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4 @settitle Gnus 5.4 Manual
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233 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
240 \thispagestyle{empty}
242 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
244 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
245 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
246 are preserved on all copies.
248 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
249 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
250 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
251 permission notice identical to this one.
253 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
254 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
263 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
265 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
267 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
268 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
269 are preserved on all copies.
272 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
273 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
274 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
275 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
278 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
279 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
280 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
281 permission notice identical to this one.
283 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
284 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
290 @title Gnus 5.4 Manual
292 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
295 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
296 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
302 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
303 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
304 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
305 permission notice identical to this one.
307 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
308 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
317 @top The Gnus Newsreader
321 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
322 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
323 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
326 This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.4.
337 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
338 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
340 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
341 being accused of plagiarism:
343 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
344 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
345 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
346 even read news with it!
348 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
349 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
350 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
351 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
352 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
359 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
360 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
361 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
362 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
363 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
364 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
365 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
366 * Various:: General purpose settings.
367 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
368 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
369 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
370 * Key Index:: Key Index.
374 @chapter Starting Gnus
379 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
380 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
383 @findex gnus-other-frame
384 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
385 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
386 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
388 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
392 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
393 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
394 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
395 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
396 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
397 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
398 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
399 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
400 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
401 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
402 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
406 @node Finding the News
407 @section Finding the News
410 @vindex gnus-select-method
412 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
413 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
414 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
415 native method. All groups that are not fetched with this method are
418 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
419 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
422 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
425 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
428 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
431 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
432 certainly be much faster.
434 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
436 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
437 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
438 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
439 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
440 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
441 that fails as well, Gnus will will try to use the machine that is
442 running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
444 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
445 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
446 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
447 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
449 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
450 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
451 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
452 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
453 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
454 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
456 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
458 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
459 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
460 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
461 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
462 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
463 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
465 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
467 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
468 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
469 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
470 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
471 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
472 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
475 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
476 would typically set this variable to
479 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
484 @section The First Time
485 @cindex first time usage
487 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
488 be subscribed by default.
490 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
491 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
492 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
493 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
496 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
497 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is here
498 defined as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
500 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
501 help you with most common problems.
503 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
504 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
508 @node The Server is Down
509 @section The Server is Down
510 @cindex server errors
512 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
513 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
514 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
516 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
517 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
518 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
519 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
520 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
521 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
522 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
524 @findex gnus-no-server
525 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
527 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
528 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
529 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
530 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
531 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
532 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
537 @section Slave Gnusae
540 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
541 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
542 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
543 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
545 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
548 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
549 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
550 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
551 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
552 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
553 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
554 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
556 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
557 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
558 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
559 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
560 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
561 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
562 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
563 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
565 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
566 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
569 @node Fetching a Group
570 @section Fetching a Group
571 @cindex fetching a group
573 @findex gnus-fetch-group
574 It it sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
575 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
576 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
577 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
578 It takes the group name as a parameter.
586 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
587 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
588 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
589 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
590 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
591 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
592 is @code{t} by default. If you set this variable to @code{always}, then
593 Gnus will query the backends for new groups even when you do the @kbd{g}
594 command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
597 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
598 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
599 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
603 @node Checking New Groups
604 @subsection Checking New Groups
606 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
607 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
608 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
609 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
610 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
611 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
612 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
613 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
614 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
615 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
617 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
618 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
619 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
620 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
621 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
622 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
623 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
624 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
625 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
626 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
627 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
629 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
630 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
631 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
632 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
633 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
634 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
637 @node Subscription Methods
638 @subsection Subscription Methods
640 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
641 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
642 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
644 This variable should contain a function. Some handy pre-fab values
649 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
650 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
651 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
652 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
653 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
655 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
656 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
657 Subscribe all new groups randomly.
659 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
660 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
661 Subscribe all new groups alphabetically.
663 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
664 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
665 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
666 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
667 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
668 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
669 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
670 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
671 up. Or something like that.
673 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
674 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
675 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
676 you about @strong{all} new groups.
678 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
679 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
684 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
685 A closely related variable is
686 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
687 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
688 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
689 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
692 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above to
693 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
694 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
697 @node Filtering New Groups
698 @subsection Filtering New Groups
700 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
701 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
702 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
705 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
708 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
709 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
710 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
711 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
712 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
713 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
714 subscribing these groups.
715 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
716 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
718 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
719 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
720 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
721 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
722 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
723 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
724 and if the the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
725 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
727 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
728 Yet another variable that meddles here is
729 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
730 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
731 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
732 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
733 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
734 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
735 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
736 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
738 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
739 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
742 @node Changing Servers
743 @section Changing Servers
744 @cindex changing servers
746 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
747 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
748 very flaky and you want to use another.
750 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
751 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
755 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
756 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
757 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
758 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
761 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
762 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
763 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
764 functions more than absolutely necessary.
766 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
767 @findex gnus-change-server
768 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
769 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
770 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
771 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
772 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
774 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
775 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
776 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
777 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
778 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
780 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
781 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
782 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
783 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
784 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
785 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
789 @section Startup Files
790 @cindex startup files
795 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
796 information is traditionally stored in this file.
798 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
799 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
800 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
801 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
802 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
803 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
804 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
806 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
807 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
808 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
809 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
811 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
812 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
813 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
814 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
815 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
816 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
818 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
819 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
820 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
821 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
822 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
823 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
824 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
825 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
826 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
827 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
828 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
829 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
831 @vindex gnus-startup-file
832 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
833 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
834 file being whatever that one is with a @samp{.eld} appended.
836 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
837 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
838 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
839 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
840 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
841 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
842 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
843 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
844 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
845 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
848 (defun turn-off-backup ()
849 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
851 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
852 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
855 @vindex gnus-init-file
856 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
857 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus.el} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
858 (@file{~/.gnus.el} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
859 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{.emacs} and
860 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff.
868 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
869 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
870 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
871 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
872 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
875 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
876 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
879 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
880 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
881 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
883 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
884 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
885 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
886 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
887 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
888 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
891 @node The Active File
892 @section The Active File
894 @cindex ignored groups
896 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
897 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
898 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
900 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
901 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
902 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
903 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
904 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
905 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
906 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
909 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
910 @c if you set it to anything else.
912 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
914 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
915 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
916 reading the active file. This variable is @code{t} by default.
918 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
919 you actually subscribe to.
921 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
922 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
923 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
924 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
926 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
927 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
928 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
929 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
930 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
931 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
933 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
934 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
935 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
936 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
937 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
938 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
940 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
941 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
943 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
944 secondary select methods.
947 @node Startup Variables
948 @section Startup Variables
953 @vindex gnus-load-hook
954 A hook that is run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
955 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
956 times you start Gnus.
958 @item gnus-startup-hook
959 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
960 A hook that is run after starting up Gnus successfully.
962 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
963 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
964 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
965 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
966 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
967 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
968 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
969 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
971 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
972 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
973 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
974 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
975 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
976 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
978 @item gnus-no-groups-message
979 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
980 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
982 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
983 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
984 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
986 @item gnus-startup-jingle
987 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
988 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
989 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
994 @node The Group Buffer
995 @chapter The Group Buffer
998 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
999 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1000 long as Gnus is active.
1003 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1004 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1005 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1006 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1007 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1008 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1009 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1010 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1011 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1012 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1013 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1014 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1015 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1016 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1017 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1018 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1019 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1023 @node Group Buffer Format
1024 @section Group Buffer Format
1027 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1028 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1029 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1033 @node Group Line Specification
1034 @subsection Group Line Specification
1035 @cindex group buffer format
1037 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1038 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1040 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1043 25: news.announce.newusers
1044 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1049 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1050 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1051 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1052 asterisk at the beginning of the line?)
1054 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1055 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1056 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1057 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1058 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1059 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1061 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1063 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1064 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1065 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1066 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1069 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1070 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1071 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1073 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1078 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1081 Whether the group is subscribed.
1084 Level of subscribedness.
1087 Number of unread articles.
1090 Number of dormant articles.
1093 Number of ticked articles.
1096 Number of read articles.
1099 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1100 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1103 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1106 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1115 Newsgroup description.
1118 @samp{m} if moderated.
1121 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1130 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1134 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1137 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1138 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1139 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1140 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1141 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1144 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1146 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1150 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1154 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1155 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
1156 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1157 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1158 paratere as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1159 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1164 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1165 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1166 group, or a bogus native group.
1169 @node Group Modeline Specification
1170 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1171 @cindex group modeline
1173 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1174 The mode line can be changed by setting
1175 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). It
1176 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1180 The native news server.
1182 The native select method.
1186 @node Group Highlighting
1187 @subsection Group Highlighting
1188 @cindex highlighting
1189 @cindex group highlighting
1191 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1192 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1193 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1194 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1195 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1197 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1201 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1203 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1204 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1205 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1207 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1209 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1211 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))))
1214 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1221 The number of unread articles in the group.
1225 Whether the group is a mail group.
1227 The level of the group.
1229 The score of the group.
1231 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1233 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1236 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1237 topic being inserted.
1240 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1241 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1242 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1244 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1245 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1246 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1247 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1248 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1251 @node Group Maneuvering
1252 @section Group Maneuvering
1253 @cindex group movement
1255 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1256 expected, hopefully.
1262 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1263 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1264 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1270 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1271 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1272 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1276 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1277 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1281 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1282 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1286 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1287 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1288 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1292 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1293 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1294 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1297 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1303 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1304 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1305 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1310 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1311 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1312 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1316 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1317 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1318 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1321 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1322 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1323 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1324 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1328 @node Selecting a Group
1329 @section Selecting a Group
1330 @cindex group selection
1335 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1336 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1337 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1338 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1339 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1340 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1341 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1342 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1343 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1344 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1348 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1349 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1350 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1351 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1352 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1356 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1357 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1358 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1359 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1360 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1361 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1362 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1363 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer.
1364 This might be useful if you want to toggle threading before entering the
1368 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1369 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1370 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1371 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1372 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1375 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1376 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1377 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1378 doing any processing of its contents
1379 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1380 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1381 manner will have no permanent effects.
1385 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1386 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1387 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1388 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1389 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1390 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1391 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1392 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1395 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1396 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1397 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1398 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1403 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1404 full summary buffer.
1407 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1410 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1414 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1415 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1416 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1420 @node Subscription Commands
1421 @section Subscription Commands
1422 @cindex subscription
1430 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1431 Toggle subscription to the current group
1432 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1438 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1439 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1440 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1441 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1447 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1448 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1454 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1455 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1458 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1459 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1460 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1461 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1462 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1468 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1469 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1473 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1474 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1477 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1478 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1479 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1480 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1481 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1482 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1483 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1484 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1485 @file{.newsrc} file.
1489 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1499 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1500 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1501 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1502 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1503 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1508 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1509 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1510 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1514 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1515 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1516 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1518 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1519 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1520 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1521 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1522 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1523 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1530 @section Group Levels
1534 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1535 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1536 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1537 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1538 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1540 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1546 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1547 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1548 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1549 prompted for a level.
1552 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1553 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1554 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1555 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1556 Gnus considers groups on between levels 1 and
1557 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1558 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1559 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1560 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1561 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (default 9),
1562 completely dead. Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly
1563 the same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what
1564 articles you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and
1565 living groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely
1566 for reasons of efficiency.
1568 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1569 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1571 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1572 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1573 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1575 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1576 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1577 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1578 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1579 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1580 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1581 relevant legal ranges.
1583 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1584 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1585 will only move to groups that are of the same level (or lower). In
1586 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1587 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1588 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1591 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1592 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1593 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1596 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1597 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1598 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1599 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1602 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1603 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1604 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1605 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1607 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1608 Gnus will normally just activate groups that are on level
1609 @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to activate
1610 unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable to
1611 5. The default is 6.
1615 @section Group Score
1618 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1619 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1620 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1623 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1624 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1625 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1626 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1627 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1628 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1629 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1631 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1632 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1633 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1634 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1635 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1636 action after each summary exit, you can add
1637 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1638 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1639 slow things down somewhat.
1642 @node Marking Groups
1643 @section Marking Groups
1644 @cindex marking groups
1646 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1647 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1648 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1649 bidding on those groups.
1651 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1652 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1653 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1661 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1662 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1668 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1669 Remove the mark from the current group
1670 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1674 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1675 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1679 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1680 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1684 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1685 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1689 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1690 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1691 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1694 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1696 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1697 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1698 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1699 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1700 the command to be executed.
1703 @node Foreign Groups
1704 @section Foreign Groups
1705 @cindex foreign groups
1707 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1708 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1709 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1710 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1717 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1718 @cindex making groups
1719 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1720 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1721 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1725 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1726 @cindex renaming groups
1727 Rename the current group to something else
1728 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is legal only on some
1729 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1735 @findex gnus-group-customize
1736 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1740 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1741 @cindex renaming groups
1742 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1743 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1747 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1748 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1749 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1753 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1754 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1755 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1759 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1761 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1762 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1767 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1768 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1772 @cindex (ding) archive
1773 @cindex archive group
1774 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1775 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1776 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1777 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1778 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1779 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1780 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1784 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1786 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1787 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1788 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1789 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1793 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1795 Read an arbitrary directory as if with were a newsgroup with the
1796 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1797 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1801 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1802 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1804 Make a group based on some file or other
1805 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1806 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1807 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1808 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs}, and
1809 @code{forward}. If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will
1810 guess at the file type. @xref{Document Groups}.
1814 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1819 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1820 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1821 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1822 search engine type and the search string. Legal search engine types
1823 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1824 @xref{Web Searches}.
1827 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1828 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1829 This function will delete the current group
1830 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1831 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1832 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1833 absolutely sure of what you are doing.
1837 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1838 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1839 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1843 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1844 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1845 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1848 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1851 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1852 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1853 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1854 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1855 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1858 @node Group Parameters
1859 @section Group Parameters
1860 @cindex group parameters
1862 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1867 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1868 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1869 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1870 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1871 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1872 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1873 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1874 copies of your followups.
1876 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1877 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1878 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1879 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1880 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1881 list address instead.
1885 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1886 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1887 doing a @kbd{a} in any group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1888 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1889 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1891 @item broken-reply-to
1892 @cindex broken-reply-to
1893 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1894 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1895 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1896 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1897 broken behavior. So there!
1901 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
1902 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
1906 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, Gnus will treat
1907 all responses as if they were responses to news articles. This can be
1908 useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a news group.
1912 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list and set to
1913 @code{t}, new composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current
1914 group. If it is present and set to @code{none}, no @code{Gcc:} header
1915 will be generated, if it is present and a string, this string will be
1916 inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header (this symbol takes precedence over
1917 any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later).
1921 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
1922 . t)}, , all articles that are read will be marked as expirable. For an
1923 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
1926 @cindex total-expire
1927 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
1928 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
1929 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
1934 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
1935 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
1936 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
1937 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
1938 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
1939 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
1942 @cindex score file group parameter
1943 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
1944 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. This
1945 means that all score commands you issue will end up in that file.
1948 @cindex adapt file group parameter
1949 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
1950 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
1951 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
1954 When unsubscribing to a mailing list you should never send the
1955 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
1956 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
1957 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
1960 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} says which articles to
1961 display on entering the group. Legal values are:
1965 Display all articles, both read and unread.
1968 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
1973 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
1974 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
1975 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
1978 @item @var{(variable form)}
1979 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
1980 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
1981 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
1982 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
1983 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
1984 @code{eval}ed there.
1986 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
1987 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
1988 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
1989 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
1990 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
1994 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group.
1996 Also @pxref{Topic Parameters}.
1999 @node Listing Groups
2000 @section Listing Groups
2001 @cindex group listing
2003 These commands all list various slices of the groups that are available.
2011 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2012 List all groups that have unread articles
2013 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2014 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2015 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2016 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2023 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2024 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2025 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2026 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2027 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2028 unsubscribed groups).
2032 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2033 List all unread groups on a specific level
2034 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2035 with no unread articles.
2039 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2040 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2041 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2042 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2047 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2048 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2052 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2053 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2054 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2058 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2059 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2063 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2064 List absolutely all groups that are in the active file(s) of the
2065 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2066 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2067 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2068 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list group that
2069 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they are killed groups.
2070 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2074 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2075 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2076 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2080 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2081 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2082 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2086 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2087 @cindex visible group parameter
2088 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2089 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2090 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2091 get the same effect.
2093 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2094 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2095 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2096 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2097 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2100 @node Sorting Groups
2101 @section Sorting Groups
2102 @cindex sorting groups
2104 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2105 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2106 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2107 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2108 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2109 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2114 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2115 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2116 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2118 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2119 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2120 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2122 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2123 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2124 Sort by group level.
2126 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2127 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2128 Sort by group score.
2130 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2131 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2132 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2133 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
2135 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2136 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2137 Sort by number of unread articles.
2139 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2140 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2141 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2146 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2147 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2151 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2152 some sorting criteria:
2156 @kindex G S a (Group)
2157 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2158 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2159 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2162 @kindex G S u (Group)
2163 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2164 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2165 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2168 @kindex G S l (Group)
2169 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2170 Sort the group buffer by group level
2171 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2174 @kindex G S v (Group)
2175 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2176 Sort the group buffer by group score
2177 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
2180 @kindex G S r (Group)
2181 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2182 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2183 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2186 @kindex G S m (Group)
2187 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2188 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2189 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2193 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
2195 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2199 @kindex G P a (Group)
2200 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2201 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2202 group name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2205 @kindex G P u (Group)
2206 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2207 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by the number of
2208 unread articles (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2211 @kindex G P l (Group)
2212 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2213 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group level
2214 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2217 @kindex G P v (Group)
2218 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2219 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group score
2220 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}).
2223 @kindex G P r (Group)
2224 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2225 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group rank
2226 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}).
2229 @kindex G P m (Group)
2230 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2231 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2232 backend name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2238 @node Group Maintenance
2239 @section Group Maintenance
2240 @cindex bogus groups
2245 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2246 Find bogus groups and delete them
2247 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2251 @findex gnus-find-new-newsgroups
2252 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-find-new-newsgroups}). If
2253 given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server for
2257 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2258 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2259 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2260 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2263 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2264 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2265 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2266 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2271 @node Browse Foreign Server
2272 @section Browse Foreign Server
2273 @cindex foreign servers
2274 @cindex browsing servers
2279 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2280 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2281 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2282 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2285 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2286 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2287 will be use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2288 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2290 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2295 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2296 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2300 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2301 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2304 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2305 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2306 Enter the current group and display the first article
2307 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2310 @kindex RET (Browse)
2311 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2312 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2316 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2317 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2318 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2324 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2325 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2329 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2330 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2331 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2336 @section Exiting Gnus
2337 @cindex exiting Gnus
2339 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2344 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2345 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2346 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2347 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2351 @findex gnus-group-exit
2352 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2356 @findex gnus-group-quit
2357 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2358 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2361 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2362 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2363 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2364 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2365 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2370 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2371 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2372 trying to customize meta-variables.
2377 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2378 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2379 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2385 @section Group Topics
2388 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2389 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2390 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2391 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2392 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2393 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2401 2: alt.religion.emacs
2404 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2406 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2407 13: comp.sources.unix
2410 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2412 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2413 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2414 is a toggling command.)
2416 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2417 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2418 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2419 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2422 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2423 the hook for the group mode:
2426 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2430 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2431 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2432 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2433 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2434 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2438 @node Topic Variables
2439 @subsection Topic Variables
2440 @cindex topic variables
2442 Now, if you select a topic, if will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2443 really neat, I think.
2445 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2446 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2447 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2460 Number of groups in the topic.
2462 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2464 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2467 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2468 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2469 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2472 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2473 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2475 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2476 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2477 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2480 @node Topic Commands
2481 @subsection Topic Commands
2482 @cindex topic commands
2484 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2485 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2486 definitions slightly.
