in v5-10 here must not be
26167 @node Gnus Development
26168 @subsection Gnus Development
26170 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
26171 discussion on the development mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}, where people
26172 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
26173 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
26174 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
26175 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
26176 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
26177 have names like ``Oort Gnus'' and ``No Gnus''. @xref{Gnus Versions}.
26179 After futzing around for 10-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
26180 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
26181 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.10.1'' instead. Normal people are
26182 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
26183 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup. This newgroup is mirrored to the
26184 mailing list @samp{info-gnus-english@@gnu.org} which is carried on Gmane
26185 as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.user}. These releases are finally integrated
26189 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26190 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26191 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26192 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26193 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26195 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
26196 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
26197 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
26198 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
26199 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
26200 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
26201 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
26202 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
26203 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
26204 can't be assumed to do so.
26206 So if you have problems with or questions about the alpha versions,
26207 direct those to the ding mailing list @samp{ding@@gnus.org}. This list
26208 is also available on Gmane as @samp{gmane.emacs.gnus.general}.
26211 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
26212 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae,
26213 in particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming}. This is to prevent
26214 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
26215 @xref{Mail Source Customization}.
26218 @subsection Contributors
26219 @cindex contributors
26221 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
26222 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
26223 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
26224 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
26225 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
26226 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
26227 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
26228 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
26229 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
26230 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
26232 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
26238 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
26241 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el,
26242 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
26243 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
26244 functionality and stuff.
26247 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
26248 well as numerous other things).
26251 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
26254 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
26257 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
26260 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
26263 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
26264 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
26267 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
26270 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
26273 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
26276 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
26279 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
26282 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
26285 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
26286 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
26289 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
26292 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
26295 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
26298 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
26302 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
26305 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
26308 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
26311 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
26312 well as autoconf support.
26316 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
26317 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
26319 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
26334 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
26336 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
26340 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
26350 Alexei V. Barantsev,
26365 Massimo Campostrini,
26370 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
26371 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
26375 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
26378 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
26384 Michael Welsh Duggan,
26389 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
26393 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
26401 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
26403 Michelangelo Grigni,
26407 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
26409 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
26411 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
26419 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
26420 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
26421 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
26423 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
26433 Peter Skov Knudsen,
26434 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
26436 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
26437 Thor Kristoffersen,
26440 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
26458 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
26459 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
26466 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
26471 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
26475 John McClary Prevost,
26481 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
26486 Christian von Roques,
26489 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
26496 Philippe Schnoebelen,
26498 Randal L. Schwartz,
26512 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
26517 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
26537 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
26538 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
26539 (550kB and counting).
26541 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
26544 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
26545 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
26549 @subsection New Features
26550 @cindex new features
26553 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
26554 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
26555 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
26556 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
26557 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
26558 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
26559 * No Gnus:: Very punny.
26562 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
26563 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
26564 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
26567 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
26569 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
26574 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
26575 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
26578 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
26579 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
26582 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
26585 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
26586 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
26587 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
26590 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
26591 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
26592 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
26593 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
26596 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
26597 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
26600 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
26601 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
26602 (@pxref{The Active File}).
26605 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
26606 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
26609 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
26610 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
26611 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
26614 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
26615 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
26616 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
26619 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
26620 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
26623 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
26624 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
26627 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
26628 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
26631 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
26632 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
26635 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
26636 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
26639 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
26642 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
26643 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
26646 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
26647 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
26650 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
26651 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
26654 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
26657 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
26658 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
26661 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
26665 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
26669 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
26670 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
26675 @node September Gnus
26676 @subsubsection September Gnus
26680 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
26684 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
26689 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
26690 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
26694 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
26695 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
26699 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
26703 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
26704 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
26707 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
26711 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
26714 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
26717 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
26720 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
26724 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
26725 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
26728 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
26732 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
26736 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
26740 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
26744 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
26747 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
26748 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
26751 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
26755 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
26756 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
26759 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
26762 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
26763 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
26764 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
26767 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets.
26770 The Gnus cache is much faster.
26773 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
26777 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
26778 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
26781 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
26782 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
26785 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
26786 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
26789 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
26790 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
26791 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
26794 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
26795 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
26798 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
26801 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
26804 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
26807 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
26810 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
26811 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
26814 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
26818 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
26821 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
26826 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
26829 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
26833 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
26836 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
26839 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
26840 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
26843 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
26844 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
26848 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
26849 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
26852 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
26856 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
26857 buffer to allow easier treatment.
