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4 @settitle Quassia Gnus 0.8 Manual
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255 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
262 \thispagestyle{empty}
264 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
266 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
267 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
268 are preserved on all copies.
270 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
271 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
272 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
273 permission notice identical to this one.
275 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
276 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
285 This file documents Gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
287 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
289 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
290 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
291 are preserved on all copies.
294 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
295 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
296 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
297 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
300 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
301 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
302 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
303 permission notice identical to this one.
305 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
306 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
312 @title Quassia Gnus 0.8 Manual
314 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
317 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
318 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
320 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
321 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
322 are preserved on all copies.
324 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
325 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
326 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
327 permission notice identical to this one.
329 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
330 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
339 @top The Gnus Newsreader
343 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using Gnus. The news
344 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
345 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
348 This manual corresponds to Quassia Gnus 0.8.
359 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
360 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
362 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
363 being accused of plagiarism:
365 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
366 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
367 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
368 even read news with it!
370 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
371 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
372 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend Gnus to make it behave
373 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
374 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
381 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
382 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
383 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
384 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
385 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
386 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
387 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
388 * Various:: General purpose settings.
389 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
390 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
391 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
392 * Key Index:: Key Index.
396 @chapter Starting Gnus
401 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting Gnus
402 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
405 @findex gnus-other-frame
406 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
407 If you want to start Gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
408 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
410 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
411 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
412 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
415 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
416 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
417 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
418 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
419 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
420 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
421 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
422 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
423 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
424 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
425 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
429 @node Finding the News
430 @section Finding the News
433 @vindex gnus-select-method
435 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where Gnus should look for
436 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
437 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
438 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
441 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
442 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
445 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
448 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
451 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
454 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
455 certainly be much faster.
457 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
459 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
460 If this variable is not set, Gnus will take a look at the
461 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
462 Gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
463 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
464 that fails as well, Gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
466 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
467 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
468 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
469 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
471 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
472 You can also make Gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
473 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
474 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), Gnus will let you choose between the servers
475 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
476 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
478 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
480 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
481 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
482 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
483 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
484 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
485 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
487 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
489 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
490 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
491 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
492 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
493 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
494 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
497 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
498 would typically set this variable to
501 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
506 @section The First Time
507 @cindex first time usage
509 If no startup files exist, Gnus will try to determine what groups should
510 be subscribed by default.
512 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
513 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, Gnus
514 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
515 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
518 Since she hasn't, Gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
519 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
520 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
522 You'll also be subscribed to the Gnus documentation group, which should
523 help you with most common problems.
525 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, Gnus will just
526 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
530 @node The Server is Down
531 @section The Server is Down
532 @cindex server errors
534 If the default server is down, Gnus will understandably have some
535 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
536 the news groups, you may want to start Gnus anyway.
538 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
539 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
540 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
541 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
542 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
543 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
544 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
546 @findex gnus-no-server
547 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
549 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
550 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
551 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start Gnus. That might come in handy
552 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
553 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
554 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
559 @section Slave Gnusae
562 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one Gnus at the
563 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
564 are using the two different Gnusae to read from two different servers),
565 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
567 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
570 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the Gnus
571 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
572 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
573 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
574 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
575 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
576 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
578 Anyways, you start one Gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
579 however you do it). Each subsequent slave Gnusae should be started with
580 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
581 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
582 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master Gnus
583 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
584 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
585 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
587 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
588 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
591 @node Fetching a Group
592 @section Fetching a Group
593 @cindex fetching a group
595 @findex gnus-fetch-group
596 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
597 group and I don't care whether Gnus has been started or not''. This is
598 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
599 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
600 It takes the group name as a parameter.
608 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
609 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
610 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
611 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
612 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
613 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
614 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
615 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the backends for new groups even
616 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
619 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
620 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
621 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
625 @node Checking New Groups
626 @subsection Checking New Groups
628 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
629 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
630 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
631 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, Gnus will ask the
632 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
633 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
634 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
635 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
636 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
637 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
639 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
640 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
641 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
642 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
643 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
644 work. I could write a function to make Gnus guess whether the server
645 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
646 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
647 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
648 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
649 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
651 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, Gnus will
652 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
653 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
654 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
655 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
656 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
659 @node Subscription Methods
660 @subsection Subscription Methods
662 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
663 What Gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
664 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
666 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
667 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
669 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
673 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
674 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
675 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
676 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
677 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
679 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
680 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
681 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
682 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the grop buffer.
684 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
685 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
686 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
688 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
689 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
690 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
691 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
692 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
693 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
694 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
695 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
696 up. Or something like that.
698 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
699 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
700 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that Gnus will ask
701 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
702 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
704 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
705 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
710 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
711 A closely related variable is
712 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
713 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will ask you in a
714 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
715 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
718 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
719 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
720 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
721 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
724 @node Filtering New Groups
725 @subsection Filtering New Groups
727 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
728 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
729 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
732 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
735 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
736 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
737 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
738 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
739 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
740 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
741 subscribing these groups.
742 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
743 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
745 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
746 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
747 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
748 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
749 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
750 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
751 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
752 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
754 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
755 Yet another variable that meddles here is
756 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
757 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
758 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
759 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
760 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
761 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
762 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
763 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
765 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
766 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
769 @node Changing Servers
770 @section Changing Servers
771 @cindex changing servers
773 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
774 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
775 very flaky and you want to use another.
777 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
778 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
782 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
783 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
784 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
785 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
788 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
789 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
790 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
791 functions more than absolutely necessary.
793 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
794 @findex gnus-change-server
795 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
796 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
797 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
798 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
799 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
801 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
802 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
803 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
804 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
805 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
807 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
808 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
809 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
810 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
811 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
812 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
816 @section Startup Files
817 @cindex startup files
822 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
823 information is traditionally stored in this file.
825 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
826 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
827 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
828 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
829 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
830 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
831 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
833 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
834 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
835 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
836 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file.
838 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
839 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
840 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
841 the file and save some space, as well as making exit from Gnus faster.
842 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
843 Gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
845 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
846 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
847 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
848 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
849 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
850 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
851 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
852 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
853 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
854 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
855 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
856 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
858 @vindex gnus-startup-file
859 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
860 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
861 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
863 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
864 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
865 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
866 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
867 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
868 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
869 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
870 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
871 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
872 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
875 (defun turn-off-backup ()
876 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
878 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
879 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
882 @vindex gnus-init-file
883 When Gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
884 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
885 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
886 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
887 @file{site-init} files with Gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
888 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
889 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
890 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
891 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
900 Whenever you do something that changes the Gnus data (reading articles,
901 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
902 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
903 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
904 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
907 If Gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
908 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
911 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
912 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, Gnus won't create and
913 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
915 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
916 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
917 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, Gnus will dribble
918 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
919 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
920 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
923 @node The Active File
924 @section The Active File
926 @cindex ignored groups
928 When Gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
929 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
930 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
932 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
933 Before examining the active file, Gnus deletes all lines that match the
934 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
935 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make Gnus
936 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
937 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
938 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
941 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
942 @c if you set it to anything else.
944 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
946 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
947 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
948 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
950 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
951 you actually subscribe to.
953 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
954 variable to @code{nil} will probably make Gnus slower, not faster. At
955 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow Gnus down
956 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
958 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
959 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
960 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
961 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
962 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
963 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
965 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will ask for group info in total
966 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
967 @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
968 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
969 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
970 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
972 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
973 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
975 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
976 secondary select methods.
979 @node Startup Variables
980 @section Startup Variables
985 @vindex gnus-load-hook
986 A hook run while Gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
987 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
988 times you start Gnus.
990 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
991 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
992 A hook run after starting up Gnus successfully.
994 @item gnus-startup-hook
995 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
996 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
998 @item gnus-started-hook
999 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1000 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up Gnus
1003 @item gnus-started-hook
1004 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1005 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1006 generating the group buffer.
1008 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1009 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1010 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1011 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1012 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1013 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1014 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1015 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1017 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1018 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1019 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1020 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1021 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1022 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1024 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1025 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1026 Message displayed by Gnus when no groups are available.
1028 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1029 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1030 If non-@code{nil}, play the Gnus jingle at startup.
1032 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1033 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1034 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1035 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1040 @node The Group Buffer
1041 @chapter The Group Buffer
1042 @cindex group buffer
1044 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1045 is the first buffer shown when Gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1046 long as Gnus is active.
1050 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1051 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1052 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1053 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1054 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1055 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1056 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1057 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1063 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1064 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1065 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1066 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1067 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1068 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1069 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1070 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1071 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1072 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1073 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1074 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1075 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1076 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1077 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1078 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1079 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1083 @node Group Buffer Format
1084 @section Group Buffer Format
1087 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1088 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1089 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1093 @node Group Line Specification
1094 @subsection Group Line Specification
1095 @cindex group buffer format
1097 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1098 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1100 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1103 25: news.announce.newusers
1104 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1109 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1110 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1111 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1112 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1114 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1115 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1116 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1117 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1118 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1119 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1121 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1123 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1124 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1125 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1126 never examined by Gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1129 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1130 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1131 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1133 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1138 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1141 Whether the group is subscribed.
1144 Level of subscribedness.
1147 Number of unread articles.
1150 Number of dormant articles.
1153 Number of ticked articles.
1156 Number of read articles.
1159 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1160 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1163 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1166 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1175 Newsgroup description.
