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4 @settitle Gnus 5.6.22 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The news reader Gnus.
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262 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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271 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
273 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
274 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
275 are preserved on all copies.
277 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
278 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
279 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
280 permission notice identical to this one.
282 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
283 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
292 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
294 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
296 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
297 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
298 are preserved on all copies.
301 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
302 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
303 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
304 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
307 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
308 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
309 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
310 permission notice identical to this one.
312 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
313 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
319 @title Gnus 5.6.22 Manual
321 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
324 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
325 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
327 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
328 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
329 are preserved on all copies.
331 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
332 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
333 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
334 permission notice identical to this one.
336 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
337 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
346 @top The Gnus Newsreader
350 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
351 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
352 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
355 This manual corresponds to Gnus 5.6.22.
366 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
367 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
369 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
370 being accused of plagiarism:
372 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
373 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
374 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
375 even read news with it!
377 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
378 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
379 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
380 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
381 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
388 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
389 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
390 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
391 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
392 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
393 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
394 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
395 * Various:: General purpose settings.
396 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
397 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
398 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
399 * Key Index:: Key Index.
403 @chapter Starting Gnus
408 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
409 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
412 @findex gnus-other-frame
413 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
414 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
415 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
417 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
418 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
419 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
421 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
422 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
425 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
426 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
427 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
428 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
429 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
430 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
431 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
432 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
433 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
434 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
435 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
439 @node Finding the News
440 @section Finding the News
443 @vindex gnus-select-method
445 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
446 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
447 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
448 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
451 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
452 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
455 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
458 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
461 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
464 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
465 certainly be much faster.
467 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
469 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
470 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
471 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
472 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
473 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
474 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
476 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
477 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
478 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
479 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
481 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
482 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
483 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
484 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
485 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
486 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
488 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
490 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
491 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
492 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
493 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
494 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
495 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
497 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
499 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
500 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
501 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
502 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
503 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
504 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
507 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
508 would typically set this variable to
511 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
516 @section The First Time
517 @cindex first time usage
519 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
520 be subscribed by default.
522 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
523 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
524 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
525 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
528 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
529 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
530 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
532 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
533 help you with most common problems.
535 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
536 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
540 @node The Server is Down
541 @section The Server is Down
542 @cindex server errors
544 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
545 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
546 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
548 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
549 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
550 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
551 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
552 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
553 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
554 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
556 @findex gnus-no-server
557 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
559 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
560 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
561 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
562 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
563 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
564 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
569 @section Slave Gnusae
572 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
573 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
574 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
575 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
577 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
580 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
581 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
582 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
583 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
584 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
585 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
586 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
588 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
589 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
590 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
591 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
592 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
593 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
594 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
595 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
597 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
598 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
601 @node Fetching a Group
602 @section Fetching a Group
603 @cindex fetching a group
605 @findex gnus-fetch-group
606 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
607 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
608 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
609 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
610 It takes the group name as a parameter.
618 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
619 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
620 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
621 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
622 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
623 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
624 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
625 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
626 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
629 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
630 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
631 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
635 @node Checking New Groups
636 @subsection Checking New Groups
638 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
639 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
640 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
641 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
642 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
643 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
644 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
645 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
646 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
647 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
649 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
650 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
651 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
652 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
653 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
654 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
655 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
656 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
657 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
658 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
659 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
661 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
662 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
663 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
664 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
665 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
666 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
669 @node Subscription Methods
670 @subsection Subscription Methods
672 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
673 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
674 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
676 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
677 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
679 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
683 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
684 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
685 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
686 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
687 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
689 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
690 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
691 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
692 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
694 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
695 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
696 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
698 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
699 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
700 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
701 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
702 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
703 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
704 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
705 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
706 up. Or something like that.
708 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
709 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
710 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
711 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
712 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
714 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
715 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
720 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
721 A closely related variable is
722 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
723 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
724 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
725 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
728 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
729 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
730 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
731 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
734 @node Filtering New Groups
735 @subsection Filtering New Groups
737 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
738 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
739 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
742 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
745 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
746 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
747 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
748 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
749 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
750 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
751 subscribing these groups.
752 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
753 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
755 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
756 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
757 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
758 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
759 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
760 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
761 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
762 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
764 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
765 Yet another variable that meddles here is
766 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
767 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
768 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
769 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
770 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
771 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
772 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
773 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
775 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
776 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
779 @node Changing Servers
780 @section Changing Servers
781 @cindex changing servers
783 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
784 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
785 very flaky and you want to use another.
787 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
788 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
792 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
793 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
794 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
795 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
798 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
799 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
800 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
801 functions more than absolutely necessary.
803 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
804 @findex gnus-change-server
805 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
806 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
807 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
808 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
809 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
811 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
812 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
813 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
814 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
815 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
817 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
818 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
819 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
820 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
821 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
822 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
826 @section Startup Files
827 @cindex startup files
832 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
833 information is traditionally stored in this file.
835 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
836 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
837 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
838 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
839 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
840 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
841 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
843 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
844 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
845 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
846 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
847 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
848 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
850 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
851 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
852 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
853 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from Gnus faster.
854 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
855 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
857 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
858 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
859 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
860 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
861 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
862 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
863 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
864 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
865 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
866 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
867 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
868 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
870 @vindex gnus-startup-file
871 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
872 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
873 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
875 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
876 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
877 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
878 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
879 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
880 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
881 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
882 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
883 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
884 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
887 (defun turn-off-backup ()
888 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
890 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
891 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
894 @vindex gnus-init-file
895 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
896 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
897 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
898 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
899 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
900 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
901 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
902 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
903 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
912 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
913 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
914 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
915 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
916 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
919 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
920 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
923 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
924 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
925 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
927 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
928 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
929 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
930 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
931 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
932 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
934 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
935 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
936 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
939 @node The Active File
940 @section The Active File
942 @cindex ignored groups
944 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
945 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
946 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
948 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
949 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
950 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
951 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
952 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
953 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
954 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
957 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
958 @c if you set it to anything else.
960 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
962 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
963 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
964 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
966 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
967 you actually subscribe to.
969 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
970 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
971 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
972 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
974 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
975 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
976 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
977 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
978 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
979 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
981 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
982 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
983 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
984 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
985 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
986 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
988 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
989 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
991 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
992 secondary select methods.
995 @node Startup Variables
996 @section Startup Variables
1000 @item gnus-load-hook
1001 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1002 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1003 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1004 times you start Gnus.
1006 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1007 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1008 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
1010 @item gnus-startup-hook
1011 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1012 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1014 @item gnus-started-hook
1015 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1016 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1019 @item gnus-started-hook
1020 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1021 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1022 generating the group buffer.
1024 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1025 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1026 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1027 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1028 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1029 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1030 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1031 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1033 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1034 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1035 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1036 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1037 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1038 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1040 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1041 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1042 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1044 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1045 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1046 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1048 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1049 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1050 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1051 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1056 @node The Group Buffer
1057 @chapter The Group Buffer
1058 @cindex group buffer
1060 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1061 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1062 long as Gnus is active.
1066 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1067 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1068 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1069 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1070 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1071 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1072 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1073 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1079 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1080 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1081 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1082 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1083 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1084 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1085 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1086 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1087 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1088 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1089 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1090 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1091 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1092 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1093 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1094 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1095 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1099 @node Group Buffer Format
1100 @section Group Buffer Format
1103 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1104 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1105 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1109 @node Group Line Specification
1110 @subsection Group Line Specification
1111 @cindex group buffer format
1113 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1114 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1116 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1119 25: news.announce.newusers
1120 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1125 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1126 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1127 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1128 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1130 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1131 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1132 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1133 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1134 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1135 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1137 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1139 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1140 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1141 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1142 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1145 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1146 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1147 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1149 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1154 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1157 Whether the group is subscribed.
1160 Level of subscribedness.
1163 Number of unread articles.
1166 Number of dormant articles.
1169 Number of ticked articles.
1172 Number of read articles.
1175 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1176 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1179 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1182 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1191 Newsgroup description.
1194 @samp{m} if moderated.
1197 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1206 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1210 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1213 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1214 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1215 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1216 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1217 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1220 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1222 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1226 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1230 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1231 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1232 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1233 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1234 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1235 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1240 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1241 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1242 group, or a bogus native group.
1245 @node Group Modeline Specification
1246 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1247 @cindex group modeline
1249 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1250 The mode line can be changed by setting
1251 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1252 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1256 The native news server.
1258 The native select method.
1262 @node Group Highlighting
1263 @subsection Group Highlighting
1264 @cindex highlighting
1265 @cindex group highlighting
1267 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1268 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1269 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1270 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1271 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1273 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1277 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1278 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1279 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1280 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1281 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1283 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1284 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1285 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1286 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1287 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1288 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1291 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1293 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1300 The number of unread articles in the group.
1304 Whether the group is a mail group.
1306 The level of the group.
1308 The score of the group.
1310 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1312 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1313 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1315 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1316 topic being inserted.
1319 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1320 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1321 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1323 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1324 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1325 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1326 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1327 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1330 @node Group Maneuvering
1331 @section Group Maneuvering
1332 @cindex group movement
1334 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1335 expected, hopefully.
1341 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1342 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1343 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1349 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1350 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1351 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1355 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1356 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1360 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1361 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1365 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1366 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1367 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1371 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1372 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1373 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1376 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1382 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1383 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1384 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1389 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1390 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1391 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1395 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1396 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1397 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1400 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1401 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1402 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1403 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1407 @node Selecting a Group
1408 @section Selecting a Group
1409 @cindex group selection
1414 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1415 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1416 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1417 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1418 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1419 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1420 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1421 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1422 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1423 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1427 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1428 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1429 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1430 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1431 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1435 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1436 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1437 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1438 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1439 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1440 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1441 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1442 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1443 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1444 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1447 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1448 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1449 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1450 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1451 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1454 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1455 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1456 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1457 doing any processing of its contents
1458 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1459 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1460 manner will have no permanent effects.
1464 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1465 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1466 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1467 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1468 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1469 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1470 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1471 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1474 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1475 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1476 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1477 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1482 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1483 full summary buffer.
1486 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1489 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1493 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1494 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1495 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1499 @node Subscription Commands
1500 @section Subscription Commands
1501 @cindex subscription
1509 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1510 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1511 Toggle subscription to the current group
1512 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1518 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1519 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1520 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1521 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1527 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1528 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1529 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1535 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1536 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1539 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1540 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1541 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1542 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1543 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1549 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1550 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1554 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1555 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1558 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1559 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1560 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1561 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1562 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1563 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1564 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1565 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1566 @file{.newsrc} file.
1570 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1580 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1581 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1582 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1583 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1584 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1585 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1590 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1591 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1592 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1596 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1597 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1598 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1600 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1601 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1602 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1603 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1604 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1605 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1612 @section Group Levels
1616 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1617 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1618 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1619 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1620 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1622 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1628 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1629 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1630 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1631 prompted for a level.
1634 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1635 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1636 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1637 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1638 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1639 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1640 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1641 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1642 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1643 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1644 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1645 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1646 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1647 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1648 reasons of efficiency.
1650 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1651 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1653 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1654 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1655 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1657 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1658 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1659 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1660 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1661 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1662 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1663 relevant valid ranges.
1665 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1666 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1667 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1668 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1669 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1670 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1673 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1674 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1675 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1678 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1679 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1680 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1681 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1684 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1685 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1686 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1687 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1689 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1690 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1691 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1692 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1693 to 5. The default is 6.
1697 @section Group Score
1702 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1703 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1704 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1707 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1708 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1709 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1710 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1711 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1712 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1713 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1715 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1716 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1717 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1718 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1719 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1720 action after each summary exit, you can add
1721 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1722 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1723 slow things down somewhat.
1726 @node Marking Groups
1727 @section Marking Groups
1728 @cindex marking groups
1730 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1731 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1732 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1733 bidding on those groups.
1735 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1736 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1737 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1745 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1746 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1752 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1753 Remove the mark from the current group
1754 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1758 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1759 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1763 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1764 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1768 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1769 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1773 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1774 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1775 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1778 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1780 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1781 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1782 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1783 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1784 the command to be executed.
1787 @node Foreign Groups
1788 @section Foreign Groups
1789 @cindex foreign groups
1791 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1792 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1793 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1794 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1801 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1802 @cindex making groups
1803 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1804 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1805 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1809 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1810 @cindex renaming groups
1811 Rename the current group to something else
1812 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1813 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1819 @findex gnus-group-customize
1820 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1824 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1825 @cindex renaming groups
1826 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1827 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1831 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1832 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1833 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1837 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1838 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1839 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1843 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1845 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1846 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1851 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1852 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1856 @cindex (ding) archive
1857 @cindex archive group
1858 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1859 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1860 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1861 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1862 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1863 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1864 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1868 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1870 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1871 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1872 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1873 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1877 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1879 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1880 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1881 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1885 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1886 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1888 Make a group based on some file or other
1889 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1890 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1891 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1892 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1893 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1894 this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.
1895 @xref{Document Groups}.
1899 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1904 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1905 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1906 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1907 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1908 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1909 @xref{Web Searches}.
1911 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1912 to a particular group by using a match string like
1913 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1916 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1917 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1918 This function will delete the current group
1919 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1920 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1921 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1922 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1923 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1927 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1928 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1929 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1933 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1934 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1935 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1938 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1941 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1942 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1943 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1944 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1945 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1946 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
1950 @node Group Parameters
1951 @section Group Parameters
1952 @cindex group parameters
1954 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
1955 Here's an example group parameter list:
1958 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
1962 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
1963 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
1964 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
1965 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
1967 The following group parameters can be used:
1972 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
1975 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
1978 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
1979 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
1980 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
1981 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
1982 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
1984 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1985 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1986 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1987 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1988 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1989 list address instead.
1993 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
1996 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
1999 It is totally ignored
2000 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2001 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2003 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2004 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2005 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2006 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2007 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2009 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2010 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2011 sending the message.
2015 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2016 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2017 of whether it has any unread articles.
2019 @item broken-reply-to
2020 @cindex broken-reply-to
2021 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2022 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2023 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2024 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2025 broken behavior. So there!
2029 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2030 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2034 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, Gnus
2035 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2036 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2041 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2042 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2043 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2044 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2045 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2046 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2047 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2051 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2052 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2053 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2056 @cindex total-expire
2057 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2058 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2059 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2060 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2065 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2066 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2067 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2068 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2069 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2070 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2073 @cindex score file group parameter
2074 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2075 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2076 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2079 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2080 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2081 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2082 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2085 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2086 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2087 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2088 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2091 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2092 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2096 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2099 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2104 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2105 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2106 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2109 @item @var{(variable form)}
2110 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2111 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2112 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2113 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2114 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2115 @code{eval}ed there.
2117 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2118 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2119 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2120 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2121 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2125 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2126 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2130 @node Listing Groups
2131 @section Listing Groups
2132 @cindex group listing
2134 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2142 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2143 List all groups that have unread articles
2144 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2145 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2146 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2147 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2154 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2155 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2156 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2157 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2158 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2159 unsubscribed groups).
2163 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2164 List all unread groups on a specific level
2165 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2166 with no unread articles.
2170 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2171 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2172 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2173 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2178 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2179 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2183 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2184 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2185 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2189 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2190 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2194 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2195 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2196 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2197 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2198 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2199 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2200 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2201 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2205 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2206 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2207 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2211 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2212 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2213 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2217 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2218 @cindex visible group parameter
2219 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2220 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2221 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2222 get the same effect.
2224 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2225 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2226 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2227 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2228 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2231 @node Sorting Groups
2232 @section Sorting Groups
2233 @cindex sorting groups
2235 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2236 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2237 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2238 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2239 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2240 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2245 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2246 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2247 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2249 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2250 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2251 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2253 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2254 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2255 Sort by group level.
2257 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2258 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2259 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2261 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2262 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2263 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2264 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2266 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2267 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2268 Sort by number of unread articles.
2270 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2271 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2272 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2277 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2278 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2282 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2283 some sorting criteria:
2287 @kindex G S a (Group)
2288 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2289 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2290 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2293 @kindex G S u (Group)
2294 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2295 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2296 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2299 @kindex G S l (Group)
2300 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2301 Sort the group buffer by group level
2302 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2305 @kindex G S v (Group)
2306 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2307 Sort the group buffer by group score
2308 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2311 @kindex G S r (Group)
2312 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2313 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2314 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2317 @kindex G S m (Group)
2318 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2319 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2320 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2324 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
2326 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2330 @kindex G P a (Group)
2331 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2332 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2333 group name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2336 @kindex G P u (Group)
2337 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2338 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by the number of
2339 unread articles (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2342 @kindex G P l (Group)
2343 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2344 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group level
2345 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2348 @kindex G P v (Group)
2349 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2350 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group score
2351 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2354 @kindex G P r (Group)
2355 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2356 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group rank
2357 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2360 @kindex G P m (Group)
2361 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2362 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2363 backend name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2369 @node Group Maintenance
2370 @section Group Maintenance
2371 @cindex bogus groups
2376 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2377 Find bogus groups and delete them
2378 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2382 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2383 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2384 If given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2388 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2389 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2390 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2391 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2394 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2395 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2396 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2397 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2402 @node Browse Foreign Server
2403 @section Browse Foreign Server
2404 @cindex foreign servers
2405 @cindex browsing servers
2410 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2411 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2412 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2413 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2416 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2417 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2418 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2419 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2421 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2426 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2427 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2431 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2432 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2435 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2436 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2437 Enter the current group and display the first article
2438 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2441 @kindex RET (Browse)
2442 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2443 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2447 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2448 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2449 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2455 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2456 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2460 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2461 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2462 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2467 @section Exiting Gnus
2468 @cindex exiting Gnus
2470 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2475 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2476 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2477 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2478 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2482 @findex gnus-group-exit
2483 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2484 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2488 @findex gnus-group-quit
2489 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2490 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2493 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2494 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2495 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2496 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2497 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2502 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2503 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2504 trying to customize meta-variables.
2509 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2510 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2511 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2517 @section Group Topics
2520 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2521 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2522 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2523 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2524 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2525 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2529 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2530 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2541 2: alt.religion.emacs
2544 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2546 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2547 13: comp.sources.unix
2550 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2552 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2553 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2554 is a toggling command.)
2556 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2557 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2558 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2559 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2562 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2563 the hook for the group mode:
2566 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2570 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2571 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2572 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2573 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2574 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2578 @node Topic Variables
2579 @subsection Topic Variables
2580 @cindex topic variables
2582 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2583 really neat, I think.
2585 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2586 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2587 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2600 Number of groups in the topic.
2602 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2604 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2607 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2608 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2609 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2612 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2613 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2615 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2616 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2617 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2620 @node Topic Commands
2621 @subsection Topic Commands
2622 @cindex topic commands
2624 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2625 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2626 definitions slightly.
2632 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2633 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2634 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2638 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2639 Move the current group to some other topic
2640 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2641 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2645 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2646 Copy the current group to some other topic
2647 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2648 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2652 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2653 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2654 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2655 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics.
2656 The command uses the process/prefix convention
2657 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2661 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2662 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2663 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2667 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2668 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2669 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2673 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2674 Toggle hiding empty topics
2675 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2679 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2680 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2681 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2684 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2685 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2686 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2687 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2691 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2693 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2694 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2695 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2696 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2697 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2698 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2701 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2702 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2703 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2704 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2705 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2709 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2710 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2711 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2715 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2716 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2717 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2722 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2723 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2726 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2727 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2728 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2732 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2733 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2734 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2738 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2739 @cindex group parameters
2740 @cindex topic parameters
2742 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2743 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2749 @subsection Topic Sorting
2750 @cindex topic sorting
2752 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2758 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2759 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2760 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2761 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2764 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2765 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2766 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2767 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2770 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2771 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2772 Sort the current topic by group level
2773 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2776 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2777 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2778 Sort the current topic by group score
2779 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2782 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2783 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2784 Sort the current topic by group rank
2785 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2788 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2789 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2790 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2791 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2795 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2798 @node Topic Topology
2799 @subsection Topic Topology
2800 @cindex topic topology
2803 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2809 2: alt.religion.emacs
2812 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2814 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2815 13: comp.sources.unix
2818 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2819 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2820 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2825 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2826 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2830 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2831 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2832 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2833 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2834 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2835 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2837 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2838 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2839 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2842 @node Topic Parameters
2843 @subsection Topic Parameters
2844 @cindex topic parameters
2846 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2847 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2848 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2850 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2851 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2852 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2853 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2859 2: alt.religion.emacs
2863 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2865 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2866 13: comp.sources.unix
2870 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2871 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2872 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2873 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2874 @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2875 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2877 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2878 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2879 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2880 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2881 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2883 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2884 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2885 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2886 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2887 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2888 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2889 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2890 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2893 @node Misc Group Stuff
2894 @section Misc Group Stuff
2897 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2898 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2899 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2900 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2907 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2908 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2909 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2913 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2914 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
2915 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
2919 @findex gnus-group-mail
2920 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2924 Variables for the group buffer:
2928 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2929 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2930 is called after the group buffer has been
2933 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2934 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2935 is called after the group buffer is
2936 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2939 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
2940 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2941 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
2942 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
2944 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2945 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2946 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2947 whether they are empty or not.