26860 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
26863 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
26867 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
26871 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
26872 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
26875 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
26879 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
26880 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
26883 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
26884 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
26887 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
26891 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
26894 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
26897 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
26903 @subsubsection Red Gnus
26905 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
26909 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
26916 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
26919 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
26920 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
26923 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
26924 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
26928 Article washing status can be displayed in the
26929 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
26932 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
26935 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
26936 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
26939 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
26943 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
26944 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
26948 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
26949 Server Internals}).
26952 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
26956 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
26959 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
26960 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
26963 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
26964 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
26965 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
26968 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
26969 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
26972 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
26973 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
26976 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
26980 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
26981 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
26984 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
26985 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
26988 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
26992 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
26995 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
26999 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
27000 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27003 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
27004 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
27007 A new command for reading collections of documents
27008 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
27009 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
27012 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
27016 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
27017 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
27020 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
27021 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
27022 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
27025 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
27026 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
27030 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
27034 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
27038 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
27043 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
27047 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
27051 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
27052 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
27055 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
27061 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
27063 New features in Gnus 5.6:
27068 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
27069 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
27070 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
27073 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
27074 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
27075 group, which is created automatically.
27078 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
27082 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
27085 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
27086 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
27089 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
27093 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
27096 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
27097 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
27100 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
27103 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
27107 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
27108 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
27111 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
27112 control over simplification.
27115 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
27118 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
27122 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
27125 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
27128 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
27129 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
27130 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
27133 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
27134 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
27137 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
27141 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
27142 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
27145 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
27146 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
27149 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
27153 A history of where mails have been split is available.
27156 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
27159 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
27160 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
27163 A new function for citing in Message has been
27164 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
27167 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
27170 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
27174 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
27175 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
27178 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
27179 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
27182 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
27185 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
27189 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
27190 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
27192 New features in Gnus 5.8:
27197 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
27198 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
27200 If you used procmail like in
27203 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
27204 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
27205 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
27206 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
27209 this now has changed to
27213 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
27217 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
27220 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
27221 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
27224 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
27225 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
27228 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
27229 called to position point.
27232 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
27233 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
27236 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
27237 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
27240 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
27241 subtly different manner.
27244 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
27245 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
27246 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
27249 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
27254 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
27257 New features in Gnus 5.10:
27261 @item Installation changes
27262 @c ***********************
27266 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
27268 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
27269 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
27270 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
27271 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
27272 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
27273 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
27274 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
27275 isn't save in general.
27278 Lisp files are now installed in @file{.../site-lisp/gnus/} by default.
27279 It defaulted to @file{.../site-lisp/} formerly. In addition to this,
27280 the new installer issues a warning if other Gnus installations which
27281 will shadow the latest one are detected. You can then remove those
27282 shadows manually or remove them using @code{make
27283 remove-installed-shadows}.
27286 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
27288 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
27289 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
27290 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, if you want
27291 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
27292 the second parameter.
27294 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
27295 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
27296 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
27297 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
27298 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
27299 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
27300 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
27301 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
27302 cycle used under Unix systems.
27304 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} and @file{xemacs.mak}
27305 superfluous, so they have been removed.
27308 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
27310 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
27311 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
27314 @c FIXME: `gnus-load' is mentioned in README, which is not included in
27315 @c the repository. We should find a better place for this item.
27317 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
27319 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
27320 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
27321 lisp directory into load-path.
27323 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
27324 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
27328 @item New packages and libraries within Gnus
27329 @c *****************************************
27334 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
27335 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
27338 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
27340 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
27341 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS.
27344 Improved anti-spam features.
27346 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
27347 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
27348 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
27349 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
27350 are also new. @ref{Thwarting Email Spam} and @ref{Spam Package}.
27351 @c FIXME: @xref{Spam Package}?. Should this be under Misc?
27354 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
27356 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
27357 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
27358 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
27359 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
27360 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
27364 @item Changes in group mode
27365 @c ************************
27370 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
27374 Retrieval of charters and control messages
27376 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
27377 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
27380 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
27382 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
27383 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
27384 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
27385 variable in @file{~/.gnus.el} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
27386 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
27389 (setq gnus-parameters
27391 (gnus-show-threads nil)
27392 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
27393 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
27394 (to-group . "\\1"))))
27398 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
27400 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
27401 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
27402 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
27403 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
27404 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
27405 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
27406 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
27407 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
27408 when getting new mail, remove the function.
27411 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
27413 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
27414 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
27415 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
27418 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
27419 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
27421 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
27422 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
27423 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
27425 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
27429 Old intermediate incoming mail files (@file{Incoming*}) are deleted
27430 after a couple of days, not immediately. @xref{Mail Source
27431 Customization}. (New in Gnus 5.10.10 / Emacs 22.2)
27435 @item Changes in summary and article mode
27436 @c **************************************
27441 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
27442 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
27443 region if the region is active.
27446 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
27447 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
27452 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
27453 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
27454 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
27455 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
27458 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
27463 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
27464 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
27466 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
27467 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
27471 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
27472 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
27475 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
27478 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
27479 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
27482 Warn about email replies to news
27484 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
27485 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
27489 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
27490 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
27494 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
27495 opposed to old but unread messages).
27498 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
27499 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
27502 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
27503 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
27506 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
27507 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
27510 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
27512 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
27513 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
27514 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
27515 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
27518 The new command @kbd{W Y f}
27519 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}) allows deuglifying broken
27520 Outlook (Express) articles.
27523 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
27525 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
27526 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
27527 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
27528 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
27530 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
27531 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
27532 message cited below.