2492 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2493 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2494 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2498 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2499 Move the current group to some other topic
2500 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2501 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2505 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2506 Copy the current group to some other topic
2507 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2508 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2512 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2513 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2514 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2515 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2519 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2520 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2521 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2525 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2526 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2527 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2531 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2532 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2533 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2536 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2537 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2538 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2539 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2543 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2545 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2546 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2547 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2548 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2549 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2550 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2553 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2554 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2555 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2556 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2557 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2561 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2562 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2563 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2567 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2568 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2569 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2574 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2575 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2578 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2579 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2580 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2584 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2585 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2586 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2590 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2591 @cindex group parameters
2592 @cindex topic parameters
2594 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2595 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2601 @subsection Topic Sorting
2602 @cindex topic sorting
2604 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2610 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2611 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2612 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2613 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2616 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2617 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2618 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2619 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2622 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2623 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2624 Sort the current topic by group level
2625 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2628 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2629 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2630 Sort the current topic by group score
2631 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}).
2634 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2635 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2636 Sort the current topic by group rank
2637 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2640 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2641 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2642 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2643 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2647 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2650 @node Topic Topology
2651 @subsection Topic Topology
2652 @cindex topic topology
2655 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2661 2: alt.religion.emacs
2664 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2666 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2667 13: comp.sources.unix
2670 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2671 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2672 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2677 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2678 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2682 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2683 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2684 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2685 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2686 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2687 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2689 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2690 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2691 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2694 @node Topic Parameters
2695 @subsection Topic Parameters
2696 @cindex topic parameters
2698 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2699 ancestor) topic parameters. All legal group parameters are legal topic
2700 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2702 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2703 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2704 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2705 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2711 2: alt.religion.emacs
2715 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2717 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2718 13: comp.sources.unix
2722 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2723 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2724 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2725 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2726 @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2727 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2729 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2730 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2731 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2732 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2733 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2735 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2736 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2737 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2738 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2739 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2740 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2741 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2742 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2745 @node Misc Group Stuff
2746 @section Misc Group Stuff
2749 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2750 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2751 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2752 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2759 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2760 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2761 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2765 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2766 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). The current
2767 group name will be used as the default.
2771 @findex gnus-group-mail
2772 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2776 Variables for the group buffer:
2780 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2781 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2782 @code{gnus-group-mode-hook} is called after the group buffer has been
2785 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2786 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2787 @code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} is called after the group buffer is
2788 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2791 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2792 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2793 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2794 whether they are empty or not.
2799 @node Scanning New Messages
2800 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2801 @cindex new messages
2802 @cindex scanning new news
2808 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2809 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2810 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2811 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2812 command will force a total rereading of the active file(s) from the
2817 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2818 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2819 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2820 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
2821 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
2822 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
2824 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2825 @cindex activating groups
2827 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2828 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2833 @findex gnus-group-restart
2834 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
2835 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
2836 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
2840 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2841 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2843 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2844 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2848 @node Group Information
2849 @subsection Group Information
2850 @cindex group information
2851 @cindex information on groups
2859 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2860 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
2863 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2864 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2865 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2866 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
2867 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
2868 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
2869 for fetching the file.
2871 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
2872 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
2877 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
2878 @cindex describing groups
2879 @cindex group description
2880 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2881 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2882 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2886 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2887 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2888 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2893 @findex gnus-version
2894 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
2898 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
2899 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
2902 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
2905 @findex gnus-info-find-node
2906 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
2910 @node Group Timestamp
2911 @subsection Group Timestamp
2913 @cindex group timestamps
2915 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
2916 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
2917 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
2920 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
2923 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
2925 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
2926 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
2929 (setq gnus-group-line-format
2930 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
2933 This will result in lines looking like:
2936 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
2937 0: custom 19961002T012713
2940 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
2941 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
2945 (setq gnus-group-line-format
2946 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
2951 @subsection File Commands
2952 @cindex file commands
2958 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
2959 @vindex gnus-init-file
2960 @cindex reading init file
2961 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
2962 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
2966 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
2967 @cindex saving .newsrc
2968 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
2969 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
2970 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
2973 @c @kindex Z (Group)
2974 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
2975 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
2980 @node The Summary Buffer
2981 @chapter The Summary Buffer
2982 @cindex summary buffer
2984 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
2985 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
2987 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
2988 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
2990 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
2993 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
2994 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
2995 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
2996 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
2997 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
2998 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
2999 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3000 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3001 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3002 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3003 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3004 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3005 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3006 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3007 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3008 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3009 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3010 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3011 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3012 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3013 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3014 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3015 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3016 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3017 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3018 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3019 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3023 @node Summary Buffer Format
3024 @section Summary Buffer Format
3025 @cindex summary buffer format
3028 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3029 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3030 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3033 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3034 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3035 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3036 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3037 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3038 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined function exist:
3039 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3040 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3041 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3042 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3043 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
3045 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3046 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3047 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3048 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
3051 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3052 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3054 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3055 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3056 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3057 lines a a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3058 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3060 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3062 The following format specification characters are understood:
3070 Subject if the article is the root or the previous article had a
3071 different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3072 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @samp{}.)
3074 Full @code{From} header.
3076 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3078 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3079 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3080 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3081 may be more thorough.
3083 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3086 Number of lines in the article.
3088 Number of characters in the article.
3090 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3092 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3093 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3095 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3096 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3098 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3099 for adopted articles.
3101 One space for each thread level.
3103 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3111 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3112 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3113 default level. If the difference between
3114 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
3115 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3123 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3125 The @code{Date} in @code{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS} format.
3131 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3132 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3134 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3135 article has any children.
3139 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3140 be a letter. @sc{gnus} will call the function
3141 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3142 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3143 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3144 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3147 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3148 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3149 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3150 that. This means that it is illegal to have these specs after a
3151 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3152 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3154 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3155 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3157 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3160 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3161 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3163 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3164 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
3165 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. The default
3166 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3168 Here are the elements you can play with:
3174 Unprefixed group name.
3176 Current article number.
3180 Number of unread articles in this group.
3182 Number of unselected articles in this group.
3184 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3185 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3186 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3187 and no unselected ones.
3189 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3190 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3192 Subject of the current article.
3196 Name of the current score file.
3198 Number of dormant articles.
3200 Number of ticked articles.
3202 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3204 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3208 @node Summary Highlighting
3209 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3213 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3214 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3215 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3216 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3217 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3219 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3220 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3221 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3222 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3224 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3225 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3226 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) that is used to
3227 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3229 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3230 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3231 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3232 list where the elements are on the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3233 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3234 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3236 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3237 ((> score default) . bold))
3239 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3240 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3244 @node Summary Maneuvering
3245 @section Summary Maneuvering
3246 @cindex summary movement
3248 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3249 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3251 None of these commands select articles.
3256 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3257 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3258 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3259 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3260 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3264 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3265 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3266 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3267 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3268 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3273 @kindex G j (Summary)
3274 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3275 Ask for an article number and then go to that article
3276 (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3279 @kindex G g (Summary)
3280 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3281 Ask for an article number and then go the summary line of that article
3282 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3285 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3286 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3287 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3288 to the group buffer.
3290 Variables related to summary movement:
3294 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3295 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3296 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3297 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3298 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3299 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3300 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3301 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3302 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3303 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3304 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3305 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3306 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3307 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3309 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3310 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3311 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3312 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3313 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3314 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) This variable is not
3315 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3317 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3318 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3319 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3320 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3321 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3323 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3324 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3325 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3326 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3327 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3328 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3329 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3330 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3336 @node Choosing Articles
3337 @section Choosing Articles
3338 @cindex selecting articles
3341 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3342 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3346 @node Choosing Commands
3347 @subsection Choosing Commands
3349 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3350 and they all select and display an article.
3354 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3355 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3356 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3357 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3362 @kindex G n (Summary)
3363 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3364 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3369 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3370 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3375 @kindex G N (Summary)
3376 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3377 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3382 @kindex G P (Summary)
3383 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3384 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3387 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3388 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3389 Go to the next article with the same subject
3390 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3393 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3394 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3395 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3396 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3400 @kindex G f (Summary)
3402 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3403 Go to the first unread article
3404 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3408 @kindex G b (Summary)
3410 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3411 Go to the article with the highest score
3412 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3417 @kindex G l (Summary)
3418 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3419 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3422 @kindex G p (Summary)
3423 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3424 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3425 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3426 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3427 history as you like.
3431 @node Choosing Variables
3432 @subsection Choosing Variables
3434 Some variables that are relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3437 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3438 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3439 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3440 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3441 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3442 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3444 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3445 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3446 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3447 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3449 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3450 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3451 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3452 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3453 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3454 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3455 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3456 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3457 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3458 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3459 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3460 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3461 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3462 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3467 @node Paging the Article
3468 @section Scrolling the Article
3469 @cindex article scrolling
3474 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3475 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3476 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3477 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3478 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3481 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3482 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3483 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3486 @kindex RET (Summary)
3487 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3488 Scroll the current article one line forward
3489 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3493 @kindex A g (Summary)
3495 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3496 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3497 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3498 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3499 the way it came from the server.
3504 @kindex A < (Summary)
3505 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3506 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3507 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3512 @kindex A > (Summary)
3513 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3514 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3518 @kindex A s (Summary)
3520 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3521 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3522 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3527 @node Reply Followup and Post
3528 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3531 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3532 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3536 @node Summary Mail Commands
3537 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3539 @cindex composing mail
3541 Commands for composing a mail message:
3547 @kindex S r (Summary)
3549 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3550 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3551 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3556 @kindex S R (Summary)
3557 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3558 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3559 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3560 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3563 @kindex S w (Summary)
3564 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3565 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3566 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}).
3569 @kindex S W (Summary)
3570 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3571 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3572 message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3573 the process/prefix convention.
3576 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3577 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3578 Forward the current article to some other person
3579 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3580 headers of the forwarded article.
3585 @kindex S m (Summary)
3586 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3587 Send a mail to some other person
3588 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3591 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3592 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3593 @cindex bouncing mail
3594 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3595 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3596 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3597 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3598 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3599 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3600 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3601 very well fail, though.
3604 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3605 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3606 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3607 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3608 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3609 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3610 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3611 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3612 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3613 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3615 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3616 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3617 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3618 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3619 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
3621 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3622 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3625 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3626 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3627 Digest the current series and forward the result using mail
3628 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3629 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3632 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3633 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3634 @cindex crossposting
3635 @cindex excessive crossposting
3636 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3637 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3639 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3640 This command is provided as a way to fight back agains the current
3641 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3642 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3643 command understands the process/prefix convention
3644 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3649 @node Summary Post Commands
3650 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3652 @cindex composing news
3654 Commands for posting a news article:
3660 @kindex S p (Summary)
3661 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3662 Post an article to the current group
3663 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3668 @kindex S f (Summary)
3669 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3670 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3674 @kindex S F (Summary)
3676 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3677 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3678 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3679 process/prefix convention.
3682 @kindex S n (Summary)
3683 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3684 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3685 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
3688 @kindex S n (Summary)
3689 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3690 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3691 message through mail and include the original message
3692 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
3693 the process/prefix convention.
3696 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3697 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3698 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3699 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3700 headers of the forwarded article.
3703 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3704 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3705 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3706 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}).
3709 @kindex S u (Summary)
3710 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3711 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3712 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3716 @node Canceling and Superseding
3717 @section Canceling Articles
3718 @cindex canceling articles
3719 @cindex superseding articles
3721 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3722 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3724 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3726 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3728 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3729 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3730 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3731 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3733 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3734 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3737 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3738 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3739 your original article.
3741 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3743 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3744 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3745 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3748 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3749 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3750 have posted almost the same article twice.
3752 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3753 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3754 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3755 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
3756 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3757 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3758 header by substituting one of those words for the word
3759 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
3760 you would do normally. The previous article will be
3761 canceled/superseded.
3763 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3766 @node Marking Articles
3767 @section Marking Articles
3768 @cindex article marking
3769 @cindex article ticking
3772 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3774 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3775 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3776 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3778 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3781 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3782 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3783 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3787 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3791 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3792 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3796 @node Unread Articles
3797 @subsection Unread Articles
3799 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
3804 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3805 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
3807 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3808 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3809 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3810 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3811 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
3815 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3816 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
3818 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
3819 are followups to it.
3822 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3823 Markes as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
3825 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
3830 @subsection Read Articles
3831 @cindex expirable mark
3833 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3838 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3839 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
3840 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
3843 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3844 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3847 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3848 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
3849 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3852 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3853 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3856 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3857 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3860 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3861 Marked as read by having a too low score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
3864 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
3865 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
3868 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
3869 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
3872 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
3873 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
3876 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
3877 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
3881 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
3882 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
3883 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
3887 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
3888 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
3890 One more special mark, though:
3894 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
3895 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
3897 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
3898 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
3899 control the expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
3900 articles that are marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
3906 @subsection Other Marks
3907 @cindex process mark
3910 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
3916 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
3917 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
3918 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
3919 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
3920 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
3923 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
3924 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
3925 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
3926 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
3929 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
3930 Articles that are stored in the article cache will be marked with an
3931 @samp{*} in the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}).
3934 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
3935 Articles that are ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
3936 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
3937 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}.
3940 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
3941 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
3942 It the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
3943 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
3944 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
3947 @vindex gnus-process-mark
3948 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}. A
3949 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
3950 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
3951 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
3952 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
3956 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
3957 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
3958 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
3960 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
3961 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
3962 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
3966 @subsection Setting Marks
3967 @cindex setting marks
3969 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
3975 @kindex M t (Summary)
3976 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
3977 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
3982 @kindex M ? (Summary)
3983 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
3984 Mark the current article as dormant
3985 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}).
3989 @kindex M d (Summary)
3991 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
3992 Mark the current article as read
3993 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
3997 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
3998 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
3999 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4004 @kindex M k (Summary)
4005 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4006 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4007 and then select the next unread article
4008 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4012 @kindex M K (Summary)
4013 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4014 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4015 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4016 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4019 @kindex M C (Summary)
4020 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4021 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4024 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4025 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4026 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4027 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4030 @kindex M H (Summary)
4031 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4032 Catchup the current group to point
4033 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4036 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4037 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4038 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4039 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4042 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4043 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4044 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4045 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4049 @kindex M c (Summary)
4050 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4051 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4052 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4053 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}).
4057 @kindex M e (Summary)
4059 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4060 Mark the current article as expirable
4061 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4064 @kindex M b (Summary)
4065 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4066 Set a bookmark in the current article
4067 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4070 @kindex M B (Summary)
4071 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4072 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4073 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4076 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4077 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4078 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4079 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4082 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4083 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4084 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4085 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4088 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4089 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4090 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4091 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4092 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4095 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4096 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4097 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4098 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4099 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4100 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4101 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4102 The default is @code{t}.
4105 @node Setting Process Marks
4106 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4107 @cindex setting process marks
4114 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4115 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4116 Mark the current article with the process mark
4117 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4118 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4122 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4123 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4124 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4125 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4128 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4129 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4130 Remove the process mark from all articles
4131 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4134 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4135 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4136 Invert the list of process marked articles
4137 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4140 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4141 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4142 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4145 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4146 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4147 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4150 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4151 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4152 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4153 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4156 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4157 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4158 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4159 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4162 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4163 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4164 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4165 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4168 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4169 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4170 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4173 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4174 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4175 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4176 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4179 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4180 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4181 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4184 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4185 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4186 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4187 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4190 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4191 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4192 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4193 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4196 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4197 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4198 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4199 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4202 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4203 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4204 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4205 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4214 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4215 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4216 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4223 @kindex / / (Summary)
4224 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4225 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4226 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4229 @kindex / a (Summary)
4230 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4231 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4232 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4236 @kindex / u (Summary)
4238 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4239 Limit the summary buffer to articles that are not marked as read
4240 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4241 buffer to articles that are strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4242 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4245 @kindex / m (Summary)
4246 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4247 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
4248 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4251 @kindex / t (Summary)
4252 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4253 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles that are
4254 older than (or equal to) that number of days
4255 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4256 articles that are younger than that number of days.
4259 @kindex / n (Summary)
4260 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4261 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4262 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4263 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4266 @kindex / w (Summary)
4267 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4268 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4269 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4273 @kindex / v (Summary)
4274 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4275 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4276 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4280 @kindex M S (Summary)
4281 @kindex / E (Summary)
4282 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4283 Display all expunged articles
4284 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4287 @kindex / D (Summary)
4288 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4289 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4292 @kindex / d (Summary)
4293 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4294 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4297 @kindex / c (Summary)
4298 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4299 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
4300 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4303 @kindex / C (Summary)
4304 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4305 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4306 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4307 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4315 @cindex article threading
4317 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put replies to
4318 articles directly after the articles they reply to---in a hierarchical
4322 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4323 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4327 @node Customizing Threading
4328 @subsection Customizing Threading
4329 @cindex customizing threading
4335 @item gnus-show-threads
4336 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4337 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4338 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4339 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4340 slower and more awkward.
4342 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4343 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4344 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4345 more old headers---headers to articles that are marked as read. If you
4346 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4347 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4348 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4349 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4350 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4351 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4352 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4353 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4355 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4356 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4357 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4358 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4359 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4360 articles that belong in the same thread together. This will leave
4361 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
4362 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4363 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
4364 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
4365 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4366 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
4367 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4368 @code{nil} by default.
4370 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4371 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4372 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4373 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4374 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4375 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4376 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subjects lines. If
4377 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4378 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4379 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4380 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4382 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4383 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4384 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects.
4386 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4387 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4388 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4389 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4390 simplification is used.
4392 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4393 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4394 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4395 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4397 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4399 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4405 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4406 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4407 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4408 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4413 (mapconcat 'identity
4414 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4416 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4419 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4422 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4423 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4424 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4425 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4426 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4427 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4428 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process. The
4429 default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4431 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4432 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4433 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4434 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4435 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4436 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4437 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever includes unrelated
4438 articles, but it's also means that people who have posted with broken
4439 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4443 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4444 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4445 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4446 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4448 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4449 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4450 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4453 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4457 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4458 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4461 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4462 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4463 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4464 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4465 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4466 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4468 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4469 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4470 There are four possible values:
4472 @cindex adopting articles
4477 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4478 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4479 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4480 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4483 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4484 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4485 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4486 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4487 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4488 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4489 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4492 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4493 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4494 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4498 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4499 display them after one another.
4502 Don't gather loose threads.
4505 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4506 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4507 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4510 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4511 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4512 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4513 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4514 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4515 threads are expunged.
4517 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4518 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4519 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4522 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4523 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4524 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4525 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4526 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4529 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4530 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4531 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4534 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
4535 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
4536 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
4537 @code{(gnus-decode-rfc1522)}, which means that QPized headers will be
4538 slightly decoded in a hackish way. This is likely to change in the
4539 future when Gnus becomes @sc{MIME}ified.
4544 @node Thread Commands
4545 @subsection Thread Commands
4546 @cindex thread commands
4552 @kindex T k (Summary)
4553 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4554 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4555 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4556 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4557 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4562 @kindex T l (Summary)
4563 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4564 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4565 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4566 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4569 @kindex T i (Summary)
4570 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4571 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4572 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4575 @kindex T # (Summary)
4576 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4577 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
4578 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4581 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4582 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4583 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
4584 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4587 @kindex T T (Summary)
4588 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4589 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4592 @kindex T s (Summary)
4593 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4594 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
4595 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4598 @kindex T h (Summary)
4599 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4600 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4603 @kindex T S (Summary)
4604 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4605 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4608 @kindex T H (Summary)
4609 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4610 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4613 @kindex T t (Summary)
4614 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4615 Re-thread the thread the current article is part of
4616 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4617 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4620 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4621 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4622 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4623 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}.
4627 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4628 understand the numeric prefix.
4633 @kindex T n (Summary)
4634 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4635 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4638 @kindex T p (Summary)
4639 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4640 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4643 @kindex T d (Summary)
4644 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4645 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4648 @kindex T u (Summary)
4649 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4650 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4653 @kindex T o (Summary)
4654 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4655 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4658 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4659 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4660 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4661 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4662 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4663 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4664 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If is
4665 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4666 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4667 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4668 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4669 that have subjects that are fuzzily equal will be included.