2952 @node Scanning New Messages
2953 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2954 @cindex new messages
2955 @cindex scanning new news
2961 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2962 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
2963 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2964 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2965 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2966 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
2971 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2972 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2973 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
2974 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2975 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
2976 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
2977 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
2979 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2980 @cindex activating groups
2982 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2983 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2988 @findex gnus-group-restart
2989 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
2990 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
2991 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
2995 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2996 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2998 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2999 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3003 @node Group Information
3004 @subsection Group Information
3005 @cindex group information
3006 @cindex information on groups
3013 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3014 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3017 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3018 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3019 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3020 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3021 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3022 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3023 for fetching the file.
3025 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
3026 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3030 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3032 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3033 @cindex describing groups
3034 @cindex group description
3035 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3036 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3037 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3041 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3042 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3043 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3050 @findex gnus-version
3051 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3055 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3056 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3059 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3062 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3063 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3067 @node Group Timestamp
3068 @subsection Group Timestamp
3070 @cindex group timestamps
3072 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3073 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3074 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3077 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3080 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3082 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3083 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3086 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3087 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3090 This will result in lines looking like:
3093 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3094 0: custom 19961002T012713
3097 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3098 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3102 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3103 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3108 @subsection File Commands
3109 @cindex file commands
3115 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3116 @vindex gnus-init-file
3117 @cindex reading init file
3118 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3119 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3123 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3124 @cindex saving .newsrc
3125 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3126 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3127 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3130 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3131 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3132 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3137 @node The Summary Buffer
3138 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3139 @cindex summary buffer
3141 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3142 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3144 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3145 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3147 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3150 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3151 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3152 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3153 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3154 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3155 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3156 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3157 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3158 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3159 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3160 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3161 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3162 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3163 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3164 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3165 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3166 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3167 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3168 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3169 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3170 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3171 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3172 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3173 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3174 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3175 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3176 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3180 @node Summary Buffer Format
3181 @section Summary Buffer Format
3182 @cindex summary buffer format
3186 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3187 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3188 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3194 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3195 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3196 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3199 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3200 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3201 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3202 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3203 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3204 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3205 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3206 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3207 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3208 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3209 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
3211 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3212 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3213 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3214 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3217 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3218 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3220 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3221 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3222 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3223 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3224 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3226 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3228 The following format specification characters are understood:
3236 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3237 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3238 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3240 Full @code{From} header.
3242 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3244 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3245 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3246 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3247 may be more thorough.
3249 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3252 Number of lines in the article.
3254 Number of characters in the article.
3256 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3258 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3259 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3261 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3262 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3264 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3265 for adopted articles.
3267 One space for each thread level.
3269 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3274 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3275 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3279 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3281 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3282 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3283 default level. If the difference between
3284 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3285 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3293 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3295 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3301 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3302 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3304 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3305 article has any children.
3311 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3312 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3313 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3314 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3315 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3316 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3319 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3320 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3321 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3322 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3323 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3324 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3326 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3327 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3329 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3332 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3333 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3335 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3336 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3337 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3338 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3340 Here are the elements you can play with:
3346 Unprefixed group name.
3348 Current article number.
3350 Current article score.
3354 Number of unread articles in this group.
3356 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3359 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3360 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3361 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3362 and no unselected ones.
3364 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3365 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3367 Subject of the current article.
3369 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3371 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3373 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3375 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3377 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3379 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3383 @node Summary Highlighting
3384 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3388 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3389 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3390 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3391 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3392 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3394 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3395 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3396 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3397 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3399 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3400 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3401 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3402 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3404 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3405 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3406 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3407 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3408 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3409 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3411 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3412 ((> score default) . bold))
3414 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3415 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3419 @node Summary Maneuvering
3420 @section Summary Maneuvering
3421 @cindex summary movement
3423 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3424 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3426 None of these commands select articles.
3431 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3432 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3433 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3434 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3435 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3439 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3440 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3441 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3442 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3443 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3448 @kindex G j (Summary)
3449 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3450 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3451 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3454 @kindex G g (Summary)
3455 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3456 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3457 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3460 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3461 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3462 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3463 to the group buffer.
3465 Variables related to summary movement:
3469 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3470 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3471 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3472 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3473 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3474 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3475 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3476 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3477 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3478 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3479 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3480 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3481 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3482 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3484 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3485 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3486 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3487 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3488 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3489 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) This variable is not
3490 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3492 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3493 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3494 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3495 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3496 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3498 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3499 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3500 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3501 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3502 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3503 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3504 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3505 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3511 @node Choosing Articles
3512 @section Choosing Articles
3513 @cindex selecting articles
3516 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3517 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3521 @node Choosing Commands
3522 @subsection Choosing Commands
3524 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3525 and they all select and display an article.
3529 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3530 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3531 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3532 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3537 @kindex G n (Summary)
3538 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3539 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3540 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3545 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3546 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3547 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3552 @kindex G N (Summary)
3553 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3554 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3559 @kindex G P (Summary)
3560 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3561 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3564 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3565 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3566 Go to the next article with the same subject
3567 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3570 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3571 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3572 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3573 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3577 @kindex G f (Summary)
3579 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3580 Go to the first unread article
3581 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3585 @kindex G b (Summary)
3587 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3588 Go to the article with the highest score
3589 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3594 @kindex G l (Summary)
3595 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3596 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3599 @kindex G o (Summary)
3600 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3602 @cindex article history
3603 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3604 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3605 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3606 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3607 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3608 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3612 @node Choosing Variables
3613 @subsection Choosing Variables
3615 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3618 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3619 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3620 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3621 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3622 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3623 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3625 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3626 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3627 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3628 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3630 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3631 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3632 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3633 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3634 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3635 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3636 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3637 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3638 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3639 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3640 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3641 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3642 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3643 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3648 @node Paging the Article
3649 @section Scrolling the Article
3650 @cindex article scrolling
3655 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3656 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3657 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3658 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3659 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3662 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3663 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3664 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3667 @kindex RET (Summary)
3668 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3669 Scroll the current article one line forward
3670 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3674 @kindex A g (Summary)
3676 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3677 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3678 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3679 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3680 the way it came from the server.
3685 @kindex A < (Summary)
3686 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3687 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3688 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3693 @kindex A > (Summary)
3694 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3695 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3699 @kindex A s (Summary)
3701 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3702 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3703 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3707 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3708 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3713 @node Reply Followup and Post
3714 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3717 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3718 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3722 @node Summary Mail Commands
3723 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3725 @cindex composing mail
3727 Commands for composing a mail message:
3733 @kindex S r (Summary)
3735 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3736 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3737 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3738 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3739 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3744 @kindex S R (Summary)
3745 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3746 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3747 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3748 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3749 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3752 @kindex S w (Summary)
3753 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3754 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3755 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3756 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3757 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3760 @kindex S W (Summary)
3761 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3762 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3763 message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3764 the process/prefix convention.
3767 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3768 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3769 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3770 Forward the current article to some other person
3771 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3772 headers of the forwarded article.
3777 @kindex S m (Summary)
3778 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3779 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3780 Send a mail to some other person
3781 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3784 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3785 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3786 @cindex bouncing mail
3787 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3788 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3789 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3790 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3791 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3792 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3793 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3794 very well fail, though.
3797 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3798 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3799 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3800 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3801 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3802 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3803 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3804 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3805 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3806 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3808 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3809 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3810 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3811 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3812 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
3814 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3815 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3818 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3819 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3820 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
3821 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
3822 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3825 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3826 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3827 @cindex crossposting
3828 @cindex excessive crossposting
3829 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3830 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3832 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3833 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
3834 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3835 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3836 command understands the process/prefix convention
3837 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3841 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3844 @node Summary Post Commands
3845 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3847 @cindex composing news
3849 Commands for posting a news article:
3855 @kindex S p (Summary)
3856 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3857 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
3858 Post an article to the current group
3859 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3864 @kindex S f (Summary)
3865 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3866 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
3867 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3871 @kindex S F (Summary)
3873 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
3874 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3875 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3876 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3877 process/prefix convention.
3880 @kindex S n (Summary)
3881 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3882 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3883 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
3886 @kindex S N (Summary)
3887 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
3888 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3889 message through mail and include the original message
3890 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
3891 the process/prefix convention.
3894 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3895 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3896 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3897 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3898 headers of the forwarded article.
3901 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3902 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3904 @cindex making digests
3905 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3906 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3907 process/prefix convention.
3910 @kindex S u (Summary)
3911 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3912 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
3913 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3914 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3917 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3920 @node Canceling and Superseding
3921 @section Canceling Articles
3922 @cindex canceling articles
3923 @cindex superseding articles
3925 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3926 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3928 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3930 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3932 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
3933 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3934 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3935 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3936 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3937 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3939 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3940 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3943 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
3944 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
3945 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
3947 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3948 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3949 your original article.
3951 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3953 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3954 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3955 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3958 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3959 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3960 have posted almost the same article twice.
3962 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3963 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3964 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3965 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
3966 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3967 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3968 header by substituting one of those words for the word
3969 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
3970 you would do normally. The previous article will be
3971 canceled/superseded.
3973 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3976 @node Marking Articles
3977 @section Marking Articles
3978 @cindex article marking
3979 @cindex article ticking
3982 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3984 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3985 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3986 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3988 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3991 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3992 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3993 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3997 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4001 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4002 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4006 @node Unread Articles
4007 @subsection Unread Articles
4009 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4014 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4015 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4017 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4018 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4019 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4020 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4021 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4025 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4026 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4028 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4029 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4030 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4033 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4034 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4036 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4041 @subsection Read Articles
4042 @cindex expirable mark
4044 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4049 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4050 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4051 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4054 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4055 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4058 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4059 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4060 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4063 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4064 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4067 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4068 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4071 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4072 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4075 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4076 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4079 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4080 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4083 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4084 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4087 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4088 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4092 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4093 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4094 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4098 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4099 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4101 One more special mark, though:
4105 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4106 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4108 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4109 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4110 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4111 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4117 @subsection Other Marks
4118 @cindex process mark
4121 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4127 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4128 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4129 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4130 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4131 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
4134 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4135 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4136 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4137 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4140 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4141 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4142 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}
4145 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4146 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4147 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4148 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4151 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4152 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4153 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4154 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4155 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4158 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4159 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4160 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4161 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4162 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4163 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4167 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4168 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4169 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4171 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4172 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4173 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4177 @subsection Setting Marks
4178 @cindex setting marks
4180 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4185 @kindex M c (Summary)
4186 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4187 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4188 @cindex mark as unread
4189 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4190 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4196 @kindex M t (Summary)
4197 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4198 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4199 @xref{Article Caching}
4204 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4205 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4206 Mark the current article as dormant
4207 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}
4211 @kindex M d (Summary)
4213 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4214 Mark the current article as read
4215 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4219 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4220 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4221 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4226 @kindex M k (Summary)
4227 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4228 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4229 and then select the next unread article
4230 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4234 @kindex M K (Summary)
4235 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4236 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4237 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4238 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4241 @kindex M C (Summary)
4242 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4243 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4244 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4247 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4248 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4249 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4250 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4253 @kindex M H (Summary)
4254 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4255 Catchup the current group to point
4256 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4259 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4260 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4261 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4262 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4265 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4266 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4267 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4268 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4272 @kindex M e (Summary)
4274 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4275 Mark the current article as expirable
4276 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4279 @kindex M b (Summary)
4280 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4281 Set a bookmark in the current article
4282 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4285 @kindex M B (Summary)
4286 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4287 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4288 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4291 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4292 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4293 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4294 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4297 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4298 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4299 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4300 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4303 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4304 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4305 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4306 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4307 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4310 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4311 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4312 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4313 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4314 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4315 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4316 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4317 The default is @code{t}.
4320 @node Setting Process Marks
4321 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4322 @cindex setting process marks
4329 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4330 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4331 Mark the current article with the process mark
4332 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4333 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4337 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4338 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4339 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4340 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4343 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4344 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4345 Remove the process mark from all articles
4346 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4349 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4350 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4351 Invert the list of process marked articles
4352 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4355 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4356 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4357 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4358 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4361 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4362 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4363 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4366 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4367 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4368 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4369 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4372 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4373 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4374 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4375 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4378 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4379 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4380 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4381 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4384 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4385 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4386 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4389 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4390 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4391 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4392 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4395 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4396 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4397 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4400 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4401 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4402 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4403 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4406 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4407 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4408 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4409 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4412 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4413 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4414 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4415 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4418 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4419 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4420 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4421 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4430 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4431 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4432 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4435 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4436 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4437 additional articles.
4443 @kindex / / (Summary)
4444 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4445 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4446 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4449 @kindex / a (Summary)
4450 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4451 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4452 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4456 @kindex / u (Summary)
4458 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4459 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4460 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4461 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4462 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4465 @kindex / m (Summary)
4466 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4467 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4468 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4471 @kindex / t (Summary)
4472 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4473 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4474 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4475 articles younger than that number of days.
4478 @kindex / n (Summary)
4479 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4480 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4481 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4482 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4485 @kindex / w (Summary)
4486 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4487 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4488 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4492 @kindex / v (Summary)
4493 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4494 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4495 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4499 @kindex M S (Summary)
4500 @kindex / E (Summary)
4501 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4502 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4503 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4506 @kindex / D (Summary)
4507 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4508 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4509 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4512 @kindex / * (Summary)
4513 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4514 Include all cached articles in the limit
4515 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4518 @kindex / d (Summary)
4519 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4520 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4521 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4524 @kindex / T (Summary)
4525 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4526 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4529 @kindex / c (Summary)
4530 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4531 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4532 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4535 @kindex / C (Summary)
4536 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4537 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4538 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4539 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4547 @cindex article threading
4549 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4550 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4551 hierarchical fashion.
4553 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4554 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4555 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4556 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4557 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4558 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4559 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4561 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4565 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4568 A tree-like article structure.
4571 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4574 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4575 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4576 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4577 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4578 called loose threads.
4580 @item thread gathering
4581 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4583 @item sparse threads
4584 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4585 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4591 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4592 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4596 @node Customizing Threading
4597 @subsection Customizing Threading
4598 @cindex customizing threading
4601 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4602 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4603 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4604 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4609 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4612 @cindex loose threads
4615 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4616 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4617 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4618 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4619 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4620 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4622 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4623 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4624 There are four possible values:
4628 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4629 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4630 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4631 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4632 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4637 @cindex adopting articles
4642 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4643 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4644 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4645 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4648 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4649 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4650 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4651 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4652 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4653 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4654 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4657 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4658 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4659 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4663 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4664 display them after one another.
4667 Don't gather loose threads.
4670 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4671 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4672 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4673 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4674 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4675 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4676 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4677 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4678 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4679 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4680 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4682 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4683 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4684 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4687 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4688 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4689 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4690 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4691 simplification is used.
4693 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4694 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4695 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4696 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4698 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4700 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4706 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4707 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4708 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4709 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4714 (mapconcat 'identity
4715 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4717 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4720 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4723 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4724 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4725 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4726 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4727 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4728 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4730 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4733 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4734 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4735 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4737 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4738 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4741 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4742 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4743 Remove excessive whitespace.
4746 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4749 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4750 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4751 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4752 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4753 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4754 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4755 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4756 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4758 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4759 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4760 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4761 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4762 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4763 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4764 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4765 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4766 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4770 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4771 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4772 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4773 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4775 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4776 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4777 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4780 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4784 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4785 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4791 @node Filling In Threads
4792 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4795 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4796 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4797 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4798 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
4799 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4800 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4801 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4802 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4803 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4804 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4805 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4806 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4808 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
4809 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
4810 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
4812 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4813 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4814 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4815 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4816 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4817 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
4818 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
4819 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4820 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
4821 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
4822 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4823 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
4824 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4825 @code{nil} by default.
4830 @node More Threading
4831 @subsubsection More Threading
4834 @item gnus-show-threads
4835 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4836 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4837 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4838 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4839 slower and more awkward.
4841 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4842 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4843 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4846 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4847 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4848 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4849 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4850 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4851 threads are expunged.
4853 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4854 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4855 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4858 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4859 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4860 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4861 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4862 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4865 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4866 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4867 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4873 @node Low-Level Threading
4874 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
4878 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
4879 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
4880 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
4881 @code{(gnus-decode-rfc1522)}, which means that QPized headers will be
4882 slightly decoded in a hackish way. This is likely to change in the
4883 future when Gnus becomes @sc{MIME}ified.
4885 @item gnus-alter-header-function
4886 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
4887 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
4888 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
4889 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
4890 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
4891 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
4892 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
4893 meaningful. Here's one example:
4896 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
4898 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
4899 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
4901 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
4903 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
4910 @node Thread Commands
4911 @subsection Thread Commands
4912 @cindex thread commands
4918 @kindex T k (Summary)
4919 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4920 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4921 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4922 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4923 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4928 @kindex T l (Summary)
4929 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4930 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4931 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4932 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4935 @kindex T i (Summary)
4936 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4937 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4938 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4941 @kindex T # (Summary)
4942 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4943 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
4944 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4947 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4948 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4949 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
4950 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4953 @kindex T T (Summary)
4954 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4955 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4958 @kindex T s (Summary)
4959 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4960 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
4961 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4964 @kindex T h (Summary)
4965 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4966 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4969 @kindex T S (Summary)
4970 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4971 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4974 @kindex T H (Summary)
4975 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4976 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4979 @kindex T t (Summary)
4980 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4981 Re-thread the current article's thread
4982 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4983 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4986 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4987 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4988 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4989 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
4993 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4994 understand the numeric prefix.
4999 @kindex T n (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5001 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5004 @kindex T p (Summary)
5005 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5006 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5009 @kindex T d (Summary)
5010 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5011 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5014 @kindex T u (Summary)
5015 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5016 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5019 @kindex T o (Summary)
5020 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5021 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5024 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5025 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5026 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5027 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5028 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5029 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5030 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5031 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5032 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5033 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5034 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5035 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5042 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5043 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5044 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5045 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5046 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5047 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5048 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5049 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5050 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
5051 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5052 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5053 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5054 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5055 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5057 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5058 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5059 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
5060 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
5061 in the list. You should probably always include
5062 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5063 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5064 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5065 ascending article order.
5067 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
5068 number, you could do something like:
5071 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5072 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5073 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5074 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
5077 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5078 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5079 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5080 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5081 which the articles arrived.
5083 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5087 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5089 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5090 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5093 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5094 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5095 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5096 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5099 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5100 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5101 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5102 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5103 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5104 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5105 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5106 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5107 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5108 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5109 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5110 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5111 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5113 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5117 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5118 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5119 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5124 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5125 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5126 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5127 @cindex article pre-fetch
5130 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5131 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5132 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5133 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5134 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5136 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5137 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5139 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5140 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5141 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5142 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5143 connection is blocked.
5145 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5146 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5147 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5148 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5150 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5151 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5152 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5153 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5156 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5159 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5160 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5161 happen automatically.
5163 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5164 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5165 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5166 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5167 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5168 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5169 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5171 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5172 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5173 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5174 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5175 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5176 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5177 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5178 data structure as the only parameter.
5180 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5183 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5184 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5185 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5186 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5189 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5192 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5193 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5194 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5196 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5197 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5198 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5199 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5203 Remove articles when they are read.
5206 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5209 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5211 @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5212 If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5213 from the next group.
5216 @node Article Caching
5217 @section Article Caching
5218 @cindex article caching
5221 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5222 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5223 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5224 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5225 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5227 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5229 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5230 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5231 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5232 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5233 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5234 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5235 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5236 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5238 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5239 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5240 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5241 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5242 as dormant, and don't worry.
5244 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5246 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5247 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5248 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5249 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5250 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5251 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5252 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5253 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5254 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5255 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5257 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5258 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5259 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5260 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5261 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5262 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5263 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5264 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5265 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5266 not then be downloaded by this command.
5268 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5269 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
5270 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5271 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5272 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
5273 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
5274 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
5277 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5278 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5279 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5280 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5281 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5282 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5283 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5284 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5285 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5289 @node Persistent Articles
5290 @section Persistent Articles
5291 @cindex persistent articles
5293 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5294 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5295 useful in my opinion.
5297 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5298 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5299 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5300 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5301 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5302 the expiry going on at the news server.
5304 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5305 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5306 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5312 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5313 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5316 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5317 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5318 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5319 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5323 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5325 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5326 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5327 interested in persistent articles:
5330 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5334 @node Article Backlog
5335 @section Article Backlog
5337 @cindex article backlog
5339 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5340 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5341 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5342 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5343 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5344 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5345 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5346 increase memory usage some.
5348 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5349 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5350 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5351 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5352 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5353 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5354 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5356 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5359 @node Saving Articles
5360 @section Saving Articles
5361 @cindex saving articles
5363 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5364 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5365 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5366 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5367 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5369 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5370 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5371 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5373 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5374 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5375 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5376 deleted before saving.