27535 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now displayed graphically in
27538 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.gnus.el} to
27542 Face headers handling. @xref{Face}.
27545 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
27546 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
27549 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
27552 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
27554 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
27555 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
27556 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
27557 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
27558 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
27562 Deleting of attachments.
27564 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
27565 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
27566 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
27567 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
27568 that support editing.
27571 @code{gnus-default-charset}
27573 The default value is determined from the
27574 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
27575 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
27576 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
27579 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
27581 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
27582 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
27583 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
27586 Extended format specs.
27588 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
27589 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
27590 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
27591 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
27592 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
27593 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
27596 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
27597 @c FIXME: Was this a user-visible change?
27599 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
27600 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
27601 out other articles.
27604 Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
27606 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
27607 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
27608 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
27609 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
27612 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
27616 @item Changes in Message mode and related Gnus features
27617 @c ****************************************************
27624 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
27625 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
27626 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
27629 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
27630 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
27633 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
27634 Gcc articles as read.
27637 Externalizing of attachments
27639 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
27640 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
27641 local files as external parts.
27644 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
27645 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
27648 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
27650 Earlier it was generated when the user configurable email address was
27651 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
27652 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
27653 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
27654 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
27655 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
27656 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
27657 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
27658 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
27661 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
27663 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
27664 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
27665 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
27666 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
27667 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
27668 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
27671 References and X-Draft-From headers are no longer generated when you
27672 start composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
27676 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers. @xref{X-Face}.
27679 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
27681 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
27682 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
27683 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
27684 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
27685 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
27686 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
27687 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
27688 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
27689 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
27690 was inserted directly.
27693 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
27695 @c FIXME should that not be 'message-user-agent?
27696 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
27697 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
27698 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
27699 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
27702 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
27704 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
27706 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
27707 'bbdb-complete-name)
27711 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
27713 Add a new format of match like
27715 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
27716 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
27718 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
27720 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
27721 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
27725 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
27727 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
27728 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
27729 need add those two headers too.
27732 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
27733 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
27734 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
27738 The option @code{mm-fill-flowed} can be used to disable treatment of
27739 ``format=flowed'' messages. Also, flowed text is disabled when sending
27740 inline PGP signed messages. @xref{Flowed text, , Flowed text,
27741 emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}. (New in Gnus 5.10.7)
27742 @c This entry is also present in the node "No Gnus".
27745 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
27747 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
27750 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
27752 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
27756 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
27758 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
27759 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
27760 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
27761 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
27762 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
27763 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
27764 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
27765 The behavior can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
27768 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
27769 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
27771 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
27772 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
27773 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
27774 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
27777 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
27780 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
27781 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
27784 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to the symbol
27787 The behavior for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
27788 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
27789 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
27790 invalidate the digital signature.
27793 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
27794 decompressed when activated.
27795 @c FIXME: Does this affect article or message mode?
27798 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
27800 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
27801 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
27802 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
27803 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
27804 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
27807 @item You can now drag and drop attachments to the Message buffer.
27808 See @code{mml-dnd-protocol-alist} and @code{mml-dnd-attach-options}.
27809 @xref{MIME, ,MIME, message, Message Manual}.
27810 @c New in 5.10.9 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.1)
27812 @item @code{auto-fill-mode} is enabled by default in Message mode.
27813 See @code{message-fill-column}. @xref{Various Message Variables, ,
27814 Message Headers, message, Message Manual}.
27815 @c New in Gnus 5.10.12 / 5.11 (Emacs 22.3)
27819 @item Changes in back ends
27820 @c ***********************
27824 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
27827 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
27830 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
27832 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
27835 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
27837 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
27838 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
27839 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
27840 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
27841 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
27842 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
27843 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
27844 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
27845 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
27846 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
27847 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
27857 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
27858 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
27861 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
27862 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
27863 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
27864 message, Message Manual}).
27867 The tool bars have been updated to use GNOME icons in Group, Summary and
27868 Message mode. You can also customize the tool bars: @kbd{M-x
27869 customize-apropos RET -tool-bar$} should get you started. This is a new
27870 feature in Gnus 5.10.10. (Only for Emacs, not in XEmacs.)
27872 @item The tool bar icons are now (de)activated correctly
27873 in the group buffer, see the variable @code{gnus-group-update-tool-bar}.
27874 Its default value depends on your Emacs version. This is a new feature
27879 @item Miscellaneous changes
27880 @c ************************
27887 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
27888 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
27889 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
27890 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
27891 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
27892 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
27893 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
27894 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
27895 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
27896 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
27897 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
27898 behavior of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
27899 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
27900 is not needed any more.
27903 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
27905 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
27906 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
27907 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
27912 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
27913 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
27914 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
27918 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
27921 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
27923 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
27930 @subsubsection No Gnus
27933 New features in No Gnus:
27934 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
27936 @include gnus-news.texi
27942 @section The Manual
27946 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
27947 either @code{texi2dvi}
27949 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
27950 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
27952 to get what you hold in your hands now.