4675 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
4676 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
4677 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
4678 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4679 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
4680 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4681 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
4682 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
4683 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
4684 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
4685 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
4686 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
4687 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
4688 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
4690 Each function takes two threads and return non-@code{nil} if the first
4691 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
4692 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
4693 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
4694 in the list. You should probably always include
4695 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
4696 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
4697 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
4698 ascending article order.
4700 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
4701 number, you could do something like:
4704 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4705 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4706 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4707 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4710 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
4711 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
4712 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
4713 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
4714 which the articles arrived.
4716 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
4720 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4722 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
4723 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4726 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
4727 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
4728 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
4729 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
4732 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
4733 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
4734 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
4735 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
4736 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
4737 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
4738 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
4739 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
4740 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
4741 is uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
4742 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
4743 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
4744 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
4746 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
4750 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
4751 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
4752 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
4757 @node Asynchronous Fetching
4758 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
4759 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
4760 @cindex article pre-fetch
4763 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
4764 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
4765 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
4766 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
4767 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
4769 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
4770 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
4772 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
4773 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
4774 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
4775 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
4776 connection is blocked.
4778 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
4779 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
4780 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
4781 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
4783 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
4784 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
4785 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
4786 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
4789 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
4792 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
4793 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
4794 happen automatically.
4796 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
4797 You can control how many articles that are to be pre-fetched by setting
4798 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
4799 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
4800 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
4801 pre-fetch all the articles that it can without bound. If it is
4802 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be made.
4804 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
4805 @findex gnus-async-read-p
4806 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
4807 articles, for instance. Which articles to pre-fetch is controlled by
4808 the @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable. This function should
4809 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
4810 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
4811 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
4812 data structure as the only parameter.
4814 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles that are
4815 shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
4818 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
4819 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
4820 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
4821 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
4824 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
4827 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
4828 preferrably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
4829 It's also probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
4831 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
4832 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
4833 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
4834 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
4838 Remove articles when they are read.
4841 Remove articles when exiting the group.
4844 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
4846 @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
4847 If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
4848 from the next group.
4851 @node Article Caching
4852 @section Article Caching
4853 @cindex article caching
4856 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
4857 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
4858 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
4859 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
4860 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
4862 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
4864 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
4865 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
4866 @vindex gnus-use-cache
4867 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
4868 all articles that are ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
4869 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
4870 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
4871 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
4873 When re-select a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
4874 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
4875 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
4876 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
4877 as dormant, and don't worry.
4879 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
4881 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
4882 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
4883 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
4884 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
4885 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
4886 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
4887 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
4888 articles that are marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
4889 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
4890 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
4892 @findex gnus-jog-cache
4893 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
4894 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
4895 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, and store them in
4896 the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this command if 1)
4897 your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really, really slow
4898 and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk. Seriously.
4900 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
4901 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
4902 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
4903 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
4904 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
4905 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
4906 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
4909 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
4910 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
4911 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
4912 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
4913 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
4914 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
4915 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
4916 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
4917 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
4921 @node Persistent Articles
4922 @section Persistent Articles
4923 @cindex persistent articles
4925 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
4926 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
4927 useful in my opinion.
4929 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
4930 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
4931 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
4932 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
4933 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
4934 the expiry going on at the news server.
4936 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
4937 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
4938 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
4944 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
4945 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
4948 @kindex M-* (Summary)
4949 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
4950 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
4951 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
4955 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
4957 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
4958 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
4959 interested in persistent articles:
4962 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
4966 @node Article Backlog
4967 @section Article Backlog
4969 @cindex article backlog
4971 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
4972 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
4973 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
4974 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
4975 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
4976 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
4977 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
4978 increase memory usage some.
4980 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
4981 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
4982 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
4983 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
4984 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
4985 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
4986 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
4988 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
4991 @node Saving Articles
4992 @section Saving Articles
4993 @cindex saving articles
4995 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
4996 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
4997 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
4998 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
4999 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5001 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5002 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5003 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5005 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5006 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5007 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5008 deleted before saving.
5014 @kindex O o (Summary)
5016 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5017 Save the current article using the default article saver
5018 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5021 @kindex O m (Summary)
5022 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5023 Save the current article in mail format
5024 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5027 @kindex O r (Summary)
5028 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5029 Save the current article in rmail format
5030 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5033 @kindex O f (Summary)
5034 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5035 Save the current article in plain file format
5036 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5039 @kindex O F (Summary)
5040 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5041 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5042 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5045 @kindex O b (Summary)
5046 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5047 Save the current article body in plain file format
5048 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5051 @kindex O h (Summary)
5052 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5053 Save the current article in mh folder format
5054 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5057 @kindex O v (Summary)
5058 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5059 Save the current article in a VM folder
5060 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5063 @kindex O p (Summary)
5064 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5065 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5066 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5069 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5070 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5071 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5072 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5073 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5074 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5075 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5076 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5077 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5078 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5079 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5080 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5084 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5085 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5086 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5087 functions below, or you can create your own.
5091 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5092 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5093 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5094 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5095 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5096 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5097 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5099 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5100 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5101 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5102 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5103 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5104 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5106 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5107 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5108 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5109 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5110 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5111 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5112 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5114 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5115 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5116 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5117 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5118 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5120 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5121 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5122 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5123 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5124 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5127 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5128 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5129 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5130 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5131 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}. The former creates capitalized names, and
5132 the latter does not.
5134 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5135 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5136 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5137 reader to use this setting.
5140 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5141 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5142 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5143 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5146 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5147 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5148 available functions that generate names:
5152 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5153 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5154 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5156 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5157 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5158 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5160 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5161 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5162 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5164 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5165 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5166 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5169 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5170 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5171 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5172 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5173 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5177 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5178 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5179 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5180 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5183 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5184 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5185 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5186 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5187 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5188 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5189 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5190 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5191 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5193 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5194 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5195 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5196 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5198 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5199 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5200 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5203 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5204 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5205 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5206 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5207 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5208 all the files in the toplevel directory
5209 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5210 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5211 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5212 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5214 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5215 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5216 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5217 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5218 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5221 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5225 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5226 (setq gnus-default-article-save 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5229 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5230 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5231 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5232 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5235 @node Decoding Articles
5236 @section Decoding Articles
5237 @cindex decoding articles
5239 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5240 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5243 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5244 * Shared Articles:: Unshar articles.
5245 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5246 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5247 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5250 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5251 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5252 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5253 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5254 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5256 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5257 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5258 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5260 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5261 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5262 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5264 Subjects that are nonstandard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5265 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5266 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5269 @node Uuencoded Articles
5270 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5272 @cindex uuencoded articles
5277 @kindex X u (Summary)
5278 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5279 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5282 @kindex X U (Summary)
5283 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5284 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5285 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5288 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5289 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5290 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5293 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5294 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5295 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5296 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5299 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5300 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5301 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5302 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5303 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5305 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5306 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5307 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5308 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5311 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5312 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5313 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5314 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5315 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5316 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5320 @node Shared Articles
5321 @subsection Shared Articles
5323 @cindex shared articles
5328 @kindex X s (Summary)
5329 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5330 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5333 @kindex X S (Summary)
5334 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5335 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5338 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5339 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5340 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5343 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5344 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5345 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5346 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5350 @node PostScript Files
5351 @subsection PostScript Files
5357 @kindex X p (Summary)
5358 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5359 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5362 @kindex X P (Summary)
5363 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5364 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5365 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5368 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5369 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5370 View the current PostScript series
5371 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5374 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5375 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5376 View and save the current PostScript series
5377 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5381 @node Decoding Variables
5382 @subsection Decoding Variables
5384 Adjective, not verb.
5387 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5388 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5389 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5393 @node Rule Variables
5394 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5395 @cindex rule variables
5397 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5398 variables are on the form
5401 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5408 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5409 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5411 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5412 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5415 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5416 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5419 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5420 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5421 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5422 user and default view rules.
5424 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5425 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5426 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5431 @node Other Decode Variables
5432 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5435 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5437 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5438 All functions in this list will be called right each file has been
5439 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5440 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5441 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5445 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5446 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5449 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5450 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5451 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5454 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5455 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5456 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
5457 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
5458 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
5461 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5462 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5463 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5465 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5466 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5467 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5468 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5469 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5472 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5473 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5474 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5476 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5477 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5478 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5479 looking for files to display.
5481 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5482 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5483 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5486 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5487 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5488 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5491 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5492 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5493 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5496 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5497 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5498 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5501 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5502 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5503 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark articles that were
5504 unsuccessfully decoded as unread.
5506 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5507 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5508 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5509 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5511 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5512 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5514 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5515 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5516 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5517 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5519 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5520 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5521 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
5522 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
5523 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
5524 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
5525 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
5526 simply dropped them.
5531 @node Uuencoding and Posting
5532 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
5536 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5537 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5538 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
5539 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
5540 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
5541 for you when you post the article.
5543 @item gnus-uu-post-length
5544 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
5545 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
5546 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
5548 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
5549 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
5550 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
5551 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen are able
5552 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
5553 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
5554 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
5556 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5557 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5558 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
5559 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
5560 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
5561 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
5562 Default is @code{t}.
5568 @subsection Viewing Files
5569 @cindex viewing files
5570 @cindex pseudo-articles
5572 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
5573 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
5574 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
5575 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
5576 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
5577 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
5578 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
5580 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
5581 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
5582 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
5583 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
5585 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
5586 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
5587 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
5589 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
5590 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
5591 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
5592 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
5593 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
5595 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
5596 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
5597 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
5598 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
5599 a list of parameters to that command.
5601 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
5602 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
5603 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
5605 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
5606 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
5607 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
5610 @node Article Treatment
5611 @section Article Treatment
5613 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
5614 object of newsreaders are to actually, like, read what people have
5615 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
5616 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
5617 these articles easier.
5620 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
5621 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look niced.
5622 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
5623 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
5624 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
5625 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
5626 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
5630 @node Article Highlighting
5631 @subsection Article Highlighting
5634 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
5635 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
5640 @kindex W H a (Summary)
5641 @findex gnus-article-highlight
5642 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
5645 @kindex W H h (Summary)
5646 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
5647 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
5648 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
5649 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
5650 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
5651 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
5652 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
5653 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
5654 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
5655 prepended---Gnus will add one.
5658 @kindex W H c (Summary)
5659 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
5660 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
5662 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
5665 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5667 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5668 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
5669 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
5671 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5672 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5673 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
5675 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
5676 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
5677 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
5679 @item gnus-cite-face-list
5680 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
5681 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
5682 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
5683 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
5686 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
5687 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
5688 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
5690 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5691 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5692 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
5694 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5695 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5696 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
5697 that it's a citation.
5699 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5700 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5701 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
5703 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5704 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5705 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
5707 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
5708 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
5709 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
5710 cited text belonging to the attribution.
5716 @kindex W H s (Summary)
5717 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
5718 @vindex gnus-signature-face
5719 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
5720 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
5721 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
5722 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
5723 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
5729 @node Article Fontisizing
5730 @subsection Article Fontisizing
5732 @cindex article emphasis
5734 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
5735 @kindex W e (Summary)
5736 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
5737 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
5738 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
5739 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
5741 @vindex gnus-article-emphasis
5742 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
5743 @code{gnus-article-emphasis} variable. This is an alist where the first
5744 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
5745 that says what regular expression grouping used to find the entire
5746 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
5747 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
5748 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
5752 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
5753 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
5754 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
5757 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
5758 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
5759 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
5760 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
5761 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
5762 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
5763 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
5764 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
5765 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
5766 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
5767 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
5768 @code{gnus-emphasis-undeline-bold}, and
5769 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
5771 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
5772 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
5773 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
5777 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
5781 @node Article Hiding
5782 @subsection Article Hiding
5783 @cindex article hiding
5785 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
5786 too much cruft in most articles.
5791 @kindex W W a (Summary)
5792 @findex gnus-article-hide
5793 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
5796 @kindex W W h (Summary)
5797 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
5798 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
5802 @kindex W W b (Summary)
5803 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
5804 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
5805 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
5808 @kindex W W s (Summary)
5809 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
5810 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
5814 @kindex W W p (Summary)
5815 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
5816 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}).
5819 @kindex W W P (Summary)
5820 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
5821 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) gruft
5822 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
5825 @kindex W W c (Summary)
5826 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
5827 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
5828 customizing the hiding:
5832 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5833 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
5834 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
5835 50), hide the cited text.
5837 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5838 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
5839 The cited text must be have at least this length (default 10) before it
5842 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5843 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
5844 Gnus adds buttons show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
5845 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
5846 by this format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
5851 Start point of the hidden text.
5853 End point of the hidden text.
5855 Length of the hidden text.
5858 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
5859 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
5860 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
5865 @kindex W W C (Summary)
5866 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
5867 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
5868 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
5869 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
5870 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
5874 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
5875 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
5876 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
5878 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
5879 citation customization.
5882 @node Article Washing
5883 @subsection Article Washing
5885 @cindex article washing
5887 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
5888 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
5890 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
5891 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
5897 @kindex W l (Summary)
5898 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
5899 Remove page breaks from the current article
5900 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
5903 @kindex W r (Summary)
5904 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
5905 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
5906 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
5909 @kindex W t (Summary)
5910 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
5911 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
5912 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
5915 @kindex W v (Summary)
5916 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
5917 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
5918 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
5921 @kindex W m (Summary)
5922 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
5923 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
5924 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
5927 @kindex W o (Summary)
5928 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
5929 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
5932 @kindex W w (Summary)
5933 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
5934 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
5935 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
5936 late and certainly after any highlighting.
5938 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
5942 @kindex W c (Summary)
5943 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
5944 Remove CR (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
5947 @kindex W q (Summary)
5948 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
5949 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
5952 @kindex W f (Summary)
5954 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
5955 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
5956 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
5957 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
5958 Look for and display any X-Face headers
5959 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
5960 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
5961 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
5962 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
5963 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
5964 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
5965 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
5966 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
5967 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
5968 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
5969 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
5970 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
5971 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
5975 @kindex W b (Summary)
5976 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
5977 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
5980 @kindex W B (Summary)
5981 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
5982 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
5983 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
5986 @kindex W E l (Summary)
5987 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
5988 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
5989 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
5992 @kindex W E m (Summary)
5993 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
5994 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
5995 lines with a single empty line.
5996 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
5999 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6000 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6001 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6002 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6005 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6006 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6007 Do all the three commands above
6008 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6013 @node Article Buttons
6014 @subsection Article Buttons
6017 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6018 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6019 with the minimum of fuzz.
6021 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6022 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6023 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6028 @item gnus-button-alist
6029 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6030 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6033 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6039 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6040 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that match embedded URLs:
6041 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6044 Gnus has to know which parts of the match is to be highlighted. This is
6045 a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp that is to be
6046 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6049 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6050 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6051 avoid false matches.
6054 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6057 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6058 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6062 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6065 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6068 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6069 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6070 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6071 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6072 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6075 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6078 @var{header} is a regular expression.
6080 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6081 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6082 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6083 default values of the variables above.
6085 @item gnus-article-button-face
6086 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6087 Face used on buttons.
6089 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6090 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6091 Face is used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6097 @subsection Article Date
6099 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6100 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6101 when the article was sent.
6106 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6107 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6108 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6109 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6112 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6113 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6114 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6117 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6118 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6119 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6120 @findex format-time-string
6121 Display the date using a user-defined format
6122 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6123 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6124 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6125 for a list possible format specs.
6128 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6129 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6130 Say how much time has (e)lapsed between the article was posted and now
6131 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
6134 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6135 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6136 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6137 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and is
6138 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6139 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6140 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6145 @node Article Signature
6146 @subsection Article Signature
6148 @cindex article signature
6150 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6151 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6152 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6153 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6154 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6155 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6156 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6157 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6158 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6161 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6162 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6163 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6164 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6165 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6166 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6167 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6168 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6171 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6174 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6175 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6180 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6183 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6186 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6187 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6189 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6190 in question is not a signature.
6193 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6197 @node Article Commands
6198 @section Article Commands
6205 @kindex A P (Summary)
6206 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6207 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6208 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}).
6213 @node Summary Sorting
6214 @section Summary Sorting
6215 @cindex summary sorting
6217 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6218 can't really see why you'd want that.
6223 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6224 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6225 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6228 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6229 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6230 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6233 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6234 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6235 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6238 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6239 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6240 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6243 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6244 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6245 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6248 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6249 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6250 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6253 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6254 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6255 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6256 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6257 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
6261 @node Finding the Parent
6262 @section Finding the Parent
6263 @cindex parent articles
6264 @cindex referring articles
6266 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6268 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6269 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6270 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6271 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6272 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6273 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6274 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6275 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6277 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6278 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6279 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
6280 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6281 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6284 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6285 @kindex A R (Summary)
6286 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
6287 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
6288 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6290 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6291 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6293 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
6294 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6295 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6296 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6297 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6298 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6299 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6301 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6302 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6303 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6304 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6305 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the same
6306 as the one that keeps the spool you are reading from updated, but that's
6307 not really necessary.
6309 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6310 not do a particularly excellent job of it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6311 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6312 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6313 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6314 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6317 @node Alternative Approaches
6318 @section Alternative Approaches
6320 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6321 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6324 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6325 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6330 @subsection Pick and Read
6331 @cindex pick and read
6333 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{nn}) use a two-phased
6334 reading interface. The user first marks the articles she wants to read
6335 from a summary buffer. Then she starts reading the articles with just
6336 an article buffer displayed.
6338 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6339 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6340 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6341 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6342 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6343 it makes one additional command for switching to the summary buffer
6346 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6351 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6352 Pick the article on the current line
6353 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}). If given a numerical prefix,
6354 go to the article on that line and pick that article. (The line number
6355 is normally displayed on the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
6358 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
6359 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
6360 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
6361 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
6365 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6366 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6370 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6371 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6375 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6376 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6380 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6381 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6385 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6386 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6390 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6391 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6395 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6396 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6400 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6401 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6405 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6406 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6410 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
6411 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
6415 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
6416 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
6417 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
6418 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
6419 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
6420 will still be visible when you are reading.
6424 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
6427 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
6430 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
6431 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
6433 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
6434 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
6435 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
6437 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
6438 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different than the
6439 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
6440 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
6441 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
6442 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
6443 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
6447 @subsection Binary Groups
6448 @cindex binary groups
6450 @findex gnus-binary-mode
6451 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
6452 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
6453 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
6454 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
6455 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
6456 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
6459 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
6460 In fact, the only way to see the actual articles if you have turned this
6461 mode on is the @kbd{g} command (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
6463 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
6464 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
6468 @section Tree Display
6471 @vindex gnus-use-trees
6472 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
6473 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
6474 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
6477 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
6480 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
6481 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
6482 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
6484 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6485 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6486 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
6487 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}. For a list of legal specs, @pxref{Summary
6490 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
6491 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
6492 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
6493 default is @code{modeline}.
6495 @item gnus-tree-line-format
6496 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
6497 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
6498 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
6499 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
6500 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
6501 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
6507 The name of the poster.
6509 The @code{From} header.
6511 The number of the article.
6513 The opening bracket.
6515 The closing bracket.
6520 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6522 Variables related to the display are:
6525 @item gnus-tree-brackets
6526 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
6527 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
6528 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
6529 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
6530 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
6532 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6533 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6534 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
6535 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
6539 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
6540 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
6541 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
6542 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
6543 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
6544 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}.
6546 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
6547 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
6548 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
6549 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
6550 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
6551 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
6552 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
6556 Here's and example from a horizontal tree buffer:
6559 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
6569 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
6573 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
6574 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
6576 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
6578 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
6584 @node Mail Group Commands
6585 @section Mail Group Commands
6586 @cindex mail group commands
6588 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
6589 illegal in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
6591 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
6592 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6597 @kindex B e (Summary)
6598 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
6599 Expire all expirable articles in the group
6600 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
6603 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
6604 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
6605 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
6606 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
6607 articles that are eligible for expiry in the current group will
6608 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
6611 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
6612 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
6613 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
6614 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
6615 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
6618 @kindex B m (Summary)
6620 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
6621 Move the article from one mail group to another
6622 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6625 @kindex B c (Summary)
6627 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
6628 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
6629 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
6632 @kindex B C (Summary)
6633 @cindex crosspost mail
6634 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
6635 Crosspost the current article to some other group
6636 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
6637 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
6638 be properly updated.