5382 @kindex O o (Summary)
5384 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5385 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5386 Save the current article using the default article saver
5387 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5390 @kindex O m (Summary)
5391 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5392 Save the current article in mail format
5393 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5396 @kindex O r (Summary)
5397 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5398 Save the current article in rmail format
5399 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5402 @kindex O f (Summary)
5403 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5404 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5405 Save the current article in plain file format
5406 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5409 @kindex O F (Summary)
5410 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5411 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5412 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5415 @kindex O b (Summary)
5416 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5417 Save the current article body in plain file format
5418 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5421 @kindex O h (Summary)
5422 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5423 Save the current article in mh folder format
5424 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5427 @kindex O v (Summary)
5428 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5429 Save the current article in a VM folder
5430 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5433 @kindex O p (Summary)
5434 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5435 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5436 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5439 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5440 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5441 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5442 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5443 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5444 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5445 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5446 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5447 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5448 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5449 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5450 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5454 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5455 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5456 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5457 functions below, or you can create your own.
5461 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5462 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5463 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5464 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5465 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5466 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5467 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5469 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5470 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5471 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5472 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5473 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5474 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5476 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5477 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5478 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5479 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5480 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5481 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5482 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5484 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5485 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5486 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5487 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5488 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5490 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5491 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5492 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5493 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5494 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5497 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5498 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5499 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5500 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5501 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5503 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5504 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5505 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5506 reader to use this setting.
5509 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5510 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5511 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5512 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5515 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5516 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5517 available functions that generate names:
5521 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5522 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5523 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5525 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5526 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5527 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5529 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5530 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5531 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5533 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5534 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5535 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5538 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5539 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5540 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5541 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5542 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5546 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5547 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5548 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5549 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5552 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5553 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5554 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5555 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5556 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5557 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5558 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5559 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5560 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5562 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5563 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5564 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5565 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5567 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5568 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5569 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5572 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5573 lots of mail groups called things like
5574 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5575 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5576 following will do just that:
5579 (defun my-save-name (group)
5580 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5581 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5583 (setq gnus-split-methods
5584 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5589 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5590 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5591 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5592 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5593 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5594 all the files in the top level directory
5595 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5596 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5597 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5598 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5600 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5601 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5602 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5603 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5604 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5607 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5611 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5612 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5615 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5616 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5617 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5618 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5621 @node Decoding Articles
5622 @section Decoding Articles
5623 @cindex decoding articles
5625 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5626 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5629 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5630 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5631 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5632 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5633 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5634 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5638 @cindex article series
5639 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5640 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5641 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5642 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5643 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5645 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5646 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5647 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5649 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5650 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5651 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5653 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5654 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5655 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5658 @node Uuencoded Articles
5659 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5661 @cindex uuencoded articles
5666 @kindex X u (Summary)
5667 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5668 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5669 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5672 @kindex X U (Summary)
5673 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5674 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5675 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5678 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5679 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5680 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5683 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5684 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5685 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5686 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5690 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5691 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5692 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5693 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5694 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5696 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5697 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5698 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5699 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5702 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5703 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5704 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5705 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5706 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5707 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5711 @node Shell Archives
5712 @subsection Shell Archives
5714 @cindex shell archives
5715 @cindex shared articles
5717 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5718 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5719 some commands to deal with these:
5724 @kindex X s (Summary)
5725 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5726 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5729 @kindex X S (Summary)
5730 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5731 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5734 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5735 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5736 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5739 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5740 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5741 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5742 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5746 @node PostScript Files
5747 @subsection PostScript Files
5753 @kindex X p (Summary)
5754 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5755 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5758 @kindex X P (Summary)
5759 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5760 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5761 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5764 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5765 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5766 View the current PostScript series
5767 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5770 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5771 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5772 View and save the current PostScript series
5773 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5778 @subsection Other Files
5782 @kindex X o (Summary)
5783 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5784 Save the current series
5785 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5788 @kindex X b (Summary)
5789 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5790 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5791 doesn't really work yet.
5795 @node Decoding Variables
5796 @subsection Decoding Variables
5798 Adjective, not verb.
5801 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5802 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5803 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5807 @node Rule Variables
5808 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5809 @cindex rule variables
5811 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5812 variables are of the form
5815 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5822 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5823 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5825 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5826 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5829 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5830 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5833 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5834 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5835 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5836 user and default view rules.
5838 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5839 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5840 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5845 @node Other Decode Variables
5846 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5849 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5851 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5852 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
5853 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5854 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5855 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5859 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5860 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5863 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5864 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5865 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5868 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5869 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5870 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
5871 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
5872 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
5875 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5876 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5877 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5879 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5880 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5881 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5882 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5883 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5886 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5887 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5888 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5890 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5891 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5892 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5893 looking for files to display.
5895 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5896 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5897 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5900 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5901 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5902 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5905 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5906 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5907 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5910 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5911 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5912 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5915 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5916 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5917 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
5918 decoded articles as unread.
5920 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5921 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5922 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5923 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5925 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5926 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5927 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
5929 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5930 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5932 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5933 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5934 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5935 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5937 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5938 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5939 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
5940 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
5941 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
5942 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
5943 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
5944 simply dropped them.
5949 @node Uuencoding and Posting
5950 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
5954 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5955 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5956 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
5957 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
5958 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
5959 for you when you post the article.
5961 @item gnus-uu-post-length
5962 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
5963 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
5964 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
5966 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
5967 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
5968 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
5969 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
5970 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
5971 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
5972 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
5974 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5975 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5976 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
5977 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
5978 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
5979 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
5980 Default is @code{t}.
5986 @subsection Viewing Files
5987 @cindex viewing files
5988 @cindex pseudo-articles
5990 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
5991 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
5992 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
5993 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
5994 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
5995 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
5996 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
5998 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
5999 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6000 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6001 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6003 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6004 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6005 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6007 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6008 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6009 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6010 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6011 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6013 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6014 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6015 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6016 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6017 a list of parameters to that command.
6019 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6020 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6021 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6023 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6024 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6025 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6028 @node Article Treatment
6029 @section Article Treatment
6031 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6032 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6033 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6034 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6035 these articles easier.
6038 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6039 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6040 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6041 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6042 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6043 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6044 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6048 @node Article Highlighting
6049 @subsection Article Highlighting
6052 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6053 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6058 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6059 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6060 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
6063 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6064 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6065 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6066 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6067 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6068 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6069 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6070 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6071 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6072 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6073 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6076 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6077 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6078 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6080 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6083 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6085 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6086 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6087 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6089 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6090 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6091 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6093 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6094 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6095 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6097 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6098 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6099 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6100 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6101 Gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6102 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6104 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6105 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6106 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6108 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6109 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6110 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6112 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6113 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6114 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6115 that it's a citation.
6117 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6118 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6119 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6121 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6122 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6123 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6125 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6126 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6127 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6128 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6134 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6135 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6136 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6137 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6138 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6139 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6140 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6141 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6147 @node Article Fontisizing
6148 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6150 @cindex article emphasis
6152 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6153 @kindex W e (Summary)
6154 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6155 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6156 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6157 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6159 @vindex gnus-article-emphasis
6160 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6161 @code{gnus-article-emphasis} variable. This is an alist where the first
6162 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6163 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6164 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6165 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6166 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6170 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6171 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6172 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6175 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6176 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6177 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6178 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6179 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6180 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6181 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6182 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6183 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6184 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6185 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6186 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6187 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6189 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6190 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6191 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6195 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6199 @node Article Hiding
6200 @subsection Article Hiding
6201 @cindex article hiding
6203 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6204 too much cruft in most articles.
6209 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6210 @findex gnus-article-hide
6211 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
6214 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6215 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6216 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6220 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6221 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6222 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6223 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6226 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6227 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6228 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6232 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6233 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6234 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6235 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6236 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6237 signature has been hidden.
6240 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6241 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6242 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6243 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6246 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6247 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6248 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6249 customizing the hiding:
6253 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6254 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6255 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6256 50), hide the cited text.
6258 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6259 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6260 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6263 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
6264 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
6265 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6266 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6267 by this format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6272 Start point of the hidden text.
6274 End point of the hidden text.
6276 Length of the hidden text.
6279 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6280 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6281 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6286 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6287 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6288 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6289 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6290 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6291 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6295 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6296 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6297 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6299 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6300 citation customization.
6303 @node Article Washing
6304 @subsection Article Washing
6306 @cindex article washing
6308 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6309 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6311 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6312 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6318 @kindex W l (Summary)
6319 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6320 Remove page breaks from the current article
6321 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
6325 @kindex W r (Summary)
6326 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6327 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6328 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6329 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6330 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6331 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6333 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6334 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6335 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6336 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6339 @kindex W t (Summary)
6340 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6341 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6342 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6345 @kindex W v (Summary)
6346 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6347 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6348 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6351 @kindex W m (Summary)
6352 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6353 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
6354 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6357 @kindex W o (Summary)
6358 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6359 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6362 @kindex W d (Summary)
6363 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6364 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}).
6367 @kindex W w (Summary)
6368 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6369 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6370 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6371 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6373 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6377 @kindex W c (Summary)
6378 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6379 Remove CR (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines)
6380 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6383 @kindex W q (Summary)
6384 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6385 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6386 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6387 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6388 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6392 @kindex W f (Summary)
6394 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6395 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6396 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6397 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6403 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6404 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6405 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6406 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6407 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6408 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6409 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6410 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6411 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6412 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6413 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6414 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6415 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6416 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6420 @kindex W b (Summary)
6421 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6422 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6423 @xref{Article Buttons}
6426 @kindex W B (Summary)
6427 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6428 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6429 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6432 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6433 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6434 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6435 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6438 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6439 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6440 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6441 lines with a single empty line.
6442 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6445 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6446 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6447 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6448 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6451 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6452 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6453 Do all the three commands above
6454 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6457 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6458 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6459 Remove all blank lines
6460 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6463 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6464 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6465 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6466 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6471 @node Article Buttons
6472 @subsection Article Buttons
6475 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6476 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6477 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6478 button on these references.
6480 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6481 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6482 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6487 @item gnus-button-alist
6488 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6489 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6492 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6498 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6499 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6500 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6503 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6504 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6505 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6508 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6509 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6510 avoid false matches.
6513 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6516 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6517 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6521 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6524 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6527 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6528 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6529 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6530 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6531 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6534 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6537 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6539 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6540 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6541 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6542 default values of the variables above.
6544 @item gnus-article-button-face
6545 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6546 Face used on buttons.
6548 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6549 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6550 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6556 @subsection Article Date
6558 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6559 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6560 when the article was sent.
6565 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6566 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6567 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6568 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6571 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6572 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6574 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6575 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6578 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6579 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6580 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6583 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6584 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6585 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6586 @findex format-time-string
6587 Display the date using a user-defined format
6588 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6589 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6590 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6591 for a list of possible format specs.
6594 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6595 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6596 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6597 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6598 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6599 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6600 updated continually, you can put
6603 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6606 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6607 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6611 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6612 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6613 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6614 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6615 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6616 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6617 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6622 @node Article Signature
6623 @subsection Article Signature
6625 @cindex article signature
6627 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6628 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6629 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6630 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6631 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6632 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6633 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6634 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6635 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6638 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6639 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6640 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6641 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6642 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6643 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6644 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6645 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6648 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6651 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6652 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6657 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6660 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6663 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6664 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6666 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6667 in question is not a signature.
6670 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6671 listed above. Here's an example:
6674 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6675 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6678 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6679 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6680 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6681 signature after all.
6684 @node Article Commands
6685 @section Article Commands
6692 @kindex A P (Summary)
6693 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6694 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6695 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6696 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6697 run just before printing the buffer.
6702 @node Summary Sorting
6703 @section Summary Sorting
6704 @cindex summary sorting
6706 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6707 can't really see why you'd want that.
6712 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6713 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6714 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6717 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6718 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6719 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6722 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6723 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6724 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6727 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6728 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6729 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6732 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6733 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6734 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6737 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6738 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6739 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6742 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6743 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6744 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6745 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6746 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
6750 @node Finding the Parent
6751 @section Finding the Parent
6752 @cindex parent articles
6753 @cindex referring articles
6758 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6759 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6760 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6761 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6762 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6763 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6764 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6765 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6766 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6768 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6769 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6770 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
6771 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6772 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6776 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6777 @kindex A R (Summary)
6778 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
6779 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6782 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
6783 @kindex A T (Summary)
6784 Display the full thread where the current article appears
6785 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
6786 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
6787 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
6788 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
6789 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
6790 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
6792 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
6793 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
6794 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
6795 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
6796 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
6797 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
6800 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6801 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6803 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
6804 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6805 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6806 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6807 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6808 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6809 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6812 The current select method will be used when fetching by
6813 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
6814 by giving this command a prefix.
6816 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6817 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6818 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6819 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6820 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
6821 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
6824 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6825 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6826 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6827 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6828 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6829 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6832 @node Alternative Approaches
6833 @section Alternative Approaches
6835 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6836 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6839 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6840 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6845 @subsection Pick and Read
6846 @cindex pick and read
6848 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
6849 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
6850 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
6851 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
6853 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6854 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6855 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6856 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6857 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6858 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
6860 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6865 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6866 Pick the article on the current line
6867 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}). If given a numerical prefix,
6868 go to that article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
6869 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
6872 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
6873 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
6874 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
6875 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
6879 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6880 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6884 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6885 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6889 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6890 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6894 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6895 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6899 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6900 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6904 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6905 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6909 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6910 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6914 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6915 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6919 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6920 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6924 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
6925 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
6929 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
6930 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
6931 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
6932 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
6933 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
6934 will still be visible when you are reading.
6938 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
6941 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
6944 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
6945 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
6947 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
6948 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
6949 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
6951 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
6952 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
6953 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
6954 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
6955 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
6956 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
6957 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
6961 @subsection Binary Groups
6962 @cindex binary groups
6964 @findex gnus-binary-mode
6965 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
6966 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
6967 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
6968 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
6969 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
6970 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
6973 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
6974 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
6975 command, when you have turned on this mode
6976 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
6978 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
6979 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
6983 @section Tree Display
6986 @vindex gnus-use-trees
6987 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
6988 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
6989 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
6992 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
6995 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
6996 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
6997 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
6999 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7000 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7001 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7002 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7003 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7005 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7006 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7007 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7008 default is @code{modeline}.
7010 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7011 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7012 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7013 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7014 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7015 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7016 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7022 The name of the poster.
7024 The @code{From} header.
7026 The number of the article.
7028 The opening bracket.
7030 The closing bracket.
7035 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7037 Variables related to the display are:
7040 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7041 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7042 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7043 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7044 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7045 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7047 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7048 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7049 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7050 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7054 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7055 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7056 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
7057 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
7058 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7059 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7060 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7061 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7062 other windows displayed next to it.
7064 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7065 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7066 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7067 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7068 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7069 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7070 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7074 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7077 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7087 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7091 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7092 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7094 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7096 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7101 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7102 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7103 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7106 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7107 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7108 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7109 (gnus-add-configuration
7113 (summary 0.75 point)
7118 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7121 @node Mail Group Commands
7122 @section Mail Group Commands
7123 @cindex mail group commands
7125 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7126 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7128 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7129 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7134 @kindex B e (Summary)
7135 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7136 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7137 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7140 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7141 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7142 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7143 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7144 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7145 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7148 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7149 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7150 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7151 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7152 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7153 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7156 @kindex B m (Summary)
7158 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7159 Move the article from one mail group to another
7160 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7163 @kindex B c (Summary)
7165 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7166 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7167 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7168 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7171 @kindex B B (Summary)
7172 @cindex crosspost mail
7173 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7174 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7175 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7176 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7177 be properly updated.
7180 @kindex B i (Summary)
7181 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7182 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7183 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7184 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7187 @kindex B r (Summary)
7188 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7189 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7190 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7191 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7192 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7196 @kindex B w (Summary)
7198 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7199 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7200 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7201 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7202 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7203 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, Gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7206 @kindex B q (Summary)
7207 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7208 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7209 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7210 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7213 @kindex B p (Summary)
7214 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7215 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7216 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7217 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7218 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7219 article from your news server (or rather, from
7220 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7221 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7222 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7223 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7224 just not have arrived yet.
7228 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7229 @cindex moving articles
7230 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7231 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7232 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7233 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7234 suggestions you find reasonable.
7237 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7238 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7239 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7240 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7244 @node Various Summary Stuff
7245 @section Various Summary Stuff
7248 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7249 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7250 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7251 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7255 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7256 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7257 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7259 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7260 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7261 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7262 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7263 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7264 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7267 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7268 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7269 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7270 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7271 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7273 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7274 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7275 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7276 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7277 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7278 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7279 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7280 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7281 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7282 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7287 @node Summary Group Information
7288 @subsection Summary Group Information
7293 @kindex H f (Summary)
7294 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7295 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7296 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7297 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7298 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7299 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7300 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7301 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7302 be used for fetching the file.
7305 @kindex H d (Summary)
7306 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7307 Give a brief description of the current group
7308 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7309 rereading the description from the server.
7312 @kindex H h (Summary)
7313 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7314 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7315 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7318 @kindex H i (Summary)
7319 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7320 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7324 @node Searching for Articles
7325 @subsection Searching for Articles
7330 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7331 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7332 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7333 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7336 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7337 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7338 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7339 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7343 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7344 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7345 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7346 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7350 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7351 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7352 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7353 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7356 @node Summary Generation Commands
7357 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7362 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7363 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7364 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7367 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7368 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7369 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7370 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7375 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7376 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7381 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7382 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7383 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7384 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7385 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7386 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7387 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7388 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7389 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7393 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7394 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7395 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7396 several documents into one biiig group
7397 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7398 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7399 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7400 command understands the process/prefix convention
7401 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7404 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7405 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7406 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7407 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7408 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7409 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7413 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7414 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7415 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7418 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7419 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7420 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7421 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7426 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7427 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7428 @cindex summary exit
7429 @cindex exiting groups
7431 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7432 group and return you to the group buffer.
7438 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7440 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7441 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7442 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7443 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7444 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7445 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7446 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7447 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7448 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7449 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7450 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7454 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7456 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7457 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7458 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7462 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7464 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7465 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7466 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7467 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7470 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7471 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7472 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7473 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7476 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7477 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7478 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7479 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7482 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7483 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7484 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7485 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7486 all articles, both read and unread.
7490 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7491 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7492 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7493 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7494 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7495 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7496 articles, both read and unread.
7499 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7500 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7501 Exit the group and go to the next group
7502 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7505 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7506 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7507 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7508 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7511 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7512 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7513 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7514 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7515 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7516 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7519 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7520 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7523 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7524 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7525 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7526 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7527 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7528 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7529 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7530 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7531 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7532 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7533 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7534 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7536 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7538 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7539 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7540 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7541 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7542 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7543 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7544 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7545 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7546 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7549 @node Crosspost Handling
7550 @section Crosspost Handling
7554 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7555 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7556 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7557 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7558 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7559 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7562 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7563 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7564 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7565 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7566 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7568 @cindex cross-posting
7571 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7572 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7573 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7574 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7575 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7576 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7577 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7578 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7579 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7580 the cross reference mechanism.
7582 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7583 @cindex overview.fmt
7584 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7585 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7586 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7587 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7588 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7589 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7592 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7593 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7594 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7599 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7602 @node Duplicate Suppression
7603 @section Duplicate Suppression
7605 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7606 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7607 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7608 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
7613 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7614 is evil and not very common.
7617 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7618 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7621 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7622 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7625 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7628 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7629 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7631 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7632 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7633 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7634 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7635 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7636 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7637 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7640 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7641 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7642 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7643 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7644 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7648 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7649 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7650 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7652 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7653 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7654 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7655 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7656 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
7657 session are suppressed.
7659 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7660 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7661 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7662 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7664 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7665 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7666 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7667 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7670 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
7671 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7672 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7673 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7674 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
7675 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7676 to you to figure out, I think.
7679 @node The Article Buffer
7680 @chapter The Article Buffer
7681 @cindex article buffer
7683 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7684 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7685 tell Gnus otherwise.
7688 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7689 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
7690 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7691 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7692 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7696 @node Hiding Headers
7697 @section Hiding Headers
7698 @cindex hiding headers
7699 @cindex deleting headers
7701 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7702 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7704 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7705 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7706 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7707 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7708 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7709 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7710 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7711 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7712 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7714 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7718 @item gnus-visible-headers
7719 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7720 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7721 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7722 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7724 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7725 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7728 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7731 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7734 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7735 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7736 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7737 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7738 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7739 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7741 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
7742 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
7745 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7748 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7751 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7752 variable will have no effect.
7756 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7757 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7758 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7759 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7760 the headers are to be displayed.
7762 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7763 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7766 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
7769 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
7770 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
7772 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7773 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7774 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
7775 You can hide further boring headers by entering
7776 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
7777 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
7778 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
7779 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
7780 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
7782 These conditions are:
7785 Remove all empty headers.
7787 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
7790 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
7791 @code{Newsgroups} header.