27954 The following conventions have been used:
27959 This is a @samp{string}
27962 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
27965 This is a @file{file}
27968 This is a @code{symbol}
27972 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
27976 (setq flargnoze "yes")
27979 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
27982 (setq flumphel 'yes)
27985 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
27986 ever get them confused.
27990 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
27991 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
27992 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
27993 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
27994 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
27995 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
27996 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
28002 @node On Writing Manuals
28003 @section On Writing Manuals
28005 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
28006 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
28007 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
28008 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
28009 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
28010 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code go hand
28013 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
28014 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
28015 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
28018 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
28019 reference manual as source material. It would look quite different.
28024 @section Terminology
28026 @cindex terminology
28031 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
28032 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
28033 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
28034 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
28035 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
28039 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
28040 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
28041 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
28042 not posting, and replying is not following up.
28046 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
28050 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
28055 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
28056 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
28057 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
28058 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
28059 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
28060 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
28061 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
28062 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
28063 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
28066 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
28067 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
28068 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
28069 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
28070 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
28071 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
28073 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
28074 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
28075 access the articles.
28077 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
28078 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
28079 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
28084 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
28085 default, way of getting news.
28089 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
28090 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
28095 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
28096 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
28100 A message that has been posted as news.
28103 @cindex mail message
28104 A message that has been mailed.
28108 A mail message or news article
28112 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
28117 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
28122 A line from the head of an article.
28126 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
28127 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
28129 @item @acronym{NOV}
28130 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
28131 @acronym{NOV} stands for News OverView, which is a type of news server
28132 header which provide datas containing the condensed header information
28133 of articles. They are produced by the server itself; in the @code{nntp}
28134 back end Gnus uses the ones that the @acronym{NNTP} server makes, but
28135 Gnus makes them by itself for some backends (in particular, @code{nnml}).
28137 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
28138 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
28139 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
28140 normal @sc{head} format.
28142 The @acronym{NOV} data consist of one or more text lines (@pxref{Text
28143 Lines, ,Motion by Text Lines, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual})
28144 where each line has the header information of one article. The header
28145 information is a tab-separated series of the header's contents including
28146 an article number, a subject, an author, a date, a message-id,
28149 Those data enable Gnus to generate summary lines quickly. However, if
28150 the server does not support @acronym{NOV} or you disable it purposely or
28151 for some reason, Gnus will try to generate the header information by
28152 parsing each article's headers one by one. It will take time.
28153 Therefore, it is not usually a good idea to set nn*-nov-is-evil
28154 (@pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}) to a non-@code{nil} value unless you
28155 know that the server makes wrong @acronym{NOV} data.
28159 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
28160 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
28161 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
28162 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
28163 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
28164 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
28166 @item killed groups
28167 @cindex killed groups
28168 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
28169 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
28171 @item zombie groups
28172 @cindex zombie groups
28173 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
28176 @cindex active file
28177 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
28178 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
28179 is rather large, as you might surmise.
28182 @cindex bogus groups
28183 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
28184 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
28185 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
28188 @cindex activating groups
28189 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
28190 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
28191 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
28195 News servers store their articles locally in one fashion or other.
28196 One old-fashioned storage method is to have just one file per
28197 article. That's called a ``traditional spool''.
28201 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
28203 @item select method
28204 @cindex select method
28205 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
28208 @item virtual server
28209 @cindex virtual server
28210 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
28211 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
28212 whole is a virtual server.
28216 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
28217 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
28220 @item ephemeral groups
28221 @cindex ephemeral groups
28222 @cindex temporary groups
28223 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
28224 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
28225 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
28228 @cindex solid groups
28229 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
28230 group buffer are solid groups.
28232 @item sparse articles
28233 @cindex sparse articles
28234 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
28235 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
28239 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
28240 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
28244 @cindex thread root
28245 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
28246 articles in the thread.
28250 An article that has responses.
28254 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
28258 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
28259 specified by RFC 1153.
28262 @cindex splitting, terminology
28263 @cindex mail sorting
28264 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
28265 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
28266 incorrectly called mail filtering.
28272 @node Customization
28273 @section Customization
28274 @cindex general customization
28276 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
28277 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
28278 for some quite common situations.
28281 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
28282 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
28283 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
28284 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
28288 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
28289 @subsection Slow/Expensive Connection
28291 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
28292 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
28293 Gnus has to get from the server.
28297 @item gnus-read-active-file
28298 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
28299 entire active file from the server. This file is often very large. You
28300 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
28301 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
28302 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
28304 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
28305 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
28306 Usually this one must @emph{always} be @code{nil} (which is the
28307 default). If, for example, you wish to not use @acronym{NOV}
28308 (@pxref{Terminology}) with the @code{nntp} back end (@pxref{Crosspost
28309 Handling}), set @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} to a non-@code{nil} value
28310 instead of setting this. But you normally do not need to set
28311 @code{nntp-nov-is-evil} since Gnus by itself will detect whether the
28312 @acronym{NNTP} server supports @acronym{NOV}. Anyway, grabbing article
28313 headers from the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast if you tell
28314 Gnus not to use @acronym{NOV}.
28316 As the variables for the other back ends, there are
28317 @code{nndiary-nov-is-evil}, @code{nndir-nov-is-evil},
28318 @code{nnfolder-nov-is-evil}, @code{nnimap-nov-is-evil},
28319 @code{nnml-nov-is-evil}, and @code{nnspool-nov-is-evil}. Note that a
28320 non-@code{nil} value for @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} overrides all those
28325 @node Slow Terminal Connection
28326 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
28328 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
28329 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
28330 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
28334 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
28335 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
28336 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
28337 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
28338 horizontal and vertical recentering.