1178 @samp{m} if moderated.
1181 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1190 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1194 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1197 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1198 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1199 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1200 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1201 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1204 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1206 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1210 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1214 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1215 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1216 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1217 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1218 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1219 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1224 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1225 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1226 group, or a bogus native group.
1229 @node Group Modeline Specification
1230 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1231 @cindex group modeline
1233 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1234 The mode line can be changed by setting
1235 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). It
1236 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1240 The native news server.
1242 The native select method.
1246 @node Group Highlighting
1247 @subsection Group Highlighting
1248 @cindex highlighting
1249 @cindex group highlighting
1251 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1252 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1253 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1254 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1255 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1257 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1261 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1263 ,(custom-face-lookup "Red" nil nil t nil nil))
1264 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) .
1265 ,(custom-face-lookup "SeaGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1267 ,(custom-face-lookup "SpringGreen" nil nil t nil nil))
1269 ,(custom-face-lookup "SteelBlue" nil nil t nil nil))
1271 ,(custom-face-lookup "SkyBlue" nil nil t nil nil))))
1274 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1281 The number of unread articles in the group.
1285 Whether the group is a mail group.
1287 The level of the group.
1289 The score of the group.
1291 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1293 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1294 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1296 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1297 topic being inserted.
1300 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1301 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal Gnus
1302 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1304 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1305 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1306 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1307 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1308 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1311 @node Group Maneuvering
1312 @section Group Maneuvering
1313 @cindex group movement
1315 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1316 expected, hopefully.
1322 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1323 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1324 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1330 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1331 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1332 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1336 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1337 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1341 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1342 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1346 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1347 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1348 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1352 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1353 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1354 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1357 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1363 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1364 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1365 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1370 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1371 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1372 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1376 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1377 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1378 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1381 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1382 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1383 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1384 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1388 @node Selecting a Group
1389 @section Selecting a Group
1390 @cindex group selection
1395 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1396 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1397 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1398 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1399 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1400 this command, Gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1401 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1402 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1403 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1404 negative, Gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1408 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1409 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1410 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1411 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1412 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1416 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1417 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1418 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1419 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1420 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1421 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1422 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1423 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), Gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1424 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1425 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1428 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1429 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1430 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1431 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1432 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1435 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1436 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1437 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1438 doing any processing of its contents
1439 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1440 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1441 manner will have no permanent effects.
1445 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1446 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should consider
1447 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1448 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, Gnus will query the user
1449 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1450 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1451 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1452 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1455 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1456 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1457 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1458 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1463 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1464 full summary buffer.
1467 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1470 Select the most high-scored article in the group when entering the
1474 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1475 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1476 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1480 @node Subscription Commands
1481 @section Subscription Commands
1482 @cindex subscription
1490 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1491 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1492 Toggle subscription to the current group
1493 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1499 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1500 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1501 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1502 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1508 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1509 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1510 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1516 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1517 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1520 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1521 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1522 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1523 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1524 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1530 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1531 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1535 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1536 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1539 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1540 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1541 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1542 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1543 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1544 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1545 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1546 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1547 @file{.newsrc} file.
1551 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1561 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1562 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1563 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1564 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1565 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1566 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
1571 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1572 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1573 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1577 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1578 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1579 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1581 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1582 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1583 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1584 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1585 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1586 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1593 @section Group Levels
1597 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1598 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1599 can ask Gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1600 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1601 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1603 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1609 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1610 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1611 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1612 prompted for a level.
1615 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1616 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1617 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1618 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1619 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1620 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1621 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1622 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1623 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1624 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1625 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1626 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1627 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1628 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1629 reasons of efficiency.
1631 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1632 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1634 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1635 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1636 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1638 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1639 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1640 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1641 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1642 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1643 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1644 relevant valid ranges.
1646 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1647 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1648 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1649 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1650 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1651 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1654 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1655 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1656 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1659 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1660 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1661 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1662 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1665 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1666 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1667 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1668 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1670 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1671 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1672 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1673 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1674 to 5. The default is 6.
1678 @section Group Score
1681 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1682 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1683 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1686 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1687 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1688 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1689 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1690 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1691 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1692 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1694 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1695 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1696 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1697 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1698 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1699 action after each summary exit, you can add
1700 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1701 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1702 slow things down somewhat.
1705 @node Marking Groups
1706 @section Marking Groups
1707 @cindex marking groups
1709 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1710 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1711 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1712 bidding on those groups.
1714 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1715 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1716 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1724 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1725 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1731 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1732 Remove the mark from the current group
1733 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1737 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1738 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1742 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1743 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1747 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1748 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1752 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1753 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1754 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1757 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1759 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1760 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1761 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1762 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1763 the command to be executed.
1766 @node Foreign Groups
1767 @section Foreign Groups
1768 @cindex foreign groups
1770 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1771 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1772 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1773 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1780 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1781 @cindex making groups
1782 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1783 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1784 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1788 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1789 @cindex renaming groups
1790 Rename the current group to something else
1791 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1792 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1798 @findex gnus-group-customize
1799 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1803 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1804 @cindex renaming groups
1805 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1806 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1810 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1811 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1812 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1816 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1817 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1818 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1822 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1824 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1825 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1830 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1831 Make the Gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1835 @cindex (ding) archive
1836 @cindex archive group
1837 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1838 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1839 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1840 Make a Gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1841 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1842 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1843 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1847 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1849 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1850 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1851 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1852 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1856 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1858 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1859 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1860 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1864 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1865 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1867 Make a group based on some file or other
1868 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1869 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1870 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1871 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1872 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1873 this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file type.
1874 @xref{Document Groups}.
1878 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1883 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1884 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1885 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1886 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1887 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1888 @xref{Web Searches}.
1891 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1892 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1893 This function will delete the current group
1894 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1895 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1896 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1897 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1898 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1902 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1903 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1904 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1908 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1909 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1910 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1913 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1916 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1917 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1918 Gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1919 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1920 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers.
1923 @node Group Parameters
1924 @section Group Parameters
1925 @cindex group parameters
1927 The group parameters store information local to a particular group:
1932 If the group parameter list contains an element that looks like
1933 @code{(to-address . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used by
1934 the backend when doing followups and posts. This is primarily useful in
1935 mail groups that represent closed mailing lists---mailing lists where
1936 it's expected that everybody that writes to the mailing list is
1937 subscribed to it. Since using this parameter ensures that the mail only
1938 goes to the mailing list itself, it means that members won't receive two
1939 copies of your followups.
1941 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
1942 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
1943 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
1944 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
1945 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
1946 list address instead.
1950 If the group parameter list has an element that looks like
1951 @code{(to-list . "some@@where.com")}, that address will be used when
1952 doing a @kbd{a} in that group. It is totally ignored when doing a
1953 followup---except that if it is present in a news group, you'll get mail
1954 group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
1956 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
1957 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
1958 sending the message.
1962 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
1963 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
1964 of whether it has any unread articles.
1966 @item broken-reply-to
1967 @cindex broken-reply-to
1968 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
1969 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
1970 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
1971 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
1972 broken behavior. So there!
1976 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
1977 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
1981 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list, Gnus will treat
1982 all responses as if they were responses to news articles. This can be
1983 useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a news group.
1987 If this symbol is present in the group parameter list and set to
1988 @code{t}, newly composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current
1989 group. If it is present and set to @code{none}, no @code{Gcc:} header
1990 will be generated, if it is present and a string, this string will be
1991 inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header (this symbol takes precedence
1992 over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later). @xref{Archived
1997 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
1998 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
1999 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2002 @cindex total-expire
2003 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2004 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2005 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2006 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2011 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2012 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2013 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2014 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2015 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2016 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2019 @cindex score file group parameter
2020 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2021 @file{file} into the current adaptive score file for the group in
2022 question. All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2025 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2026 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2027 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2028 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2031 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2032 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2033 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2034 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2037 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2038 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2042 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2045 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2050 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2051 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2052 Gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2055 @item @var{(variable form)}
2056 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2057 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2058 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2059 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2060 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2061 @code{eval}ed there.
2063 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2064 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2065 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2066 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2067 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2071 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group.
2073 @pxref{Topic Parameters}.
2075 Here's an example group parameter list:
2078 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2083 @node Listing Groups
2084 @section Listing Groups
2085 @cindex group listing
2087 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2095 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2096 List all groups that have unread articles
2097 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2098 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2099 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2100 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2107 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2108 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2109 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2110 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2111 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2112 unsubscribed groups).
2116 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2117 List all unread groups on a specific level
2118 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2119 with no unread articles.
2123 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2124 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2125 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2126 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2131 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2132 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2136 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2137 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2138 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2142 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2143 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2147 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2148 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2149 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2150 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2151 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2152 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2153 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2154 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2158 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2159 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2160 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2164 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2165 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2166 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2170 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2171 @cindex visible group parameter
2172 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2173 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2174 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2175 get the same effect.
2177 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2178 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2179 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2180 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2181 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2184 @node Sorting Groups
2185 @section Sorting Groups
2186 @cindex sorting groups
2188 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2189 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2190 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2191 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2192 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2193 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2198 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2199 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2200 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2202 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2203 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2204 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2206 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2207 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2208 Sort by group level.
2210 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2211 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2212 Sort by group score.
2214 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2215 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2216 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2217 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}.