7793 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
7796 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
7799 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
7801 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
7804 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
7807 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
7808 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
7811 This is also the default value for this variable.
7815 @section Using @sc{mime}
7818 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
7819 while people stand around yawning.
7821 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
7822 while all newsreaders die of fear.
7824 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
7825 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
7826 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
7828 @vindex gnus-show-mime
7829 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
7830 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
7831 @findex metamail-buffer
7832 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
7833 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
7834 default. This function calls the external @code{metamail} program to
7835 actually do the work. One common problem with this program is that is
7836 thinks that it can't display 8-bit things in the Emacs buffer. To tell
7837 it the truth, put something like the following in your
7838 @file{.bash_profile} file. (You do use @code{bash}, don't you?)
7841 export MM_CHARSET="iso-8859-1"
7844 For more information on @code{metamail}, see its manual page.
7846 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
7847 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
7848 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
7849 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
7850 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
7851 buffer. These can't be avoided.
7853 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
7854 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
7855 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
7856 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
7857 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
7858 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
7859 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
7860 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
7861 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
7863 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7866 @node Customizing Articles
7867 @section Customizing Articles
7868 @cindex article customization
7870 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7871 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7872 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7873 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7875 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7876 By default this hook just contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
7877 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
7878 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
7879 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7880 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7881 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7882 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
7883 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
7885 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7886 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7887 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7888 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
7889 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
7892 @node Article Keymap
7893 @section Article Keymap
7895 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
7896 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
7897 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
7898 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
7901 A few additional keystrokes are available:
7906 @kindex SPACE (Article)
7907 @findex gnus-article-next-page
7908 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
7911 @kindex DEL (Article)
7912 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
7913 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
7916 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
7917 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
7918 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
7919 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
7920 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
7923 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
7924 @findex gnus-article-mail
7925 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
7926 given a prefix, include the mail.
7930 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
7931 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
7932 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
7936 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
7937 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
7938 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
7941 @kindex TAB (Article)
7942 @findex gnus-article-next-button
7943 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
7944 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
7947 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
7948 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
7949 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
7955 @section Misc Article
7959 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
7960 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
7961 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
7962 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
7965 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
7966 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
7967 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
7968 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
7969 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
7970 the contents of the article buffer.
7972 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7973 @item gnus-article-display-hook
7974 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
7975 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
7976 hiding headers, and the like.
7978 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
7979 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
7980 Hook called in article mode buffers.
7982 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7983 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7984 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
7985 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
7987 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
7988 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
7989 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
7990 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
7991 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
7996 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
7997 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8001 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8003 @item gnus-break-pages
8004 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8005 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8006 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8007 paging will not be done.
8009 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8010 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8011 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8016 @node Composing Messages
8017 @chapter Composing Messages
8018 @cindex composing messages
8021 @cindex sending mail
8026 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8027 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8028 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8029 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8030 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8031 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8032 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8035 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8036 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8037 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8038 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8039 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8040 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8041 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8044 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8045 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8051 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8054 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8055 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8056 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8057 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8059 @item gnus-add-to-list
8060 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8061 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8062 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8070 Variables for composing news articles:
8073 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8074 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8075 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8076 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8077 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8078 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8079 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8080 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8081 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
8084 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8085 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8086 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8087 file. It is 1000 by default.
8092 @node Posting Server
8093 @section Posting Server
8095 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8096 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8098 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8100 @vindex gnus-post-method
8102 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
8103 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8104 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8105 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8106 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8109 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8112 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8113 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8114 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8115 the ``current'' server for posting.
8117 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8118 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8120 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8121 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8124 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8125 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8126 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8131 @section Mail and Post
8133 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8137 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8138 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8139 @cindex mailing lists
8141 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8142 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8143 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8144 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8145 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8146 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8147 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8148 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8149 still a pain, though.
8153 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8154 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8155 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8158 @findex ispell-message
8160 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8164 @node Archived Messages
8165 @section Archived Messages
8166 @cindex archived messages
8167 @cindex sent messages
8169 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8170 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8171 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8172 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8175 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8176 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
8177 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8181 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8182 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8183 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8184 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8187 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8188 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8189 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8190 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8193 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8194 '(nnfolder "archive"
8195 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8196 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8197 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8200 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8202 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8203 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8204 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8206 This variable can be used to do the following:
8210 Messages will be saved in that group.
8211 @item a list of strings
8212 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8213 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8214 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8216 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8221 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8223 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8226 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8228 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8231 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8233 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8234 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8235 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8236 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8241 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8242 '((if (message-news-p)
8247 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8248 messages in one file per month:
8251 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8252 '((if (message-news-p)
8254 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8255 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8258 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8259 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8261 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8262 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8263 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8264 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8265 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8266 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8267 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8268 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8269 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8270 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8272 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8273 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8274 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8275 this will disable archiving.
8278 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8279 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8280 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8281 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8282 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8285 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8286 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8287 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8290 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8291 but the latter is the preferred method.
8295 @c @node Posting Styles
8296 @c @section Posting Styles
8297 @c @cindex posting styles
8300 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
8302 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8303 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8304 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8307 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8308 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8309 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8310 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8311 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8316 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
8317 @c (organization . "What me?"))
8319 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
8320 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8321 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
8324 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8325 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8326 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8327 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8328 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8329 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8330 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8331 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8333 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8334 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8335 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8336 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8337 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8338 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8341 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8342 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8343 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
8344 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8345 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8348 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8349 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8350 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8352 @c So here's a new example:
8355 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
8357 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
8358 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
8359 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8360 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
8362 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8363 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8364 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
8365 @c (posting-from-work-p
8366 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
8367 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
8368 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
8370 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
8377 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8378 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8379 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8380 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8381 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8383 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8384 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8385 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8386 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8387 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8391 @vindex nndraft-directory
8392 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8393 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8394 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8395 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8396 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8397 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8399 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8400 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8403 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8404 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8405 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8406 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8407 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8408 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8409 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8410 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8411 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8412 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8413 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8414 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8415 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8416 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8418 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8419 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8420 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8422 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8424 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8425 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8426 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8428 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8431 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8432 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8433 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8434 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8435 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8436 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8437 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8440 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8441 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8442 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8445 @node Rejected Articles
8446 @section Rejected Articles
8447 @cindex rejected articles
8449 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8450 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8451 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8452 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8454 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
8455 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8456 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8457 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
8458 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8460 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8461 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8462 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8465 @node Select Methods
8466 @chapter Select Methods
8467 @cindex foreign groups
8468 @cindex select methods
8470 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8471 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8472 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8473 personal mail group.
8475 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8476 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8477 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8478 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8479 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8480 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8482 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8483 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8485 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8488 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8489 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8490 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8491 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8492 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8494 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8497 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8498 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8499 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8500 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8501 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8502 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8506 @node The Server Buffer
8507 @section The Server Buffer
8509 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8510 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8511 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8512 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8513 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8514 backend represents a virtual server.
8516 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8517 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8518 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8519 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8521 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8522 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8523 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8524 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8525 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8526 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8527 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8529 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8530 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8533 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8534 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8535 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8536 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8537 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8538 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8539 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8542 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8543 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8546 @node Server Buffer Format
8547 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8548 @cindex server buffer format
8550 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8551 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8552 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8553 variable, with some simple extensions:
8558 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8561 The name of this server.
8564 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8567 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8570 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8571 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8572 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
8573 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
8583 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8586 @node Server Commands
8587 @subsection Server Commands
8588 @cindex server commands
8594 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8595 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8599 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8600 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8603 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8604 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8605 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8609 @findex gnus-server-exit
8610 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8614 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8615 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8619 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8620 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8624 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8625 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8629 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8630 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8634 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8635 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8636 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8641 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8642 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8643 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8644 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8649 @node Example Methods
8650 @subsection Example Methods
8652 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8655 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8658 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8664 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8665 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8668 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
8669 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8671 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8672 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
8676 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8679 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8680 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
8682 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8683 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8684 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8688 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8691 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8694 Here's the method for a public spool:
8698 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8699 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8702 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8703 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8704 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8705 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8706 should probably look something like this:
8710 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8711 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8712 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8713 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8714 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8717 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
8718 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
8719 server that would look something like this:
8723 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
8724 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
8725 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8726 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8727 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8728 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
8731 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
8732 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
8733 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
8734 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
8737 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8738 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8740 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
8741 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
8743 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
8744 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
8745 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
8747 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
8749 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
8750 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
8751 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
8752 will contain the following:
8762 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
8763 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
8764 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
8767 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
8768 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
8769 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
8772 @node Server Variables
8773 @subsection Server Variables
8775 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
8776 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
8777 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
8778 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
8779 won't change the "derived" variables.
8781 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
8782 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
8783 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
8784 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
8785 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
8786 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
8787 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
8788 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
8789 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
8793 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
8794 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
8795 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
8799 @node Servers and Methods
8800 @subsection Servers and Methods
8802 Wherever you would normally use a select method
8803 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
8804 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
8805 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
8809 @node Unavailable Servers
8810 @subsection Unavailable Servers
8812 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
8813 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
8814 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
8815 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
8816 actually the case or not.
8818 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
8819 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
8820 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
8821 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
8822 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
8823 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
8824 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
8825 it will regard that server as ``down''.
8827 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
8828 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
8830 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
8831 with the following commands:
8837 @findex gnus-server-open-server
8838 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
8839 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
8843 @findex gnus-server-close-server
8844 Close the connection (if any) to the server
8845 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
8849 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
8850 Mark the current server as unreachable
8851 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
8854 @kindex M-o (Server)
8855 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
8856 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
8857 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
8860 @kindex M-c (Server)
8861 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
8862 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
8863 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
8867 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
8868 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
8869 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
8875 @section Getting News
8876 @cindex reading news
8877 @cindex news backends
8879 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
8880 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
8881 or it can read from a local spool.
8884 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
8885 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
8890 @subsection @sc{nntp}
8893 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
8894 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
8895 server as the, uhm, address.
8897 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
8898 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
8899 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
8900 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8902 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
8903 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
8904 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
8906 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
8911 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
8912 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
8913 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
8915 @cindex authentification
8916 @cindex nntp authentification
8917 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8918 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
8919 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
8920 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
8921 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
8922 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
8923 present in this hook.
8925 @item nntp-authinfo-function
8926 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
8927 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8928 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
8929 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
8930 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
8931 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
8932 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
8933 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
8934 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
8935 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
8936 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
8940 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
8943 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
8944 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password}, and
8945 @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp}
8946 token, which is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format deviates
8947 from the @file{.netrc} file format.)
8951 Here's an example file:
8954 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
8955 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
8958 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
8959 have to be first, for instance.
8961 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
8962 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
8963 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
8964 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
8965 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
8966 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
8967 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
8969 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
8971 @item nntp-server-action-alist
8972 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
8973 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
8974 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
8975 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
8978 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
8982 You probably don't want to do that, though.
8984 The default value is
8987 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
8988 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
8991 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
8992 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
8994 @item nntp-maximum-request
8995 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
8996 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
8997 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
8998 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
8999 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9000 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9001 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9003 @c @item nntp-connection-timeout
9004 @c @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9005 @c If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9006 @c regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9007 @c responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9008 @c time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9009 @c somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9010 @c that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9011 @c connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9012 @c no timeouts are done.
9014 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9015 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9016 @c @cindex PPP connections
9017 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9018 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9019 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9020 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9021 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9022 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9023 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9024 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9025 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9026 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9028 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9029 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9030 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9031 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9034 @item nntp-server-hook
9035 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9036 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9039 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9040 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9041 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9042 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9043 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9044 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9045 functions are supplied:
9048 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9049 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9052 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9053 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9054 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9057 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9061 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9062 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9063 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9064 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9066 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9067 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9068 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9070 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9071 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9072 User name on the remote system.
9076 @item nntp-open-telnet
9077 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9078 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9080 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9083 @item nntp-telnet-command
9084 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9085 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9087 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9088 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9089 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9091 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9092 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9093 User name for log in on the remote system.
9095 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9096 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9097 Password to use when logging in.
9099 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9100 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9101 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9104 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9105 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9106 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9107 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9109 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9110 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9111 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9112 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9113 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9117 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9118 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9119 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9120 you must have SSLay installed
9121 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9122 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9123 define a server as follows:
9126 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9128 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9130 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9131 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9132 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9133 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9138 @item nntp-end-of-line
9139 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9140 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9141 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9142 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9144 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9145 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9146 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9150 @vindex nntp-address
9151 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9153 @item nntp-port-number
9154 @vindex nntp-port-number
9155 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9158 @item nntp-buggy-select
9159 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9160 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9162 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9163 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9164 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9165 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9168 @item nntp-xover-commands
9169 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9172 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9173 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9177 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9178 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9179 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9180 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9181 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9182 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9183 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9184 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9185 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9186 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9187 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9189 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9190 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9191 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9193 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9194 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9195 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9196 server closes connection.
9198 @item nntp-record-commands
9199 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9200 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9201 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9202 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9203 that doesn't seem to work.
9209 @subsection News Spool
9213 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9214 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9215 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9218 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9219 anything else) as the address.
9221 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9222 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9223 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9224 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9228 @item nnspool-inews-program
9229 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9230 Program used to post an article.
9232 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9233 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9234 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9236 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9237 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9238 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9239 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9241 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9242 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9243 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9244 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9246 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9247 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9248 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9250 @item nnspool-active-file
9251 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9252 The path to the active file.
9254 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9255 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9256 The path to the group descriptions file.
9258 @item nnspool-history-file
9259 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9260 The path to the news history file.
9262 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9263 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9264 The path to the active date file.
9266 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9267 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9268 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9271 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9272 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9274 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9275 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9276 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9282 @section Getting Mail
9283 @cindex reading mail
9286 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9290 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9291 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9292 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9293 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9294 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9295 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9296 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9297 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9298 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9299 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9300 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9304 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9305 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9307 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9308 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9309 and things will happen automatically.
9311 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9312 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9315 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9316 '((nnml "private")))
9319 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9320 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9321 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9322 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9323 like any other group.
9325 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9328 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9329 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9330 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9334 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9335 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9336 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9339 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9340 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9341 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9344 @node Splitting Mail
9345 @subsection Splitting Mail
9346 @cindex splitting mail
9347 @cindex mail splitting
9349 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9350 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9351 to be split into groups.
9354 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9355 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9356 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9360 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9361 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9362 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9363 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9364 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9365 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9366 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9369 ("list.\\1" "From:.*\\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9372 If the first element is the special symbol @code{junk}, then messages
9373 that match the regexp will disappear into the aether. Use with
9376 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9377 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9378 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9379 mail belongs in that group.
9381 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9382 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9383 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9384 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9385 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9386 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9388 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9389 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9390 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9391 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9392 thinks should carry this mail message.
9394 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9395 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9396 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9397 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9399 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9400 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9401 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9402 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9403 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9405 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9408 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9409 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9410 links. If that's the case for you, set
9411 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9412 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9414 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9415 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9416 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9417 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9419 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9420 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9421 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9422 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9423 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9424 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9425 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9426 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9430 @node Mail Backend Variables
9431 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9433 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9437 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9438 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9439 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9440 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9442 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9443 @item nnmail-spool-file
9447 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9448 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9449 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9450 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9451 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9452 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9453 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9454 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9455 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9456 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9457 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9458 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9459 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9460 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9461 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9463 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9465 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9466 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9469 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9470 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9471 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9472 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9473 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9474 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9476 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9477 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9478 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9479 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9480 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9481 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9482 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9485 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9486 @item nnmail-crash-box
9487 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9488 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9489 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9492 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9493 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9494 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
9495 used for, well, anything, really.
9497 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9498 @item nnmail-split-hook
9499 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
9500 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9501 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9502 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9503 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9504 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9505 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{gnus-article-decode-rfc1522}
9506 is one likely function to add to this hook.
9508 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9509 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9510 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9511 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9512 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9513 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9514 starting to handle the new mail) and
9515 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9516 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9517 default file modes the new mail files get:
9520 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9521 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9523 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9524 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9527 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9528 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9529 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9530 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9531 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9532 it will be used instead.
9534 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9535 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9536 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9537 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9539 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9540 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9543 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9544 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9545 @cindex incoming mail files
9546 @cindex deleting incoming files
9547 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9548 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9551 @c This is @code{nil} by
9552 @c default for reasons of security.
9554 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9555 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9556 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9557 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9558 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9561 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9563 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9564 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9565 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9566 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9567 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9568 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9569 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9571 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9572 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9574 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9576 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9577 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9578 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9579 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9580 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9585 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9586 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9587 @cindex mail splitting
9588 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9590 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9591 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9592 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9593 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9594 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9595 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9597 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9600 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9601 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9602 ;; from real errors.
9603 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9605 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9606 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9607 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9608 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9609 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9610 ;; Other mailing lists...
9611 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9612 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9614 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9615 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9619 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9620 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9621 the five possible split syntaxes:
9626 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
9627 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
9631 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9632 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9633 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9636 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9637 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9638 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9639 be stored in one or more groups.
9642 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9643 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9646 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9650 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9651 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
9652 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
9657 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
9658 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
9659 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
9660 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
9661 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
9663 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
9664 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
9665 are expanded as specified by the variable
9666 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
9667 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
9670 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
9671 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
9672 when all this splitting is performed.
9674 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
9675 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
9676 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
9679 (any "debian-\\(\\w*\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
9682 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
9683 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\1}
9684 up to @samp{\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
9685 groupings 1 through 9.
9688 @node Mail and Procmail
9689 @subsection Mail and Procmail
9694 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
9695 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
9696 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
9697 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
9698 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9700 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
9701 something like the following:
9703 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9705 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
9706 (setq nnmail-spool-file
9707 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
9710 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9711 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9714 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9715 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9716 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
9717 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9718 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9719 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
9721 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
9724 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
9726 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
9727 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
9729 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
9730 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
9731 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
9732 to include all your mail groups.
9734 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
9735 method will be created automatically.
9737 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9738 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
9739 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
9740 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
9741 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
9742 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
9743 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
9744 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
9746 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
9747 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
9748 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
9749 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
9750 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
9752 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9753 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
9754 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
9755 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
9756 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
9757 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
9759 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
9760 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
9761 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
9762 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
9763 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
9766 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
9767 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
9768 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
9769 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
9770 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
9774 @node Incorporating Old Mail
9775 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
9777 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
9778 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
9779 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
9782 Doing so can be quite easy.
9784 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
9785 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
9786 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
9787 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
9788 your @code{nnml} groups.
9794 Go to the group buffer.
9797 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
9798 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9801 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
9804 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
9805 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
9808 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
9809 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
9812 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
9813 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
9814 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
9815 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
9816 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
9818 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
9819 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
9820 using the new mail backend.
9824 @subsection Expiring Mail
9825 @cindex article expiry
9827 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
9828 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
9829 different approach to mail reading.
9831 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
9832 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
9833 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
9834 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
9835 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
9836 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
9839 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
9840 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
9841 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
9842 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
9843 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
9844 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
9845 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
9846 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
9848 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9849 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
9850 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
9851 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
9852 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
9853 column in the summary buffer.
9855 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
9856 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
9857 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
9858 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
9861 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
9863 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
9864 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
9865 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
9868 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
9869 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
9870 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
9871 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
9872 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
9874 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
9875 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
9878 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9879 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
9882 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
9883 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
9885 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
9886 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
9887 don't really mix very well.
9889 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
9890 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
9891 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
9892 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
9895 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
9896 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
9897 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
9898 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
9901 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9903 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9905 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
9907 ((string= group "mail.junk")
9909 ((string= group "important")
9915 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
9916 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
9918 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
9919 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
9920 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
9923 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
9924 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9926 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9927 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
9928 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
9929 easier for procmail users.
9931 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
9932 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
9933 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
9934 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
9935 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
9936 caution. Even more dangerous is the
9937 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
9938 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
9939 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
9940 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
9941 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
9942 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
9943 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
9946 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
9950 @subsection Washing Mail
9951 @cindex mail washing
9952 @cindex list server brain damage
9953 @cindex incoming mail treatment
9955 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
9956 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
9957 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
9958 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
9959 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
9960 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
9962 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
9963 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
9964 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
9967 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
9968 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
9969 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
9970 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
9973 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9974 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9975 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
9976 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
9979 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9980 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9981 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
9982 Emacs running on MS machines.
9986 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9987 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9988 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
9989 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
9992 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9993 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9994 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
9995 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
9997 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9998 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9999 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10000 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10001 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10002 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10003 also be a list of regexp.
10005 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10006 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10009 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10010 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10013 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10014 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10015 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10019 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10020 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10021 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10025 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10026 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10027 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10034 @subsection Duplicates
10036 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10037 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10038 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10039 @cindex duplicate mails
10040 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10041 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10042 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10043 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10044 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10045 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10046 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10047 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10048 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10049 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10050 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10051 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10052 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10054 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10055 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10056 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10057 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10059 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10062 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10063 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10067 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10068 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10069 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10070 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10071 (any mail "mail.misc")
10078 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10079 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10084 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10085 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10086 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10087 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10088 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10091 @node Not Reading Mail
10092 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10094 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10095 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10096 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10098 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10099 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10101 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10102 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10103 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10104 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10105 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10106 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10107 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10108 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10109 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10110 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10111 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10113 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10114 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10118 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10119 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10121 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10122 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10123 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10126 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10127 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10128 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10129 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10130 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10134 @node Unix Mail Box
10135 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10137 @cindex unix mail box
10139 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10140 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10141 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10142 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10143 which group it belongs in.