28340 @item gnus-visible-headers
28341 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
28342 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
28343 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
28344 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
28346 Use the following to enable all the available hiding features:
28348 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
28349 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
28350 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
28353 @item gnus-use-full-window
28354 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
28355 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
28356 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
28357 want to read them anyway.
28359 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
28360 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
28364 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
28365 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
28366 lines, which might save some time.
28370 @node Little Disk Space
28371 @subsection Little Disk Space
28374 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
28375 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
28379 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
28380 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
28381 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
28382 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
28385 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
28386 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
28387 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
28388 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
28391 @item gnus-save-killed-list
28392 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
28393 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
28394 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
28395 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
28401 @subsection Slow Machine
28402 @cindex slow machine
28404 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
28405 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
28407 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
28408 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
28410 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
28411 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
28412 summary buffer faster. Also @pxref{Slow/Expensive Connection}.
28416 @node Troubleshooting
28417 @section Troubleshooting
28418 @cindex troubleshooting
28420 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
28428 Make sure your computer is switched on.
28431 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
28432 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
28436 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
28438 @samp{No Gnus v0.10} @c Adjust ../Makefile.in if you change this line!
28440 you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old @file{.el}
28441 files lying around. Delete these.
28444 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
28445 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
28448 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
28449 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
28450 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
28451 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
28452 something like that.
28455 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
28458 @cindex reporting bugs
28460 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
28462 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
28463 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
28464 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
28465 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
28467 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
28468 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
28469 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
28470 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
28473 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
28474 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
28475 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
28476 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
28477 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
28478 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
28480 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
28481 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
28482 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
28486 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
28487 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
28490 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
28491 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
28492 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
28493 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
28494 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
28495 you discover some weird behavior when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
28496 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
28497 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
28498 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
28499 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
28500 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
28501 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
28502 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
28503 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
28508 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
28509 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
28510 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
28511 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
28512 helps isolating the real problem areas).
28514 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
28515 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
28516 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
28517 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
28518 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
28519 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
28520 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
28521 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
28522 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
28523 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
28524 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
28525 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
28526 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
28529 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
28530 @cindex ding mailing list
28531 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
28532 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
28533 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
28534 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
28538 @node Gnus Reference Guide
28539 @section Gnus Reference Guide
28541 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
28542 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
28543 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
28544 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
28547 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
28548 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
28549 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
28550 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
28551 and general methods of operation.
28554 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
28555 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
28556 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
28557 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
28558 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
28559 * Group Info:: The group info format.
28560 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
28561 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
28562 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
28566 @node Gnus Utility Functions
28567 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
28568 @cindex Gnus utility functions
28569 @cindex utility functions
28571 @cindex internal variables
28573 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
28574 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
28575 Below is a list of the most common ones.
28579 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
28580 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
28581 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
28583 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
28584 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
28585 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
28587 @item gnus-group-real-name
28588 @findex gnus-group-real-name
28589 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
28592 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
28593 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
28594 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
28595 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
28597 @item gnus-get-info
28598 @findex gnus-get-info
28599 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
28601 @item gnus-group-unread
28602 @findex gnus-group-unread
28603 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
28607 @findex gnus-active
28608 The active entry for @var{group}.
28610 @item gnus-set-active
28611 @findex gnus-set-active
28612 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
28614 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
28615 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
28616 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
28619 @item gnus-continuum-version
28620 @findex gnus-continuum-version
28621 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
28622 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
28625 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
28626 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
28627 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
28629 @item gnus-news-group-p
28630 @findex gnus-news-group-p
28631 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
28633 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
28634 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
28635 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
28637 @item gnus-server-to-method
28638 @findex gnus-server-to-method
28639 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
28641 @item gnus-server-equal
28642 @findex gnus-server-equal
28643 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
28645 @item gnus-group-native-p
28646 @findex gnus-group-native-p
28647 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
28649 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
28650 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
28651 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
28653 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
28654 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
28655 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
28657 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
28658 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
28659 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
28660 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
28662 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
28663 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
28664 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
28666 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
28667 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
28668 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
28670 @item gnus-check-backend-function
28671 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
28672 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
28673 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
28676 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
28680 @item gnus-read-method
28681 @findex gnus-read-method
28682 Prompts the user for a select method.
28687 @node Back End Interface
28688 @subsection Back End Interface
28690 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
28691 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
28692 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
28693 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
28694 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
28695 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
28697 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
28698 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
28699 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
28700 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
28701 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
28702 been opened, the function should fail.