2219 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2220 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2221 Sort by number of unread articles.
2223 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2224 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2225 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2230 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2231 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2235 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2236 some sorting criteria:
2240 @kindex G S a (Group)
2241 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2242 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2243 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2246 @kindex G S u (Group)
2247 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2248 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2249 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2252 @kindex G S l (Group)
2253 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2254 Sort the group buffer by group level
2255 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2258 @kindex G S v (Group)
2259 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2260 Sort the group buffer by group score
2261 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}).
2264 @kindex G S r (Group)
2265 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2266 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2267 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2270 @kindex G S m (Group)
2271 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2272 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2273 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2277 When given a prefix, all these commands will sort in reverse order.
2279 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2283 @kindex G P a (Group)
2284 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2285 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2286 group name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2289 @kindex G P u (Group)
2290 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2291 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by the number of
2292 unread articles (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2295 @kindex G P l (Group)
2296 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2297 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group level
2298 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2301 @kindex G P v (Group)
2302 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2303 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group score
2304 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}).
2307 @kindex G P r (Group)
2308 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2309 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer by group rank
2310 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}).
2313 @kindex G P m (Group)
2314 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2315 Sort the process/prefixed groups in the group buffer alphabetically by
2316 backend name (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2322 @node Group Maintenance
2323 @section Group Maintenance
2324 @cindex bogus groups
2329 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2330 Find bogus groups and delete them
2331 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2335 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2336 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2337 If given a prefix, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2341 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2342 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2343 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2344 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2347 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2348 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2349 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2350 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2355 @node Browse Foreign Server
2356 @section Browse Foreign Server
2357 @cindex foreign servers
2358 @cindex browsing servers
2363 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2364 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2365 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2366 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2369 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2370 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2371 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2372 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2374 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2379 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2380 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2384 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2385 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2388 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2389 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2390 Enter the current group and display the first article
2391 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2394 @kindex RET (Browse)
2395 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2396 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2400 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2401 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2402 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2408 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2409 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2413 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2414 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2415 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2420 @section Exiting Gnus
2421 @cindex exiting Gnus
2423 Yes, Gnus is ex(c)iting.
2428 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2429 Suspend Gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit Gnus,
2430 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
2431 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2435 @findex gnus-group-exit
2436 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2437 Quit Gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2441 @findex gnus-group-quit
2442 Quit Gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
2443 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2446 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2447 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2448 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend Gnus and
2449 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit Gnus, while
2450 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2455 If you wish to completely unload Gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2456 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2457 trying to customize meta-variables.
2462 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2463 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2464 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2470 @section Group Topics
2473 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2474 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2475 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2476 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2477 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2478 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2482 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2483 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2494 2: alt.religion.emacs
2497 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2499 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2500 13: comp.sources.unix
2503 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2505 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2506 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2507 is a toggling command.)
2509 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2510 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2511 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2512 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2515 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2516 the hook for the group mode:
2519 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2523 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2524 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2525 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2526 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2527 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2531 @node Topic Variables
2532 @subsection Topic Variables
2533 @cindex topic variables
2535 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2536 really neat, I think.
2538 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2539 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2540 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2553 Number of groups in the topic.
2555 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2557 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2560 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2561 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2562 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2565 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2566 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2568 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2569 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2570 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2573 @node Topic Commands
2574 @subsection Topic Commands
2575 @cindex topic commands
2577 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2578 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2579 definitions slightly.
2585 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2586 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2587 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2591 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2592 Move the current group to some other topic
2593 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2594 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2598 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2599 Copy the current group to some other topic
2600 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2601 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2605 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2606 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2607 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2608 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2612 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2613 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2614 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2618 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2619 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2620 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2624 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2625 Toggle hiding empty topics
2626 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2630 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2631 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2632 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2635 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2636 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2637 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2638 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2642 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2644 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2645 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2646 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2647 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2648 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2649 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2652 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2653 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2654 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2655 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2656 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2660 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2661 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2662 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2666 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2667 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2668 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2673 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2674 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2677 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2678 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2679 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2683 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2684 List all groups that Gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2685 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2689 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2690 @cindex group parameters
2691 @cindex topic parameters
2693 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2694 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2700 @subsection Topic Sorting
2701 @cindex topic sorting
2703 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2709 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2710 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2711 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2712 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2715 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2716 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2717 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2718 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2721 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2722 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2723 Sort the current topic by group level
2724 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2727 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2728 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2729 Sort the current topic by group score
2730 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}).
2733 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2734 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2735 Sort the current topic by group rank
2736 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}).
2739 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2740 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2741 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2742 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2746 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2749 @node Topic Topology
2750 @subsection Topic Topology
2751 @cindex topic topology
2754 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2760 2: alt.religion.emacs
2763 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2765 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2766 13: comp.sources.unix
2769 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2770 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2771 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2776 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2777 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2781 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2782 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2783 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2784 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2785 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2786 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2788 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2789 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2790 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2793 @node Topic Parameters
2794 @subsection Topic Parameters
2795 @cindex topic parameters
2797 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2798 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2799 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2801 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2802 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2803 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2804 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2810 2: alt.religion.emacs
2814 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2816 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2817 13: comp.sources.unix
2821 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2822 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2823 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2824 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2825 @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2826 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2828 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2829 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2830 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2831 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2832 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2834 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2835 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2836 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2837 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2838 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2839 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2840 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2841 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2844 @node Misc Group Stuff
2845 @section Misc Group Stuff
2848 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2849 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
2850 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2851 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
2858 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2859 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2860 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2864 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2865 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
2866 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
2870 @findex gnus-group-mail
2871 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2875 Variables for the group buffer:
2879 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2880 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2881 is called after the group buffer has been
2884 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2885 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2886 is called after the group buffer is
2887 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2890 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2891 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2892 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2893 whether they are empty or not.
2898 @node Scanning New Messages
2899 @subsection Scanning New Messages
2900 @cindex new messages
2901 @cindex scanning new news
2907 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
2908 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
2909 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
2910 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
2911 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
2912 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
2917 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
2918 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
2919 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
2920 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
2921 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
2922 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
2923 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
2925 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
2926 @cindex activating groups
2928 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
2929 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
2934 @findex gnus-group-restart
2935 Restart Gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
2936 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
2937 Gnus variables, and then starts Gnus all over again.
2941 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
2942 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
2944 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
2945 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
2949 @node Group Information
2950 @subsection Group Information
2951 @cindex group information
2952 @cindex information on groups
2959 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
2960 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
2963 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
2964 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
2965 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
2966 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
2967 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
2968 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
2969 for fetching the file.
2971 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, Gnus will attempt to go
2972 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
2976 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
2978 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
2979 @cindex describing groups
2980 @cindex group description
2981 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
2982 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
2983 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
2987 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
2988 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
2989 prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
2996 @findex gnus-version
2997 Display current Gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3001 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3002 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3005 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3008 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3009 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3013 @node Group Timestamp
3014 @subsection Group Timestamp
3016 @cindex group timestamps
3018 It can be convenient to let Gnus keep track of when you last read a
3019 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3020 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3023 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3026 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3028 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3029 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3032 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3033 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3036 This will result in lines looking like:
3039 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3040 0: custom 19961002T012713
3043 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3044 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3048 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3049 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3054 @subsection File Commands
3055 @cindex file commands
3061 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3062 @vindex gnus-init-file
3063 @cindex reading init file
3064 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3065 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3069 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3070 @cindex saving .newsrc
3071 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3072 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3073 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3076 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3077 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3078 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3083 @node The Summary Buffer
3084 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3085 @cindex summary buffer
3087 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3088 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3090 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3091 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3093 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3096 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3097 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3098 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3099 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3100 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3101 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3102 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3103 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3104 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3105 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3106 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3107 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3108 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3109 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3110 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3111 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3112 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3113 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3114 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3115 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3116 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3117 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3118 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3119 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3120 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3121 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3122 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3126 @node Summary Buffer Format
3127 @section Summary Buffer Format
3128 @cindex summary buffer format
3132 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3133 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3134 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3140 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3141 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3142 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3145 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3146 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3147 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3148 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3149 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3150 @code{From} header. Two pre-defined functions exist:
3151 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3152 fast, and too simplistic solution; and
3153 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works very nicely, but is
3154 slower. The default function will return the wrong answer in 5% of the
3155 cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the other function instead.
3157 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3158 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3159 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3160 with those specs that require it. The default is @samp{}.
3163 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3164 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3166 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3167 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3168 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3169 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3170 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3172 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3174 The following format specification characters are understood:
3182 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3183 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3184 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @samp{}.)
3186 Full @code{From} header.
3188 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3190 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3191 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3192 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3193 may be more thorough.
3195 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3198 Number of lines in the article.
3200 Number of characters in the article.
3202 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3204 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3205 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3207 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3208 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3210 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3211 for adopted articles.
3213 One space for each thread level.
3215 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3221 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3223 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3224 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3225 default level. If the difference between
3226 @code{gnus-summary-default-level} and the score is less than
3227 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3235 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3237 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3243 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3244 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3246 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3247 article has any children.
3253 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3254 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3255 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3256 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3257 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3258 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3261 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3262 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, Gnus will
3263 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3264 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3265 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3266 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3268 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3269 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3271 This restriction may disappear in later versions of Gnus.