6641 @kindex B i (Summary)
6642 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
6643 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
6644 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
6645 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
6648 @kindex B r (Summary)
6649 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
6650 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6651 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
6652 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
6653 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
6657 @kindex B w (Summary)
6659 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
6660 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
6661 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
6662 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
6663 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
6666 @kindex B q (Summary)
6667 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
6668 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
6669 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
6670 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
6673 @kindex B p (Summary)
6674 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
6675 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
6676 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
6677 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
6678 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
6679 article from your news server (or rather, from
6680 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
6681 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
6682 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
6683 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
6684 just not have arrived yet.
6688 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
6689 @cindex moving articles
6690 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
6691 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
6692 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
6693 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
6694 suggestions you find reasonable.
6697 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
6698 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
6699 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
6700 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
6704 @node Various Summary Stuff
6705 @section Various Summary Stuff
6708 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
6709 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
6710 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
6711 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
6715 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
6716 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
6717 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
6719 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
6720 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
6721 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
6722 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
6723 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
6724 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
6727 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
6728 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
6729 Is is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
6730 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
6731 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
6736 @node Summary Group Information
6737 @subsection Summary Group Information
6742 @kindex H f (Summary)
6743 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
6744 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
6745 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
6746 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
6747 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
6748 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
6749 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
6750 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} probably will be used for
6754 @kindex H d (Summary)
6755 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
6756 Give a brief description of the current group
6757 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
6758 rereading the description from the server.
6761 @kindex H h (Summary)
6762 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
6763 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
6764 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
6767 @kindex H i (Summary)
6768 @findex gnus-info-find-node
6769 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
6773 @node Searching for Articles
6774 @subsection Searching for Articles
6779 @kindex M-s (Summary)
6780 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
6781 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
6782 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
6785 @kindex M-r (Summary)
6786 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
6787 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
6788 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
6792 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
6793 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
6794 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
6795 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}).
6798 @kindex M-& (Summary)
6799 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
6800 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
6801 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
6804 @node Summary Generation Commands
6805 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
6810 @kindex Y g (Summary)
6811 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
6812 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
6815 @kindex Y c (Summary)
6816 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
6817 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
6818 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
6823 @node Really Various Summary Commands
6824 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
6829 @kindex C-d (Summary)
6830 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
6831 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
6832 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
6833 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
6834 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
6835 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
6836 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages on
6837 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
6841 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
6842 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
6843 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
6844 several documents into one biiig group
6845 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
6846 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
6847 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
6848 command understands the process/prefix convention
6849 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6852 @kindex C-t (Summary)
6853 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
6854 Toggle truncation of summary lines
6855 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
6856 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
6857 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
6861 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
6862 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
6863 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
6868 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
6869 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
6870 @cindex summary exit
6871 @cindex exiting groups
6873 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
6874 group and return you to the group buffer.
6880 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
6882 @findex gnus-summary-exit
6883 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
6884 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
6885 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
6886 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
6887 called before doing much of the exiting, and calls
6888 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
6889 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exiting
6890 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
6891 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
6895 @kindex Z E (Summary)
6897 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
6898 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
6899 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
6903 @kindex Z c (Summary)
6905 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
6906 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
6907 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
6910 @kindex Z C (Summary)
6911 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
6912 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
6913 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
6916 @kindex Z n (Summary)
6917 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
6918 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
6919 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
6922 @kindex Z R (Summary)
6923 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
6924 Exit this group, and then enter it again
6925 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
6926 all articles, both read and unread.
6930 @kindex Z G (Summary)
6931 @kindex M-g (Summary)
6932 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
6933 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
6934 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
6935 articles, both read and unread.
6938 @kindex Z N (Summary)
6939 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
6940 Exit the group and go to the next group
6941 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
6944 @kindex Z P (Summary)
6945 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
6946 Exit the group and go to the previous group
6947 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
6950 @kindex Z s (Summary)
6951 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
6952 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
6953 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
6954 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
6955 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
6958 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
6959 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
6962 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
6963 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
6964 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
6965 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
6966 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
6967 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
6968 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
6969 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
6970 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
6971 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
6972 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
6973 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
6975 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
6977 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
6978 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
6979 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
6980 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
6981 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
6982 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
6983 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
6984 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
6985 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
6988 @node Crosspost Handling
6989 @section Crosspost Handling
6993 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
6994 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
6995 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
6996 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
6997 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
6998 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7001 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7002 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7003 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7004 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7005 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7007 @cindex cross-posting
7010 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7011 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7012 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7013 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7014 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7015 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7016 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7017 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7018 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7019 the cross reference mechanism.
7021 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7022 @cindex overview.fmt
7023 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7024 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7025 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7026 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7027 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7028 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7031 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7032 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7033 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7038 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7041 @node Duplicate Suppression
7042 @section Duplicate Suppression
7044 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7045 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7046 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7047 approach may not work satisfactorily for some users for various
7052 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7053 is evil and not very common.
7056 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7057 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7060 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7061 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7064 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7067 I'm sure there are other situations that @code{Xref} handling fails as
7068 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7070 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7071 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7072 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7073 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7074 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7075 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7076 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7079 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7080 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7081 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7082 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7083 article as read the the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7087 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7088 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7089 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7091 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7092 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7093 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7094 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7095 However, this means that only duplicate articles that is read in a
7096 single Gnus session are suppressed.
7098 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7099 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7100 This variables says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7101 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7103 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7104 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7105 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list. The
7106 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7109 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
7110 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7111 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7112 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7113 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
7114 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7115 to you to figure out, I think.
7118 @node The Article Buffer
7119 @chapter The Article Buffer
7120 @cindex article buffer
7122 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7123 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7124 tell Gnus otherwise.
7127 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7128 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
7129 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7130 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7131 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7135 @node Hiding Headers
7136 @section Hiding Headers
7137 @cindex hiding headers
7138 @cindex deleting headers
7140 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7141 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7143 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7144 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7145 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7146 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7147 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7148 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7149 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7150 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7151 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7153 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7157 @item gnus-visible-headers
7158 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7159 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7160 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7161 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7163 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7164 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7167 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7170 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
7173 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7174 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7175 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7176 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7177 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7178 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7180 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
7181 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
7184 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7187 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers that are to
7190 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7191 variable will have no effect.
7195 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7196 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7197 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7198 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7199 the headers are to be displayed.
7201 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7202 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7205 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
7208 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
7209 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers that
7210 are listed in this variable.
7212 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7213 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7214 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
7215 You can hide further boring headers by entering
7216 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
7217 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
7218 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
7219 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
7220 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
7222 These conditions are:
7225 Remove all empty headers.
7227 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
7230 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
7231 @code{Newsgroups} header.
7233 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
7236 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
7240 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
7243 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
7244 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
7247 This is also the default value for this variable.
7251 @section Using @sc{mime}
7254 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
7255 while people stand around yawning.
7257 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
7258 while all newsreaders die of fear.
7260 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
7261 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
7262 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
7264 @vindex gnus-show-mime
7265 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
7266 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
7267 @findex metamail-buffer
7268 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
7269 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
7270 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
7271 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
7272 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
7273 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
7274 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
7275 buffer. These can't be avoided.
7277 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
7278 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
7279 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
7280 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
7281 comes streaming out out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
7282 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
7283 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
7284 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
7285 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
7287 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7290 @node Customizing Articles
7291 @section Customizing Articles
7292 @cindex article customization
7294 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7295 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7296 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7297 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7299 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7300 By default this hook just contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
7301 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
7302 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
7303 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7304 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7305 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7306 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
7307 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
7309 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7310 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7311 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7312 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
7313 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
7316 @node Article Keymap
7317 @section Article Keymap
7319 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
7320 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
7321 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
7322 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
7325 A few additional keystrokes are available:
7330 @kindex SPACE (Article)
7331 @findex gnus-article-next-page
7332 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
7335 @kindex DEL (Article)
7336 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
7337 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
7340 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
7341 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
7342 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
7343 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
7344 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
7347 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
7348 @findex gnus-article-mail
7349 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
7350 given a prefix, include the mail.
7354 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
7355 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
7356 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
7360 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
7361 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
7362 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
7365 @kindex TAB (Article)
7366 @findex gnus-article-next-button
7367 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}. This
7368 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
7371 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
7372 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
7373 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}.
7379 @section Misc Article
7383 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
7384 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
7385 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
7386 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
7389 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
7390 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
7391 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
7392 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
7393 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
7394 the contents of the article buffer.
7396 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7397 @item gnus-article-display-hook
7398 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
7399 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
7400 hiding headers, and the like.
7402 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
7403 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
7404 Hook called in article mode buffers.
7406 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7407 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7408 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
7409 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
7411 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
7412 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
7413 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
7414 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts the same
7415 format specifications as that variable, with one extension:
7419 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
7420 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
7424 @vindex gnus-break-pages
7426 @item gnus-break-pages
7427 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
7428 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
7429 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
7430 paging will not be done.
7432 @item gnus-page-delimiter
7433 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
7434 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
7439 @node Composing Messages
7440 @chapter Composing Messages
7445 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
7446 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
7447 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
7448 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
7449 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
7450 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
7451 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
7454 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
7455 * Post:: Posting and following up.
7456 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
7457 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
7458 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
7459 @c * Posting Styles:: An easier way to configure some key elements.
7460 @c * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
7461 @c * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
7464 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
7465 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
7471 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
7474 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
7475 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
7476 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
7477 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
7485 Variables for composing news articles:
7488 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7489 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7490 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
7491 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
7492 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
7493 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to sent the
7494 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
7495 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
7496 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
7499 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7500 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7501 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
7502 file. It is 1000 by default.
7507 @node Posting Server
7508 @section Posting Server
7510 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
7511 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
7513 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
7515 @vindex gnus-post-method
7517 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
7518 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
7519 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
7520 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
7521 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
7524 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
7527 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
7528 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
7529 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
7530 the ``current'' server for posting.
7532 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
7533 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
7535 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
7536 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
7541 @section Mail and Post
7543 Here's a list of variables that are relevant to both mailing and
7547 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
7548 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
7549 @cindex mailing lists
7551 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists that are
7552 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
7553 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
7554 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
7555 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
7556 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that match the groups that
7557 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
7558 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
7559 still a pain, though.
7563 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
7564 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
7565 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
7568 @findex ispell-message
7570 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
7574 @node Archived Messages
7575 @section Archived Messages
7576 @cindex archived messages
7577 @cindex sent messages
7579 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail you send.
7580 The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to store
7581 the mail. If you want to disable this completely, you should set
7582 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil}.
7584 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
7585 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
7586 use to store sent messages. The default is:
7590 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))
7593 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
7594 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
7595 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
7596 directory chosen, you could say something like:
7599 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
7600 '(nnfolder "archive"
7601 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
7602 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
7603 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
7606 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
7608 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
7609 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
7610 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
7612 This variable can be:
7616 Messages will be saved in that group.
7617 @item a list of strings
7618 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
7619 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
7620 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
7622 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
7627 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
7629 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
7632 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
7634 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
7637 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
7639 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7640 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
7641 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
7642 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
7647 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7648 '((if (message-news-p)
7653 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
7654 messages in one file per month:
7657 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
7658 '((if (message-news-p)
7660 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
7661 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
7664 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
7665 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
7666 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
7667 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
7668 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
7669 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
7670 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
7671 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
7672 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
7673 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
7675 That's the default method of archiving sent mail. Gnus also a different
7676 way for the people who don't like the default method. In that case you
7677 should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil}; this will
7680 XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
7681 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.
7684 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
7685 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
7686 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
7687 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
7688 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
7691 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
7692 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
7693 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
7698 @c @node Posting Styles
7699 @c @section Posting Styles
7700 @c @cindex posting styles
7703 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
7705 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
7706 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
7707 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
7710 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
7711 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
7712 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
7713 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
7714 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
7719 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
7720 @c (organization . "What me?"))
7722 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
7723 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
7724 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
7727 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
7728 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
7729 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
7730 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
7731 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
7732 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
7733 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
7734 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
7736 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
7737 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
7738 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
7739 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
7740 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
7741 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
7744 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
7745 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
7746 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
7747 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
7748 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
7751 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
7752 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
7753 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
7755 @c So here's a new example:
7758 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
7760 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
7761 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
7762 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
7763 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
7765 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
7766 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
7767 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
7768 @c (posting-from-work-p
7769 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
7770 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
7771 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
7773 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
7780 @c If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
7781 @c you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
7782 @c craazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save the
7783 @c message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some other
7784 @c day, and send it when you feel its finished.
7786 @c Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
7787 @c some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
7788 @c automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
7789 @c If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
7790 @c article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
7794 @c @vindex gnus-draft-group-directory
7795 @c The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
7796 @c @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
7797 @c @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{gnus-draft-group-directory}
7798 @c controls both the name of the group and the location---the leaf element
7799 @c in the path will be used as the name of the group. What makes this
7800 @c group special is that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any
7801 @c articles as read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
7803 @c If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
7806 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
7807 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
7808 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
7809 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
7810 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
7811 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
7812 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
7813 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
7814 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
7815 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
7816 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
7817 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
7818 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
7819 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
7821 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
7822 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
7823 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
7825 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-draft
7826 @c @kindex S D c (Summary)
7827 @c When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
7828 @c draft group and push @kbd{S D c} (@code{gnus-summary-send-draft}) to do
7829 @c that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
7831 @c Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
7834 @c @findex gnus-summary-send-all-drafts
7835 @c If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
7836 @c doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{S D a} command
7837 @c (@code{gnus-summary-send-all-drafts}). This command understands the
7838 @c process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7841 @c @node Rejected Articles
7842 @c @section Rejected Articles
7843 @c @cindex rejected articles
7845 @c Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
7846 @c doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
7847 @c @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
7848 @c Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
7850 @c These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
7851 @c (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
7852 @c fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
7853 @c you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
7854 @c articles until some later time when the server feels better.
7856 @c The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
7857 @c (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
7858 @c typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
7861 @node Select Methods
7862 @chapter Select Methods
7863 @cindex foreign groups
7864 @cindex select methods
7866 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group that is not read by the usual (or
7867 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
7868 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
7869 personal mail group.
7871 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
7872 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
7873 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
7874 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
7875 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
7876 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
7878 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
7879 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
7881 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
7884 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
7885 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
7886 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
7887 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
7888 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
7890 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
7893 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
7894 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
7895 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
7896 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
7897 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
7901 @node The Server Buffer
7902 @section The Server Buffer
7904 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
7905 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
7906 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
7907 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
7908 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
7909 backend represents a virtual server.
7911 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
7912 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
7913 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
7914 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
7916 These select methods specifications can sometimes become quite
7917 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
7918 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
7919 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
7920 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
7921 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
7922 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
7924 To enter the server buffer, user the @kbd{^}
7925 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
7928 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
7929 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
7930 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
7931 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
7932 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
7933 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
7936 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
7937 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
7940 @node Server Buffer Format
7941 @subsection Server Buffer Format
7942 @cindex server buffer format
7944 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
7945 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
7946 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
7947 variable, with some simple extensions:
7952 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
7955 The name of this server.
7958 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
7961 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
7964 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
7965 The mode line can also be customized by using the
7966 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
7977 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
7980 @node Server Commands
7981 @subsection Server Commands
7982 @cindex server commands
7988 @findex gnus-server-add-server
7989 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
7993 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
7994 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
7997 @kindex SPACE (Server)
7998 @findex gnus-server-read-server
7999 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8003 @findex gnus-server-exit
8004 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8008 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8009 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8013 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8014 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8018 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8019 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8023 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8024 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8028 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8029 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8030 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8035 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8036 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8037 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8038 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8043 @node Example Methods
8044 @subsection Example Methods
8046 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8049 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8052 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8058 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8059 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8062 After these two elements, there may be a arbitrary number of
8063 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8065 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8066 port 15 from that machine. This is what the select method should
8070 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8073 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8074 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example.
8076 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8077 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8078 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8082 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8085 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8088 Here's the method for a public spool:
8092 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8093 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8096 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8097 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8098 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8099 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8100 should probably look something like this:
8104 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8105 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8106 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8107 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8108 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8113 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8114 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8116 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
8117 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
8119 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
8120 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
8121 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
8123 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
8125 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
8126 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
8127 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
8128 will contain the following:
8138 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
8139 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
8140 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
8143 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
8144 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
8145 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
8148 @node Servers and Methods
8149 @subsection Servers and Methods
8151 Wherever you would normally use a select method
8152 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
8153 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
8154 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
8158 @node Unavailable Servers
8159 @subsection Unavailable Servers
8161 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
8162 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
8163 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
8164 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
8165 actually the case or not.
8167 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
8168 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to the server
8169 @samp{nepholococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
8170 away from you, the machine is quite, so it takes 1 minute just to find
8171 out that it refuses connection from you today. If Gnus were to attempt
8172 to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't attempt to do
8173 that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'', it will
8174 regard that server as ``down''.
8176 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
8177 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
8179 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
8180 with the following commands:
8186 @findex gnus-server-open-server
8187 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
8188 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
8192 @findex gnus-server-close-server
8193 Close the connection (if any) to the server
8194 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
8198 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
8199 Mark the current server as unreachable
8200 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
8203 @kindex M-o (Server)
8204 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
8205 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
8206 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
8209 @kindex M-c (Server)
8210 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
8211 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
8212 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
8216 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
8217 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from all servers
8218 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
8224 @section Getting News
8225 @cindex reading news
8226 @cindex news backends
8228 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
8229 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
8230 or it can read from a local spool.
8233 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
8234 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
8239 @subsection @sc{nntp}
8242 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
8243 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
8244 server as the, uhm, address.
8246 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
8247 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
8248 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
8249 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8251 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
8252 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
8253 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
8255 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
8260 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
8261 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
8262 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
8264 @cindex authentification
8265 @cindex nntp authentification
8266 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8267 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
8268 @code{nntp-server-opened-hook} is run after a connection has been made.
8269 It can be used to send commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has
8270 been contacted. By default is sends the command @code{MODE READER} to
8271 the server with the @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function.
8273 @item nntp-authinfo-function
8274 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
8275 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
8276 server. Available functions include:
8279 @item nntp-send-authinfo
8280 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8281 This function will used you current login name as the user name and will
8282 prompt you for the password. This is the default.
8284 @item nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
8285 @findex nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
8286 This function will prompt you for both user name and password.
8288 @item nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
8289 @findex nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
8290 This function will use your current login name as the user name and will
8291 read the @sc{nntp} password from @file{~/.nntp-authinfo}.
8294 @item nntp-server-action-alist
8295 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
8296 This is an list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
8297 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
8298 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
8301 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
8305 You probably don't want to do that, though.
8307 The default value is
8310 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
8311 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook nntp-send-mode-reader)))
8314 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
8315 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
8317 @item nntp-maximum-request
8318 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
8319 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
8320 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
8321 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
8322 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
8323 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
8324 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
8326 @item nntp-connection-timeout
8327 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
8328 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
8329 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
8330 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
8331 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
8332 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
8333 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
8334 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
8335 no timeouts are done.
8337 @item nntp-command-timeout
8338 @vindex nntp-command-timeout
8339 @cindex PPP connections
8340 @cindex dynamic IP addresses
8341 If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
8342 address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
8343 changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
8344 waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
8345 unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
8346 then, if it sits waiting longer than that number of seconds for a reply
8347 from the server, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
8348 the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
8349 likely number is 30 seconds.
8351 @item nntp-retry-on-break
8352 @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
8353 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
8354 hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
8357 @item nntp-server-hook
8358 @vindex nntp-server-hook
8359 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
8362 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
8363 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
8364 @item nntp-open-connection-function
8365 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
8366 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Two pre-made
8367 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
8368 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
8369 is @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an rlogin on the remote system,
8370 and then does a telnet to the @sc{nntp} server available there.