28704 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
28705 name. Take this example:
28709 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
28710 (nntp-port-number 4324))
28713 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
28714 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
28716 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
28717 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
28718 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
28720 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
28721 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
28722 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
28724 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
28725 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
28726 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
28727 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
28728 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
28729 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
28732 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
28733 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
28734 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
28735 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
28738 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
28739 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
28740 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
28741 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
28742 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
28743 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
28744 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
28745 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
28746 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
28747 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
28749 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
28750 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
28751 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
28752 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
28753 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
28754 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
28755 of numbers as long as possible.
28757 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
28758 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
28759 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
28761 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
28764 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
28767 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
28768 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
28769 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
28770 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
28771 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
28772 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
28776 @node Required Back End Functions
28777 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
28781 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
28783 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
28784 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
28785 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
28786 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
28788 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
28789 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
28790 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
28791 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
28793 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
28794 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
28795 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
28796 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
28797 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
28798 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
28799 number, do maximum fetches.
28801 Here's an example HEAD:
28804 221 1056 Article retrieved.
28805 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
28806 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
28807 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
28808 Subject: Re: Something very droll
28809 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
28810 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
28812 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
28813 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
28814 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
28818 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
28819 these in the data buffer.
28821 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
28825 head = error / valid-head
28826 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
28827 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
28828 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
28829 header = <text> eol
28833 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
28835 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
28836 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
28840 nov-buffer = *nov-line
28841 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
28842 field = <text except TAB>
28845 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
28849 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
28851 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
28852 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
28854 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
28855 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
28856 server. In fact, it should do so.
28858 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
28859 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
28862 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
28864 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
28865 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
28868 There should be no data returned.
28871 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
28873 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
28874 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
28875 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
28876 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
28878 There should be no data returned.
28881 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
28883 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
28884 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
28885 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
28886 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
28888 There should be no data returned.
28891 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
28893 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
28895 There should be no data returned.
28898 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
28900 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
28901 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
28902 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
28903 it would be nice if that were possible.
28905 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
28906 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
28907 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
28908 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
28909 into its article buffer.
28911 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
28912 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
28913 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
28914 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
28915 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
28916 on successful article retrieval.
28919 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST INFO)
28921 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
28922 making @var{group} the current group.
28924 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
28927 If @var{info}, it allows the backend to update the group info
28930 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
28933 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
28936 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
28937 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
28938 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
28939 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
28940 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
28941 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
28942 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
28943 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
28944 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
28948 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
28949 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
28950 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
28954 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
28956 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
28957 a no-op on most back ends.
28959 There should be no data returned.
28962 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
28964 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
28967 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
28970 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
28971 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
28974 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
28975 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
28976 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
28977 and the highest as 0.
28980 active-file = *active-line
28981 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
28983 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
28986 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
28987 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
28988 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
28991 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
28993 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
28994 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
28995 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
28996 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
28997 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
28998 clear if the posting could not be completed.
29000 There should be no result data from this function.
29005 @node Optional Back End Functions
29006 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
29010 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
29012 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
29013 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
29014 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
29016 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
29017 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
29018 former is in the same format as the data from
29019 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
29020 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
29023 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
29027 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
29029 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
29030 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
29031 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
29032 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
29033 should return a non-@code{nil} value (exceptionally,
29034 @code{nntp-request-update-info} always returns @code{nil} not to waste
29035 the network resources).
29037 There should be no result data from this function.
29040 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
29042 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
29043 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
29044 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
29045 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
29046 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
29047 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
29048 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
29049 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
29051 There should be no result data from this function.
29054 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
29056 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
29057 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
29058 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
29059 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
29060 propagate the mark information to the server.
29062 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
29065 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
29068 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
29069 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
29070 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
29071 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
29072 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
29073 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
29074 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
29075 possible, not limit itself to these.
29077 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
29078 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
29079 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
29080 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
29082 An example action list:
29085 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
29086 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
29087 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
29090 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
29091 mark on (currently not used for anything).
29093 There should be no result data from this function.
29095 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
29097 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
29098 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
29099 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
29100 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
29101 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
29103 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
29104 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
29105 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
29108 There should be no result data from this function.
29111 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
29113 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
29114 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
29115 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
29116 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
29117 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
29118 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
29119 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
29120 local if that's practical.
29122 There should be no result data from this function.
29125 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
29127 The result data from this function should be a description of
29131 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
29133 description = <text>
29136 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
29138 The result data from this function should be the description of all
29139 groups available on the server.
29142 description-buffer = *description-line
29146 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
29148 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
29149 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
29150 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
29151 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
29152 in the active buffer format.
29154 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
29155 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
29156 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
29157 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
29158 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
29159 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
29160 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
29163 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
29165 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
29167 There should be no return data.
29170 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
29172 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
29173 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
29174 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
29175 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
29176 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
29179 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
29182 There should be no result data returned.
29185 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
29187 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
29188 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
29190 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
29191 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
29192 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
29193 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
29194 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
29195 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
29197 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
29198 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
29201 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29202 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29204 There should be no data returned.