3274 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3275 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3277 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3278 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar. Set
3279 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you like. The default
3280 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3282 Here are the elements you can play with:
3288 Unprefixed group name.
3290 Current article number.
3294 Number of unread articles in this group.
3296 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3299 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3300 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3301 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3302 and no unselected ones.
3304 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3305 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3307 Subject of the current article.
3309 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3311 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3313 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3315 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3317 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3319 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3323 @node Summary Highlighting
3324 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3328 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3329 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3330 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3331 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3332 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3334 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3335 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3336 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3337 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3339 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3340 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3341 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3342 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3344 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3345 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3346 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3347 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3348 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3349 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3351 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3352 ((> score default) . bold))
3354 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3355 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3359 @node Summary Maneuvering
3360 @section Summary Maneuvering
3361 @cindex summary movement
3363 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3364 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3366 None of these commands select articles.
3371 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3372 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3373 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3374 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3375 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3379 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3380 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3381 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3382 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3383 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3388 @kindex G j (Summary)
3389 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3390 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3391 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3394 @kindex G g (Summary)
3395 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3396 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3397 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3400 If Gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3401 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3402 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3403 to the group buffer.
3405 Variables related to summary movement:
3409 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3410 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3411 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3412 no more unread articles after the current one, Gnus will offer to go to
3413 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3414 empty, Gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3415 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, Gnus will select the
3416 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3417 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the
3418 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3419 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3420 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3421 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3422 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3424 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3425 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3426 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3427 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3428 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3429 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) This variable is not
3430 particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3432 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3433 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3434 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3435 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3436 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3438 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3439 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3440 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3441 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3442 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3443 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3444 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3445 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3451 @node Choosing Articles
3452 @section Choosing Articles
3453 @cindex selecting articles
3456 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3457 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3461 @node Choosing Commands
3462 @subsection Choosing Commands
3464 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3465 and they all select and display an article.
3469 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3470 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3471 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3472 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3477 @kindex G n (Summary)
3478 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3479 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3480 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3485 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3486 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3487 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3492 @kindex G N (Summary)
3493 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3494 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3499 @kindex G P (Summary)
3500 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3501 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3504 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3505 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3506 Go to the next article with the same subject
3507 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3510 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3511 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3512 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3513 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3517 @kindex G f (Summary)
3519 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3520 Go to the first unread article
3521 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3525 @kindex G b (Summary)
3527 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3528 Go to the article with the highest score
3529 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3534 @kindex G l (Summary)
3535 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3536 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3539 @kindex G o (Summary)
3540 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3542 @cindex article history
3543 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3544 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3545 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3546 history as you like. For a somewhat related issue (if you use this
3547 command a lot), @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3551 @node Choosing Variables
3552 @subsection Choosing Variables
3554 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3557 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3558 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3559 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3560 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3561 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3562 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3564 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3565 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3566 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3567 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3569 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3570 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3571 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3572 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3573 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3574 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3575 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3576 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3577 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3578 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3579 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3580 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3581 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3582 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3587 @node Paging the Article
3588 @section Scrolling the Article
3589 @cindex article scrolling
3594 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3595 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3596 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3597 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3598 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3601 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3602 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3603 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3606 @kindex RET (Summary)
3607 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3608 Scroll the current article one line forward
3609 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3613 @kindex A g (Summary)
3615 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3616 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3617 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3618 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3619 the way it came from the server.
3624 @kindex A < (Summary)
3625 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3626 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3627 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3632 @kindex A > (Summary)
3633 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3634 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3638 @kindex A s (Summary)
3640 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3641 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3642 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3647 @node Reply Followup and Post
3648 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3651 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3652 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3656 @node Summary Mail Commands
3657 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3659 @cindex composing mail
3661 Commands for composing a mail message:
3667 @kindex S r (Summary)
3669 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3670 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3671 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3672 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3673 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3678 @kindex S R (Summary)
3679 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3680 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3681 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3682 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3683 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3686 @kindex S w (Summary)
3687 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3688 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3689 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3690 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3691 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3694 @kindex S W (Summary)
3695 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3696 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3697 message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3698 the process/prefix convention.
3701 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3702 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3703 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3704 Forward the current article to some other person
3705 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3706 headers of the forwarded article.
3711 @kindex S m (Summary)
3712 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3713 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3714 Send a mail to some other person
3715 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3718 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3719 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3720 @cindex bouncing mail
3721 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3722 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3723 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3724 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3725 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3726 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, Gnus will try to fetch
3727 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3728 very well fail, though.
3731 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3732 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3733 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3734 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3735 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3736 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3737 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3738 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3739 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3740 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3742 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3743 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3744 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3745 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3746 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
3748 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3749 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3752 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3753 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3754 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
3755 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
3756 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3759 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3760 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3761 @cindex crossposting
3762 @cindex excessive crossposting
3763 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3764 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3766 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3767 This command is provided as a way to fight back agains the current
3768 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3769 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3770 command understands the process/prefix convention
3771 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3776 @node Summary Post Commands
3777 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3779 @cindex composing news
3781 Commands for posting a news article:
3787 @kindex S p (Summary)
3788 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3789 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
3790 Post an article to the current group
3791 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3796 @kindex S f (Summary)
3797 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3798 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
3799 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3803 @kindex S F (Summary)
3805 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
3806 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3807 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3808 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3809 process/prefix convention.
3812 @kindex S n (Summary)
3813 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3814 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3815 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
3818 @kindex S n (Summary)
3819 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3820 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3821 message through mail and include the original message
3822 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
3823 the process/prefix convention.
3826 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3827 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3828 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3829 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3830 headers of the forwarded article.
3833 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3834 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3836 @cindex making digests
3837 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3838 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3839 process/prefix convention.
3842 @kindex S u (Summary)
3843 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3844 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
3845 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3846 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3850 @node Canceling and Superseding
3851 @section Canceling Articles
3852 @cindex canceling articles
3853 @cindex superseding articles
3855 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3856 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3858 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3860 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3862 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
3863 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3864 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3865 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3866 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3868 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3869 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
3872 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
3873 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
3874 your original article.
3876 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
3878 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
3879 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
3880 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
3883 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
3884 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
3885 have posted almost the same article twice.
3887 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
3888 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
3889 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
3890 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
3891 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
3892 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
3893 header by substituting one of those words for the word
3894 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
3895 you would do normally. The previous article will be
3896 canceled/superseded.
3898 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
3901 @node Marking Articles
3902 @section Marking Articles
3903 @cindex article marking
3904 @cindex article ticking
3907 There are several marks you can set on an article.
3909 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
3910 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
3911 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
3913 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
3916 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
3917 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
3918 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
3922 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
3926 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
3927 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
3931 @node Unread Articles
3932 @subsection Unread Articles
3934 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
3939 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
3940 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
3942 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
3943 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
3944 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
3945 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
3946 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
3950 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
3951 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
3953 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
3954 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
3955 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
3958 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
3959 Markes as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
3961 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
3966 @subsection Read Articles
3967 @cindex expirable mark
3969 All the following marks mark articles as read.
3974 @vindex gnus-del-mark
3975 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
3976 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
3979 @vindex gnus-read-mark
3980 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
3983 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
3984 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
3985 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
3988 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
3989 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
3992 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
3993 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
3996 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
3997 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4000 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4001 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4004 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4005 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4008 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4009 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4012 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4013 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4017 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4018 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4019 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4023 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4024 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4026 One more special mark, though:
4030 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4031 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4033 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4034 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4035 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4036 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by Gnus at
4042 @subsection Other Marks
4043 @cindex process mark
4046 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4052 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4053 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4054 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4055 in the article, and Gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4056 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
4059 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4060 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4061 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4062 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4065 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4066 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4067 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}
4070 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4071 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4072 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4073 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4076 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4077 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4078 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4079 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4080 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4083 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4084 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4085 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4086 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4087 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4088 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4092 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4093 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4094 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4096 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4097 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4098 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4102 @subsection Setting Marks
4103 @cindex setting marks
4105 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4110 @kindex M c (Summary)
4111 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4112 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4113 @cindex mark as unread
4114 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4115 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4121 @kindex M t (Summary)
4122 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4123 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4124 @xref{Article Caching}
4129 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4130 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4131 Mark the current article as dormant
4132 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}
4136 @kindex M d (Summary)
4138 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4139 Mark the current article as read
4140 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4144 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4145 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4146 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4151 @kindex M k (Summary)
4152 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4153 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4154 and then select the next unread article
4155 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4159 @kindex M K (Summary)
4160 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4161 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4162 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4163 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4166 @kindex M C (Summary)
4167 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4168 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4169 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4172 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4173 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4174 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4175 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4178 @kindex M H (Summary)
4179 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4180 Catchup the current group to point
4181 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4184 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4185 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4186 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4187 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4190 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4191 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4192 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4193 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4197 @kindex M e (Summary)
4199 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4200 Mark the current article as expirable
4201 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4204 @kindex M b (Summary)
4205 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4206 Set a bookmark in the current article
4207 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4210 @kindex M B (Summary)
4211 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4212 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4213 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4216 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4217 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4218 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4219 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4222 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4223 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4224 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4225 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4228 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4229 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4230 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4231 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4232 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4235 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4236 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4237 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4238 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4239 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4240 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4241 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4242 The default is @code{t}.