8372 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
8373 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
8374 If you use @code{nntp-open-rlogin} as the
8375 @code{nntp-open-connection-function}, this list will be used as the
8376 parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
8378 @item nntp-end-of-line
8379 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
8380 String to use as end-of-line markers when talking to the @sc{nntp}
8381 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
8382 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
8384 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
8385 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
8386 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
8390 @vindex nntp-address
8391 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
8393 @item nntp-port-number
8394 @vindex nntp-port-number
8395 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
8398 @item nntp-buggy-select
8399 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
8400 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
8402 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
8403 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
8404 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
8405 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks whether @sc{nov}
8406 can be used automatically.
8408 @item nntp-xover-commands
8409 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
8412 List of strings that are used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
8413 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
8417 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
8418 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
8419 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
8420 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
8421 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
8422 lines that you do not want, and will not use. This variable says how
8423 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
8424 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
8425 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
8426 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
8427 @code{nntp} will never split requests.
8429 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
8430 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
8431 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
8433 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8434 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8435 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
8436 server closes connection.
8442 @subsection News Spool
8446 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
8447 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
8448 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
8451 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{} (or
8452 anything else) as the address.
8454 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
8455 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
8456 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
8457 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
8461 @item nnspool-inews-program
8462 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
8463 Program used to post an article.
8465 @item nnspool-inews-switches
8466 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
8467 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
8469 @item nnspool-spool-directory
8470 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
8471 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
8472 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
8474 @item nnspool-nov-directory
8475 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
8476 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
8477 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
8479 @item nnspool-lib-dir
8480 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
8481 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
8483 @item nnspool-active-file
8484 @vindex nnspool-active-file
8485 The path of the active file.
8487 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
8488 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
8489 The path of the group descriptions file.
8491 @item nnspool-history-file
8492 @vindex nnspool-history-file
8493 The path of the news history file.
8495 @item nnspool-active-times-file
8496 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
8497 The path of the active date file.
8499 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
8500 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
8501 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
8504 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8505 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8507 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
8508 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
8509 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
8515 @section Getting Mail
8516 @cindex reading mail
8519 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
8523 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
8524 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
8525 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
8526 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
8527 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
8528 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
8529 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
8530 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
8531 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
8532 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
8533 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
8537 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
8538 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
8540 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
8541 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
8542 and things will happen automatically.
8544 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a one file per
8545 mail backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
8548 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
8549 '((nnml "private")))
8552 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
8553 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
8554 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
8555 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
8556 like any other group.
8558 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
8561 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8562 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8563 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8567 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
8568 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
8569 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
8572 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
8573 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though,
8574 especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
8577 @node Splitting Mail
8578 @subsection Splitting Mail
8579 @cindex splitting mail
8580 @cindex mail splitting
8582 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
8583 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
8584 to be split into groups.
8587 (setq nnmail-split-methods
8588 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
8589 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
8593 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
8594 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
8595 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
8596 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
8597 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
8599 If the first element is the special symbol @code{junk}, then messages
8600 that match the regexp will disappear into the aether. Use with
8603 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
8604 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
8605 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
8606 mail belongs in that group.
8608 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
8609 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
8610 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
8611 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
8612 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
8613 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
8615 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
8616 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
8617 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
8618 message. The function should return a list of groups names that it
8619 thinks should carry this mail message.
8621 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent
8622 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
8623 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
8624 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
8626 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
8627 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
8628 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
8629 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
8630 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
8632 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
8635 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
8636 the crossposted articles. However, not all files systems support hard
8637 links. If that's the case for you, set
8638 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
8639 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
8641 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
8642 @kindex nnmail-split-history
8643 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
8644 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
8646 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
8647 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
8648 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
8649 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
8650 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
8651 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
8652 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
8653 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
8657 @node Mail Backend Variables
8658 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
8660 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
8664 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8665 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
8666 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
8667 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
8669 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
8670 @item nnmail-spool-file
8674 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
8675 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
8676 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
8677 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
8678 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
8679 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
8680 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
8681 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
8682 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
8683 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
8684 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
8685 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
8686 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
8687 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
8688 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
8690 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
8691 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
8694 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
8695 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
8696 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
8697 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
8698 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
8699 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
8701 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
8702 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8703 @item nnmail-use-procmail
8704 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
8705 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
8706 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
8707 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
8710 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
8711 @item nnmail-crash-box
8712 When the mail backends read a spool file, it is first moved to this
8713 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
8714 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
8717 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8718 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
8719 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
8720 used for, well, anything, really.
8722 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
8723 @item nnmail-split-hook
8724 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
8725 @findex RFC1522 decoding
8726 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
8727 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
8728 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
8729 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
8730 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{gnus-article-decode-rfc1522}
8731 is one likely function to add to this hook.
8733 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8734 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8735 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8736 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
8737 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
8738 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
8739 starting to handle the new mail) and
8740 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
8741 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
8742 default file modes the new mail files get:
8745 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
8746 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
8748 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
8749 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
8752 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
8753 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
8754 This variable says where to move the incoming mail to while processing
8755 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
8756 inhabits (i.e., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
8757 it will be used instead.
8759 @item nnmail-movemail-program
8760 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
8761 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
8762 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
8764 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
8765 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
8768 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
8769 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
8770 @cindex incoming mail files
8771 @cindex deleting incoming files
8772 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
8773 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{nil} by
8774 default for reasons of security.
8776 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
8777 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
8778 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
8779 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure to
8780 not lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
8783 Delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
8785 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
8786 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
8787 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
8788 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories like
8789 @file{mail.misc/}. If it is @code{nil}, the same group will end up in
8792 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
8793 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
8795 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
8800 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
8801 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
8802 @cindex mail splitting
8803 @cindex fancy mail splitting
8805 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
8806 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
8807 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
8808 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
8809 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
8810 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
8812 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
8815 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
8816 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
8817 ;; from real errors.
8818 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
8820 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
8821 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
8822 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
8823 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
8824 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
8825 ;; Other mailing lists...
8826 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
8827 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
8829 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen"))
8830 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
8834 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
8835 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
8836 the five possible split syntaxes:
8841 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
8844 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, and the first
8845 element is a string, then that means that if header FIELD (a regexp)
8846 contains VALUE (also a regexp), then store the message as specified by
8850 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
8851 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
8852 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
8853 be stored in one or more groups.
8856 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
8857 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
8860 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
8861 this message anywhere.
8864 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
8865 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
8866 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
8871 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
8872 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
8873 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
8874 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
8875 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
8877 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
8878 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
8879 are expanded as specified by the variable
8880 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
8881 the car of the cells contains the key, and the cdr contains a string.
8883 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
8884 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
8885 when all this splitting is performed.
8887 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
8888 information in the headers, you can say things like:
8891 (any "debian-\(\\w*\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
8894 That is, do @code{replace-match}-like substitions in the group names.
8897 @node Mail and Procmail
8898 @subsection Mail and Procmail
8903 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
8904 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
8905 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
8906 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
8907 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
8909 This also means that you probably don't want to set
8910 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
8913 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
8914 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
8915 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends (except
8916 @code{nnmh}) actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
8917 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
8918 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
8920 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) what groups
8923 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example.
8925 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
8926 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
8928 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
8929 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
8930 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
8931 to include all your mail groups.
8933 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
8934 method will be created automatically.
8936 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
8937 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
8938 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
8939 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
8940 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
8941 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
8942 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
8943 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
8945 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
8946 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
8947 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
8948 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
8949 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
8951 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
8952 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directory into an @code{nnmh}
8953 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
8954 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
8955 ever expiring the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is quite,
8958 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
8959 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i. e., the incoming
8960 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
8961 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
8962 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
8965 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
8966 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
8967 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
8968 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
8969 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
8973 @node Incorporating Old Mail
8974 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
8976 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
8977 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
8978 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
8981 Doing so can be quite easy.
8983 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
8984 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
8985 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
8986 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
8987 your @code{nnml} groups.
8993 Go to the group buffer.
8996 Type `G f' and give the path of the mbox file when prompted to create an
8997 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9000 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
9003 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group (@pxref{Setting
9007 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
9008 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
9011 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
9012 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
9013 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
9014 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
9015 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
9017 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
9018 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
9019 using the new mail backend.
9023 @subsection Expiring Mail
9024 @cindex article expiry
9026 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
9027 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
9028 different approach to mail reading.
9030 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
9031 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
9032 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
9033 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
9034 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
9035 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
9038 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
9039 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
9040 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
9041 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
9042 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
9043 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
9044 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
9045 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
9047 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9048 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
9049 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
9050 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
9051 articles that are marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
9052 column in the summary buffer.
9054 Note that making a group auto-expirable don't mean that all read
9055 articles are expired---only the articles that are marked as expirable
9056 will be expired. Also note the using the @kbd{d} command won't make
9057 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
9058 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
9060 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
9061 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
9064 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9065 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
9068 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
9069 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
9071 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
9072 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
9073 doesn't really mix very well.
9075 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
9076 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
9077 expirable article has to live. The default is seven days.
9079 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
9080 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
9081 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
9082 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
9085 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9087 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9089 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
9091 ((string= group "mail.junk")
9093 ((string= group "important")
9099 The group names that this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
9100 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
9102 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
9103 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can be either a number (not
9104 necessarily an integer) or the symbols @code{immediate} or
9107 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
9108 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9110 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9111 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
9112 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
9113 easier for procmail users.
9115 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
9116 By the way, that line up there about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
9117 articles is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
9118 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
9119 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
9120 caution. Even more dangerous is the
9121 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
9122 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
9123 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
9124 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
9125 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
9126 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
9127 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
9130 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
9134 @subsection Washing Mail
9135 @cindex mail washing
9136 @cindex list server brain damage
9137 @cindex incoming mail treatment
9139 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
9140 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
9141 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
9142 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
9143 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
9144 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
9146 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
9147 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
9148 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
9151 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
9152 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
9153 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
9154 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
9157 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9158 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9159 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
9160 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
9163 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9164 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9165 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
9166 Emacs running on MS machines.
9170 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9171 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9172 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
9173 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
9176 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9177 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9178 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
9179 headers too make them look nice. Aaah.
9181 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9182 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9183 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
9184 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
9185 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
9186 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
9187 also be a list of regexp.
9189 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
9190 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
9193 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
9194 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
9197 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
9198 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
9199 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
9203 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9204 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9205 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
9209 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
9210 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
9211 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
9218 @subsection Duplicates
9220 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
9221 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
9222 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
9223 @cindex duplicate mails
9224 If you are a member of a couple of mailing list, you will sometime
9225 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
9226 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
9227 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
9228 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
9229 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
9230 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
9231 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
9232 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
9233 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
9234 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
9235 will generate a brand new @code{Message-ID} for the mail and insert a
9236 warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks that this is a
9237 duplicate of a different message.
9239 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
9240 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
9241 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
9242 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
9244 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
9247 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
9248 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
9252 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
9253 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
9254 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
9255 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
9256 (any mail "mail.misc")
9263 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9264 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
9269 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
9270 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
9271 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
9272 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
9273 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
9276 @node Not Reading Mail
9277 @subsection Not Reading Mail
9279 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
9280 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
9281 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
9283 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
9284 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
9286 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9287 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
9288 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
9289 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
9290 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
9291 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
9292 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
9293 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
9294 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
9295 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
9296 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
9298 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
9299 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
9303 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
9304 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
9306 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
9307 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
9308 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
9311 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
9312 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
9313 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
9314 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
9315 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
9320 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
9322 @cindex unix mail box
9324 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
9325 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
9326 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
9327 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
9328 which group it belongs in.
9330 Virtual server settings:
9333 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
9334 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
9335 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
9337 @item nnmbox-active-file
9338 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
9339 The name of the active file for the mail box.
9341 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
9342 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
9343 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
9349 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
9353 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
9354 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
9355 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
9356 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
9357 article to say which group it belongs in.
9359 Virtual server settings:
9362 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
9363 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
9364 The name of the rmail mbox file.
9366 @item nnbabyl-active-file
9367 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
9368 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
9370 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9371 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9372 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
9377 @subsubsection Mail Spool
9379 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
9381 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
9382 format. It should be used with some caution.
9384 @vindex nnml-directory
9385 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files;
9386 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the correct
9387 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
9388 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
9390 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
9393 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
9394 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
9395 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
9396 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
9397 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
9398 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
9399 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
9400 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
9402 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
9403 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
9404 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes is the fastest
9405 backend when it comes to reading mail.
9407 Virtual server settings:
9410 @item nnml-directory
9411 @vindex nnml-directory
9412 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
9414 @item nnml-active-file
9415 @vindex nnml-active-file
9416 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
9418 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
9419 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
9420 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
9423 @item nnml-get-new-mail
9424 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
9425 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
9427 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
9428 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
9429 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
9431 @item nnml-nov-file-name
9432 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
9433 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
9435 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
9436 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
9437 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
9441 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
9442 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
9443 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
9444 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
9445 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
9446 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
9447 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
9452 @subsubsection MH Spool
9454 @cindex mh-e mail spool
9456 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
9457 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
9458 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
9459 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
9461 Virtual server settings:
9464 @item nnmh-directory
9465 @vindex nnmh-directory
9466 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
9468 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
9469 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
9470 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
9473 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
9474 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
9475 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
9476 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
9477 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
9478 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
9479 to set this variable to @code{t}.
9484 @subsubsection Mail Folders
9486 @cindex mbox folders
9487 @cindex mail folders
9489 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
9490 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
9491 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
9494 Virtual server settings:
9497 @item nnfolder-directory
9498 @vindex nnfolder-directory
9499 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
9501 @item nnfolder-active-file
9502 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
9503 The name of the active file.
9505 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9506 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9507 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
9509 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
9510 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
9511 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
9514 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
9515 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
9516 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
9517 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
9518 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
9519 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
9523 @section Other Sources
9525 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
9526 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
9530 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
9531 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
9532 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
9533 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
9534 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
9535 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
9539 @node Directory Groups
9540 @subsection Directory Groups
9542 @cindex directory groups
9544 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
9545 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
9548 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp}, that most
9549 wonderful of all wonderful Emacs packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I
9550 didn't think much about it---a backend to read directories. Big deal.
9552 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
9553 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
9554 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the the directory name,
9555 @code{ange-ftp} will actually allow you to read this directory over at
9556 @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
9558 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
9560 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
9561 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
9562 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
9563 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
9566 @node Anything Groups
9567 @subsection Anything Groups
9570 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
9571 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
9572 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
9575 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
9576 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
9577 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
9578 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
9579 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
9580 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
9581 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
9582 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
9583 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
9584 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
9587 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
9588 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
9589 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
9590 in the article buffer, just as usual.
9592 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
9593 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
9594 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
9595 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
9597 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
9598 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
9599 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
9600 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
9601 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
9602 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
9603 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
9604 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
9609 @item nneething-map-file-directory
9610 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
9611 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
9612 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
9614 @item nneething-exclude-files
9615 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
9616 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
9617 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
9619 @item nneething-map-file
9620 @vindex nneething-map-file
9621 Name of the map files.
9625 @node Document Groups
9626 @subsection Document Groups
9628 @cindex documentation group
9631 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
9632 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
9639 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
9644 The standard Unix mbox file.
9646 @cindex MMDF mail box
9648 The MMDF mail box format.
9651 Several news articles appended into a file.
9654 @cindex rnews batch files
9655 The rnews batch transport format.
9656 @cindex forwarded messages
9665 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
9666 @cindex RFC 341 digest
9667 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
9669 @item standard-digest
9670 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
9673 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
9676 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
9677 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
9678 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
9681 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
9682 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
9683 group. And that's it.
9685 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
9686 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
9687 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
9688 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
9689 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
9690 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
9691 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
9692 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
9693 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
9694 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
9696 Virtual server variables:
9699 @item nndoc-article-type
9700 @vindex nndoc-article-type
9701 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
9702 @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{news}, @code{rnews},
9703 @code{mime-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, or @code{guess}.
9705 @item nndoc-post-type
9706 @vindex nndoc-post-type
9707 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
9708 a mail group. There are two legal values: @code{mail} (the default)
9713 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
9717 @node Document Server Internals
9718 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
9720 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
9721 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
9722 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
9723 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
9725 First, here's an example document type definition:
9729 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
9730 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
9733 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
9734 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
9735 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
9736 types can be defined with very few settings:
9740 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
9741 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
9745 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
9746 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
9748 @item head-begin-function
9749 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
9752 @item nndoc-head-begin
9753 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
9756 @item nndoc-head-end
9757 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
9758 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
9760 @item body-begin-function
9761 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
9765 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
9768 @item body-end-function
9769 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
9773 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
9775 @item nndoc-file-end
9776 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
9777 regexp will be totally ignored.
9781 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
9782 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
9783 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
9784 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
9785 something that's palatable for Gnus:
9788 @item prepare-body-function
9789 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
9790 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
9791 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
9793 @item article-transform-function
9794 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
9795 meant to be used how more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
9796 body of the article.
9798 @item generate-head-function
9799 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
9800 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
9801 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
9802 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
9806 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
9811 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
9812 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
9813 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
9814 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
9816 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
9817 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
9818 (subtype digest guess))
9821 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
9822 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
9823 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
9824 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
9825 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
9827 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
9828 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
9829 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
9830 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
9831 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for each
9832 type. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
9833 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
9834 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
9835 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
9836 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
9837 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest legal number.
9845 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
9846 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
9847 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
9849 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
9850 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
9851 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
9854 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
9855 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
9856 that interested in doing things properly.
9858 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
9859 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
9862 First some terminology:
9867 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
9868 get news and/or mail from.
9871 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
9872 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
9875 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
9879 @item message packets
9880 These are packets made at the server, and typically contains lots of
9881 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
9882 default, where @var{X} is a number.
9884 @item response packets
9885 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
9886 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
9887 default, where @var{X} is a number.
9897 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
9898 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
9899 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
9900 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
9903 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
9906 You put the packet in your home directory.
9909 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
9910 the native or secondary server.
9913 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
9914 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
9917 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
9921 You transfer this packet to the server.
9924 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
9927 You then repeat until you die.
9931 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
9932 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
9935 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
9936 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
9937 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
9942 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
9944 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
9948 @kindex G s b (Group)
9949 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
9950 Pack all unread articles in the current group
9951 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
9952 process/prefix convention.
9955 @kindex G s w (Group)
9956 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
9957 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
9960 @kindex G s s (Group)
9961 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
9962 Send all replies from the replies packet
9963 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
9966 @kindex G s p (Group)
9967 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
9968 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
9971 @kindex G s r (Group)
9972 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
9973 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
9976 @kindex O s (Summary)
9977 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
9978 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
9979 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
9980 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9985 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
9990 @item gnus-soup-directory
9991 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
9992 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
9993 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
9995 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
9996 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
9997 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
9998 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
10000 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
10001 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
10002 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
10003 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
10005 @item gnus-soup-packer
10006 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
10007 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10008 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
10010 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
10011 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
10012 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10013 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10015 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
10016 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
10017 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
10019 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10020 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10021 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
10022 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
10028 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
10031 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
10032 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
10033 you can read them at leisure.
10035 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
10039 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
10040 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
10041 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
10042 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
10044 @item nnsoup-directory
10045 @vindex nnsoup-directory
10046 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
10047 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
10049 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
10050 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
10051 All replies will stored in this directory before being packed into a
10052 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
10054 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
10055 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
10056 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
10057 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
10058 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
10060 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
10061 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
10062 The index type of the replies packet. The is @samp{?n}, which means
10063 ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
10065 @item nnsoup-active-file
10066 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
10067 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
10068 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
10069 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
10070 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
10072 @item nnsoup-packer
10073 @vindex nnsoup-packer
10074 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
10075 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
10077 @item nnsoup-unpacker
10078 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
10079 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
10080 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10082 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
10083 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
10084 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
10087 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
10088 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
10089 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
10096 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
10098 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
10099 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
10100 more for that to happen.