10145 Virtual server settings:
10148 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10149 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10150 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10152 @item nnmbox-active-file
10153 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10154 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10156 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10157 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10158 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10164 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10168 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10169 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10170 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10171 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10172 article to say which group it belongs in.
10174 Virtual server settings:
10177 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10178 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10179 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10181 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10182 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10183 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10185 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10186 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10187 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10192 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10194 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10196 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10197 format. It should be used with some caution.
10199 @vindex nnml-directory
10200 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10201 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10202 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10203 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10205 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10208 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10209 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10210 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10211 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10212 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10213 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10214 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10215 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10217 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10218 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10219 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10220 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10222 Virtual server settings:
10225 @item nnml-directory
10226 @vindex nnml-directory
10227 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10229 @item nnml-active-file
10230 @vindex nnml-active-file
10231 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10233 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10234 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10235 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10238 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10239 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10240 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10242 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10243 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10244 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10246 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10247 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10248 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10250 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10251 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10252 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10256 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10257 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10258 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10259 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10260 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10261 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10262 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10267 @subsubsection MH Spool
10269 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10271 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10272 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10273 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10274 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10276 Virtual server settings:
10279 @item nnmh-directory
10280 @vindex nnmh-directory
10281 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10283 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10284 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10285 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10288 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10289 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10290 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10291 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10292 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10293 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10294 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10299 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10301 @cindex mbox folders
10302 @cindex mail folders
10304 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10305 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10306 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10309 Virtual server settings:
10312 @item nnfolder-directory
10313 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10314 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10316 @item nnfolder-active-file
10317 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10318 The name of the active file.
10320 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10321 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10322 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10324 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10325 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10326 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10329 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10330 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10331 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10332 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10333 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10334 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10337 @node Other Sources
10338 @section Other Sources
10340 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10341 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10345 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10346 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10347 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10348 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10349 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10350 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10354 @node Directory Groups
10355 @subsection Directory Groups
10357 @cindex directory groups
10359 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10360 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10363 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10364 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10365 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10366 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10368 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10369 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10370 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10371 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10372 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10374 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10376 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10377 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10378 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10379 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10382 @node Anything Groups
10383 @subsection Anything Groups
10386 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10387 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10388 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10391 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10392 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10393 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10394 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10395 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10396 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10397 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10398 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10399 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10400 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10403 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10404 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10405 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10406 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10408 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10409 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10410 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10411 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10413 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10414 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10415 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10416 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10417 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10418 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10419 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10420 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10425 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10426 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10427 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10428 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10430 @item nneething-exclude-files
10431 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10432 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10433 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10435 @item nneething-map-file
10436 @vindex nneething-map-file
10437 Name of the map files.
10441 @node Document Groups
10442 @subsection Document Groups
10444 @cindex documentation group
10447 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10448 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10455 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10460 The standard Unix mbox file.
10462 @cindex MMDF mail box
10464 The MMDF mail box format.
10467 Several news articles appended into a file.
10470 @cindex rnews batch files
10471 The rnews batch transport format.
10472 @cindex forwarded messages
10475 Forwarded articles.
10479 @cindex MIME digest
10480 @cindex 1153 digest
10481 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10482 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10483 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10485 @item standard-digest
10486 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10489 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10492 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10493 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10494 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10497 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10498 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10499 group. And that's it.
10501 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10502 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10503 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10504 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10505 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10506 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10507 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10508 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10509 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10510 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10512 Virtual server variables:
10515 @item nndoc-article-type
10516 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10517 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10518 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10519 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-digest}, @code{standard-digest},
10520 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or @code{guess}.
10522 @item nndoc-post-type
10523 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10524 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10525 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10530 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10534 @node Document Server Internals
10535 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10537 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10538 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10539 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10540 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10542 First, here's an example document type definition:
10546 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10547 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10550 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10551 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10552 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10553 types can be defined with very few settings:
10556 @item first-article
10557 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10558 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10561 @item article-begin
10562 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10563 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10565 @item head-begin-function
10566 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10569 @item nndoc-head-begin
10570 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10573 @item nndoc-head-end
10574 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10575 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10577 @item body-begin-function
10578 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10582 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10585 @item body-end-function
10586 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10590 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10593 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10594 regexp will be totally ignored.
10598 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10599 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10600 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10601 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10602 something that's palatable for Gnus:
10605 @item prepare-body-function
10606 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
10607 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
10608 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
10610 @item article-transform-function
10611 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
10612 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
10613 body of the article.
10615 @item generate-head-function
10616 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
10617 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
10618 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
10619 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
10623 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
10628 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10629 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10630 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
10631 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
10632 (head-end . "^ ?$")
10633 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
10634 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
10635 (subtype digest guess))
10638 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
10639 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
10640 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
10641 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
10642 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
10644 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
10645 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
10646 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
10647 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
10648 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
10649 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
10650 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
10651 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
10652 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
10653 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
10661 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
10662 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
10663 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
10665 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
10666 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
10667 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
10670 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
10671 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
10672 that interested in doing things properly.
10674 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
10675 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
10678 First some terminology:
10683 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
10684 get news and/or mail from.
10687 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
10688 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
10691 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
10695 @item message packets
10696 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
10697 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
10698 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10700 @item response packets
10701 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
10702 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
10703 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10713 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
10714 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
10715 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
10716 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
10719 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
10722 You put the packet in your home directory.
10725 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
10726 the native or secondary server.
10729 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
10730 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
10733 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
10737 You transfer this packet to the server.
10740 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
10743 You then repeat until you die.
10747 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
10748 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
10751 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
10752 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
10753 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
10757 @node SOUP Commands
10758 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
10760 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
10764 @kindex G s b (Group)
10765 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
10766 Pack all unread articles in the current group
10767 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
10768 process/prefix convention.
10771 @kindex G s w (Group)
10772 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
10773 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
10776 @kindex G s s (Group)
10777 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
10778 Send all replies from the replies packet
10779 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
10782 @kindex G s p (Group)
10783 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
10784 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
10787 @kindex G s r (Group)
10788 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
10789 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
10792 @kindex O s (Summary)
10793 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
10794 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
10795 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
10796 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10801 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
10806 @item gnus-soup-directory
10807 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
10808 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
10809 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
10811 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
10812 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
10813 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
10814 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
10816 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
10817 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
10818 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
10819 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
10821 @item gnus-soup-packer
10822 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
10823 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10824 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
10826 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
10827 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
10828 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10829 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10831 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
10832 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
10833 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
10835 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10836 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10837 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
10838 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
10844 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
10847 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
10848 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
10849 you can read them at leisure.
10851 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
10855 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
10856 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
10857 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
10858 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
10860 @item nnsoup-directory
10861 @vindex nnsoup-directory
10862 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
10863 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
10865 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
10866 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
10867 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
10868 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
10870 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
10871 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
10872 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
10873 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
10874 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
10876 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
10877 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
10878 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
10879 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
10881 @item nnsoup-active-file
10882 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
10883 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
10884 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
10885 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
10886 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
10888 @item nnsoup-packer
10889 @vindex nnsoup-packer
10890 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
10891 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
10893 @item nnsoup-unpacker
10894 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
10895 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
10896 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10898 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
10899 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
10900 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
10903 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
10904 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
10905 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
10908 @item nnsoup-always-save
10909 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
10910 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
10916 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
10918 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
10919 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
10920 more for that to happen.
10922 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
10923 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
10924 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
10927 In specific, this is what it does:
10930 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
10931 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
10934 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
10935 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
10936 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
10940 @subsection Web Searches
10944 @cindex InReference
10945 @cindex Usenet searches
10946 @cindex searching the Usenet
10948 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
10949 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
10950 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
10951 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
10952 searches without having to use a browser.
10954 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
10955 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
10956 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
10957 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
10958 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
10960 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
10961 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
10962 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
10963 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
10964 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
10965 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
10966 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
10967 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
10968 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
10969 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
10972 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
10973 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
10974 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
10975 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
10976 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
10977 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
10979 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
10980 to use @code{nnweb}.
10982 Virtual server variables:
10987 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
10988 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
10992 @vindex nnweb-search
10993 The search string to feed to the search engine.
10995 @item nnweb-max-hits
10996 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
10997 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11000 @item nnweb-type-definition
11001 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11002 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11003 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11008 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11012 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11015 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11018 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11022 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11029 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11030 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11031 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11034 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11035 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11036 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11038 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11044 @item nngateway-address
11045 @vindex nngateway-address
11046 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11048 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11049 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11050 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11051 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11052 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11053 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11054 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11057 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11058 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11059 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11062 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11065 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11068 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11071 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11073 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11076 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11077 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11078 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11080 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11082 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11083 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11084 @code{nngateway-address}.
11089 (setq gnus-post-method
11090 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11091 (nngateway-header-transformation
11092 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11100 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11103 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11107 @node Combined Groups
11108 @section Combined Groups
11110 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11114 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11115 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11119 @node Virtual Groups
11120 @subsection Virtual Groups
11122 @cindex virtual groups
11124 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11127 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11128 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11129 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11131 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11132 regexp to match component groups.
11134 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11135 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11136 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11137 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11138 the virtual group.)
11140 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11141 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11144 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11147 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11148 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11150 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11151 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11152 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11153 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11156 "^nntp\\+some\\.server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+some\\.server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11159 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11160 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11161 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11163 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11164 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11165 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11166 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11167 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11169 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11170 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11171 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11173 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11174 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11175 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11176 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11177 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11178 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11179 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11180 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11181 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11182 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11183 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11186 @node Kibozed Groups
11187 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11191 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11192 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11193 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11194 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11196 @kindex G k (Group)
11197 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11200 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11201 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11202 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11203 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11205 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11206 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11207 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11209 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11210 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11211 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11212 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11213 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11214 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11215 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11216 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11218 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11219 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11220 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11221 Stranger things have happened.
11223 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11224 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11226 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11227 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11228 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11229 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11230 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11231 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11233 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11234 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11237 @node Gnus Unplugged
11238 @section Gnus Unplugged
11243 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11245 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11246 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11247 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11248 read news. Believe it or not.
11250 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11251 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11252 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11253 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11254 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11256 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11257 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11258 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11259 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11260 reading news on a machine.
11262 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11266 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11267 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11271 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11272 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11279 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11281 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11284 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11285 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11286 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11287 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11288 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11289 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11290 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11291 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11296 @subsection Agent Basics
11298 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11300 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11301 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11302 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11303 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11305 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11306 connected to the net continuously.
11308 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11309 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11311 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11316 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11317 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11318 already fetched while in this mode.
11321 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11322 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11323 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11326 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11327 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11328 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11329 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11332 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11333 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11334 then you read the news offline.
11337 And then you go to step 2.
11340 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11346 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11347 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11348 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11349 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11350 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11351 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11354 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}
11361 @node Agent Categories
11362 @subsection Agent Categories
11364 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11365 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11366 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11367 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11368 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11369 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11370 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11372 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11373 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11374 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11377 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11378 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11379 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11383 @node Category Syntax
11384 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11386 A category consists of two things.
11390 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11391 are eligible for downloading; and
11394 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11395 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11396 score} is wholly unrelated to normal scores.)
11399 A predicate consists of predicates with logical operators sprinkled in
11402 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11404 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11405 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11411 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11412 short (for some value of ``short'').
11414 Here's a more complex predicate:
11423 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11424 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11427 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11428 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11429 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11431 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11432 you want to do, you can write your own.
11436 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11437 lines; default 100.
11440 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11441 lines; default 200.
11444 True iff the article has a download score less than
11445 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11448 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11449 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11452 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11453 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11454 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11463 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11464 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11465 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11468 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11469 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11470 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11471 following headers can be scored on: @code{From}, @code{Subject},
11472 @code{Date}, @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars}, @code{Message-ID},
11473 and @code{References}.
11476 @node The Category Buffer
11477 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
11479 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
11480 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
11481 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
11483 The following commands are available in this buffer:
11487 @kindex q (Category)
11488 @findex gnus-category-exit
11489 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
11492 @kindex k (Category)
11493 @findex gnus-category-kill
11494 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
11497 @kindex c (Category)
11498 @findex gnus-category-copy
11499 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
11502 @kindex a (Category)
11503 @findex gnus-category-add
11504 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
11507 @kindex p (Category)
11508 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
11509 Edit the predicate of the current category
11510 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
11513 @kindex g (Category)
11514 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
11515 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
11516 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
11519 @kindex s (Category)
11520 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
11521 Edit the download score rule of the current category
11522 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
11525 @kindex l (Category)
11526 @findex gnus-category-list
11527 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
11531 @node Category Variables
11532 @subsubsection Category Variables
11535 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
11536 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
11537 Hook run in category buffers.
11539 @item gnus-category-line-format
11540 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
11541 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
11542 Variables}). Legal elements are:
11546 The name of the category.
11549 The number of groups in the category.
11552 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
11553 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
11554 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
11556 @item gnus-agent-short-article
11557 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
11558 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
11560 @item gnus-agent-long-article
11561 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
11562 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
11564 @item gnus-agent-low-score
11565 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
11566 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
11569 @item gnus-agent-high-score
11570 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
11571 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
11577 @node Agent Commands
11578 @subsection Agent Commands
11580 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
11581 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
11582 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
11586 * Group Agent Commands::
11587 * Summary Agent Commands::
11588 * Server Agent Commands::
11591 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
11592 following incantation:
11594 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11596 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11601 @node Group Agent Commands
11602 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
11606 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
11607 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
11608 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
11609 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
11612 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
11613 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
11614 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
11617 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
11618 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
11619 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
11620 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
11623 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
11624 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
11625 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
11626 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}
11629 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
11630 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
11631 Add the current group to an Agent category
11632 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
11637 @node Summary Agent Commands
11638 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
11642 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
11643 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
11644 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
11647 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
11648 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
11649 Remove the downloading mark from the article
11650 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
11653 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
11654 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
11655 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
11658 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
11659 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
11660 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
11665 @node Server Agent Commands
11666 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
11670 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
11671 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
11672 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
11673 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
11676 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
11677 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
11678 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
11679 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
11685 @subsection Agent Expiry
11687 @vindex gnus-agent-expiry-days
11688 @findex gnus-agent-expiry
11689 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expiry
11690 @cindex Agent expiry
11691 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
11694 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
11695 @code{gnus-agent-expiry} command that will expire all read articles that
11696 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expiry-days} days. It can be run
11697 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
11698 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
11699 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
11701 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
11702 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
11703 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
11704 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
11705 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
11708 @node Outgoing Messages
11709 @subsection Outgoing Messages
11711 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
11712 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
11713 after posting, and edit them at will.
11715 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
11716 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
11717 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
11718 messages in the draft group.
11722 @node Agent Variables
11723 @subsection Agent Variables
11726 @item gnus-agent-directory
11727 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
11728 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
11729 @file{~/News/agent/}.
11731 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
11732 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
11733 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
11734 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
11735 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
11738 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11739 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11740 Hook run when connecting to the network.
11742 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11743 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11744 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
11749 @node Example Setup
11750 @subsection Example Setup
11752 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
11753 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
11754 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
11757 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
11758 ;;; from your ISP's server.
11759 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
11761 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
11762 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
11763 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
11764 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
11766 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
11767 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11769 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
11773 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
11774 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
11777 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
11778 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
11779 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
11780 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
11781 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
11784 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
11785 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
11786 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
11787 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
11788 back all the killed groups.)
11790 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
11791 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
11792 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
11795 @node Batching Agents
11796 @subsection Batching Agents
11798 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
11799 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
11800 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
11804 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
11813 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
11814 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
11815 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
11818 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
11819 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
11820 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
11821 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
11822 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
11824 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
11825 before generating the summary buffer.
11827 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
11828 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
11829 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
11831 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
11832 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
11833 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
11834 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
11837 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
11838 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
11839 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
11840 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
11841 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
11842 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
11843 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
11844 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
11845 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
11846 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
11847 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
11848 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
11849 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
11850 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
11851 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
11852 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
11856 @node Summary Score Commands
11857 @section Summary Score Commands
11858 @cindex score commands
11860 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
11861 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
11862 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
11863 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
11864 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
11866 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
11867 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
11868 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
11869 score file the current one.
11871 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
11876 @kindex V s (Summary)
11877 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
11878 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
11881 @kindex V S (Summary)
11882 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
11883 Display the score of the current article
11884 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
11887 @kindex V t (Summary)
11888 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
11889 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
11890 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
11893 @kindex V R (Summary)
11894 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
11895 Run the current summary through the scoring process
11896 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
11897 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
11898 effect you're having.
11901 @kindex V c (Summary)
11902 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
11903 Make a different score file the current
11904 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
11907 @kindex V e (Summary)
11908 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
11909 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
11910 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
11914 @kindex V f (Summary)
11915 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
11916 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
11917 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
11920 @kindex V F (Summary)
11921 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
11922 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
11923 after editing score files.
11926 @kindex V C (Summary)
11927 @findex gnus-score-customize
11928 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
11929 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
11933 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
11938 @kindex V m (Summary)
11939 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
11940 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
11941 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
11944 @kindex V x (Summary)
11945 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
11946 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
11947 expunge all articles below this score
11948 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
11951 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
11952 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
11955 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
11956 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
11960 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
11961 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
11963 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
11964 keys are available:
11968 Score on the author name.
11971 Score on the subject line.
11974 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
11977 Score on thread---the References line.
11983 Score on the number of lines.
11986 Score on the Message-ID.
11989 Score on followups.
11999 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12000 what headers you are scoring on.
12012 Substring matching.
12015 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
12044 Greater than number.
12049 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
12050 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
12051 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
12055 Temporary score entry.
12058 Permanent score entry.
12061 Immediately scoring.
12066 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12067 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12068 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12069 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12071 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12072 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12073 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12074 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12075 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12077 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12078 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12079 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12080 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12081 current score file.
12083 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12084 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12085 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12088 @node Group Score Commands
12089 @section Group Score Commands
12090 @cindex group score commands
12092 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12097 @kindex W f (Group)
12098 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12099 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12100 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12101 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12105 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12107 @findex gnus-batch-score
12108 @cindex batch scoring
12110 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l gnus -f gnus-batch-score
12114 @node Score Variables
12115 @section Score Variables
12116 @cindex score variables
12120 @item gnus-use-scoring
12121 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12122 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12123 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12125 @item gnus-kill-killed
12126 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12127 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12128 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12129 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12130 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12131 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12132 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12134 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12135 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12136 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12137 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12138 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12140 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12141 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12142 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12143 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12145 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12146 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12147 @cindex score cache
12148 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12149 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12150 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
12151 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12152 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12153 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12156 @item gnus-save-score
12157 @vindex gnus-save-score
12158 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12159 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12160 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12162 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12163 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12164 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12165 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12166 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12167 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12168 manually entered data.
12170 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12171 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12172 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12174 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12175 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12176 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12177 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12178 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12179 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12181 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12182 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12183 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12184 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12186 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12187 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12188 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12189 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12191 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12192 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12193 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12194 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12196 Predefined functions available are:
12199 @item gnus-score-find-single
12200 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12201 Only apply the group's own score file.
12203 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12204 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12205 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12206 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12207 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12208 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12209 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12210 then a regexp match is done.
12212 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12213 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12215 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12216 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12217 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12218 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12220 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12221 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12222 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12223 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12224 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12227 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12228 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12229 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12230 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12231 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12232 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12235 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12236 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12237 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12238 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12239 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12241 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12242 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12243 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12244 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12245 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12246 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12247 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12250 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12251 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12252 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12254 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12255 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12256 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12257 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12258 threading---according to the current value of
12259 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12260 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12261 simplified in this manner.
12266 @node Score File Format
12267 @section Score File Format
12268 @cindex score file format
12270 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12271 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12272 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12274 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12278 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12280 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12282 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12284 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12289 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12293 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12294 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12295 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12296 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12300 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12301 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12303 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12304 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12305 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12307 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12312 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12313 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12314 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12315 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12316 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12317 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12318 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12319 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12320 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12321 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12322 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12323 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12324 to articles that matches these score entries.
12326 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12327 score entry has one to four elements.
12331 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12332 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12336 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12337 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12338 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12339 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12340 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12341 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12344 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12345 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12346 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12347 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12348 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12351 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12352 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12353 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12354 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12357 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12358 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12359 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12360 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12361 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12362 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12363 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12364 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12365 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12366 instead, if you feel like.
12369 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12370 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
12372 These predicates are true if
12375 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
12378 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
12379 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
12386 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
12387 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
12388 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
12389 it's not. I think.)