4245 @node Setting Process Marks
4246 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4247 @cindex setting process marks
4254 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4255 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4256 Mark the current article with the process mark
4257 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4258 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4262 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4263 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4264 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4265 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4268 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4269 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4270 Remove the process mark from all articles
4271 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4274 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4275 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4276 Invert the list of process marked articles
4277 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4280 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4281 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4282 Mark articles by a regular expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4285 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4286 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4287 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4290 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4291 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4292 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4293 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4296 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4297 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4298 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4299 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4302 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4303 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4304 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4305 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4308 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4309 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4310 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4313 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4314 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4315 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4316 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4319 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4320 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4321 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4324 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4325 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4326 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4327 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4330 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4331 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4332 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4333 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4336 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4337 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4338 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4339 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4342 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4343 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4344 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4345 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4354 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4355 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4356 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4363 @kindex / / (Summary)
4364 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4365 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4366 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4369 @kindex / a (Summary)
4370 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4371 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4372 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4376 @kindex / u (Summary)
4378 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4379 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4380 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4381 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4382 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4385 @kindex / m (Summary)
4386 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4387 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have not been marked
4388 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4391 @kindex / t (Summary)
4392 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4393 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4394 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4395 articles younger than that number of days.
4398 @kindex / n (Summary)
4399 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4400 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4401 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4402 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4405 @kindex / w (Summary)
4406 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4407 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4408 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4412 @kindex / v (Summary)
4413 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4414 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4415 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4419 @kindex M S (Summary)
4420 @kindex / E (Summary)
4421 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4422 Display all expunged articles
4423 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4426 @kindex / D (Summary)
4427 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4428 Display all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4431 @kindex / d (Summary)
4432 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4433 Hide all dormant articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4436 @kindex / c (Summary)
4437 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4438 Hide all dormant articles that have no children
4439 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4442 @kindex / C (Summary)
4443 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4444 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4445 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4446 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4454 @cindex article threading
4456 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4457 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4458 hierarchical fashion.
4460 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4461 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4462 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4463 or simply missing. Weird news propagration excarcerbates the problem,
4464 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4465 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4466 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4468 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4472 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4475 A tree-like article structure.
4478 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4481 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4482 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4483 summary buffer. We then typicall have many sub-threads that really
4484 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4485 called loose threads.
4487 @item thread gathering
4488 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4490 @item sparse threads
4491 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4492 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4498 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4499 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4503 @node Customizing Threading
4504 @subsection Customizing Threading
4505 @cindex customizing threading
4508 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4509 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4510 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4511 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4516 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4519 @cindex loose threads
4522 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4523 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4524 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4525 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4526 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4527 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4529 When there is no real root of a thread, Gnus will have to fudge
4530 something. This variable says what fudging method Gnus should use.
4531 There are four possible values:
4535 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4536 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4537 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4538 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4539 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4544 @cindex adopting articles
4549 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4550 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4551 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4552 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4555 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4556 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4557 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4558 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4559 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4560 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4561 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4564 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4565 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4566 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4570 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4571 display them after one another.
4574 Don't gather loose threads.
4577 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4578 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4579 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4580 variable is @code{nil}, Gnus requires an exact match between the
4581 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4582 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4583 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4584 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4585 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4586 variable to a really low number, you'll find that Gnus will gather
4587 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4589 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4590 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, Gnus will
4591 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4594 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4595 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4596 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4597 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4598 simplification is used.
4600 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4601 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4602 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4603 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4605 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4607 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4613 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4614 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4615 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4616 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4621 (mapconcat 'identity
4622 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4624 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4627 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4630 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4631 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4632 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4633 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4634 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4635 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4636 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4637 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4639 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4640 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4641 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4642 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4643 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4644 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4645 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4646 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4647 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4651 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4652 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4653 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4654 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4656 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4657 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4658 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4661 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4665 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4666 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4672 @node Filling In Threads
4673 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4676 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4677 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4678 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4679 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
4680 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
4681 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
4682 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
4683 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
4684 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
4685 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4686 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4687 expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do about that.
4689 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4690 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4691 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4692 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4693 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4694 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
4695 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where Gnus guesses that an article
4696 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4697 lines. If you select a gap, Gnus will try to fetch the article in
4698 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, Gnus will display all these
4699 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4700 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, Gnus won't cut
4701 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4702 @code{nil} by default.
4707 @node More Threading
4708 @subsubsection More Threading
4711 @item gnus-show-threads
4712 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4713 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4714 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4715 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4716 slower and more awkward.
4718 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4719 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4720 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4723 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4724 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4725 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4726 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4727 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4728 threads are expunged.
4730 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4731 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4732 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4735 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4736 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4737 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4738 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4739 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4742 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4743 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4744 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4750 @node Low-Level Threading
4751 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
4755 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
4756 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
4757 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
4758 @code{(gnus-decode-rfc1522)}, which means that QPized headers will be
4759 slightly decoded in a hackish way. This is likely to change in the
4760 future when Gnus becomes @sc{MIME}ified.
4762 @item gnus-alter-header-function
4763 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
4764 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
4765 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
4766 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
4767 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
4768 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
4769 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
4770 meaningful. Here's one example:
4773 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
4775 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
4776 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
4778 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
4780 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
4787 @node Thread Commands
4788 @subsection Thread Commands
4789 @cindex thread commands
4795 @kindex T k (Summary)
4796 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4797 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4798 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4799 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4800 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4805 @kindex T l (Summary)
4806 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4807 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4808 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4809 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4812 @kindex T i (Summary)
4813 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4814 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4815 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4818 @kindex T # (Summary)
4819 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4820 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
4821 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4824 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
4825 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4826 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
4827 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4830 @kindex T T (Summary)
4831 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
4832 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
4835 @kindex T s (Summary)
4836 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
4837 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
4838 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
4841 @kindex T h (Summary)
4842 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
4843 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
4846 @kindex T S (Summary)
4847 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
4848 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
4851 @kindex T H (Summary)
4852 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
4853 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
4856 @kindex T t (Summary)
4857 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
4858 Re-thread the current article's thread
4859 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
4860 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
4863 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
4864 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
4865 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
4866 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
4870 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
4871 understand the numeric prefix.
4876 @kindex T n (Summary)
4877 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
4878 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
4881 @kindex T p (Summary)
4882 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
4883 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
4886 @kindex T d (Summary)
4887 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
4888 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
4891 @kindex T u (Summary)
4892 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
4893 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
4896 @kindex T o (Summary)
4897 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
4898 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
4901 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
4902 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
4903 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
4904 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
4905 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
4906 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
4907 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
4908 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
4909 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
4910 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
4911 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
4912 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
4919 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
4920 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
4921 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
4922 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4923 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
4924 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4925 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
4926 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
4927 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
4928 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
4929 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
4930 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
4931 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
4932 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
4934 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
4935 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
4936 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
4937 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
4938 in the list. You should probably always include
4939 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
4940 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
4941 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
4942 ascending article order.
4944 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
4945 number, you could do something like:
4948 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4949 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
4950 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
4951 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
4954 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
4955 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
4956 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
4957 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
4958 which the articles arrived.
4960 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
4964 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
4966 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t2 t1)))
4967 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
4970 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
4971 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
4972 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
4973 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
4976 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
4977 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
4978 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
4979 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
4980 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
4981 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
4982 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
4983 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
4984 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
4985 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
4986 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
4987 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
4988 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
4990 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
4994 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
4995 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
4996 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5001 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5002 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5003 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5004 @cindex article pre-fetch
5007 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5008 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5009 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5010 article appears. Why can't Gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5011 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5013 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5014 article fetching, especially the way Gnus does it.
5016 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5017 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5018 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5019 article 3, but since Gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5020 connection is blocked.
5022 To avoid these situations, Gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5023 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5024 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5025 extra connection takes some time, so Gnus startup will be slower.
5027 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5028 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5029 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5030 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5033 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5036 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5037 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5038 happen automatically.
5040 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5041 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5042 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5043 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5044 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5045 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5046 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5048 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5049 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5050 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5051 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5052 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5053 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5054 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5055 data structure as the only parameter.
5057 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5060 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5061 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5062 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5063 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5066 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5069 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5070 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down Gnus too much.
5071 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5073 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5074 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5075 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5076 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5080 Remove articles when they are read.
5083 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5086 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5088 @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5089 If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5090 from the next group.
5093 @node Article Caching
5094 @section Article Caching
5095 @cindex article caching
5098 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5099 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5100 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5101 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5102 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5104 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5106 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5107 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5108 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5109 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5110 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5111 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5112 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5113 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5115 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5116 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5117 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5118 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5119 as dormant, and don't worry.
5121 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5123 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5124 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5125 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5126 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5127 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5128 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5129 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5130 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5131 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5132 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5134 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5135 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5136 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5137 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5138 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5139 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5140 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5141 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5142 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5143 not then be downloaded by this command.
5145 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5146 It is likely that you do not want caching on some groups. For instance,
5147 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5148 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5149 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space. To limit the caching,
5150 you could set the @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to
5151 @samp{^nnml}, for instance. This variable is @code{nil} by
5154 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5155 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5156 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5157 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5158 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5159 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, Gnus
5160 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5161 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5162 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5166 @node Persistent Articles
5167 @section Persistent Articles
5168 @cindex persistent articles
5170 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5171 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5172 useful in my opinion.