29207 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
29209 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
29210 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
29211 this function in short order.
29213 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
29214 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
29216 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
29217 article for that group.
29219 There should be no data returned.
29222 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
29224 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
29225 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
29227 There should be no data returned.
29230 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
29232 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
29233 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
29234 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
29236 There should be no data returned.
29239 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
29241 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
29242 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
29244 There should be no data returned.
29249 @node Error Messaging
29250 @subsubsection Error Messaging
29252 @findex nnheader-report
29253 @findex nnheader-get-report
29254 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
29255 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
29256 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
29257 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
29258 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
29259 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
29262 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
29264 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
29267 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
29268 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
29269 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
29270 takes one argument---the server symbol.
29272 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
29273 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
29274 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
29277 @node Writing New Back Ends
29278 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
29280 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
29281 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
29282 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
29283 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
29284 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
29287 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
29288 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
29289 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
29291 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
29292 package called @code{nnoo}.
29294 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
29295 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
29301 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
29302 parameters. For instance:
29305 (nnoo-declare nndir
29309 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
29310 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
29313 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
29314 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
29315 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
29317 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
29318 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
29319 a function in those back ends.
29322 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
29323 "Where nndir will look for groups."
29324 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
29327 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
29328 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
29329 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
29331 @item nnoo-define-basics
29332 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
29336 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
29340 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
29341 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
29342 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
29344 @item nnoo-map-functions
29345 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
29346 functions from the parent back ends.
29349 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
29350 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
29351 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
29354 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
29355 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
29356 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
29357 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
29360 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
29361 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
29362 haven't already been defined.
29368 nnmh-request-newgroups)
29372 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
29373 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
29374 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
29379 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
29382 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
29383 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,1996 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
29387 (require 'nnheader)
29391 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
29393 (nnoo-declare nndir
29396 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
29397 "Where nndir will look for groups."
29398 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
29400 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
29401 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
29404 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
29406 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
29407 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
29408 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
29410 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
29411 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
29413 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
29415 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
29417 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
29418 (setq nndir-directory
29419 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
29421 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
29422 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
29423 (push `(nndir-current-group
29424 ,(file-name-nondirectory
29425 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
29427 (push `(nndir-top-directory
29428 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
29430 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
29432 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
29433 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
29434 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
29435 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
29436 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
29440 nnmh-status-message
29442 nnmh-request-newgroups))
29448 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
29449 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
29451 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
29452 @findex gnus-declare-backend
29453 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
29454 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
29455 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
29457 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
29458 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
29463 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
29466 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
29468 The abilities can be:
29472 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
29474 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
29476 This back end supports both mail and news.
29478 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
29481 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
29482 articles and groups.
29484 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
29485 true for almost all back ends.
29486 @item prompt-address
29487 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
29488 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
29489 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
29493 @node Mail-like Back Ends
29494 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
29496 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
29497 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
29498 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
29499 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
29502 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
29503 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
29504 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
29507 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
29508 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
29511 This function takes four parameters.
29515 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
29518 @item exit-function
29519 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
29521 @item temp-directory
29522 Where the temporary files should be stored.
29525 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
29526 performed for one group only.
29529 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
29530 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
29531 find the article number assigned to this article.
29533 The function also uses the following variables:
29534 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
29535 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
29536 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
29537 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
29541 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
29542 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
29546 @node Score File Syntax
29547 @subsection Score File Syntax
29549 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
29550 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
29551 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
29553 Here's a typical score file:
29557 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
29564 BNF definition of a score file:
29567 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
29568 element = rule / atom
29569 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
29570 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
29571 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
29572 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
29574 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
29575 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
29576 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
29577 date-header = "date"
29578 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
29579 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
29580 score = "nil" / <integer>
29581 date = "nil" / <natural number>
29582 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
29583 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
29584 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
29585 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
29586 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
29587 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
29588 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
29589 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
29590 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
29591 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
29592 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
29593 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
29594 exclude-files / read-only / touched
29595 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
29596 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
29597 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
29598 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
29599 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
29600 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
29601 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
29602 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
29603 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
29604 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
29605 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
29606 eval = "eval" space <form>
29607 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
29610 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
29613 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
29614 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
29615 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
29616 one looong line, then that's ok.
29618 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
29619 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
29623 @subsection Headers
29625 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
29626 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
29627 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
29628 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
29630 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
29631 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
29632 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
29633 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
29634 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
29635 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
29636 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
29638 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
29639 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
29640 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
29641 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
29642 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
29644 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
29645 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
29651 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
29652 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
29654 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
29655 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
29656 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
29657 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
29659 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
29663 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
29666 is transformed into
29669 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
29672 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
29673 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
29676 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
29679 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
29680 is slightly tricky:
29683 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
29689 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
29692 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
29698 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
29705 and is equal to the previous range.
29707 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
29708 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
29709 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
29713 range = simple-range / normal-range
29714 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
29715 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
29716 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
29717 number *[ " " contents ]
29720 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
29721 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
29722 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
29723 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
29724 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
29729 @subsection Group Info
29731 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
29732 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
29733 describes the group.