12391 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
12392 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
12393 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
12394 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
12397 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
12398 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
12399 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
12400 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
12401 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
12402 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
12403 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
12407 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
12408 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
12409 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
12410 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
12411 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
12412 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
12413 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
12414 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
12417 @item Head, Body, All
12418 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
12422 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
12423 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
12424 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
12425 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
12426 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
12427 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
12428 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
12432 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
12433 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
12434 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
12435 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
12436 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
12437 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
12438 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
12439 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
12440 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
12441 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
12445 @cindex Score File Atoms
12447 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12448 lower than this number will be marked as read.
12451 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12452 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
12454 @item mark-and-expunge
12455 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12456 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
12459 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
12460 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
12461 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
12462 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
12463 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
12466 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
12467 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
12470 @item exclude-files
12471 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
12472 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
12476 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
12477 ignored when handling global score files.
12480 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
12481 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
12482 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
12483 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
12486 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
12487 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
12488 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
12489 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
12491 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
12495 (mark-and-expunge -100)
12498 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
12499 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
12500 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
12501 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
12502 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
12504 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
12505 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
12506 ordinary scoring rules.
12509 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
12510 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
12511 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
12512 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
12513 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
12514 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
12515 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12516 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
12517 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
12518 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
12519 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
12523 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
12524 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
12525 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
12526 file for a number of groups.
12529 @cindex local variables
12530 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
12531 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
12532 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
12533 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
12534 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
12538 @node Score File Editing
12539 @section Score File Editing
12541 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
12542 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
12543 with a mode for that.
12545 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
12546 additional commands:
12551 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
12552 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
12553 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
12554 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
12557 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
12558 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
12559 Insert the current date in numerical format
12560 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
12561 you were wondering.
12564 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
12565 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
12566 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
12567 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
12568 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
12573 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
12575 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
12576 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
12578 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
12579 e} to begin editing score files.
12582 @node Adaptive Scoring
12583 @section Adaptive Scoring
12584 @cindex adaptive scoring
12586 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
12587 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
12588 stupidity, to be precise.
12590 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
12591 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
12592 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
12593 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
12594 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12595 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
12596 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
12597 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
12598 variable to @code{(word line)}.
12600 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12601 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
12602 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
12603 might look something like this:
12606 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12607 '((gnus-unread-mark)
12608 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
12609 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
12610 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
12611 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
12612 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
12613 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
12614 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
12615 (gnus-ancient-mark)
12616 (gnus-low-score-mark)
12617 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
12620 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
12621 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
12622 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
12623 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
12624 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
12625 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
12628 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
12629 will be applied to each article.
12631 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
12632 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
12633 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
12634 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
12636 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
12637 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
12638 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
12639 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
12641 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
12642 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
12643 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
12644 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
12646 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
12647 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
12648 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
12649 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
12650 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
12651 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
12653 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
12654 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
12655 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
12656 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
12657 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
12658 aspirins afterwards.)
12660 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
12661 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
12662 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
12664 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
12665 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
12666 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
12668 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
12669 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
12670 let you use different rules in different groups.
12672 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
12673 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
12674 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
12677 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
12678 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
12679 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
12680 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
12681 the length of the match is less than
12682 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
12683 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
12686 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12687 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
12688 headers. If you adapt on words, the
12689 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
12690 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
12693 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12694 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
12695 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
12696 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
12697 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
12700 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
12701 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
12702 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
12703 score with 30 points.
12705 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
12706 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
12707 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
12708 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
12709 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
12711 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
12712 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
12713 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
12714 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
12716 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
12717 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
12718 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
12719 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
12721 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
12722 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
12723 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
12725 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
12726 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
12727 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
12728 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
12731 @node Home Score File
12732 @section Home Score File
12734 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
12735 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
12736 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
12737 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
12739 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
12740 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
12741 could perhaps use the same home score file.
12743 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
12744 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
12749 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
12753 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
12754 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
12758 A list. The elements in this list can be:
12762 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
12763 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
12766 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
12767 the home score file.
12770 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
12773 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
12778 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
12781 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12782 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
12785 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
12786 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
12789 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12790 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
12793 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
12795 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
12796 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
12797 their own home score files:
12800 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12801 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
12802 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
12803 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
12804 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
12807 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
12808 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
12809 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
12810 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
12811 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
12813 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
12814 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
12815 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
12816 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
12817 precedence over this variable.
12820 @node Followups To Yourself
12821 @section Followups To Yourself
12823 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
12824 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
12825 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
12826 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
12827 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
12828 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
12832 @item gnus-score-followup-article
12833 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
12834 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
12837 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
12838 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
12839 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
12843 @vindex message-sent-hook
12844 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
12845 @code{message-sent-hook}.
12847 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
12848 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
12852 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
12853 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
12856 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
12857 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
12862 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
12866 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
12867 is system-dependent.
12871 @section Scoring Tips
12872 @cindex scoring tips
12878 @cindex scoring crossposts
12879 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
12880 the @code{Xref} header.
12882 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
12885 @item Multiple crossposts
12886 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
12887 more than, say, 3 groups:
12889 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
12892 @item Matching on the body
12893 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
12894 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
12895 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
12896 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
12897 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
12898 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
12899 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
12902 @item Marking as read
12903 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
12904 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
12905 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
12909 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
12911 @item Negated character classes
12912 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
12913 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
12914 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
12918 @node Reverse Scoring
12919 @section Reverse Scoring
12920 @cindex reverse scoring
12922 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
12923 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
12924 like this in your score file:
12928 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
12933 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
12934 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
12937 @node Global Score Files
12938 @section Global Score Files
12939 @cindex global score files
12941 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
12942 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
12943 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
12945 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
12946 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
12947 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
12949 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
12950 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
12951 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
12952 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
12953 files are applicable to which group.
12955 Say you want to use the score file
12956 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
12957 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
12960 (setq gnus-global-score-files
12961 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
12962 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
12965 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
12966 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
12967 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
12968 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
12969 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
12971 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
12972 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
12974 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
12975 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
12976 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
12977 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
12978 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
12979 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
12981 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
12987 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
12989 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
12991 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
12993 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
12994 lowered out of existence.
12996 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
12997 articles completely.
13000 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13001 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13002 old articles for a long time.
13005 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13006 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13007 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
13008 holding our breath yet?
13012 @section Kill Files
13015 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
13016 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
13017 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
13019 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
13020 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
13021 files into score files.
13023 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
13024 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
13025 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
13026 that isn't a very good idea.
13028 Normal kill files look like this:
13031 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13032 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
13036 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
13037 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
13039 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
13040 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
13043 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
13048 @kindex M-k (Summary)
13049 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
13050 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
13053 @kindex M-K (Summary)
13054 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
13055 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
13058 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
13063 @kindex M-k (Group)
13064 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
13065 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
13068 @kindex M-K (Group)
13069 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
13070 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
13073 Kill file variables:
13076 @item gnus-kill-file-name
13077 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
13078 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
13079 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
13080 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
13081 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13082 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13084 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13085 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13086 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13087 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13090 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13091 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13092 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13093 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13094 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13095 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13096 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13097 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13098 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13100 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13101 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13102 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13107 @node Converting Kill Files
13108 @section Converting Kill Files
13110 @cindex converting kill files
13112 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13113 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13114 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13117 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13118 You can fetch it from
13119 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13121 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13122 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13123 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13131 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13132 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13133 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13135 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13136 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13137 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13138 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13139 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13140 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13141 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13142 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13146 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13147 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13148 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13149 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13153 @node Using GroupLens
13154 @subsection Using GroupLens
13156 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13158 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13159 better bit in town at the moment.
13161 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13165 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13166 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13167 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13168 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13170 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13171 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13172 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13173 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13175 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13176 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13177 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13181 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13182 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13183 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13184 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13185 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13186 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13189 @node Rating Articles
13190 @subsection Rating Articles
13192 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13193 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13194 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13195 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13198 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13203 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13204 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13205 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13208 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13209 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13210 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13211 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13212 threads in rec.humor.
13216 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13217 the score of the article you're reading.
13222 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13223 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13224 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13227 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13228 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13229 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13233 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13234 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13237 @node Displaying Predictions
13238 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13240 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13241 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13242 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13243 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13244 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13246 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13247 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13248 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13249 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13250 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13251 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13252 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13253 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13254 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13255 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13256 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13257 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13258 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13260 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13261 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13262 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13263 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13265 The following are valid values for that variable.
13268 @item prediction-spot
13269 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13272 @item confidence-interval
13273 A numeric confidence interval.
13275 @item prediction-bar
13276 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13278 @item confidence-bar
13279 Numerical confidence.
13281 @item confidence-spot
13282 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13284 @item prediction-num
13285 Plain-old numeric value.
13287 @item confidence-plus-minus
13288 Prediction +/- confidence.
13293 @node GroupLens Variables
13294 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13298 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13299 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13300 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13301 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13304 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13305 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13308 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13309 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13311 @item grouplens-score-offset
13312 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13313 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13316 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13317 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13318 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13323 @node Advanced Scoring
13324 @section Advanced Scoring
13326 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13327 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13328 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13329 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13330 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13332 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13336 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13337 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13338 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13342 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13343 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13345 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13346 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13347 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13348 non-@code{nil} value.
13350 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13351 operator, and various match operators.
13358 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13359 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
13360 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
13365 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13366 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
13367 then this operator will return @code{false}.
13372 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
13373 logical negation of the value of its argument.
13377 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
13378 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
13379 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
13380 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
13381 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
13382 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
13383 the ancestry you want to go.
13385 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
13386 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
13387 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
13388 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
13389 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
13392 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
13393 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
13395 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
13396 when he's talking about Gnus:
13400 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13401 ("subject" "Gnus"))
13407 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
13411 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13418 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
13419 really don't want to read what he's written:
13423 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13424 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
13428 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
13429 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
13430 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
13437 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
13438 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
13439 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
13440 ("body" "white.*socks"))
13444 The possibilities are endless.
13447 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
13448 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
13450 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
13451 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
13452 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
13453 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
13454 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
13455 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
13456 @samp{subject}) first.
13458 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
13459 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
13470 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
13471 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
13477 ("subject" "Gnus")))
13484 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
13485 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
13490 @section Score Decays
13491 @cindex score decays
13494 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
13495 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
13496 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
13497 use them in any sensible way.
13499 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
13500 @findex gnus-decay-score
13501 @vindex gnus-score-decay-function
13502 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
13503 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
13504 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
13505 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
13506 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-score-decay-function}
13507 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
13508 definition of that function:
13511 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
13512 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant' and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
13515 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
13517 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
13519 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
13522 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
13523 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
13524 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
13525 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
13529 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
13532 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
13535 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
13539 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
13540 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
13541 the new score, which should be an integer.
13543 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
13544 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
13551 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
13552 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
13553 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
13554 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
13555 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
13556 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
13557 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
13558 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
13559 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
13560 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
13561 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
13562 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
13563 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
13564 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
13565 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
13566 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
13567 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
13568 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
13572 @node Process/Prefix
13573 @section Process/Prefix
13574 @cindex process/prefix convention
13576 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
13577 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
13579 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
13580 command to be performed on.
13584 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
13585 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
13586 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
13587 with the current one.
13589 @vindex transient-mark-mode
13590 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
13591 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
13593 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
13594 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
13597 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
13598 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
13600 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
13603 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
13604 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
13605 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
13606 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13608 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
13609 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
13610 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
13611 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
13612 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
13613 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
13614 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
13615 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
13619 @section Interactive
13620 @cindex interaction
13624 @item gnus-novice-user
13625 @vindex gnus-novice-user
13626 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
13627 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
13628 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
13629 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
13632 @item gnus-expert-user
13633 @vindex gnus-expert-user
13634 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
13635 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
13636 matter how strange.
13638 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
13639 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
13640 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
13641 is @code{t} by default.
13643 @item gnus-interactive-exit
13644 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
13645 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
13650 @node Symbolic Prefixes
13651 @section Symbolic Prefixes
13652 @cindex symbolic prefixes
13654 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
13655 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
13656 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
13657 rule of 900 to the current article.
13659 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
13660 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
13661 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
13662 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
13663 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
13664 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
13665 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
13667 @kindex M-i (Summary)
13668 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
13669 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
13670 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
13671 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
13672 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
13673 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
13674 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
13675 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
13677 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
13678 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
13679 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
13681 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
13685 @node Formatting Variables
13686 @section Formatting Variables
13687 @cindex formatting variables
13689 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
13690 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
13691 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
13692 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
13693 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
13696 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
13697 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
13698 lots of percentages everywhere.
13701 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
13702 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
13703 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
13704 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
13705 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
13708 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
13709 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
13710 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
13711 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
13712 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
13713 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
13714 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
13715 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
13717 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
13718 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
13720 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
13721 @findex gnus-update-format
13722 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
13723 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
13724 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
13725 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
13729 @node Formatting Basics
13730 @subsection Formatting Basics
13732 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
13733 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
13734 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
13736 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
13737 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
13738 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
13739 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
13740 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
13743 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
13744 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
13745 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
13746 less than 4 characters wide.
13749 @node Mode Line Formatting
13750 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
13752 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
13753 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
13754 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
13755 with the following two differences:
13760 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
13763 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
13764 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
13765 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
13766 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
13767 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
13768 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
13769 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
13774 @node Advanced Formatting
13775 @subsection Advanced Formatting
13777 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
13778 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
13779 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
13780 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
13782 These are the valid modifiers:
13787 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
13791 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
13796 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
13799 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
13804 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
13807 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
13810 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
13813 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
13817 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
13818 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
13819 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
13820 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
13821 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
13822 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
13823 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
13825 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
13826 last operation, padding.
13828 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
13829 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
13830 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
13831 @xref{Compilation}.
13834 @node User-Defined Specs
13835 @subsection User-Defined Specs
13837 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
13838 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
13839 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
13840 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
13841 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
13842 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
13843 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
13844 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
13845 should protect against that.
13847 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
13848 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
13849 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
13850 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
13854 @node Formatting Fonts
13855 @subsection Formatting Fonts
13857 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
13858 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
13859 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
13860 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
13863 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
13864 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
13865 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
13866 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
13867 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
13868 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
13870 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
13873 ;; Create three face types.
13874 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
13875 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
13877 ;; We want the article count to be in
13878 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
13879 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
13880 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
13882 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
13883 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
13885 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
13886 (setq gnus-group-line-format
13887 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
13890 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
13891 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
13893 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
13894 mode-line variables.
13897 @node Windows Configuration
13898 @section Windows Configuration
13899 @cindex windows configuration
13901 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
13903 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
13904 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
13905 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
13906 @code{t} by default.
13908 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
13909 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
13910 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
13913 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
13914 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
13915 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
13919 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
13920 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
13921 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
13922 possible names is listed below.
13924 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
13925 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
13928 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
13932 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
13933 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
13934 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
13935 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
13936 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
13937 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
13938 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
13939 size spec per split.
13941 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
13942 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
13943 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
13944 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
13945 present) gets focus.
13947 Here's a more complicated example:
13950 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
13951 (summary 0.25 point)
13952 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
13956 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
13957 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
13958 occupy, not a percentage.
13960 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
13961 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
13962 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
13963 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
13964 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
13967 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
13970 (article (horizontal 1.0
13975 (summary 0.25 point)
13980 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
13981 @code{horizontal} thingie?
13983 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
13984 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
13985 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
13986 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
13987 the screen is to be given to this strip.
13989 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
13990 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
13991 lines from the splits.
13993 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
13997 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
13998 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
13999 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
14000 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
14001 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
14002 size = number | frame-params
14003 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
14006 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
14007 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
14008 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
14009 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
14011 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
14012 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
14013 @cindex window height
14014 @cindex window width
14015 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
14016 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
14017 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
14018 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
14019 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
14020 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
14022 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
14023 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
14024 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
14025 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
14027 @findex gnus-configure-frame
14028 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
14029 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
14030 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
14031 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
14032 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
14033 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
14034 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
14035 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
14036 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
14037 configuration list.
14040 (gnus-configure-frame
14044 (article 0.3 point))
14052 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
14053 @code{frame} split:
14056 (gnus-configure-frame
14059 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
14061 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
14062 (user-position . t)
14063 (left . -1) (top . 1))
14068 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
14069 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
14070 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
14071 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
14072 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
14073 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
14074 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
14075 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
14078 Here's a list of all possible keys for
14079 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
14081 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
14082 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
14083 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
14084 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
14085 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
14086 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
14088 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
14089 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
14090 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
14094 (message (horizontal 1.0
14095 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
14097 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
14102 @findex gnus-add-configuration
14103 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
14104 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
14105 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
14106 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14109 (gnus-add-configuration
14110 '(article (vertical 1.0
14112 (summary .25 point)
14116 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
14117 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
14118 Gnus has been loaded.
14120 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
14121 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
14122 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
14123 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
14124 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
14127 @node Faces and Fonts
14128 @section Faces and Fonts
14133 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14134 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14135 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14140 @section Compilation
14141 @cindex compilation
14142 @cindex byte-compilation
14144 @findex gnus-compile
14146 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14147 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14148 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14149 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14150 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14151 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14154 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14155 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14156 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14157 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14158 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14159 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14160 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14164 @section Mode Lines
14167 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14168 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14169 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14170 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14171 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14172 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14173 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14176 @cindex display-time
14178 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14179 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14180 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14181 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14182 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14183 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14184 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14185 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14188 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14190 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14191 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14193 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14194 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14195 (length display-time-string)))))
14198 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14199 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14200 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14201 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14202 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14205 @node Highlighting and Menus
14206 @section Highlighting and Menus
14208 @cindex highlighting
14211 @vindex gnus-visual
14212 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14213 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14214 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14217 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14218 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14221 @item group-highlight
14222 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14223 @item summary-highlight
14224 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14225 @item article-highlight
14226 Do highlights in the article buffer.
14228 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14230 Create menus in the group buffer.
14232 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14234 Create menus in the article buffer.
14236 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14238 Create menus in the server buffer.
14240 Create menus in the score buffers.
14242 Create menus in all buffers.
14245 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14246 buffers, you could say something like:
14249 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14252 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14255 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14258 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14259 in all Gnus buffers.
14261 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14264 @item gnus-mouse-face
14265 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14266 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14267 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14271 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14275 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14276 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14277 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14279 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14280 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14281 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14283 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14284 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14285 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14287 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14288 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14289 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14291 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14292 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14293 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14295 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14296 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14297 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14308 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14309 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14310 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14311 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14312 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14316 @vindex gnus-carpal
14317 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14318 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14319 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14324 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14325 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14326 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14328 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14329 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14330 Face used on buttons.
14332 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14333 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14334 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14336 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14337 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14338 Buttons in the group buffer.
14340 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14341 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14342 Buttons in the summary buffer.
14344 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14345 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14346 Buttons in the server buffer.
14348 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14349 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14350 Buttons in the browse buffer.
14353 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
14354 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
14355 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
14363 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
14364 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
14365 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
14366 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
14367 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
14369 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
14370 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
14371 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
14373 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
14374 been idle for thirty minutes:
14377 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
14380 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
14384 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
14387 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
14388 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
14389 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14391 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
14392 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
14393 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
14394 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14396 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
14397 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
14398 @var{idle} minutes.
14400 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
14401 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
14404 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
14405 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
14406 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
14408 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
14409 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
14410 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
14411 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
14413 @vindex gnus-use-demon
14414 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
14415 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
14417 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
14418 your @file{.gnus} file:
14420 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
14422 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
14425 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
14426 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
14427 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
14428 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
14429 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
14430 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
14431 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
14432 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
14433 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
14434 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
14435 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
14437 @findex gnus-demon-init
14438 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
14439 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
14440 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
14441 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
14442 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
14444 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
14445 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
14446 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
14455 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
14456 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
14458 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
14459 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
14460 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
14461 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
14464 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
14465 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
14466 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
14467 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
14469 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
14470 this will make spam disappear.
14472 There are some variables to customize, of course:
14475 @item gnus-use-nocem
14476 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
14477 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
14480 @item gnus-nocem-groups
14481 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
14482 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
14483 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
14484 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
14486 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
14487 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
14488 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
14489 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
14490 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
14491 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
14492 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
14494 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
14497 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
14498 @cindex Chris Lewis
14499 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
14500 usenet abuse than anybody else.
14503 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
14504 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
14505 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
14507 @item jem@@xpat.com;
14509 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
14512 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
14513 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
14514 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
14517 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
14518 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
14519 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
14520 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
14521 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
14522 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
14523 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
14524 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
14525 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
14526 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
14528 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
14529 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
14532 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
14535 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
14536 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
14539 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
14542 The specs are applied left-to-right.
14545 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
14546 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
14548 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
14549 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
14550 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
14551 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
14553 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
14554 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
14557 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
14559 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
14567 This might be dangerous, though.
14569 @item gnus-nocem-directory
14570 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
14571 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
14572 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
14574 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14575 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14576 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
14577 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
14578 might then see old spam.
14582 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
14583 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
14584 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
14585 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
14592 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
14593 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
14594 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
14596 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
14597 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
14598 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
14599 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
14600 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
14601 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
14602 @code{undo} function.