5174 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5175 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5176 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5177 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5178 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5179 the expiry going on at the news server.
5181 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5182 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5183 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5189 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5190 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5193 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5194 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5195 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5196 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5200 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5202 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5203 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5204 interested in persistent articles:
5207 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5211 @node Article Backlog
5212 @section Article Backlog
5214 @cindex article backlog
5216 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5217 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5218 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where Gnus will buffer
5219 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5220 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5221 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5222 that, turning the backlog on will slow Gnus down a little bit, and
5223 increase memory usage some.
5225 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5226 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, Gnus will store
5227 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5228 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, Gnus will store
5229 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5230 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5231 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5233 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5236 @node Saving Articles
5237 @section Saving Articles
5238 @cindex saving articles
5240 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5241 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5242 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5243 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5244 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5246 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5247 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will not delete
5248 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5250 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5251 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5252 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5253 deleted before saving.
5259 @kindex O o (Summary)
5261 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5262 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5263 Save the current article using the default article saver
5264 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5267 @kindex O m (Summary)
5268 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5269 Save the current article in mail format
5270 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5273 @kindex O r (Summary)
5274 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5275 Save the current article in rmail format
5276 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5279 @kindex O f (Summary)
5280 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5281 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5282 Save the current article in plain file format
5283 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5286 @kindex O F (Summary)
5287 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5288 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5289 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5292 @kindex O b (Summary)
5293 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5294 Save the current article body in plain file format
5295 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5298 @kindex O h (Summary)
5299 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5300 Save the current article in mh folder format
5301 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5304 @kindex O v (Summary)
5305 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5306 Save the current article in a VM folder
5307 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5310 @kindex O p (Summary)
5311 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5312 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5313 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5316 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5317 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5318 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5319 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5320 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5321 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5322 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5323 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5324 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5325 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5326 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5327 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5331 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5332 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5333 Gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5334 functions below, or you can create your own.
5338 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5339 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5340 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5341 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5342 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5343 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5344 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5346 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5347 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5348 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5349 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5350 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5351 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5353 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5354 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5355 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5356 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5357 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5358 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5359 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5361 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5362 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5363 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5364 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5365 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5367 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5368 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5369 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5370 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5371 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5374 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5375 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5376 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5377 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5378 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5380 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5381 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5382 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5383 reader to use this setting.
5386 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5387 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5388 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5389 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5392 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5393 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5394 available functions that generate names:
5398 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5399 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5400 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5402 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5403 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5404 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5406 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5407 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5408 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5410 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5411 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5412 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5415 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5416 You can have Gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
5417 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
5418 save articles related to Gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
5419 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
5423 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5424 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5425 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5426 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5429 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5430 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5431 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5432 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5433 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5434 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5435 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5436 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5437 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5439 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5440 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5441 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5442 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5444 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5445 means that Gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5446 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
5449 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5450 lots of mail groups called things like
5451 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5452 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5453 following will do just that:
5456 (defun my-save-name (group)
5457 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5458 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5460 (setq gnus-split-methods
5461 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5466 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5467 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5468 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5469 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5470 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5471 all the files in the toplevel directory
5472 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5473 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5474 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5475 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5477 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5478 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5479 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5480 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5481 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5484 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5488 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5489 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5492 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5493 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5494 the toplevel directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5495 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5498 @node Decoding Articles
5499 @section Decoding Articles
5500 @cindex decoding articles
5502 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5503 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5506 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5507 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5508 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5509 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5510 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5511 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5515 @cindex article series
5516 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5517 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5518 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5519 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5520 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5522 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5523 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5524 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5526 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, Gnus
5527 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5528 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5530 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5531 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5532 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5535 @node Uuencoded Articles
5536 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5538 @cindex uuencoded articles
5543 @kindex X u (Summary)
5544 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5545 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5546 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5549 @kindex X U (Summary)
5550 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5551 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5552 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5555 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5556 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5557 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5560 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5561 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5562 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5563 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5567 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5568 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5569 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5570 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5571 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5573 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5574 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5575 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5576 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5579 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5580 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5581 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5582 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5583 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5584 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5588 @node Shell Archives
5589 @subsection Shell Archives
5591 @cindex shell archives
5592 @cindex shared articles
5594 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5595 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5596 some commands to deal with these:
5601 @kindex X s (Summary)
5602 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5603 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5606 @kindex X S (Summary)
5607 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5608 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5611 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5612 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5613 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5616 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5617 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5618 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5619 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5623 @node PostScript Files
5624 @subsection PostScript Files
5630 @kindex X p (Summary)
5631 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5632 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5635 @kindex X P (Summary)
5636 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5637 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5638 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5641 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5642 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5643 View the current PostScript series
5644 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5647 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5648 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5649 View and save the current PostScript series
5650 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5655 @subsection Other Files
5659 @kindex X o (Summary)
5660 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5661 Save the current series
5662 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5665 @kindex X b (Summary)
5666 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5667 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5668 doesn't really work yet.
5672 @node Decoding Variables
5673 @subsection Decoding Variables
5675 Adjective, not verb.
5678 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5679 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5680 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5684 @node Rule Variables
5685 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5686 @cindex rule variables
5688 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5689 variables are of the form
5692 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5699 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5700 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5702 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5703 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5706 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5707 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5710 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5711 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5712 This variable is consulted if Gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5713 user and default view rules.
5715 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5716 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5717 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5722 @node Other Decode Variables
5723 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5726 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5728 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5729 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
5730 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5731 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5732 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5736 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5737 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5740 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5741 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5742 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5745 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5746 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5747 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
5748 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
5749 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
5752 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5753 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5754 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5756 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5757 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5758 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5759 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5760 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5763 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5764 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5765 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5767 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5768 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5769 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5770 looking for files to display.
5772 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5773 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5774 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5777 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5778 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5779 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5782 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5783 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5784 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5787 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5788 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5789 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5792 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5793 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5794 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
5795 decoded articles as unread.
5797 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5798 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5799 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5800 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5802 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5803 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5805 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5806 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5807 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5808 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5810 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5811 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
5812 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
5813 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
5814 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
5815 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
5816 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
5817 simply dropped them.
5822 @node Uuencoding and Posting
5823 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
5827 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5828 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
5829 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
5830 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
5831 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
5832 for you when you post the article.
5834 @item gnus-uu-post-length
5835 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
5836 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
5837 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
5839 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
5840 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
5841 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
5842 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
5843 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
5844 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
5845 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
5847 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5848 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
5849 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
5850 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
5851 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
5852 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
5853 Default is @code{t}.
5859 @subsection Viewing Files
5860 @cindex viewing files
5861 @cindex pseudo-articles
5863 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, Gnus will attempt
5864 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
5865 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
5866 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, Gnus will
5867 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
5868 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
5869 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
5871 Finally, Gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
5872 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
5873 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
5874 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
5876 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
5877 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
5878 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
5880 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
5881 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
5882 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
5883 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
5884 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
5886 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
5887 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
5888 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
5889 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
5890 a list of parameters to that command.
5892 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
5893 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
5894 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
5896 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
5897 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
5898 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
5901 @node Article Treatment
5902 @section Article Treatment
5904 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
5905 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
5906 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
5907 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
5908 these articles easier.
5911 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
5912 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look niced.
5913 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
5914 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
5915 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
5916 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
5917 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
5921 @node Article Highlighting
5922 @subsection Article Highlighting
5925 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
5926 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
5931 @kindex W H a (Summary)
5932 @findex gnus-article-highlight
5933 Highlight the current article (@code{gnus-article-highlight}).
5936 @kindex W H h (Summary)
5937 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
5938 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
5939 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
5940 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
5941 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
5942 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
5943 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name and
5944 @var{content} is the face for highlighting the header value. The first
5945 match made will be used. Note that @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^}
5946 prepended---Gnus will add one.
5949 @kindex W H c (Summary)
5950 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
5951 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
5953 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
5956 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5958 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
5959 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
5960 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
5962 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5963 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
5964 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
5966 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
5967 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
5968 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
5970 @item gnus-cite-face-list
5971 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
5972 List of faces used for highlighting citations. When there are citations
5973 from multiple articles in the same message, Gnus will try to give each
5974 citation from each article its own face. This should make it easier to
5977 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
5978 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
5979 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
5981 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5982 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
5983 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
5985 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5986 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
5987 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
5988 that it's a citation.
5990 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5991 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
5992 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
5994 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5995 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
5996 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
5998 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
5999 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6000 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6001 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6007 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6008 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6009 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6010 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6011 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6012 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6013 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6014 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6020 @node Article Fontisizing
6021 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6023 @cindex article emphasis
6025 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6026 @kindex W e (Summary)
6027 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6028 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6029 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6030 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6032 @vindex gnus-article-emphasis
6033 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6034 @code{gnus-article-emphasis} variable. This is an alist where the first
6035 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6036 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6037 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6038 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6039 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6043 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6044 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6045 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6048 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6049 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6050 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6051 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6052 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6053 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6054 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6055 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6056 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6057 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6058 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6059 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6060 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6062 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6063 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6064 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6068 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6072 @node Article Hiding
6073 @subsection Article Hiding
6074 @cindex article hiding
6076 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6077 too much cruft in most articles.