10102 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
10103 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
10104 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
10107 In specific, this is what it does:
10110 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
10111 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
10114 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
10115 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
10116 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
10120 @subsection Web Searches
10124 @cindex InReference
10125 @cindex Usenet searches
10126 @cindex searching the Usenet
10128 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
10129 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
10130 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
10131 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
10132 searches without having to use a browser.
10134 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
10135 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
10136 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
10137 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
10138 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
10140 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
10141 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
10142 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
10143 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
10144 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@code{Duplicate
10145 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
10146 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
10147 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
10148 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
10149 header---mark all articles that were posted before the last date you
10150 read the group as read.
10152 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
10153 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
10154 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
10155 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
10156 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
10157 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
10159 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
10160 to use @code{nnweb}.
10162 Virtual server variables:
10167 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
10168 are @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
10171 @vindex nnweb-search
10172 The search string to feed to the search engine.
10174 @item nnweb-max-hits
10175 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
10176 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
10179 @item nnweb-type-definition
10180 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
10181 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
10182 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
10187 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
10191 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
10194 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
10197 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
10201 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
10208 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
10209 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
10210 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
10213 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
10214 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
10215 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
10217 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
10223 @item nngateway-address
10224 @vindex nngateway-address
10225 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
10227 @item nngateway-header-transformation
10228 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
10229 News headers have often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
10230 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
10231 transformation should be called, and defaults to
10232 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
10233 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
10236 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
10237 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address---an article with this
10238 @code{Newsgroups} header:
10241 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
10244 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
10247 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
10252 So, to use this, simply say something like:
10255 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
10259 @node Combined Groups
10260 @section Combined Groups
10262 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
10266 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
10267 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
10271 @node Virtual Groups
10272 @subsection Virtual Groups
10274 @cindex virtual groups
10276 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
10279 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small group, you can
10280 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
10281 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
10283 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
10284 regexp to match component groups.
10286 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
10287 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
10288 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
10289 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
10290 the virtual group.)
10292 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
10293 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
10296 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
10299 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
10300 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
10302 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
10303 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
10304 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
10305 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
10308 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
10311 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
10312 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
10313 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
10314 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
10315 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}.
10317 One limitation, however---all groups that are included in a virtual
10318 group has to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
10319 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
10321 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
10322 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
10323 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
10324 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
10325 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
10326 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
10327 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
10328 effect if you have two virtual groups that contain the same component
10329 group. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
10330 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
10331 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
10334 @node Kibozed Groups
10335 @subsection Kibozed Groups
10339 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
10340 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
10341 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
10342 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
10344 @kindex G k (Group)
10345 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
10348 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
10349 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
10350 @code{nnkiboze} group. There most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
10351 and @code{nnvirtual} ends.
10353 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
10354 must have a score file to say what articles that are to be included in
10355 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
10357 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
10358 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
10359 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
10360 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
10361 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
10362 all the articles in all the components groups and run them through the
10363 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
10364 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
10366 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
10367 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
10368 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
10369 Stranger things have happened.
10371 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
10372 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
10374 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
10375 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
10376 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
10377 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
10378 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
10379 on what groups that have been searched through to find component
10382 Articles that are marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have their
10383 @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
10390 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
10391 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
10392 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
10395 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
10396 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
10397 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
10398 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
10399 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
10401 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
10402 before generating the summary buffer.
10404 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
10405 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
10406 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
10408 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
10409 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
10410 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
10411 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
10414 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
10415 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
10416 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
10417 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
10418 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
10419 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
10420 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
10421 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
10422 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
10423 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
10424 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
10425 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
10426 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
10427 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
10428 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
10429 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
10433 @node Summary Score Commands
10434 @section Summary Score Commands
10435 @cindex score commands
10437 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
10438 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
10439 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
10440 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
10441 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
10443 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
10444 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
10445 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
10446 score file the current one.
10448 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
10453 @kindex V s (Summary)
10454 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
10455 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
10458 @kindex V S (Summary)
10459 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
10460 Display the score of the current article
10461 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
10464 @kindex V t (Summary)
10465 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
10466 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
10467 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
10470 @kindex V R (Summary)
10471 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
10472 Run the current summary through the scoring process
10473 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
10474 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
10475 effect you're having.
10478 @kindex V a (Summary)
10479 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
10480 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
10481 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
10484 @kindex V c (Summary)
10485 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
10486 Make a different score file the current
10487 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
10490 @kindex V e (Summary)
10491 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
10492 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
10493 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
10497 @kindex V f (Summary)
10498 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
10499 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
10500 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
10503 @kindex V F (Summary)
10504 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
10505 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
10506 after editing score files.
10509 @kindex V C (Summary)
10510 @findex gnus-score-customize
10511 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
10512 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
10515 @kindex I C-i (Summary)
10516 @findex gnus-summary-raise-score
10517 Increase the score of the current article
10518 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-score}).
10521 @kindex L C-l (Summary)
10522 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
10523 Lower the score of the current article
10524 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-score}).
10527 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
10532 @kindex V m (Summary)
10533 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
10534 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
10535 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
10538 @kindex V x (Summary)
10539 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
10540 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
10541 expunge all articles below this score
10542 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
10545 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
10546 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
10551 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
10552 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
10554 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
10555 keys are available:
10559 Score on the author name.
10562 Score on the subject line.
10565 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
10568 Score on thread---the References line.
10574 Score on the number of lines.
10577 Score on the Message-ID.
10580 Score on followups.
10590 The third key is the match type. Which match types are legal depends on
10591 what headers you are scoring on.
10603 Substring matching.
10635 Greater than number.
10640 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
10641 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
10642 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
10646 Temporary score entry.
10649 Permanent score entry.
10652 Immediately scoring.
10657 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
10658 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
10659 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
10660 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
10662 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
10663 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
10664 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
10665 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
10666 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
10668 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
10669 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
10670 pretend they are keymaps or not.
10673 @node Group Score Commands
10674 @section Group Score Commands
10675 @cindex group score commands
10677 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
10682 @kindex W f (Group)
10683 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
10684 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
10685 all the time. This command will flush the cache
10686 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
10691 @node Score Variables
10692 @section Score Variables
10693 @cindex score variables
10697 @item gnus-use-scoring
10698 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
10699 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
10700 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
10702 @item gnus-kill-killed
10703 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
10704 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
10705 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
10706 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
10707 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
10708 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
10709 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
10711 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
10712 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
10713 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
10714 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
10715 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
10717 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
10718 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
10719 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
10720 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
10722 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
10723 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
10724 @cindex score cache
10725 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
10726 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
10727 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files that are
10728 unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
10729 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
10730 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
10731 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
10734 @item gnus-save-score
10735 @vindex gnus-save-score
10736 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
10737 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
10738 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
10740 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
10741 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
10742 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
10743 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
10744 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
10745 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
10746 manually entered data.
10748 @item gnus-summary-default-score
10749 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
10750 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
10752 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
10753 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
10754 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
10755 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
10756 articles will be hidden.
10758 @item gnus-score-over-mark
10759 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
10760 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
10761 default. Default is @samp{+}.
10763 @item gnus-score-below-mark
10764 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
10765 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
10766 default. Default is @samp{-}.
10768 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
10769 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
10770 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
10771 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
10773 Predefined functions available are:
10776 @item gnus-score-find-single
10777 @findex gnus-score-find-single
10778 Only apply the group's own score file.
10780 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
10781 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
10782 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
10783 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
10784 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
10785 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
10786 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
10787 then a regexp match is done.
10789 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
10790 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
10792 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
10793 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
10794 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
10795 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
10797 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
10798 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
10799 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
10800 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
10801 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
10804 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
10805 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
10806 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
10807 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
10808 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
10809 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
10812 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
10813 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
10814 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
10815 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
10816 are expired. It's 7 by default.
10818 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10819 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
10820 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
10821 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
10822 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
10823 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
10824 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
10827 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10828 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
10829 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
10834 @node Score File Format
10835 @section Score File Format
10836 @cindex score file format
10838 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
10839 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
10840 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
10842 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
10846 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
10848 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
10850 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
10852 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
10857 (mark-and-expunge -10)
10861 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
10862 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
10863 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
10864 (gnus-summary-make-false-root 'empty))
10868 This example demonstrates absolutely everything about a score file.
10870 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
10871 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
10872 has to be legal syntactically, if not semantically.
10874 Six keys are supported by this alist:
10879 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
10880 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
10881 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
10882 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
10883 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
10884 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
10885 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
10886 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
10887 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
10888 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
10889 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
10890 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
10891 to articles that matches these score entries.
10893 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
10894 score entry has one to four elements.
10898 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
10899 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
10903 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
10904 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
10905 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
10906 is successful. If this element is not present, the
10907 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
10908 instead. This is 1000 by default.
10911 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
10912 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
10913 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
10914 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
10915 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 ce.
10918 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
10919 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
10920 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
10921 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
10924 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
10925 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
10926 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
10927 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
10928 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
10929 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
10930 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
10931 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
10932 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
10933 instead, if you feel like.
10936 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
10937 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}. When matching on @code{Lines}, be
10938 careful because some backends (like @code{nndir}) do not generate
10939 @code{Lines} header, so every article ends up being marked as having 0
10940 lines. This can lead to strange results if you happen to lower score of
10941 the articles with few lines.
10944 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
10945 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
10946 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
10947 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
10948 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
10949 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
10950 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
10954 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
10955 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
10956 ISO8601 compact format first---@samp{YYYYMMDDTHHMMSS}. If you want to
10957 match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in every year, you
10958 could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string, for instance.
10959 (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so this will
10960 match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where the article
10961 was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the whole
10964 @item Head, Body, All
10965 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
10969 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
10970 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
10971 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
10972 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
10973 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
10974 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
10978 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
10979 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread that is
10980 started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
10981 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
10982 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
10983 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
10984 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
10985 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
10986 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
10987 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread.
10992 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10993 lower than this number will be marked as read.
10996 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
10997 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
10999 @item mark-and-expunge
11000 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
11001 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
11004 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
11005 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
11006 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
11007 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
11008 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
11011 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
11012 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
11015 @item exclude-files
11016 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
11017 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
11021 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
11022 ignored when handling global score files.
11025 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
11026 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
11029 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
11030 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
11031 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
11032 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
11034 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
11038 (mark-and-expunge -100)
11041 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
11042 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
11043 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
11044 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
11045 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
11047 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
11048 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
11049 ordinary scoring rules.
11052 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
11053 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
11054 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
11055 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
11056 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
11057 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
11058 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
11059 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
11060 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
11061 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
11062 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
11066 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
11067 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
11068 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
11069 file for a number of groups.
11072 @cindex local variables
11073 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
11074 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
11075 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
11076 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
11081 @node Score File Editing
11082 @section Score File Editing
11084 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
11085 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
11086 with a mode for that.
11088 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
11089 additional commands:
11094 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
11095 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
11096 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
11097 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
11100 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
11101 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
11102 Insert the current date in numerical format
11103 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
11104 you were wondering.
11107 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
11108 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
11109 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
11110 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
11111 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
11116 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
11118 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
11119 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
11121 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
11122 e} to begin editing score files.
11125 @node Adaptive Scoring
11126 @section Adaptive Scoring
11127 @cindex adaptive scoring
11129 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
11130 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
11131 stupidity, to be precise.
11133 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
11134 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
11135 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
11136 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
11137 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
11138 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
11139 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
11140 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
11141 variable to @code{(word line)}.
11143 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
11144 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
11145 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
11146 might look something like this:
11149 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
11150 '((gnus-unread-mark)
11151 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
11152 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
11153 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
11154 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
11155 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
11156 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
11157 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
11158 (gnus-ancient-mark)
11159 (gnus-low-score-mark)
11160 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
11163 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
11164 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
11165 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
11166 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
11167 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
11168 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
11171 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
11172 will be applied to each article.
11174 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
11175 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
11176 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
11177 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
11179 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
11180 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
11181 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
11182 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
11184 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
11185 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
11186 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
11187 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
11189 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
11190 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
11191 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
11192 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
11193 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
11194 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
11196 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
11197 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
11198 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
11199 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
11200 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
11201 aspirins afterwards.)
11203 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
11204 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
11205 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
11207 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
11208 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
11209 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
11211 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
11212 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
11213 let you use different rules in different groups.
11215 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
11216 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
11217 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
11220 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
11221 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
11222 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
11223 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
11224 the length of the match is less than
11225 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
11226 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
11229 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
11230 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
11231 headers. If you adapt on words, the
11232 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
11233 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
11236 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
11237 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
11238 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
11239 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
11240 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
11243 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
11244 word that appears in subjects of articles that are marked with
11245 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
11246 score with 30 points.
11248 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
11249 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
11250 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
11251 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
11252 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
11254 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
11255 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
11256 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
11257 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
11259 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
11260 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
11261 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
11263 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
11264 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
11265 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
11266 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
11269 @node Home Score File
11270 @section Home Score File
11272 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
11273 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
11274 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
11275 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
11277 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
11278 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
11279 could perhaps use the same home score file.
11281 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
11282 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
11287 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
11291 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
11292 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
11296 A list. The elements in this list can be:
11300 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
11301 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
11304 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
11305 the home score file.
11308 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
11311 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
11316 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
11319 (setq gnus-home-score-file
11320 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
11323 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
11324 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
11327 (setq gnus-home-score-file
11328 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
11331 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
11333 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
11334 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
11335 their own home score files:
11338 (setq gnus-home-score-file
11339 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
11340 '("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
11341 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
11342 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE"))
11345 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
11346 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
11347 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
11348 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
11349 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
11351 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
11352 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
11353 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
11354 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
11355 precedence over this variable.
11358 @node Followups To Yourself
11359 @section Followups To Yourself
11361 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
11362 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
11363 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
11364 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
11365 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
11366 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
11370 @item gnus-score-followup-article
11371 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
11372 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
11375 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
11376 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
11377 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
11381 @vindex message-sent-hook
11382 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
11383 @code{message-sent-hook}.
11385 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
11386 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
11390 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
11391 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
11394 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
11395 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
11400 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf@.*eyesore.no>" 1000 nil r))
11403 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
11404 is system-dependent.
11408 @section Scoring Tips
11409 @cindex scoring tips
11415 @cindex scoring crossposts
11416 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
11417 the @code{Xref} header.
11419 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
11422 @item Multiple crossposts
11423 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
11424 more than, say, 3 groups:
11426 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
11429 @item Matching on the body
11430 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
11431 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
11432 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
11433 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
11434 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
11435 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
11436 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
11439 @item Marking as read
11440 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
11441 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
11442 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
11446 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
11448 @item Negated character classes
11449 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
11450 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
11451 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
11455 @node Reverse Scoring
11456 @section Reverse Scoring
11457 @cindex reverse scoring
11459 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
11460 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
11461 like this in your score file:
11465 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
11470 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
11471 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
11474 @node Global Score Files
11475 @section Global Score Files
11476 @cindex global score files
11478 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
11479 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
11480 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
11482 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
11483 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
11484 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
11486 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
11487 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
11488 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
11489 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
11490 files are applicable to which group.
11492 Say you want to use the score file
11493 @file{/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
11494 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
11497 (setq gnus-global-score-files
11498 '("/ftp@@ftp.ifi.uio.no:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
11499 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
11502 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
11503 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
11504 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
11505 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
11506 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
11508 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
11509 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
11511 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
11512 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
11513 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
11514 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
11515 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
11516 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
11518 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
11524 Articles that are heavily crossposted are probably junk.
11526 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
11528 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
11530 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
11531 lowered out of existence.
11533 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
11534 articles completely.
11537 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
11538 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
11539 old articles for a long time.
11542 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
11543 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
11544 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
11545 holding our breath yet?
11549 @section Kill Files
11552 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
11553 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
11554 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
11556 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
11557 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
11558 files into score files.
11560 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
11561 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
11562 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
11563 that isn't a very good idea.
11565 Normal kill files look like this:
11568 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11569 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
11573 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove them from
11574 the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
11576 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
11577 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
11580 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
11585 @kindex M-k (Summary)
11586 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
11587 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
11590 @kindex M-K (Summary)
11591 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
11592 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
11595 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
11600 @kindex M-k (Group)
11601 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
11602 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
11605 @kindex M-K (Group)
11606 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
11607 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
11610 Kill file variables:
11613 @item gnus-kill-file-name
11614 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
11615 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
11616 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
11617 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
11618 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
11619 course) is called just @file{KILL}.
11621 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
11622 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
11623 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
11624 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
11627 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
11628 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
11629 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
11630 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
11631 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
11632 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
11633 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
11634 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
11635 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
11637 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
11638 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
11639 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
11644 @node Converting Kill Files
11645 @section Converting Kill Files
11647 @cindex converting kill files
11649 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
11650 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
11651 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
11654 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
11655 You can fetch it from
11656 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
11658 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
11659 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
11660 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
11668 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
11669 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
11670 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
11672 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
11673 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
11674 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
11675 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
11676 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
11677 Once it has found for you some people you agree with it tells you, in
11678 the form of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use
11679 this prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
11683 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
11684 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
11685 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
11686 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
11690 @node Using GroupLens
11691 @subsection Using GroupLens
11693 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
11695 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
11696 better bit in town is at the moment.
11698 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
11702 @item gnus-use-grouplens
11703 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
11704 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
11705 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
11707 @item grouplens-pseudonym
11708 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
11709 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
11710 with the Better Bit Bureau.
11712 @item grouplens-newsgroups
11713 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
11714 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
11718 Thats the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
11719 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
11720 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
11721 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
11722 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
11723 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
11726 @node Rating Articles
11727 @subsection Rating Articles
11729 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
11730 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
11731 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
11732 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
11735 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
11740 @kindex r (GroupLens)
11741 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
11742 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
11745 @kindex k (GroupLens)
11746 @findex grouplens-score-thread
11747 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
11748 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
11749 threads in rec.humor.
11753 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
11754 the score of the article you're reading.
11759 @kindex n (GroupLens)
11760 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
11761 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
11764 @kindex , (GroupLens)
11765 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
11766 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
11770 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
11771 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
11774 @node Displaying Predictions
11775 @subsection Displaying Predictions
11777 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
11778 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
11779 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
11780 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
11781 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
11783 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
11784 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
11785 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
11786 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
11787 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
11788 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
11789 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
11790 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
11791 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
11792 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
11793 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
11794 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
11795 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
11797 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
11798 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
11799 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
11800 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
11802 The following are legal values for that variable.
11805 @item prediction-spot
11806 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
11809 @item confidence-interval
11810 A numeric confidence interval.
11812 @item prediction-bar
11813 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
11815 @item confidence-bar
11816 Numerical confidence.
11818 @item confidence-spot
11819 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
11821 @item prediction-num
11822 Plain-old numeric value.
11824 @item confidence-plus-minus
11825 Prediction +/i confidence.
11830 @node GroupLens Variables
11831 @subsection GroupLens Variables
11835 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
11836 The summary line format used in summary buffers that are GroupLens
11837 enhanced. It accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format
11838 (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}). The default is
11839 @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
11841 @item grouplens-bbb-host
11842 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
11845 @item grouplens-bbb-port
11846 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
11848 @item grouplens-score-offset
11849 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
11850 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
11853 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
11854 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
11855 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
11860 @node Advanced Scoring
11861 @section Advanced Scoring
11863 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
11864 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
11865 about a particular subject? Or what about if you really don't want to
11866 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
11867 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
11869 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
11873 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
11874 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
11875 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
11879 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
11880 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
11882 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
11883 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
11884 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
11885 non-@code{nil} value.
11887 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
11888 operator, and various match operators.
11895 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
11896 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
11897 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
11902 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
11903 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
11904 then this operator will return @code{false}.
11909 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
11910 inverse of the value of its argument.
11914 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
11915 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
11916 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
11917 current article. @code{2-} will make score fules apply to the
11918 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
11919 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) say how far back into
11920 the ancestry you want to go.