29735 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
29736 second is a more complex one:
29739 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
29741 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
29742 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
29744 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
29747 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
29748 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
29749 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
29750 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
29751 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
29752 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
29753 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
29754 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
29755 this section is about.
29757 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
29758 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
29759 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
29761 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
29764 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
29765 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
29766 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
29767 group = quote <string> quote
29768 ralevel = rank / level
29769 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
29770 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
29771 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
29773 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
29774 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
29775 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
29776 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
29779 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
29780 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
29783 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
29784 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
29787 @item gnus-info-group
29788 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
29789 @findex gnus-info-group
29790 @findex gnus-info-set-group
29791 Get/set the group name.
29793 @item gnus-info-rank
29794 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
29795 @findex gnus-info-rank
29796 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
29797 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
29799 @item gnus-info-level
29800 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
29801 @findex gnus-info-level
29802 @findex gnus-info-set-level
29803 Get/set the group level.
29805 @item gnus-info-score
29806 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
29807 @findex gnus-info-score
29808 @findex gnus-info-set-score
29809 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
29811 @item gnus-info-read
29812 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
29813 @findex gnus-info-read
29814 @findex gnus-info-set-read
29815 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
29817 @item gnus-info-marks
29818 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
29819 @findex gnus-info-marks
29820 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
29821 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
29823 @item gnus-info-method
29824 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
29825 @findex gnus-info-method
29826 @findex gnus-info-set-method
29827 Get/set the group select method.
29829 @item gnus-info-params
29830 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
29831 @findex gnus-info-params
29832 @findex gnus-info-set-params
29833 Get/set the group parameters.
29836 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
29837 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
29839 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
29840 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
29841 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
29842 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
29845 @node Extended Interactive
29846 @subsection Extended Interactive
29847 @cindex interactive
29848 @findex gnus-interactive
29850 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
29851 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
29852 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
29855 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
29856 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
29861 The best thing to do would have been to implement
29862 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
29863 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
29864 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
29865 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
29866 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
29867 @code{interactive}.
29869 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
29874 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
29875 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
29879 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
29880 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
29881 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
29884 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
29888 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
29892 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
29898 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
29899 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
29903 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
29904 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
29905 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
29907 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
29908 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
29909 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
29910 Gnus, that's very useful.
29912 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
29913 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
29914 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
29915 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
29916 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
29917 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
29918 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
29919 following function:
29922 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
29926 (,function ,@@args))
29930 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
29931 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
29932 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
29935 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
29936 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
29937 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
29939 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
29940 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
29941 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
29944 @node Various File Formats
29945 @subsection Various File Formats
29948 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
29949 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
29953 @node Active File Format
29954 @subsubsection Active File Format
29956 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
29957 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
29960 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
29963 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
29964 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
29965 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
29966 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
29967 no.general 1000 900 y
29970 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
29973 active = *group-line
29974 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
29975 group = <non-white-space string>
29977 high-number = <non-negative integer>
29978 low-number = <positive integer>
29979 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
29982 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
29983 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
29986 @node Newsgroups File Format
29987 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
29989 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
29990 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
29991 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
29994 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
29995 Here's the definition:
29999 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
30000 group = <non-white-space string>
30002 description = <string>
30007 @node Emacs for Heathens
30008 @section Emacs for Heathens
30010 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
30011 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
30012 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
30013 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
30014 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
30015 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
30016 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
30020 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
30021 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
30026 @subsection Keystrokes
30030 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
30033 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
30036 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
30037 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
30038 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
30039 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
30040 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
30041 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
30043 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
30044 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
30045 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
30046 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
30047 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
30048 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
30049 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
30051 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
30052 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
30053 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
30054 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
30055 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
30056 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
30057 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
30059 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
30060 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
30061 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
30062 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
30063 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
30069 @subsection Emacs Lisp
30071 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
30072 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
30073 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
30074 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
30076 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
30077 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
30078 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
30079 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
30080 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
30081 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
30082 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{~/.gnus.el}
30083 file to customize Gnus. (You can also use the @file{~/.emacs} file, but
30084 in order to set things of Gnus up, it is much better to use the
30085 @file{~/.gnus.el} file, @xref{Startup Files}.)
30087 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
30088 write the following:
30091 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
30094 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
30095 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
30096 you can go and fill your @file{~/.gnus.el} file with lots of these to
30097 change how Gnus works.
30099 If you have put that thing in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, it will be
30100 read and @code{eval}ed (which is Lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
30101 start Gnus. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
30102 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
30103 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
30105 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
30106 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
30107 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
30111 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
30115 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
30118 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server-file} to
30119 @samp{/etc/nntpserver}'', that means:
30122 (setq gnus-nntp-server-file "/etc/nntpserver")
30125 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
30126 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
30129 @include gnus-faq.texi
30131 @node GNU Free Documentation License
30132 @chapter GNU Free Documentation License
30133 @include doclicense.texi
30151 @c Local Variables:
30153 @c coding: iso-8859-1