14604 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
14605 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
14606 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
14607 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
14608 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
14609 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
14610 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
14611 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
14612 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
14613 never be totally undoable.
14615 @findex gnus-undo-mode
14616 @vindex gnus-use-undo
14618 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
14619 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
14620 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
14621 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
14626 @section Moderation
14629 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
14630 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
14631 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
14634 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
14638 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
14641 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
14643 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
14648 You split your incoming mail by matching on
14649 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
14650 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
14653 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
14654 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
14657 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
14658 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
14662 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
14665 (setq gnus-moderated-list
14666 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
14670 @node XEmacs Enhancements
14671 @section XEmacs Enhancements
14674 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
14678 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
14679 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
14680 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
14681 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
14694 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
14695 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
14696 over your shoulder as you read news.
14699 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
14700 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
14701 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
14702 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
14703 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
14708 @subsubsection Picon Basics
14710 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
14719 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
14720 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
14721 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
14722 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
14723 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
14724 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
14725 @code{GIF} formats.
14728 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14729 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
14730 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
14731 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string
14732 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
14734 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14735 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
14736 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at
14737 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
14738 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
14739 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14742 @node Picon Requirements
14743 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
14745 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
14746 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
14749 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
14750 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
14751 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
14753 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14754 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
14755 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
14756 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
14757 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
14761 @subsubsection Easy Picons
14763 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
14764 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
14767 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
14768 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14769 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
14772 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
14773 containing the Picons databases.
14775 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
14778 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
14783 @subsubsection Hard Picons
14791 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
14792 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
14793 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
14794 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
14795 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
14800 @item gnus-picons-database
14801 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14802 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
14803 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
14804 subdirectories. This is only useful if
14805 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
14806 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
14808 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14809 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14810 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
14811 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
14812 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
14813 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
14814 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14816 @item gnus-picons-display-where
14817 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
14818 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
14819 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
14820 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
14821 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
14822 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
14823 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
14825 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
14826 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
14827 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
14832 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
14833 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
14835 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
14836 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
14839 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
14840 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
14842 @item gnus-article-display-picons
14843 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14844 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
14845 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
14846 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
14848 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
14849 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14850 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
14851 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
14855 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
14856 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
14859 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14863 @node Picon Useless Configuration
14864 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
14872 The following variables offer further control over how things are
14873 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
14874 don't need to worry about.
14878 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
14879 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
14880 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
14881 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
14883 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
14884 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
14885 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
14886 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
14888 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
14889 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
14890 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
14891 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
14892 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
14894 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14895 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14896 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
14897 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
14898 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
14899 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
14900 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
14902 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
14903 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
14904 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
14905 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
14907 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
14908 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
14909 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
14910 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
14911 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
14912 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
14913 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
14915 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
14916 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
14917 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
14918 Defaults to @code{nil}.
14920 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
14921 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
14922 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
14923 Defaults to @code{t}.
14925 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
14926 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
14927 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
14928 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
14930 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
14931 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
14932 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
14933 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
14935 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
14936 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
14937 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
14938 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
14939 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
14940 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
14941 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
14942 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
14953 @subsection Smileys
14958 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
14963 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
14964 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
14966 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
14967 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14970 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
14973 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
14974 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
14975 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
14976 text and maps that to file names.
14978 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
14979 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
14980 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
14981 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
14982 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
14983 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
14985 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
14986 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
14988 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
14989 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
14990 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
14992 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
14993 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
14997 @item smiley-data-directory
14998 @vindex smiley-data-directory
14999 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
15001 @item smiley-flesh-color
15002 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
15003 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
15005 @item smiley-features-color
15006 @vindex smiley-features-color
15007 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15009 @item smiley-tongue-color
15010 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
15011 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
15013 @item smiley-circle-color
15014 @vindex smiley-circle-color
15015 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15017 @item smiley-mouse-face
15018 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
15019 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
15025 @subsection Toolbar
15035 @item gnus-use-toolbar
15036 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
15037 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
15038 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
15039 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
15041 @item gnus-group-toolbar
15042 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
15043 The toolbar in the group buffer.
15045 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
15046 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
15047 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
15049 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15050 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15051 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
15057 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
15060 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15061 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15062 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
15063 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
15064 unusual directory structure.
15066 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15067 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15068 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
15069 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
15071 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15072 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15073 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
15074 Legal values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
15075 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
15076 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
15078 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15079 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15080 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
15094 @node Fuzzy Matching
15095 @section Fuzzy Matching
15096 @cindex fuzzy matching
15098 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
15099 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
15101 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
15102 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
15103 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
15105 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
15106 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
15107 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
15108 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15109 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15112 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15113 @section Thwarting Email Spam
15117 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
15119 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
15120 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
15121 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
15122 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
15123 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
15124 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
15125 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
15126 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
15129 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15130 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15131 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15132 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15133 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
15134 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15138 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15139 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15141 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15142 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15143 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15144 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15145 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15146 part of the mail address.)
15149 (setq message-default-news-headers
15150 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15153 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15154 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15159 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15160 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15161 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15167 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15168 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15169 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15170 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15172 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15173 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15174 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15175 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15176 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15177 your fancy split rule in this way:
15182 (to "larsi" "misc")
15186 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15187 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15188 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15189 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15190 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15192 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15193 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
15194 at @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15195 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15196 cosmic balance somewhat.
15198 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15199 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15200 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15201 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15204 @node Various Various
15205 @section Various Various
15211 @item gnus-home-directory
15212 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15213 defaults to @file{~/}.
15215 @item gnus-directory
15216 @vindex gnus-directory
15217 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15218 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15219 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15221 Note that Gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
15222 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
15223 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
15224 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
15226 @item gnus-default-directory
15227 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15228 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15229 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15230 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15231 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15232 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15233 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15236 @vindex gnus-verbose
15237 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15238 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15239 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15240 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15241 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15243 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15244 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15245 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15246 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15248 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15249 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15250 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15251 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15252 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15253 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15254 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15255 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15256 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15257 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15259 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15260 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15261 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15262 read when doing the operation described above.
15264 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15265 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15267 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15268 @cindex characters in file names
15269 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15270 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15271 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15274 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15278 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15279 Windows (phooey) systems.
15281 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15282 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15283 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15284 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15285 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15287 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15288 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15289 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15290 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15291 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15293 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15294 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15295 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15304 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15305 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15307 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15309 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15315 Not because of victories @*
15318 but for the common sunshine,@*
15320 the largess of the spring.
15324 but for the day's work done@*
15325 as well as I was able;@*
15326 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15327 but at the common table.@*
15332 @chapter Appendices
15335 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
15336 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
15337 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
15338 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
15339 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
15340 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
15341 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
15349 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
15350 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
15352 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
15353 can point your (feh!) web browser to
15354 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
15355 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
15356 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
15358 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
15359 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
15360 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
15361 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
15362 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
15363 appropriate name, don't you think?)
15365 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
15366 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
15367 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
15368 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
15370 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
15371 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
15372 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
15374 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
15375 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
15377 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
15378 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4''.
15380 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
15381 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
15382 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
15383 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
15384 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
15388 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
15389 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
15390 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
15391 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
15392 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
15393 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
15394 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
15401 What's the point of Gnus?
15403 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
15404 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
15405 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
15406 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
15407 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
15408 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
15409 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
15410 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
15411 keep track of millions of people who post?
15413 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
15414 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
15415 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
15416 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
15417 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
15418 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
15419 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
15420 every one of you to explore and invent.
15422 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
15423 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
15426 @node Compatibility
15427 @subsection Compatibility
15429 @cindex compatibility
15430 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
15431 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
15432 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
15437 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
15441 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
15444 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
15447 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
15448 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
15449 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
15450 important variables have their values copied into their global
15451 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
15452 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
15454 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
15455 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
15456 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
15457 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
15458 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
15462 @cindex highlighting
15463 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
15464 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
15465 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
15466 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
15467 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
15468 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
15471 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
15472 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
15473 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
15474 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
15476 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
15477 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
15478 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
15479 to stop doing it the old way.
15481 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
15483 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
15485 @cindex reporting bugs
15487 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
15488 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
15489 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
15491 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
15492 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
15493 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
15494 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
15499 @subsection Conformity
15501 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
15502 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
15509 There are no known breaches of this standard.
15513 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
15515 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
15516 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
15517 We do have some breaches to this one.
15522 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
15523 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
15526 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
15527 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
15528 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
15529 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
15530 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
15535 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
15536 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
15541 @subsection Emacsen
15547 Gnus should work on :
15552 Emacs 19.32 and up.
15555 XEmacs 19.14 and up.
15558 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.32 and up.
15562 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
15563 reliably, at least.
15565 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
15566 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
15567 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
15572 @subsection Contributors
15573 @cindex contributors
15575 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
15576 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
15577 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
15578 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
15579 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
15580 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
15581 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
15582 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
15583 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
15584 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
15586 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
15592 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
15595 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
15596 well as numerous other things).
15599 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
15602 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
15605 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
15606 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
15609 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
15612 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
15613 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
15616 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
15619 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
15622 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
15625 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
15628 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
15629 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
15632 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
15635 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
15638 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
15641 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
15645 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
15648 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
15651 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
15654 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
15655 well as autoconf support.
15659 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
15660 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
15662 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
15671 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
15675 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
15697 Massimo Campostrini,
15704 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
15710 Michael Welsh Duggan,
15713 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
15717 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
15723 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
15725 Michelangelo Grigni,
15728 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
15730 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
15732 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
15737 François Felix Ingrand,
15738 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
15740 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
15748 Peter Skov Knudsen,
15749 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
15750 Thor Kristoffersen,
15752 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
15769 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
15770 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
15777 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
15781 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
15783 John McClary Prevost,
15788 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
15793 Christian von Roques,
15795 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
15801 Philippe Schnoebelen,
15803 Randal L. Schwartz,
15831 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
15833 Shenghuo Zhu. @c Zhu
15835 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
15836 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
15837 (550kB and counting).
15839 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
15842 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
15843 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
15847 @subsection New Features
15848 @cindex new features
15851 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
15852 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
15853 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
15854 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6.22.
15857 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
15858 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
15859 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
15863 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
15865 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
15870 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
15871 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
15874 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
15875 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
15878 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
15881 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
15882 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
15883 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
15886 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
15887 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
15888 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
15889 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
15892 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
15893 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15896 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
15897 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
15898 (@pxref{The Active File}).
15901 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
15902 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
15905 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
15906 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
15907 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
15910 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
15911 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
15912 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
15915 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
15916 the @file{.emacs} file.
15919 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
15920 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15923 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
15924 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
15927 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
15928 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15931 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
15932 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
15935 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
15936 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
15939 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
15942 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
15943 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
15946 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
15947 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
15950 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
15951 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
15954 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
15957 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
15958 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
15961 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
15965 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
15969 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
15970 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
15973 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
15979 @node September Gnus
15980 @subsubsection September Gnus
15984 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
15988 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
15993 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
15994 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
15998 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
15999 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
16003 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
16007 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
16008 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
16011 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
16015 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16018 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
16021 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
16024 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
16028 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
16029 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
16032 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
16036 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
16040 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
16044 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
16048 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
16051 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
16052 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
16055 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
16059 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
16060 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
16063 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
16066 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
16067 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
16068 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16071 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
16075 The Gnus cache is much faster.
16078 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
16082 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
16083 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16086 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
16087 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
16090 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
16091 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16094 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
16095 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
16096 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
16099 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
16100 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
16103 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
16106 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16109 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16110 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
16114 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
16117 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
16120 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
16121 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
16124 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
16128 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
16131 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
16136 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
16139 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
16143 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16146 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
16150 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
16153 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16156 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16157 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16160 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16161 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16165 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16166 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16169 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16173 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16174 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16177 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16180 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16184 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16188 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16189 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16192 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16196 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16197 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16200 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16201 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16204 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16208 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16211 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16212 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16216 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16219 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16225 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16227 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16231 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16238 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16241 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16242 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16245 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16246 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16250 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16251 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16254 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16257 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16258 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16261 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16265 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16266 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16270 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16271 Server Internals}).
16274 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16278 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16281 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16282 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16285 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16286 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16287 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16290 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16291 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16294 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16295 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16298 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16302 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16303 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16306 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16307 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16310 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
16314 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
16317 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
16321 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
16322 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16325 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
16326 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16329 A new command for reading collections of documents
16330 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
16331 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
16334 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
16338 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
16339 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
16342 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
16343 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
16344 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
16347 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
16348 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
16352 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
16356 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
16360 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
16365 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
16369 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
16373 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
16374 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
16377 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
16380 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-emphasize)
16387 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
16389 New features in Gnus 5.6.22:
16394 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
16395 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
16396 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
16399 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
16400 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
16401 group, which is created automatically.
16404 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
16408 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
16411 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
16412 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
16415 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
16419 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
16422 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
16423 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
16426 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
16429 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
16430 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
16433 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
16434 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
16437 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
16438 control over simplification.
16441 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
16444 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
16448 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
16451 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16454 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
16455 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
16456 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
16459 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
16460 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
16463 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
16467 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
16468 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
16471 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
16472 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
16475 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
16479 A history of where mails have been split is available.
16482 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
16485 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
16486 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
16489 A new function for citing in Message has been
16490 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
16493 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
16496 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
16500 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
16501 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
16504 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
16505 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
16508 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
16511 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
16516 @node Newest Features
16517 @subsection Newest Features
16520 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
16523 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
16525 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
16526 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
16529 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
16534 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
16537 Really do unbinhexing.
16540 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
16541 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
16544 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
16547 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
16550 facep is not declared.
16553 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
16554 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
16557 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
16562 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
16563 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
16564 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
16565 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
16566 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
16567 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
16568 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
16573 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
16576 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
16579 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
16581 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
16582 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
16584 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
16586 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
16588 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
16589 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
16591 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
16593 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
16594 be marked as unread.
16596 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
16598 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
16600 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
16601 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
16603 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
16605 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
16607 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
16608 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
16610 topics that contain just groups with ticked
16611 articles aren't displayed.
16613 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
16615 implement gnus-score-thread
16617 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
16618 make the mail groups killed.
16620 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
16622 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
16623 and articles have to be removed.
16625 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
16628 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
16630 finding short score file names takes forever.
16632 canceling articles in foreign groups.
16634 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
16636 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
16638 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
16640 nnweb doesn't work properly.
16642 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
16644 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
16645 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
16649 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
16651 really unbinhex binhex files.
16653 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
16654 bar and the Gnus bar.
16657 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
16658 `(canonize-message-id id)'
16659 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
16660 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
16661 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
16662 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
16667 nnml .overview directory with splits.
16671 postponed commands.
16673 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
16675 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
16678 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
16679 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
16681 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
16682 inherit copy prompts and save files.
16684 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
16686 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
16687 for backends that support that.
16689 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
16691 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
16692 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
16694 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
16695 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
16697 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
16699 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
16701 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
16703 server mode command: close/open all connections
16705 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
16706 has been changed before using it.
16708 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
16710 hide (sub)threads with low score.
16712 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
16714 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
16716 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
16717 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
16719 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
16720 contain groups that match a regexp.
16722 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
16725 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
16728 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
16729 from subject lines.
16731 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
16733 nntp-ping-before-connect
16735 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
16737 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
16738 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
16740 message annotations.
16742 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
16744 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
16745 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
16747 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
16752 support qmail maildir spools
16754 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
16756 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
16758 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
16760 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
16761 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
16763 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
16765 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
16767 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
16768 finds and generate proper active ranges.
16770 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
16771 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
16773 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
16775 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
16777 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
16778 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
16780 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
16782 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
16784 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
16785 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
16788 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
16790 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
16792 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
16793 `C-c C-c' when posting.
16795 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
16798 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
16799 should be marker as expirable.
16801 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
16803 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
16804 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
16806 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
16807 Also consult Date headers.
16809 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
16811 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
16813 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
16814 Message-ID, delete the "original".
16816 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
16817 into a See-Also header.
16819 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
16821 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
16823 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
16824 should be listed as such and not as "K".
16826 generate font names dynamically.
16828 score file mode auto-alist.
16830 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
16831 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
16833 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
16834 absolutely all headers there is.
16836 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
16837 and pipe them to the process.
16839 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
16840 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
16841 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
16843 function for starting to edit a file to put into
16844 the current mail group.
16846 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
16848 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
16849 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
16851 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
16852 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
16854 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
16856 when replying to several process-marked articles,
16857 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
16859 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
16860 groups it has been mailed to.
16862 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
16864 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
16866 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
16868 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
16869 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
16871 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
16872 newlines) should be ignored.
16874 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
16875 groups in subtopics as well.
16877 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
16879 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
16882 add edit and forward secondary marks.
16884 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
16886 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
16888 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
16890 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
16892 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
16894 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
16895 or the formatted article.
16897 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
16899 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
16900 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
16902 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
16904 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
16906 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
16908 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
16909 even unread articles.
16911 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
16913 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
16915 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
16917 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
16919 canceling articles in foreign groups.
16921 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
16924 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
16925 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
16927 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
16928 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
16930 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
16932 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
16934 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
16935 from a particular server? Hm.
16937 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
16938 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
16940 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
16942 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
16943 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
16945 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
16946 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
16948 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
16949 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
16950 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
16953 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
16954 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
16956 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
16958 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
16960 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
16962 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
16965 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
16968 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
16969 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
16971 command to show and edit group scores
16973 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
16976 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
16978 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
16980 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
16981 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
16984 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
16985 that are of that length.
16987 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
16989 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
16991 asynchronous posting under nntp.
16993 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
16995 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
16997 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
16999 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
17000 a score lower than this number.
17002 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
17004 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
17006 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
17007 so that each copy can be edited separately.
17009 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
17011 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
17012 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
17014 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
17017 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
17018 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
17019 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
17020 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
17022 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
17025 command to remove all topic stuff.
17027 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
17028 and splitting the resulting digests.
17030 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
17032 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
17034 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
17035 matches an alist -- before saving.
17037 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
17039 variable to activate each group before entering them
17040 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
17042 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
17043 starting Gnus first if necessary.
17045 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
17046 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
17048 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
17050 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
17051 of several groups at once.
17053 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
17054 matches some regexp(s).
17056 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
17058 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
17060 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
17062 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
17064 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
17066 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
17068 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
17070 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
17071 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
17072 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
17073 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
17075 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
17076 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
17078 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
17080 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
17081 recently cited text.
17083 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
17085 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
17088 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
17089 server and just read the articles in the server
17091 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
17092 value of nnoo variables.
17094 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
17096 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
17097 listed in each group info.
17099 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
17102 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
17103 should only be applied to some groups.
17105 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
17106 mail-copies-to: never.
17108 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
17109 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
17111 the slave dribble files should autosave to the slave file names.
17113 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
17116 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
17119 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
17121 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
17124 group user-defined meta-parameters.
17128 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
17130 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
17131 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
17132 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
17133 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
17134 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
17136 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at
17137 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
17144 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
17145 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
17147 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
17148 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
17150 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
17151 "Return the date the group was last read."
17152 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17157 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
17158 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
17159 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17160 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17164 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17165 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17167 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17170 They could be used like this:
17174 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17175 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17176 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17178 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17180 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17183 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17186 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
17187 affect the summary line format.
17191 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17193 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17194 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17196 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17199 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
17201 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17203 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17205 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17207 - For other files, just find them normally.
17209 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17210 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17213 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17214 tell him what you are doing.
17217 Currently, I get prompted:
17221 decend into sci.something ?
17225 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17226 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
17227 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17228 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17231 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17232 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
17233 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17234 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17237 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17238 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17244 more than n blank lines
17246 more than m identical lines
17247 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17249 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17253 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17254 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17255 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17256 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17259 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17260 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17261 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17262 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17265 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17268 soup - bowl of soup
17269 score below - dim light bulb
17270 score over - bright light bulb
17273 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17278 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17279 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17280 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17281 if (articles-selected)
17282 start-reading-selected-articles;
17283 junk-unread-articles;
17288 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17289 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17290 select-thread-under-cursor;
17292 select-article-under-cursor;
17296 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17297 if (more-pages-in-article)
17299 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17306 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17307 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17308 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17311 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
17312 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
17313 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
17314 the wildcard expression).
17317 It would be nice if it also handled
17319 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
17321 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
17326 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
17327 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
17328 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
17329 article versions) variable.
17331 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
17333 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
17334 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
17338 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
17341 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
17342 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
17343 (message-sent-hook).
17345 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
17348 * Enhancements to Gnus:
17352 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
17353 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
17356 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
17357 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
17358 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
17361 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
17362 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
17366 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
17369 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
17373 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
17374 the nnmail duplicate checking.
17377 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
17378 value of the signature file.
17381 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
17382 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
17385 (setq message-tab-alist
17386 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
17387 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
17389 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
17393 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
17396 a command to import a buffer into a group.
17399 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
17402 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
17403 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
17406 a command to process mark all unread articles.
17409 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
17410 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
17411 do more gathering by subject.
17414 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
17415 article numerical order.