11922 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
11923 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
11924 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
11925 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
11926 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
11929 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
11930 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
11932 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
11933 when he's talking about Gnus:
11937 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11938 ("subject" "Gnus"))
11944 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
11948 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11955 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
11956 really don't want to read what he's written:
11960 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
11961 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
11965 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
11966 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
11967 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
11974 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
11975 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
11976 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
11977 ("body" "white.*socks"))
11981 The possibilities are endless.
11984 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
11985 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
11987 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
11988 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
11989 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
11990 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
11991 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
11992 (@samp{body}, @code{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
11993 @samp{subject}) first.
11995 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
11996 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
12007 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
12008 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
12014 ("subject" "Gnus")))
12021 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
12022 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
12027 @section Score Decays
12028 @cindex score decays
12031 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
12032 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
12033 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
12034 use them in any sensible way.
12036 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
12037 @findex gnus-decay-score
12038 @vindex gnus-score-decay-function
12039 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
12040 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
12041 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
12042 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
12043 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-score-decay-function}
12044 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
12045 definition of that function:
12048 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
12051 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
12053 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
12055 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
12058 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
12059 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
12060 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
12061 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
12065 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
12068 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
12071 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
12075 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
12076 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
12077 the new score, which should be an integer.
12079 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
12080 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
12087 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
12088 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
12089 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
12090 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
12091 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
12092 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
12093 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
12094 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
12095 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
12096 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
12097 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
12098 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
12099 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
12100 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
12101 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
12105 @node Process/Prefix
12106 @section Process/Prefix
12107 @cindex process/prefix convention
12109 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
12110 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
12112 This is a method for figuring out what articles that the user wants the
12113 command to be performed on.
12117 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
12118 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
12119 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
12120 with the current one.
12122 @vindex transient-mark-mode
12123 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
12124 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
12126 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
12127 process mark, perform the operation on the articles that are marked with
12130 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
12131 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
12133 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
12136 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
12137 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
12138 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
12139 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
12141 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
12142 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
12143 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
12144 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
12145 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
12146 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
12147 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
12148 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
12152 @section Interactive
12153 @cindex interaction
12157 @item gnus-novice-user
12158 @vindex gnus-novice-user
12159 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
12160 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
12161 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
12162 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
12165 @item gnus-expert-user
12166 @vindex gnus-expert-user
12167 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
12168 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
12169 matter how strange.
12171 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
12172 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
12173 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
12174 is @code{t} by default.
12176 @item gnus-interactive-exit
12177 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
12178 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
12183 @node Formatting Variables
12184 @section Formatting Variables
12185 @cindex formatting variables
12187 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables that
12188 are called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
12189 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
12190 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
12191 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
12194 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
12195 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
12196 lots of percentages everywhere.
12199 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
12200 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
12201 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
12202 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
12205 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
12206 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
12207 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
12208 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
12209 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
12210 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
12211 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
12212 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
12214 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
12215 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
12217 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
12218 @findex gnus-update-format
12219 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
12220 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
12221 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
12222 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
12226 @node Formatting Basics
12227 @subsection Formatting Basics
12229 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
12230 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
12231 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
12233 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
12234 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
12235 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
12236 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
12237 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
12240 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
12241 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
12242 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
12243 less than 4 characters wide.
12246 @node Advanced Formatting
12247 @subsection Advanced Formatting
12249 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
12250 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
12251 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
12252 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
12254 These are the legal modifiers:
12259 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
12263 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
12268 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
12271 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
12276 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
12279 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
12282 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
12285 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
12289 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
12290 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
12291 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
12292 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
12293 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
12294 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
12295 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
12297 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
12298 last operation, padding.
12300 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
12301 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
12302 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
12303 @xref{Compilation}.
12306 @node User-Defined Specs
12307 @subsection User-Defined Specs
12309 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
12310 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
12311 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
12312 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
12313 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
12314 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
12315 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
12316 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
12317 should protect against that.
12319 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
12320 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
12321 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
12322 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
12326 @node Formatting Fonts
12327 @subsection Formatting Fonts
12329 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
12330 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
12331 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
12332 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
12335 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
12336 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
12337 default. If you say @samp{%1[} instead, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1}
12338 instead, and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes
12339 for the @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
12340 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
12342 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
12345 ;; Create three face types.
12346 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
12347 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
12349 ;; We want the article count to be in
12350 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
12351 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
12352 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
12354 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
12355 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
12357 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
12358 (setq gnus-group-line-format
12359 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
12362 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
12363 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
12365 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
12366 mode-line variables.
12369 @node Windows Configuration
12370 @section Windows Configuration
12371 @cindex windows configuration
12373 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
12375 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
12376 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
12377 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
12378 @code{t} by default.
12380 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
12381 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
12382 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
12385 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
12386 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
12387 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
12391 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
12392 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
12393 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
12394 possible names is listed below.
12396 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
12397 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
12400 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
12404 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
12405 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
12406 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
12407 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
12408 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
12409 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
12410 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
12411 size spec per split.
12413 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
12416 Here's a more complicated example:
12419 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
12420 (summary 0.25 point)
12421 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
12425 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
12426 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
12427 occupy, not a percentage.
12429 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
12430 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
12431 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
12432 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
12433 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
12436 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
12439 (article (horizontal 1.0
12444 (summary 0.25 point)
12449 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
12450 @code{horizontal} thingie?
12452 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
12453 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
12454 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
12455 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
12456 the screen is to be given to this strip.
12458 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
12459 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
12460 lines from the splits.
12462 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a legal split
12466 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
12467 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
12468 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
12469 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
12470 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
12471 size = number | frame-params
12472 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
12475 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
12476 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
12477 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
12478 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
12480 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
12481 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
12482 @cindex window height
12483 @cindex window width
12484 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
12485 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
12486 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
12487 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
12488 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
12489 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
12491 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
12492 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
12493 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
12494 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
12496 @findex gnus-configure-frame
12497 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
12498 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
12499 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
12500 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
12501 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
12502 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
12503 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
12504 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
12505 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
12506 configuration list.
12509 (gnus-configure-frame
12513 (article 0.3 point))
12521 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
12522 @code{frame} split:
12525 (gnus-configure-frame
12528 (summary 0.25 point)
12530 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
12531 (user-position . t)
12532 (left . -1) (top . 1))
12537 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
12538 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
12539 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
12540 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
12541 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
12542 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
12545 Here's a list of all possible keys for
12546 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
12548 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
12549 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
12550 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
12551 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
12552 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft},
12553 @code{pipe}, @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}.
12555 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
12556 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
12557 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
12561 (message (horizontal 1.0
12562 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
12564 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
12569 @findex gnus-add-configuration
12570 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
12571 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
12572 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
12573 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
12576 (gnus-add-configuration
12577 '(article (vertical 1.0
12579 (summary .25 point)
12583 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
12584 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
12585 Gnus has been loaded.
12587 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
12588 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
12589 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
12590 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
12591 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
12595 @section Compilation
12596 @cindex compilation
12597 @cindex byte-compilation
12599 @findex gnus-compile
12601 Remember all those line format specification variables?
12602 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
12603 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
12604 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
12605 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
12606 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
12609 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
12610 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
12611 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
12612 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
12613 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
12614 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
12615 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
12619 @section Mode Lines
12622 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
12623 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
12624 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
12625 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
12626 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
12627 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
12628 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
12631 @cindex display-time
12633 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
12634 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
12635 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
12636 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
12637 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
12638 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
12639 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
12640 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
12643 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
12645 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
12646 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
12648 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
12649 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
12650 (length display-time-string)))))
12653 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
12654 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either.
12655 Note that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the
12656 percentage complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line;
12657 the user should configure this variable appropriately for their
12661 @node Highlighting and Menus
12662 @section Highlighting and Menus
12664 @cindex highlighting
12667 @vindex gnus-visual
12668 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the prettifying Gnus
12669 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
12670 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
12673 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
12674 following elements are legal, and are all included by default:
12677 @item group-highlight
12678 Do highlights in the group buffer.
12679 @item summary-highlight
12680 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
12681 @item article-highlight
12682 Do highlights in the article buffer.
12684 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
12686 Create menus in the group buffer.
12688 Create menus in the summary buffers.
12690 Create menus in the article buffer.
12692 Create menus in the browse buffer.
12694 Create menus in the server buffer.
12696 Create menus in the score buffers.
12698 Create menus in all buffers.
12701 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
12702 buffers, you could say something like:
12705 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
12708 If you want only highlighting and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
12711 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
12714 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
12715 in all Gnus buffers.
12717 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
12720 @item gnus-mouse-face
12721 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
12722 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
12723 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
12727 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
12731 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
12732 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
12733 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
12735 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
12736 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
12737 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
12739 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
12740 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
12741 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
12743 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
12744 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
12745 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
12747 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
12748 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
12749 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
12751 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
12752 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
12753 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
12764 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
12765 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
12766 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
12767 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
12768 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
12772 @vindex gnus-carpal
12773 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
12774 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
12775 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
12780 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
12781 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
12782 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
12784 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
12785 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
12786 Face used on buttons.
12788 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
12789 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
12790 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
12792 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
12793 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
12794 Buttons in the group buffer.
12796 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
12797 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
12798 Buttons in the summary buffer.
12800 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
12801 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
12802 Buttons in the server buffer.
12804 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
12805 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
12806 Buttons in the browse buffer.
12809 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
12810 is either a cons cell where the car contains a text to be displayed and
12811 the cdr contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
12819 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
12820 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
12821 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
12822 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
12823 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
12825 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
12826 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
12827 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
12829 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
12830 been idle for thirty minutes:
12833 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
12836 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
12840 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
12843 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter works together
12844 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
12845 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
12847 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
12848 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
12849 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
12850 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
12852 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
12853 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
12854 @var{idle} minutes.
12856 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
12857 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
12860 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
12861 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
12862 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
12864 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
12865 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
12866 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
12867 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
12869 @vindex gnus-use-demon
12870 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
12871 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
12873 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
12874 your @file{.gnus} file:
12876 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
12878 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
12881 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
12882 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
12883 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
12884 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
12885 Some ready-made functions to do this has been created:
12886 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
12887 @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just
12888 put those functions in your @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
12890 @findex gnus-demon-init
12891 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
12892 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
12893 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
12894 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
12895 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
12897 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
12898 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
12899 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
12908 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
12909 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
12911 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
12912 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
12913 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
12914 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
12917 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
12918 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
12919 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
12920 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
12922 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
12923 this will make spam disappear.
12925 There are some variables to customize, of course:
12928 @item gnus-use-nocem
12929 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
12930 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
12933 @item gnus-nocem-groups
12934 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
12935 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
12936 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
12937 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
12939 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
12940 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
12941 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
12942 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
12943 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
12944 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
12946 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
12949 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
12950 @cindex Chris Lewis
12951 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
12952 usenet abuse than anybody else.
12955 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
12956 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
12957 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
12959 @item jem@@xpat.com;
12961 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
12964 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
12965 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
12966 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
12969 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
12970 ones you want to listen to.
12972 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
12973 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
12975 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
12976 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
12977 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
12978 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
12980 @item gnus-nocem-directory
12981 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
12982 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
12983 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
12985 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
12986 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
12987 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
12988 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
12989 might then see old spam.
12997 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
12998 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
12999 over your shoulder as you read news.
13002 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
13003 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
13004 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
13005 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
13006 * Picon Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
13011 @subsection Picon Basics
13013 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
13016 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
13017 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
13018 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
13019 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
13020 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
13021 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
13022 @code{GIF} formats.
13025 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases, point
13026 your Web browser at
13027 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
13029 @vindex gnus-picons-database
13030 Gnus expects picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
13031 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
13034 @node Picon Requirements
13035 @subsection Picon Requirements
13037 To use have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
13038 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
13041 Additionally, you must have @code{xpm} support compiled into XEmacs.
13043 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
13044 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you must have
13045 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
13046 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
13050 @subsection Easy Picons
13052 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
13053 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
13056 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
13057 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
13058 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-prepare-hook 'gnus-group-display-picons t)
13059 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
13064 @subsection Hard Picons
13066 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
13067 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
13068 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
13069 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
13070 feature, you need to first decide where to display them.
13074 @item gnus-picons-display-where
13075 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
13076 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
13077 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
13078 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
13079 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
13080 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
13081 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
13085 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
13086 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
13088 Now that you've made that decision, you need to add the following
13089 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get
13090 displayed at the right time.
13092 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
13093 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
13095 @item gnus-article-display-picons
13096 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
13097 Looks up and display the picons for the author and the author's domain
13098 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to
13099 the @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
13101 @item gnus-group-display-picons
13102 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
13103 Displays picons representing the current group. This function should
13104 be added to the @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} or to the
13105 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} if @code{gnus-picons-display-where}
13106 is set to @code{article}.
13108 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
13109 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
13110 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
13111 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
13115 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
13116 to the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
13119 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
13123 @node Picon Configuration
13124 @subsection Picon Configuration
13126 The following variables offer further control over how things are
13127 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
13128 don't need to worry about.
13131 @item gnus-picons-database
13132 @vindex gnus-picons-database
13133 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
13134 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
13135 subdirectories. Defaults to @file{/usr/local/faces}.
13137 @item gnus-picons-news-directory
13138 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directory
13139 Sub-directory of the faces database containing the icons for
13142 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
13143 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
13144 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
13145 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc/MISC")} is the default.
13147 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
13148 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
13149 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
13150 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
13151 want to add @samp{unknown} to this list.
13153 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
13154 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
13155 The command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
13156 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
13157 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
13158 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
13160 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
13161 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
13162 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
13163 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
13165 @item gnus-picons-buffer
13166 @vindex gnus-picons-buffer
13167 The name of the buffer that @code{picons} points to. Defaults to
13168 @samp{*Icon Buffer*}.
13177 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
13178 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
13179 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
13181 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
13182 Gnus---it's all just data that is designed to look nice to the user.
13183 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
13184 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
13185 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
13186 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
13187 @code{undo} function.
13189 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
13190 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
13191 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
13192 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
13193 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
13194 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
13195 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
13196 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
13197 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
13198 never be totally undoable.
13200 @findex gnus-undo-mode
13201 @vindex gnus-use-undo
13203 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
13204 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
13205 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
13206 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
13211 @section Moderation
13214 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
13215 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
13216 @samp{larsi@@ifi.uio.no} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
13219 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
13223 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
13226 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
13228 If you are the moderation of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
13233 You split your incoming mail by matching on
13234 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
13235 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
13238 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
13239 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
13242 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
13243 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
13247 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
13250 (setq gnus-moderated-list
13251 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
13255 @node XEmacs Enhancements
13256 @section XEmacs Enhancements
13259 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
13260 advantage of that. Relevant variables include:
13263 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
13264 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
13265 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
13266 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
13267 unusual directory structure.
13269 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
13270 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
13271 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
13272 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
13274 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
13275 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
13276 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
13277 Legal values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
13278 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
13279 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
13281 @item gnus-use-toolbar
13282 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
13283 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
13284 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
13285 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
13287 @item gnus-group-toolbar
13288 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
13289 The toolbar in the group buffer.
13291 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
13292 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
13293 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
13295 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
13296 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
13297 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
13299 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
13300 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
13301 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
13307 @node Various Various
13308 @section Various Various
13314 @item gnus-directory
13315 @vindex gnus-directory
13316 All Gnus directories will be initialized from this variable, which
13317 defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or @file{~/News/}
13318 if that variable isn't set.
13320 @item gnus-default-directory
13321 @vindex gnus-default-directory
13322 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
13323 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
13324 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
13325 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13326 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
13327 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
13330 @vindex gnus-verbose
13331 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
13332 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
13333 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
13334 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
13335 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
13337 @item gnus-verbose-backends
13338 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
13339 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
13340 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
13342 @item nnheader-max-head-length
13343 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
13344 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
13345 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
13346 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
13347 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
13348 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
13349 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
13350 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
13353 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
13354 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
13355 This variable says how big a piece of each article to read when doing
13356 the operation described above.
13358 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
13359 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
13361 @cindex illegal characters in file names
13362 @cindex characters in file names
13363 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
13364 For instance, if @samp{:} is illegal as a file character in file names
13365 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
13368 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
13372 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
13373 Windows (phooey) systems.
13375 @item gnus-hidden-properties
13376 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
13377 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
13378 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
13379 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
13381 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
13382 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
13383 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
13384 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
13385 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
13387 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
13388 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
13389 String used to separate to shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
13398 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
13399 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
13401 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
13403 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
13409 Not because of victories @*
13412 but for the common sunshine,@*
13414 the largess of the spring.
13418 but for the day's work done@*
13419 as well as I was able;@*
13420 not for a seat upon the dais@*
13421 but at the common table.@*
13426 @chapter Appendices
13429 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
13430 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
13431 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
13432 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
13433 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
13434 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
13435 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
13443 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
13444 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
13446 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
13447 can point your (feh!) web browser to
13448 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
13449 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
13450 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
13452 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
13453 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
13454 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
13455 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
13456 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
13457 appropriate name, don't you think?)
13459 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
13460 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
13461 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
13462 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
13464 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
13465 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
13466 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
13468 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
13469 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
13471 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
13472 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4''.
13474 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a name that is prefixed --
13475 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
13476 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
13477 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
13478 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
13482 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
13483 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
13484 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
13485 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
13486 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
13487 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
13488 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
13495 What's the point of Gnus?
13497 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
13498 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
13499 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
13500 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
13501 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
13502 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
13503 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
13504 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
13505 keep track of millions of people who post?
13507 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
13508 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
13509 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
13510 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
13511 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
13512 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
13513 everywhere I could imagine useful. By doing so, I'm inviting every one
13514 of you to explore and invent.
13516 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x hail-emacs}.
13519 @node Compatibility
13520 @subsection Compatibility
13522 @cindex compatibility
13523 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
13524 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
13525 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
13530 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
13534 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
13537 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @pxref{Decoding
13540 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
13541 buffers. All variables that are relevant while reading a group are
13542 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
13543 important variables have their values copied into their global
13544 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
13545 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
13547 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
13548 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
13549 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
13550 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
13551 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
13555 @cindex highlighting
13556 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
13557 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
13558 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
13559 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
13560 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
13561 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
13564 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
13565 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
13566 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
13567 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
13569 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
13570 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
13571 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
13572 to stop doing it the old way.
13574 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
13576 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
13578 @cindex reporting bugs
13580 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
13581 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
13582 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
13586 @subsection Conformity
13588 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
13589 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
13596 There are no known breaches of this standard.
13600 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
13602 @item Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
13603 @cindex Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
13604 Gnus has been through the Seal process and failed. I think it'll pass
13605 the next inspection.
13607 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
13608 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
13609 We do have some breaches to this one.
13614 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
13615 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
13618 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
13619 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
13620 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
13621 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
13622 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
13627 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliantly with regards to the texts
13628 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
13633 @subsection Emacsen
13639 Gnus should work on :
13644 Emacs 19.32 and up.
13647 XEmacs 19.14 and up.
13650 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.32 and up.
13654 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
13655 reliably, at least.
13657 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
13658 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
13659 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
13664 @subsection Contributors
13665 @cindex contributors
13667 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
13668 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
13669 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
13670 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
13671 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
13672 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
13673 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
13674 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
13675 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
13676 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
13678 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
13684 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
13687 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
13688 well as numerous other things).
13691 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
13694 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
13697 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
13698 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
13701 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
13702 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
13705 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
13708 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
13711 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
13714 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
13717 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinsky---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
13718 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
13721 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
13724 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
13727 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
13730 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
13734 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
13737 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
13740 Ricardo Nassif, Mark Borges, and Jost Krieger---proof-reading.
13743 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
13746 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports.
13750 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
13759 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
13763 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
13775 Massimo Campostrini,
13779 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
13794 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
13795 Francois Felix Ingrand,
13801 Peter Skov Knudsen,
13802 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
13803 Thor Kristoffersen,
13815 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
13816 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
13822 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
13827 John McClary Prevost,
13834 Randal L. Schwartz,
13852 Katsumi Yamaoka. @c Yamaoka
13854 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
13855 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
13856 (550kB and counting).