6082 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6083 @findex gnus-article-hide
6084 Do maximum hiding on the summary buffer (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}).
6087 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6088 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6089 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6093 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6094 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6095 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6096 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6099 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6100 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6101 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6105 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6106 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6107 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6108 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6109 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6110 signature has been hidden.
6113 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6114 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6115 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6116 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6119 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6120 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6121 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6122 customizing the hiding:
6126 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6127 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6128 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6129 50), hide the cited text.
6131 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6132 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6133 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6136 @item gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
6137 @vindex gnus-cited-text-button-line-format
6138 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6139 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6140 by this format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6145 Start point of the hidden text.
6147 End point of the hidden text.
6149 Length of the hidden text.
6152 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6153 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6154 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6159 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6160 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6161 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6162 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6163 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6164 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6168 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6169 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6170 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6172 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6173 citation customization.
6176 @node Article Washing
6177 @subsection Article Washing
6179 @cindex article washing
6181 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6182 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6184 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6185 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6191 @kindex W l (Summary)
6192 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6193 Remove page breaks from the current article
6194 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}).
6197 @kindex W r (Summary)
6198 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6199 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6200 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6201 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6202 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6203 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6205 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6206 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6207 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6208 is rumoured to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6211 @kindex W t (Summary)
6212 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6213 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6214 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6217 @kindex W v (Summary)
6218 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6219 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6220 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6223 @kindex W m (Summary)
6224 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6225 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
6226 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6229 @kindex W o (Summary)
6230 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6231 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6234 @kindex W w (Summary)
6235 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6236 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6237 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6238 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6240 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6244 @kindex W c (Summary)
6245 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6246 Remove CR (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines)
6247 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6250 @kindex W q (Summary)
6251 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
6252 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
6253 Quoted-Printable is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending
6254 non-ASCII (i. e., 8-bit) articles. It typically makes strings like
6255 @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which doesn't look very
6259 @kindex W f (Summary)
6261 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6262 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6263 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6264 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6267 \gnusxface{tmp/xface-karlheg.ps}
6268 \gnusxface{tmp/xface-kyle.ps}
6269 \gnusxface{tmp/xface-smb.ps}
6272 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6273 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6274 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6275 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6276 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6277 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6278 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6279 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6280 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6281 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6282 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6283 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6284 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6285 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6289 @kindex W b (Summary)
6290 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6291 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6292 @xref{Article Buttons}
6295 @kindex W B (Summary)
6296 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6297 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6298 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6301 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6302 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6303 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6304 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6307 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6308 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6309 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6310 lines with a single empty line.
6311 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6314 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6315 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6316 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6317 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6320 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6321 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6322 Do all the three commands above
6323 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6326 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6327 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6328 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6329 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6334 @node Article Buttons
6335 @subsection Article Buttons
6338 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6339 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6340 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6341 button on these references.
6343 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6344 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6345 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6350 @item gnus-button-alist
6351 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6352 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6355 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6361 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6362 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6363 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6366 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6367 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6368 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6371 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6372 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6373 avoid false matches.
6376 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6379 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6380 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6384 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6387 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6390 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6391 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6392 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6393 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6394 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6397 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6400 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6402 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6403 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6404 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6405 default values of the variables above.
6407 @item gnus-article-button-face
6408 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6409 Face used on buttons.
6411 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6412 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6413 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6419 @subsection Article Date
6421 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6422 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6423 when the article was sent.
6428 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6429 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6430 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6431 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6434 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6435 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6436 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6439 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6440 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6441 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6442 @findex format-time-string
6443 Display the date using a user-defined format
6444 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6445 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6446 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6447 for a list of possible format specs.
6450 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6451 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6452 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6453 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}).
6456 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6457 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6458 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6459 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6460 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6461 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6462 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6467 @node Article Signature
6468 @subsection Article Signature
6470 @cindex article signature
6472 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6473 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6474 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6475 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6476 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6477 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6478 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6479 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6480 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6483 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6484 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6485 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6486 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6487 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6488 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6489 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6490 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6493 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6496 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6497 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6502 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6505 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6508 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6509 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6511 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6512 in question is not a signature.
6515 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6516 listed above. Here's an example:
6519 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6520 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6523 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6524 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6525 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6526 signature after all.
6529 @node Article Commands
6530 @section Article Commands
6537 @kindex A P (Summary)
6538 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6539 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6540 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6541 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6542 run just before printing the buffer.
6547 @node Summary Sorting
6548 @section Summary Sorting
6549 @cindex summary sorting
6551 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6552 can't really see why you'd want that.
6557 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6558 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6559 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6562 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6563 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6564 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6567 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6568 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6569 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6572 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6573 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6574 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6577 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6578 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6579 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6582 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6583 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6584 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6587 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6588 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6589 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6590 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6591 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
6595 @node Finding the Parent
6596 @section Finding the Parent
6597 @cindex parent articles
6598 @cindex referring articles
6600 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6602 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6603 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6604 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6605 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6606 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6607 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6608 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6609 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6611 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6612 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6613 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, Gnus will fetch the parent, the
6614 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6615 @kbd{-3 ^}, Gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6618 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6619 @kindex A R (Summary)
6620 You can have Gnus fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References}
6621 header of the article by pushing @kbd{A R}
6622 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6624 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6625 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6627 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
6628 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6629 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6630 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6631 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6632 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6633 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6635 The current select method will be used when fetching by
6636 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
6637 by giving this command a prefix.
6639 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6640 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6641 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6642 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6643 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
6644 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
6647 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6648 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6649 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6650 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6651 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6652 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6655 @node Alternative Approaches
6656 @section Alternative Approaches
6658 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6659 Gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6662 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6663 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6668 @subsection Pick and Read
6669 @cindex pick and read
6671 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
6672 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
6673 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
6674 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
6676 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6677 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6678 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6679 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6680 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6681 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
6683 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6688 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6689 Pick the article on the current line
6690 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}). If given a numerical prefix,
6691 go to that article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
6692 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
6695 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
6696 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
6697 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
6698 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
6702 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6703 Unpick the article (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6707 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6708 Unpick all articles (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6712 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6713 Pick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6717 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6718 Unpick the thread (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6722 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6723 Pick the region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6727 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6728 Unpick the region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6732 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6733 Pick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6737 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6738 Unpick articles that match a regexp (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6742 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6743 Pick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6747 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-buffer
6748 Unpick the buffer (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-buffer}).
6752 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
6753 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
6754 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
6755 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
6756 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
6757 will still be visible when you are reading.
6761 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
6764 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
6767 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
6768 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
6770 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
6771 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
6772 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
6774 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
6775 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
6776 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
6777 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
6778 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
6779 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
6780 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
6784 @subsection Binary Groups
6785 @cindex binary groups
6787 @findex gnus-binary-mode
6788 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
6789 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
6790 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
6791 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
6792 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
6793 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
6796 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
6797 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
6798 command, when you have turned on this mode
6799 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
6801 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
6802 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
6806 @section Tree Display
6809 @vindex gnus-use-trees
6810 If you don't like the normal Gnus summary display, you might try setting
6811 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
6812 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
6815 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
6818 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
6819 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
6820 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
6822 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6823 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
6824 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers. The default
6825 is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}. For a list of valid specs, @pxref{Summary
6828 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
6829 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
6830 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
6831 default is @code{modeline}.
6833 @item gnus-tree-line-format
6834 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
6835 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
6836 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
6837 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
6838 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
6839 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
6845 The name of the poster.
6847 The @code{From} header.
6849 The number of the article.
6851 The opening bracket.
6853 The closing bracket.
6858 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6860 Variables related to the display are:
6863 @item gnus-tree-brackets
6864 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
6865 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
6866 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
6867 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
6868 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}))}.
6870 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6871 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
6872 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
6873 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
6877 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
6878 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
6879 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will try to keep the tree
6880 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other Gnus
6881 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
6882 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
6883 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
6884 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
6885 other windows displayed next to it.
6887 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
6888 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
6889 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
6890 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
6891 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
6892 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
6893 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
6897 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
6900 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
6910 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
6914 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
6915 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
6917 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
6919 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
6924 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
6925 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
6926 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
6929 (setq gnus-use-trees t
6930 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
6931 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
6932 (gnus-add-configuration
6936 (summary 0.75 point)
6941 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
6944 @node Mail Group Commands
6945 @section Mail Group Commands
6946 @cindex mail group commands
6948 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
6949 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
6951 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
6952 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6957 @kindex B e (Summary)
6958 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
6959 Expire all expirable articles in the group
6960 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
6963 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
6964 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
6965 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
6966 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
6967 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
6968 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
6971 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
6972 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
6973 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
6974 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
6975 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
6976 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
6979 @kindex B m (Summary)
6981 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
6982 Move the article from one mail group to another
6983 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
6986 @kindex B c (Summary)
6988 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
6989 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
6990 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
6991 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
6994 @kindex B C (Summary)
6995 @cindex crosspost mail
6996 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
6997 Crosspost the current article to some other group
6998 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
6999 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7000 be properly updated.
7003 @kindex B i (Summary)
7004 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7005 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7006 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7007 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7010 @kindex B r (Summary)
7011 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7012 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7013 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7014 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7015 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7019 @kindex B w (Summary)
7021 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7022 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7023 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7024 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7025 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}).