17418 (gnus-thread-total-score
17419 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
17423 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
17426 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
17427 in the summary buffer.
17430 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
17431 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
17434 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
17435 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
17436 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
17437 and/or newsgroup name.
17440 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
17443 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
17446 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
17449 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
17450 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
17451 will automatically get the process mark.
17454 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
17455 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
17456 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
17459 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
17463 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
17464 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
17467 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
17468 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
17472 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
17473 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
17476 be able to post via DejaNews.
17479 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
17482 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
17483 allow them to be displayed separately.
17486 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
17487 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
17490 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
17491 articles that match a certain From header.
17494 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
17495 saving living summary buffers.
17498 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
17499 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
17502 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
17503 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
17506 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
17507 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
17510 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
17511 (goto-char (point-min))
17512 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
17513 (replace-match "`" t t))
17514 (goto-char (point-min))
17515 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
17516 (replace-match "'" t t))
17517 (goto-char (point-min))
17518 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
17519 (replace-match "\"" t t))
17520 (goto-char (point-min))
17521 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
17522 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
17527 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
17529 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
17530 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
17531 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
17532 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
17536 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
17539 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
17540 numbers and match on the age of the article.
17543 gnus-cacheable-groups
17547 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
17548 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
17549 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
17551 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
17552 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
17554 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
17555 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
17560 all commands that react to the process mark should push
17561 the current process mark set onto the stack.
17564 gnus-article-hide-pgp
17565 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
17567 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
17569 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
17570 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
17573 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
17574 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
17577 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
17581 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
17582 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
17585 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
17588 nndraft-request-group should tally autosave files.
17591 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
17594 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
17598 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
17604 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
17607 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
17611 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
17612 X characters in the body.
17615 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
17618 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
17621 format spec to "tab" to a position.
17624 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
17627 command to display all dormant articles.
17630 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
17633 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
17634 to something someone else has said.
17637 Read Netscape discussion groups:
17638 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
17641 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
17642 the displayed version.
17645 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
17649 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
17652 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
17653 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
17654 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
17658 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
17659 in the head or body.
17662 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
17665 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
17668 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
17669 in a special, unique buffer.
17672 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
17675 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
17676 is less than a certain number of days old.
17679 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
17682 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
17685 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
17686 file, for instance.
17689 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
17690 in any other dummy thread will make Gnus highlight the
17691 dummy root instead of the first article.
17694 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
17695 topics for displaying.
17698 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
17699 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
17702 Solve the halting problem.
17711 @section The Manual
17715 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
17716 either @code{texi2dvi}
17718 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
17719 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
17721 to get what you hold in your hands now.
17723 The following conventions have been used:
17728 This is a @samp{string}
17731 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
17734 This is a @file{file}
17737 This is a @code{symbol}
17741 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
17745 (setq flargnoze "yes")
17748 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
17751 (setq flumphel 'yes)
17754 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
17755 ever get them confused.
17759 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
17760 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
17761 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
17762 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
17763 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
17764 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
17765 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
17773 @section Terminology
17775 @cindex terminology
17780 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
17781 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
17782 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
17783 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
17784 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
17788 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
17789 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
17790 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
17791 not posting, and replying is not following up.
17795 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
17799 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
17804 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
17805 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
17806 is all done by the backends.
17810 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
17811 default, way of getting news.
17815 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
17816 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
17821 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
17822 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
17826 A message that has been posted as news.
17829 @cindex mail message
17830 A message that has been mailed.
17834 A mail message or news article
17838 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
17843 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
17848 A line from the head of an article.
17852 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
17853 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
17857 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
17858 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
17859 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
17860 normal @sc{head} format.
17864 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
17865 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
17866 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
17867 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
17868 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
17869 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
17871 @item killed groups
17872 @cindex killed groups
17873 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
17874 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
17876 @item zombie groups
17877 @cindex zombie groups
17878 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
17881 @cindex active file
17882 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
17883 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
17884 is rather large, as you might surmise.
17887 @cindex bogus groups
17888 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
17889 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
17890 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
17893 @cindex activating groups
17894 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
17895 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
17896 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
17900 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
17902 @item select method
17903 @cindex select method
17904 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
17907 @item virtual server
17908 @cindex virtual server
17909 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
17910 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
17911 whole is a virtual server.
17915 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
17916 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
17919 @item ephemeral groups
17920 @cindex ephemeral groups
17921 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
17922 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
17923 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
17926 @cindex solid groups
17927 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
17928 group buffer are solid groups.
17930 @item sparse articles
17931 @cindex sparse articles
17932 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
17933 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
17937 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
17938 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
17942 @cindex thread root
17943 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
17944 articles in the thread.
17948 An article that has responses.
17952 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
17956 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
17957 specified by RFC1153.
17963 @node Customization
17964 @section Customization
17965 @cindex general customization
17967 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
17968 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
17969 for some quite common situations.
17972 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
17973 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
17974 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
17975 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
17979 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
17980 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
17982 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
17983 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
17984 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
17988 @item gnus-read-active-file
17989 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
17990 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
17991 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
17992 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
17993 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
17995 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
17996 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
17997 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
17998 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
18002 @node Slow Terminal Connection
18003 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
18005 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
18006 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
18007 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
18011 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
18012 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
18013 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
18014 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
18015 horizontal and vertical recentering.
18017 @item gnus-visible-headers
18018 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
18019 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
18020 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
18021 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
18023 @item gnus-article-display-hook
18024 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
18026 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
18027 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
18028 gnus-article-hide-citation))
18031 @item gnus-use-full-window
18032 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
18033 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
18034 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
18035 want to read them anyway.
18037 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
18038 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
18041 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
18042 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
18043 lines, which might save some time.
18047 @node Little Disk Space
18048 @subsection Little Disk Space
18051 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
18052 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
18056 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
18057 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
18058 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
18059 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18062 @item gnus-save-killed-list
18063 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
18064 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
18065 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
18066 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
18072 @subsection Slow Machine
18073 @cindex slow machine
18075 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
18076 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
18078 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18079 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
18081 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
18082 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
18083 summary buffer faster.
18085 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
18086 processing a bit faster.
18090 @node Troubleshooting
18091 @section Troubleshooting
18092 @cindex troubleshooting
18094 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
18102 Make sure your computer is switched on.
18105 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
18106 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
18110 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
18111 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
18112 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
18113 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
18116 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
18120 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
18121 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
18122 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
18123 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
18124 something like that.
18127 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
18130 @cindex reporting bugs
18132 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18134 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
18135 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
18136 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
18137 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
18139 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
18140 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
18141 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
18142 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
18145 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
18146 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
18147 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
18148 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
18149 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
18150 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
18152 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
18153 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
18154 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
18157 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
18158 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
18160 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
18161 @cindex ding mailing list
18162 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
18163 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
18167 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
18168 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
18170 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
18171 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
18172 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
18173 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
18176 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
18177 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18178 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18179 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18180 and general methods of operation.
18183 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18184 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18185 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18186 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18187 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18188 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18189 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18190 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18191 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18195 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18196 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18197 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18198 @cindex utility functions
18200 @cindex internal variables
18202 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18203 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18204 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18208 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18209 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18210 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18212 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18213 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18214 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18216 @item gnus-group-real-name
18217 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18218 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18221 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18222 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18223 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18224 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18226 @item gnus-get-info
18227 @findex gnus-get-info
18228 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18230 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18231 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18232 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18235 @item gnus-continuum-version
18236 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18237 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18238 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18241 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18242 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18243 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18245 @item gnus-news-group-p
18246 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18247 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18249 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18250 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18251 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
18253 @item gnus-server-to-method
18254 @findex gnus-server-to-method
18255 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
18257 @item gnus-server-equal
18258 @findex gnus-server-equal
18259 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
18261 @item gnus-group-native-p
18262 @findex gnus-group-native-p
18263 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
18265 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
18266 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
18267 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
18269 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
18270 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
18271 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
18273 @item group-group-find-parameter
18274 @findex group-group-find-parameter
18275 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
18276 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
18278 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
18279 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
18280 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
18282 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
18283 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
18284 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
18286 @item gnus-check-backend-function
18287 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
18288 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
18289 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
18292 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
18296 @item gnus-read-method
18297 @findex gnus-read-method
18298 Prompts the user for a select method.
18303 @node Backend Interface
18304 @subsection Backend Interface
18306 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
18307 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
18308 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
18309 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
18310 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
18311 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
18313 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
18314 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
18315 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
18316 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
18317 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
18318 been opened, the function should fail.
18320 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
18321 name. Take this example:
18325 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
18326 (nntp-port-number 4324))
18329 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
18330 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
18332 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
18333 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
18334 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
18336 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
18337 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
18338 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
18340 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
18341 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
18342 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
18343 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
18344 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
18345 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
18348 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
18349 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
18350 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
18351 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
18354 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
18357 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
18360 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
18361 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
18362 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
18363 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
18364 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
18365 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
18369 @node Required Backend Functions
18370 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
18374 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
18376 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
18377 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
18378 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
18379 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
18381 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
18382 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
18383 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
18384 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
18386 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
18387 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
18388 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
18389 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
18390 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
18391 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
18392 number, do maximum fetches.
18394 Here's an example HEAD:
18397 221 1056 Article retrieved.
18398 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
18399 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
18400 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
18401 Subject: Re: Something very droll
18402 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
18403 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
18405 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
18406 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
18407 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
18411 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
18412 these in the data buffer.
18414 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
18418 head = error / valid-head
18419 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
18420 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
18421 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
18422 header = <text> eol
18425 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
18426 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
18430 nov-buffer = *nov-line
18431 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
18432 field = <text except TAB>
18435 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
18439 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
18441 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
18442 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
18444 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
18445 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
18446 server. In fact, it should do so.
18448 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
18449 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
18452 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
18454 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
18455 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
18458 There should be no data returned.
18461 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
18463 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
18464 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
18465 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
18466 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
18468 There should be no data returned.
18471 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
18473 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
18474 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
18475 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
18476 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
18478 There should be no data returned.
18481 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
18483 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
18485 There should be no data returned.
18488 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
18490 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
18491 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
18492 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
18493 it would be nice if that were possible.
18495 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
18496 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
18497 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
18498 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
18499 into its article buffer.
18501 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
18502 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
18503 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
18504 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
18505 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
18506 on successful article retrieval.
18509 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
18511 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
18512 making @var{group} the current group.
18514 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
18517 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
18520 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
18523 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
18524 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
18525 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
18526 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
18527 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
18528 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
18529 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
18530 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
18533 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
18534 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
18535 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
18539 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18541 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
18542 a no-op on most backends.
18544 There should be no data returned.
18547 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
18549 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
18552 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
18555 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
18556 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
18559 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
18560 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
18563 active-file = *active-line
18564 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
18566 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
18569 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
18570 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
18571 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
18574 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
18576 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
18577 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
18578 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
18579 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
18580 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
18581 clear if the posting could not be completed.
18583 There should be no result data from this function.
18588 @node Optional Backend Functions
18589 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
18593 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
18595 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
18596 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
18597 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
18599 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
18600 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
18601 former is in the same format as the data from
18602 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
18603 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
18606 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
18610 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
18612 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
18613 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
18614 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
18615 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
18616 should return the (altered) group info.
18618 There should be no result data from this function.
18621 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
18623 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
18624 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
18625 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
18626 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
18627 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
18628 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
18629 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
18630 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
18632 There should be no result data from this function.
18635 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
18637 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
18638 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
18639 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
18640 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
18641 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
18643 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
18644 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
18645 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
18648 There should be no result data from this function.
18651 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
18653 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
18654 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
18655 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
18656 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
18657 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
18658 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
18659 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
18661 There should be no result data from this function.
18664 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
18666 The result data from this function should be a description of
18670 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
18672 description = <text>
18675 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
18677 The result data from this function should be the description of all
18678 groups available on the server.
18681 description-buffer = *description-line
18685 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
18687 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
18688 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
18689 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
18692 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18694 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
18696 There should be no return data.
18699 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
18701 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
18702 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
18703 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
18704 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
18705 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
18708 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
18711 There should be no result data returned.
18714 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
18717 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
18718 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
18720 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
18721 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
18722 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
18723 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
18724 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
18725 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
18727 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
18728 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
18731 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18732 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18734 There should be no data returned.
18737 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
18739 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
18740 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
18741 this function in short order.
18743 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18744 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18746 There should be no data returned.
18749 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
18751 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
18752 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
18754 There should be no data returned.
18757 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
18759 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
18760 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
18761 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
18763 There should be no data returned.
18766 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
18768 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
18769 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
18771 There should be no data returned.
18776 @node Error Messaging
18777 @subsubsection Error Messaging
18779 @findex nnheader-report
18780 @findex nnheader-get-report
18781 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
18782 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
18783 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
18784 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
18785 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
18786 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
18789 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
18791 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
18794 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
18795 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
18796 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
18797 takes one argument---the server symbol.
18799 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
18800 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
18801 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
18804 @node Writing New Backends
18805 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
18807 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
18808 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
18809 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
18810 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
18811 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
18814 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
18815 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
18816 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
18818 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
18819 package called @code{nnoo}.
18821 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
18822 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
18828 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
18829 parameters. For instance:
18832 (nnoo-declare nndir
18836 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
18837 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
18840 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
18841 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
18842 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
18844 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
18845 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
18846 a function in those backends.
18849 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
18850 "Where nndir will look for groups."
18851 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
18854 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
18855 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
18856 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
18858 @item nnoo-define-basics
18859 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
18863 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
18867 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
18868 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
18869 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
18871 @item nnoo-map-functions
18872 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
18873 functions from the parent backends.
18876 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
18877 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
18878 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
18881 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
18882 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
18883 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
18884 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
18887 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
18888 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
18889 haven't already been defined.
18895 nnmh-request-newgroups)
18899 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
18900 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
18901 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
18906 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
18909 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
18910 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
18914 (require 'nnheader)
18918 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
18920 (nnoo-declare nndir
18923 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
18924 "Where nndir will look for groups."
18925 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
18927 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
18928 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
18931 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
18932 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
18933 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
18935 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
18936 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
18938 ;;; Interface functions.
18940 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
18942 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
18943 (setq nndir-directory
18944 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
18946 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
18947 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
18948 (push `(nndir-current-group
18949 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
18951 (push `(nndir-top-directory
18952 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
18954 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
18956 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
18957 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
18958 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
18959 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
18960 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
18964 nnmh-status-message
18966 nnmh-request-newgroups))
18972 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
18973 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
18975 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
18976 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
18977 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
18978 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
18980 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
18981 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
18986 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
18989 The abilities can be:
18993 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
18995 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
18997 This backend supports both mail and news.
18999 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
19002 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
19003 articles and groups.
19005 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
19006 true for almost all backends.
19007 @item prompt-address
19008 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
19009 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
19010 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
19014 @node Mail-like Backends
19015 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
19017 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
19018 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
19019 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
19020 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
19023 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
19024 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
19025 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
19028 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
19029 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
19032 This function takes four parameters.
19036 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
19039 @item exit-function
19040 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
19042 @item temp-directory
19043 Where the temporary files should be stored.
19046 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
19047 performed for one group only.
19050 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
19051 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
19052 find the article number assigned to this article.
19054 The function also uses the following variables:
19055 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
19056 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
19057 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
19058 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
19062 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
19063 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
19067 @node Score File Syntax
19068 @subsection Score File Syntax
19070 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
19071 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
19072 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
19074 Here's a typical score file:
19078 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
19085 BNF definition of a score file:
19088 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
19089 element = rule / atom
19090 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
19091 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
19092 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
19093 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
19095 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
19096 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
19097 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
19098 date-header = "date"
19099 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19100 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19101 score = "nil" / <integer>
19102 date = "nil" / <natural number>
19103 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
19104 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
19105 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
19106 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
19107 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19108 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19109 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
19110 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19111 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
19112 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
19113 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
19114 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
19115 exclude-files / read-only / touched
19116 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
19117 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
19118 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
19119 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
19120 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
19121 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
19122 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
19123 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
19124 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
19125 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
19126 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
19127 eval = "eval" space <form>
19128 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
19131 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
19134 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
19135 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
19136 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
19137 one looong line, then that's ok.
19139 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
19140 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19144 @subsection Headers
19146 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
19147 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
19148 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
19149 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
19151 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
19152 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
19153 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
19154 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
19155 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
19156 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
19157 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
19159 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
19160 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
19161 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
19162 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
19163 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
19165 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
19172 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
19173 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
19175 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
19176 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
19177 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19178 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19180 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19184 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19187 is transformed into
19190 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19193 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19194 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19197 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19200 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19201 is slightly tricky:
19204 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19210 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
19213 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
19219 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
19226 and is equal to the previous range.
19228 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
19229 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
19230 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
19234 range = simple-range / normal-range
19235 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
19236 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
19237 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
19238 number *[ " " contents ]
19241 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
19242 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
19243 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
19244 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
19245 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
19250 @subsection Group Info
19252 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
19253 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
19254 describes the group.
19256 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
19257 second is a more complex one:
19260 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
19262 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
19263 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
19265 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
19268 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
19269 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
19270 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
19271 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
19272 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
19273 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
19274 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
19275 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
19276 this section is about.
19278 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
19279 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
19280 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
19282 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
19285 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
19286 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
19287 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19288 group = quote <string> quote
19289 ralevel = rank / level
19290 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19291 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
19292 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19294 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
19295 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
19296 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
19297 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
19300 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
19301 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
19304 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
19305 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
19308 @item gnus-info-group
19309 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
19310 @findex gnus-info-group
19311 @findex gnus-info-set-group
19312 Get/set the group name.
19314 @item gnus-info-rank
19315 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
19316 @findex gnus-info-rank
19317 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
19318 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
19320 @item gnus-info-level
19321 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
19322 @findex gnus-info-level
19323 @findex gnus-info-set-level
19324 Get/set the group level.
19326 @item gnus-info-score
19327 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
19328 @findex gnus-info-score
19329 @findex gnus-info-set-score
19330 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
19332 @item gnus-info-read
19333 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
19334 @findex gnus-info-read
19335 @findex gnus-info-set-read
19336 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
19338 @item gnus-info-marks
19339 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
19340 @findex gnus-info-marks
19341 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
19342 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
19344 @item gnus-info-method
19345 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
19346 @findex gnus-info-method
19347 @findex gnus-info-set-method
19348 Get/set the group select method.
19350 @item gnus-info-params
19351 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
19352 @findex gnus-info-params
19353 @findex gnus-info-set-params
19354 Get/set the group parameters.
19357 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
19358 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
19360 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
19361 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
19362 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
19363 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
19366 @node Extended Interactive
19367 @subsection Extended Interactive
19368 @cindex interactive
19369 @findex gnus-interactive
19371 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
19372 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
19373 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
19376 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
19377 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
19382 The best thing to do would have been to implement
19383 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
19384 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
19385 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
19386 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
19387 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
19388 @code{interactive}.
19390 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
19395 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
19396 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
19400 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
19401 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
19402 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
19405 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
19409 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
19413 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
19419 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
19420 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
19424 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
19425 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
19426 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
19428 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
19429 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
19430 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
19431 Gnus, that's very useful.
19433 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
19434 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
19435 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
19436 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
19437 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
19438 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
19439 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
19440 following function:
19443 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
19447 (,function ,@@args))
19451 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
19452 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
19453 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
19456 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
19457 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
19458 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
19460 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
19461 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
19462 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
19465 @node Various File Formats
19466 @subsection Various File Formats
19469 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
19470 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
19474 @node Active File Format
19475 @subsubsection Active File Format
19477 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
19478 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
19481 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
19484 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
19485 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
19486 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
19487 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
19488 no.general 1000 900 y
19491 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
19494 active = *group-line
19495 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
19496 group = <non-white-space string>
19498 high-number = <non-negative integer>
19499 low-number = <positive integer>
19500 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
19503 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
19504 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
19507 @node Newsgroups File Format
19508 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
19510 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
19511 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
19512 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
19515 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
19516 Here's the definition:
19520 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
19521 group = <non-white-space string>
19523 description = <string>
19528 @node Emacs for Heathens
19529 @section Emacs for Heathens
19531 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
19532 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
19533 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
19534 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
19535 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
19536 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
19537 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
19541 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
19542 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
19547 @subsection Keystrokes
19551 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
19554 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
19557 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
19558 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
19559 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
19560 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
19561 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
19562 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
19564 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
19565 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
19566 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
19567 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
19568 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
19569 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
19570 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
19572 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
19573 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
19574 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
19575 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
19576 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
19577 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
19578 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
19580 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
19581 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
19582 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
19583 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
19584 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
19590 @subsection Emacs Lisp
19592 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
19593 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
19594 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
19595 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
19597 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
19598 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
19599 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
19600 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
19601 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
19602 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
19603 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
19606 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
19607 write the following:
19610 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
19613 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
19614 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
19615 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
19618 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
19619 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
19620 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
19621 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
19622 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
19624 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
19625 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
19626 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
19630 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
19634 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
19637 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
19638 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
19641 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
19644 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
19645 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
19648 @include gnus-faq.texi