13858 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
13861 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
13862 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
13866 @subsection New Features
13867 @cindex new features
13870 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
13871 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
13872 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
13875 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
13876 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
13877 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
13881 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
13883 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
13888 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
13889 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
13892 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
13893 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
13896 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
13899 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
13900 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
13901 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
13904 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
13905 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
13906 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
13907 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
13910 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
13911 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
13914 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
13915 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
13916 (@pxref{The Active File}).
13919 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
13920 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
13923 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
13924 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
13925 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
13928 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
13929 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
13930 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
13933 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
13934 the @file{.emacs} file.
13937 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
13938 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13941 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
13942 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
13945 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
13946 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
13949 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
13950 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
13953 Gnus can fetch articles asynchronously on a second connection to the
13954 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
13957 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
13960 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
13961 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
13964 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
13965 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
13968 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
13969 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
13972 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
13975 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
13976 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
13979 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
13983 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
13987 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
13988 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
13991 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
13997 @node September Gnus
13998 @subsubsection September Gnus
14000 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
14005 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
14006 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
14010 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
14011 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
14015 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
14019 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
14020 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
14023 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
14027 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
14030 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
14033 A @code{trn}-line tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
14036 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
14040 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
14041 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
14044 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
14048 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
14052 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
14056 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
14060 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
14063 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
14064 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
14067 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
14071 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
14072 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
14075 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
14078 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
14079 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
14080 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
14083 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
14087 The Gnus cache is much faster.
14090 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
14094 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-address and
14095 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14098 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
14099 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
14102 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
14103 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14106 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
14107 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
14108 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
14111 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
14112 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
14115 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
14118 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
14121 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
14122 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
14126 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
14129 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
14132 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
14133 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
14136 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
14140 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
14143 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
14146 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
14150 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
14153 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
14157 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
14160 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
14163 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
14164 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
14167 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
14168 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
14172 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
14173 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
14176 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
14180 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
14181 buffer to allow easier treatment.
14184 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
14187 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
14191 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
14195 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
14196 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
14199 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
14203 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
14204 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
14207 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
14208 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
14211 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
14215 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
14218 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
14219 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
14223 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
14226 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
14232 @subsubsection Red Gnus
14234 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
14239 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
14242 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
14243 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
14246 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
14247 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
14251 Article washing status can be displayed in the
14252 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
14255 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
14258 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
14259 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
14262 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
14266 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
14267 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}).
14270 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
14271 Server Internals}).
14274 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
14278 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
14281 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
14282 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
14285 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
14286 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
14287 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
14290 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
14291 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
14294 A way to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed when
14295 generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
14298 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
14302 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
14303 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
14306 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
14307 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
14310 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
14314 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
14317 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
14321 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
14322 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
14325 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
14326 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
14329 A new command for reading collections of documents
14330 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
14331 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
14334 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
14338 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
14339 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
14342 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
14343 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
14344 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
14347 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
14348 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
14352 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
14356 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
14360 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
14364 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
14368 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
14369 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
14372 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
14375 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-emphasize)
14381 @node Newest Features
14382 @subsection Newest Features
14385 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
14388 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
14392 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
14394 Really do unbinhexing.
14397 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
14398 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
14400 @file{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/rgnus/todo>} is where the actual
14401 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
14402 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
14407 @section The Manual
14411 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
14412 either @code{texi2dvi}
14414 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
14415 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
14417 to get what you hold in your hands now.
14419 The following conventions have been used:
14424 This is a @samp{string}
14427 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
14430 This is a @file{file}
14433 This is a @code{symbol}
14437 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
14441 (setq flargnoze "yes")
14444 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
14447 (setq flumphel 'yes)
14450 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
14451 ever get them confused.
14455 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
14456 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
14457 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
14458 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
14459 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
14460 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
14461 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
14468 @section Terminology
14470 @cindex terminology
14475 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
14476 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
14477 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
14478 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
14479 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
14483 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
14484 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
14485 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
14486 not posting, and replying is not following up.
14490 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
14494 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
14499 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
14500 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
14501 is all done by the backends.
14505 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
14506 default, way of getting news.
14510 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
14511 These are groups that use different backends for getting news.
14515 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
14516 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
14520 A message that has been posted as news.
14523 @cindex mail message
14524 A message that has been mailed.
14528 A mail message or news article
14532 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
14537 The rest of an article. Everything that is not in the head is in the
14542 A line from the head of an article.
14546 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
14547 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
14551 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
14552 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
14553 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
14554 normal @sc{head} format.
14558 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
14559 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
14560 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
14561 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
14562 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
14563 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
14565 @item killed groups
14566 @cindex killed groups
14567 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
14568 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
14570 @item zombie groups
14571 @cindex zombie groups
14572 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
14575 @cindex active file
14576 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
14577 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
14578 is rather large, as you might surmise.
14581 @cindex bogus groups
14582 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
14583 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
14584 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
14588 A machine than one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
14590 @item select method
14591 @cindex select method
14592 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
14595 @item virtual server
14596 @cindex virtual server
14597 A named select method. Since a select methods defines all there is to
14598 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the things as a
14599 whole is a virtual server.
14603 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
14604 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
14607 @item ephemeral groups
14608 @cindex ephemeral groups
14609 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
14610 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
14611 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
14614 @cindex solid groups
14615 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
14616 group buffer are solid groups.
14618 @item sparse articles
14619 @cindex sparse articles
14620 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
14621 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
14626 @node Customization
14627 @section Customization
14628 @cindex general customization
14630 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
14631 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
14632 for some quite common situations.
14635 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
14636 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
14637 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
14638 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
14642 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
14643 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
14645 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
14646 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
14647 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
14651 @item gnus-read-active-file
14652 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
14653 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
14654 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
14655 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
14656 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
14658 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
14659 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
14660 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
14661 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
14665 @node Slow Terminal Connection
14666 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
14668 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that
14669 runs Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce the
14670 amount of data that is sent over the wires as much as possible.
14674 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
14675 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
14676 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
14677 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
14678 horizontal and vertical recentering.
14680 @item gnus-visible-headers
14681 Cut down on the headers that are included in the articles to the
14682 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
14683 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
14684 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
14686 @item gnus-article-display-hook
14687 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
14689 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
14690 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
14691 gnus-article-hide-citation))
14694 @item gnus-use-full-window
14695 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
14696 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
14697 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
14698 want to read them anyway.
14700 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
14701 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
14704 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
14705 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
14706 lines, which might save some time.
14710 @node Little Disk Space
14711 @subsection Little Disk Space
14714 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
14715 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
14719 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
14720 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
14721 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
14722 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
14725 @item gnus-save-killed-list
14726 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
14727 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
14728 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
14729 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
14735 @subsection Slow Machine
14736 @cindex slow machine
14738 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
14739 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
14741 Set@code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
14742 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
14744 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
14745 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
14746 summary buffer faster.
14748 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
14749 processing a bit faster.
14752 @node Troubleshooting
14753 @section Troubleshooting
14754 @cindex troubleshooting
14756 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
14764 Make sure your computer is switched on.
14767 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
14768 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
14772 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
14773 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
14774 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
14775 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
14778 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
14782 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
14783 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
14784 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
14785 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
14786 something like that.
14789 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
14792 @cindex reporting bugs
14794 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
14796 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
14797 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
14798 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
14799 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
14801 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
14802 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
14803 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
14804 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
14807 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
14808 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you send back
14809 just ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
14810 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
14811 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
14812 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
14814 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
14815 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
14816 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
14819 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
14820 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
14822 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
14823 @cindex ding mailing list
14824 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@ifi.uio.no}.
14825 Write to @samp{ding-request@@ifi.uio.no} to subscribe.
14828 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
14829 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
14831 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
14832 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
14833 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
14834 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
14837 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
14838 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
14839 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
14840 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
14841 and general method of operations.
14844 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
14845 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
14846 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
14847 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
14848 * Group Info:: The group info format.
14849 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
14850 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
14854 @node Backend Interface
14855 @subsection Backend Interface
14857 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
14858 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
14859 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
14860 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
14861 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
14862 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
14864 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
14865 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
14866 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
14867 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
14868 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
14869 been opened, the function should fail.
14871 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
14872 name. Take this example:
14876 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
14877 (nntp-port-number 4324))
14880 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
14881 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
14883 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
14884 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
14885 server environments that it pulls down/pushes up when needed.
14887 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
14888 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
14889 always check whether are present before attempting to call.
14891 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
14892 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
14893 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
14894 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
14895 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
14896 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
14899 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
14900 some might be said to not be. The latter are backends that generally
14901 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
14902 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
14905 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
14908 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
14911 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
14912 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
14913 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
14914 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
14915 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
14916 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
14920 @node Required Backend Functions
14921 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
14925 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
14927 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
14928 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
14929 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
14930 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
14932 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
14933 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
14934 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
14935 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
14937 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try to fetch "extra
14938 headers, in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
14939 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
14940 article number in @code{articles}, and fill in the gaps as well. The
14941 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
14942 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
14943 number, do maximum fetches.
14945 Here's an example HEAD:
14948 221 1056 Article retrieved.
14949 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
14950 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
14951 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
14952 Subject: Re: Something very droll
14953 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
14954 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
14956 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
14957 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
14958 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
14962 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
14963 these in the data buffer.
14965 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
14969 head = error / valid-head
14970 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
14971 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
14972 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
14973 header = <text> eol
14976 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
14977 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
14981 nov-buffer = *nov-line
14982 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
14983 field = <text except TAB>
14986 For a closer explanation what should be in those fields,
14990 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
14992 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
14993 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that defines this virtual server.
14995 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
14996 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
14997 server. In fact, it should do so.
14999 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
15000 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
15003 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
15005 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
15006 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
15009 There should be no data returned.
15012 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
15014 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
15015 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
15016 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
15017 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
15019 There should be no data returned.
15022 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
15024 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
15025 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
15026 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
15027 attempt to reconnect to a server that is has lost connection to.
15029 There should be no data returned.
15032 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
15034 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
15036 There should be no data returned.
15039 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
15041 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
15042 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
15043 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
15044 it would be nice if that were possible.
15046 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
15047 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
15048 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
15049 another, and Gnus mainly request articles to be inserted directly into
15050 its article buffer.
15052 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
15053 the car is the group name the article was fetched from, and the cdr is
15054 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
15055 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
15056 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
15057 on successful article retrievement.
15060 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
15062 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
15063 making @var{group} the current group.
15065 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
15068 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
15071 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
15074 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
15075 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
15076 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
15077 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
15078 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
15079 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
15080 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
15081 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
15084 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
15085 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
15086 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
15090 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
15092 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
15093 a no-op on most backends.
15095 There should be no data returned.
15098 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
15100 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
15103 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
15106 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
15107 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
15110 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
15111 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
15114 active-file = *active-line
15115 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
15117 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
15120 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
15121 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
15122 (@samp{=other-group} or none of the above (@samp{y}).
15125 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
15127 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
15128 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
15129 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
15130 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
15131 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
15132 clear if the posting could not be completed.
15134 There should be no result data from this function.
15139 @node Optional Backend Functions
15140 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
15144 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
15146 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
15147 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
15148 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
15150 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
15151 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
15152 former is in the same format as the data from
15153 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
15154 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
15157 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
15161 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
15163 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
15164 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
15165 information (as is the case with virtual an imap groups). This function
15166 should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and should return
15167 the (altered) group info.
15169 There should be no result data from this function.
15172 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
15174 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
15175 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
15176 user is following up is news or mail. This function should return
15177 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
15178 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
15179 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
15180 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
15181 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
15183 There should be no result data from this function.
15186 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
15188 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
15189 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
15190 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
15191 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
15192 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
15194 The only use for this that I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
15195 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
15196 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
15199 There should be no result data from this function.
15202 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
15204 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
15205 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
15206 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
15207 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
15208 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
15209 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
15210 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
15212 There should be no result data from this function.
15215 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
15217 The result data from this function should be a description of
15221 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
15223 description = <text>
15226 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
15228 The result data from this function should be the description of all
15229 groups available on the server.
15232 description-buffer = *description-line
15236 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
15238 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
15239 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
15240 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
15243 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
15245 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
15247 There should be no return data.
15250 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
15252 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
15253 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
15254 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
15255 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
15256 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
15259 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
15262 There should be no result data returned.
15265 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
15268 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
15269 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
15271 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
15272 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
15273 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
15274 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
15275 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
15276 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
15278 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
15279 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
15282 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
15283 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
15285 There should be no data returned.
15288 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
15290 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
15291 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
15292 this function in short order.
15294 The function should return a cons where the car is the group name and
15295 the cdr is the article number that the article was entered as.
15297 There should be no data returned.
15300 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
15302 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
15303 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
15305 There should be no data returned.
15308 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
15310 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
15311 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
15312 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
15314 There should be no data returned.
15317 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
15319 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
15320 articles that are in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
15322 There should be no data returned.
15327 @node Error Messaging
15328 @subsubsection Error Messaging
15330 @findex nnheader-report
15331 @findex nnheader-get-report
15332 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
15333 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
15334 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
15335 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
15336 there are many of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
15337 This function always returns @code{nil}.
15340 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
15342 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
15345 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
15346 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
15347 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
15348 takes one argument---the server symbol.
15350 Internally, these function access @var{backend}@code{-status-string}, so
15351 the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
15352 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
15355 @node Writing New Backends
15356 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
15358 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
15359 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
15360 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
15361 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
15362 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
15365 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
15366 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
15367 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
15369 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
15370 package called @code{nnoo}.
15372 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
15373 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
15380 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
15381 parameters. For instance:
15384 (nnoo-declare nndir
15388 @code{nndir} has here declared that it intends to inherit functions from
15389 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
15392 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
15393 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
15394 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
15396 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
15397 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
15398 a function in those backends.
15401 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
15402 "Where nndir will look for groups."
15403 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
15406 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
15407 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
15408 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
15410 @item nnoo-define-basics
15411 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
15415 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
15419 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
15420 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
15421 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
15423 @item nnoo-map-functions
15424 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
15425 functions from the parent backends.
15428 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
15429 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15430 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
15433 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
15434 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
15435 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
15436 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
15439 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
15440 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
15441 haven't already been defined.
15447 nnmh-request-newgroups)
15451 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
15452 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
15453 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
15458 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
15461 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
15462 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
15466 (require 'nnheader)
15470 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
15472 (nnoo-declare nndir
15475 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
15476 "Where nndir will look for groups."
15477 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
15479 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
15480 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
15483 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
15484 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
15485 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
15487 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
15488 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
15490 ;;; Interface functions.
15492 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
15494 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
15495 (setq nndir-directory
15496 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
15498 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
15499 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
15500 (push `(nndir-current-group
15501 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
15503 (push `(nndir-top-directory
15504 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
15506 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
15508 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
15509 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15510 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
15511 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
15512 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
15516 nnmh-status-message
15518 nnmh-request-newgroups))
15524 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
15525 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
15527 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
15528 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
15529 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
15530 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
15532 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
15533 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
15538 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
15541 The abilities can be:
15545 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
15547 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
15549 This backend supports both mail and news.
15551 This is neither a post or mail backend---it's something completely
15554 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
15555 articles and groups.
15557 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
15558 true for almost all backends.
15559 @item prompt-address
15560 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
15561 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
15562 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
15566 @node Mail-like Backends
15567 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
15569 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
15570 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
15571 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
15572 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
15575 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
15576 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
15577 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
15580 It simply just calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will a few parameters,
15581 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
15584 This function takes four parameters.
15588 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
15591 @item exit-function
15592 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
15594 @item temp-directory
15595 Where the temporary files should be stored.
15598 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
15599 performed for one group only.
15602 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
15603 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
15604 find the article number assigned to this article.
15606 The function also uses the following variables:
15607 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
15608 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
15609 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
15610 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
15614 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
15615 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
15619 @node Score File Syntax
15620 @subsection Score File Syntax
15622 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
15623 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
15624 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
15626 Here's a typical score file:
15630 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
15637 BNF definition of a score file:
15640 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
15641 element = rule / atom
15642 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
15643 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
15644 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
15645 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
15647 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
15648 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
15649 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
15650 date-header = "date"
15651 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
15652 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
15653 score = "nil" / <integer>
15654 date = "nil" / <natural number>
15655 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
15656 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
15657 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
15658 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
15659 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
15660 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
15661 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
15662 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
15663 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
15664 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
15665 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
15666 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
15667 exclude-files / read-only / touched
15668 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
15669 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
15670 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
15671 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
15672 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
15673 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
15674 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
15675 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
15676 adapt = "adapt" [ space "nil" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
15677 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
15678 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
15679 eval = "eval" space <form>
15680 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
15683 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
15686 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
15687 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
15688 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
15689 one looong line, then that's ok.
15691 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
15696 @subsection Headers
15698 Gnus uses internally a format for storing article headers that
15699 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
15700 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
15701 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
15703 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
15704 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
15705 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
15706 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
15707 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
15708 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
15709 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
15711 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
15712 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
15713 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
15714 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
15715 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
15717 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
15724 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
15725 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
15727 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
15728 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
15729 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
15730 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
15732 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
15736 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
15739 is transformed into
15742 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
15745 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
15746 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
15749 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
15752 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
15753 is slightly tricky:
15756 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
15762 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
15765 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
15771 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
15778 and is equal to the previous range.
15780 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
15781 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
15782 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
15786 range = simple-range / normal-range
15787 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
15788 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
15789 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
15790 number *[ " " contents ]
15793 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
15794 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
15795 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
15796 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
15797 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
15802 @subsection Group Info
15804 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
15805 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
15806 describes the group.
15808 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
15809 second is a more complex one:
15812 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
15814 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
15815 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
15817 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@ifi.uio.no")))
15820 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
15821 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
15822 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
15823 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
15824 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
15825 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
15826 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
15828 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
15829 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
15830 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
15832 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
15835 info = "(" group space level space read
15836 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
15837 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
15838 group = quote <string> quote
15839 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
15841 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
15842 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
15843 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
15844 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
15847 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
15848 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
15852 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
15853 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
15857 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
15858 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
15859 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
15861 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
15862 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
15863 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
15864 Gnus, that's very useful.
15866 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
15867 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
15868 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
15869 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
15870 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
15871 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
15872 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
15873 following function:
15876 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
15880 (,function ,@@args))
15884 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
15885 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
15886 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
15889 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
15890 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
15891 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
15894 @node Various File Formats
15895 @subsection Various File Formats
15898 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
15899 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
15903 @node Active File Format
15904 @subsubsection Active File Format
15906 The active file lists all groups that are available on the server in
15907 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
15910 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
15913 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
15914 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
15915 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
15916 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
15917 no.general 1000 900 y
15920 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
15923 active = *group-line
15924 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
15925 group = <non-white-space string>
15927 high-number = <non-negative integer>
15928 low-number = <positive integer>
15929 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
15933 @node Newsgroups File Format
15934 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
15936 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
15937 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
15938 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
15941 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
15942 Here's the definition:
15946 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
15947 group = <non-white-space string>
15949 description = <string>
15953 @node Emacs for Heathens
15954 @section Emacs for Heathens
15956 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
15957 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
15958 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
15959 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
15960 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
15961 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
15962 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
15966 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
15967 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
15972 @subsection Keystrokes
15976 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
15979 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
15982 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
15983 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
15984 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
15985 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
15986 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
15987 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
15989 The shift key is normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
15990 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
15991 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
15992 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
15993 keyboards. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
15994 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
15995 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
15997 Now, us Emacs people doesn't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
15998 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
15999 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
16000 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
16001 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
16002 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
16003 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
16005 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
16006 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
16007 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
16008 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
16009 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
16015 @subsection Emacs Lisp
16017 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
16018 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
16019 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
16020 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
16022 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
16023 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
16024 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
16025 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
16026 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
16027 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
16028 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
16031 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
16032 write the following:
16035 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
16038 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
16039 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
16040 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
16043 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
16044 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
16045 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
16046 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
16047 previous ``form'', which here is a simple @code{setq} statement.
16049 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
16050 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
16051 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
16055 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
16059 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
16062 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
16063 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
16066 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
16069 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
16070 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
16073 @include gnus-faq.texi