7028 @kindex B q (Summary)
7029 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7030 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7031 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7032 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7035 @kindex B p (Summary)
7036 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7037 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7038 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7039 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7040 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7041 article from your news server (or rather, from
7042 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7043 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7044 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7045 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7046 just not have arrived yet.
7050 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7051 @cindex moving articles
7052 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have Gnus
7053 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7054 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7055 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7056 suggestions you find reasonable.
7059 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7060 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7061 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7062 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7066 @node Various Summary Stuff
7067 @section Various Summary Stuff
7070 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7071 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7072 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7073 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7077 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7078 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7079 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7081 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7082 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7083 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7084 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7085 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7086 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7089 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7090 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7091 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7092 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7093 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7095 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7096 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7097 When Gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7098 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7099 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7100 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7101 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), Gnus will rename the
7102 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7103 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7104 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7109 @node Summary Group Information
7110 @subsection Summary Group Information
7115 @kindex H f (Summary)
7116 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7117 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7118 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7119 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7120 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7121 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7122 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7123 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7124 be used for fetching the file.
7127 @kindex H d (Summary)
7128 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7129 Give a brief description of the current group
7130 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7131 rereading the description from the server.
7134 @kindex H h (Summary)
7135 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7136 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7137 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7140 @kindex H i (Summary)
7141 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7142 Go to the Gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7146 @node Searching for Articles
7147 @subsection Searching for Articles
7152 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7153 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7154 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7155 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7158 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7159 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7160 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7161 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7165 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7166 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7167 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7168 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7172 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7173 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7174 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7175 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7178 @node Summary Generation Commands
7179 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7184 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7185 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7186 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7189 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7190 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7191 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7192 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7197 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7198 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7203 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7204 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7205 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7206 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7207 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7208 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7209 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7210 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7211 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7215 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7216 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7217 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7218 several documents into one biiig group
7219 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7220 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7221 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7222 command understands the process/prefix convention
7223 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7226 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7227 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7228 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7229 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7230 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7231 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7235 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7236 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7237 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7242 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7243 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7244 @cindex summary exit
7245 @cindex exiting groups
7247 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7248 group and return you to the group buffer.
7254 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7256 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7257 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7258 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7259 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7260 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7261 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7262 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7263 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7264 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7265 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7266 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7270 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7272 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7273 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7274 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7278 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7280 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7281 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7282 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7283 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7286 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7287 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7288 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7289 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7292 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7293 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7294 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7295 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7298 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7299 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7300 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7301 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7302 all articles, both read and unread.
7306 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7307 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7308 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7309 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7310 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7311 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7312 articles, both read and unread.
7315 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7316 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7317 Exit the group and go to the next group
7318 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7321 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7322 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7323 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7324 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7327 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7328 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7329 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7330 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7331 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7332 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7335 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7336 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7339 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7340 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7341 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7342 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7343 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7344 If you do that, Gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7345 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7346 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7347 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7348 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7349 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7350 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7352 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7354 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7355 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7356 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7357 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7358 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7359 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7360 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7361 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7362 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7365 @node Crosspost Handling
7366 @section Crosspost Handling
7370 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7371 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7372 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7373 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7374 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7375 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7378 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7379 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7380 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7381 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7382 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7384 @cindex cross-posting
7387 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7388 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7389 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7390 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7391 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7392 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7393 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7394 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7395 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7396 the cross reference mechanism.
7398 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7399 @cindex overview.fmt
7400 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7401 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7402 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7403 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7404 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7405 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7408 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7409 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7410 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7415 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7418 @node Duplicate Suppression
7419 @section Duplicate Suppression
7421 By default, Gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7422 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7423 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7424 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
7429 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7430 is evil and not very common.
7433 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7434 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7437 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7438 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7441 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7444 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7445 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7447 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7448 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7449 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7450 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7451 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7452 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7453 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7456 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7457 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7458 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7459 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7460 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7464 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7465 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7466 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7468 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7469 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7470 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7471 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7472 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single Gnus
7473 session are suppressed.
7475 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7476 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7477 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7478 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7480 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7481 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7482 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7483 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7486 If you have a tendency to stop and start Gnus often, setting
7487 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7488 you leave Gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7489 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7490 so that means that if you stop and start Gnus often, you should set
7491 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7492 to you to figure out, I think.
7495 @node The Article Buffer
7496 @chapter The Article Buffer
7497 @cindex article buffer
7499 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7500 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7501 tell Gnus otherwise.
7504 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7505 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
7506 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7507 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7508 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7512 @node Hiding Headers
7513 @section Hiding Headers
7514 @cindex hiding headers
7515 @cindex deleting headers
7517 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7518 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7520 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7521 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7522 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7523 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7524 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7525 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7526 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7527 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7528 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7530 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7534 @item gnus-visible-headers
7535 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7536 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7537 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7538 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7540 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7541 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7544 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7547 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7550 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7551 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7552 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7553 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7554 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7555 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7557 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} line
7558 and the @code{Xref} line, you might say:
7561 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7564 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7567 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7568 variable will have no effect.
7572 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7573 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7574 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7575 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7576 the headers are to be displayed.
7578 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7579 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7582 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
7585 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
7586 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
7588 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7589 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7590 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
7591 You can hide further boring headers by entering
7592 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
7593 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
7594 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
7595 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
7596 @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove from sight.
7598 These conditions are:
7601 Remove all empty headers.
7603 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
7606 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
7607 @code{Newsgroups} header.
7609 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
7612 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
7616 To include the four first elements, you could say something like;
7619 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
7620 '(empty newsgroups followup-to reply-to))
7623 This is also the default value for this variable.
7627 @section Using @sc{mime}
7630 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
7631 while people stand around yawning.
7633 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
7634 while all newsreaders die of fear.
7636 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
7637 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
7638 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
7640 @vindex gnus-show-mime
7641 @vindex gnus-show-mime-method
7642 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
7643 @findex metamail-buffer
7644 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
7645 @code{gnus-show-mime-method}, which is @code{metamail-buffer} by
7646 default. Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
7647 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
7648 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
7649 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
7650 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
7651 buffer. These can't be avoided.
7653 It might be best to just use the toggling functions from the summary
7654 buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance, you enter the
7655 group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it, @sc{mime} has
7656 decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible sing-a-long song
7657 comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find the volume
7658 button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to look at you,
7659 and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you can't find the
7660 program to control the volume, and everybody else in the room suddenly
7661 decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel rather stupid.)
7663 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7666 @node Customizing Articles
7667 @section Customizing Articles
7668 @cindex article customization
7670 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7671 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7672 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7673 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7675 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7676 By default this hook just contains @code{gnus-article-hide-headers},
7677 @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}, and
7678 @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight}, but there are thousands, nay
7679 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7680 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7681 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7682 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
7683 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
7685 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7686 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7687 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7688 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
7689 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
7692 @node Article Keymap
7693 @section Article Keymap
7695 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
7696 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
7697 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
7698 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
7701 A few additional keystrokes are available:
7706 @kindex SPACE (Article)
7707 @findex gnus-article-next-page
7708 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
7711 @kindex DEL (Article)
7712 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
7713 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
7716 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
7717 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
7718 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
7719 @kbd{r}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
7720 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
7723 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
7724 @findex gnus-article-mail
7725 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
7726 given a prefix, include the mail.
7730 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
7731 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
7732 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
7736 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
7737 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
7738 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
7741 @kindex TAB (Article)
7742 @findex gnus-article-next-button
7743 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
7744 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
7747 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
7748 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
7749 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
7755 @section Misc Article
7759 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
7760 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
7761 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
7762 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
7765 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
7766 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
7767 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
7768 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
7769 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
7770 the contents of the article buffer.
7772 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7773 @item gnus-article-display-hook
7774 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
7775 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
7776 hiding headers, and the like.
7778 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
7779 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
7780 Hook called in article mode buffers.
7782 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7783 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
7784 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
7785 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
7787 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
7788 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
7789 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
7790 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. It accepts the same
7791 format specifications as that variable, with one extension:
7795 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
7796 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
7800 @vindex gnus-break-pages
7802 @item gnus-break-pages
7803 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
7804 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
7805 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
7806 paging will not be done.
7808 @item gnus-page-delimiter
7809 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
7810 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
7815 @node Composing Messages
7816 @chapter Composing Messages
7821 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
7822 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
7823 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
7824 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
7825 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
7826 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
7827 to make Gnus try to post using the foreign server.
7830 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
7831 * Post:: Posting and following up.
7832 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
7833 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
7834 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
7835 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
7836 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
7839 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
7840 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
7846 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
7849 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
7850 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
7851 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
7852 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
7854 @item gnus-add-to-list
7855 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
7856 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
7857 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
7865 Variables for composing news articles:
7868 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7869 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
7870 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
7871 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
7872 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
7873 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
7874 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
7875 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
7876 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want Gnus to keep a history
7879 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7880 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
7881 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
7882 file. It is 1000 by default.
7887 @node Posting Server
7888 @section Posting Server
7890 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
7891 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
7893 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
7895 @vindex gnus-post-method
7897 It can be quite complicated. Normally, Gnus will use the same native
7898 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
7899 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
7900 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
7901 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
7904 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
7907 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
7908 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
7909 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
7910 the ``current'' server for posting.
7912 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
7913 Gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
7915 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
7916 If that's the case, Gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
7921 @section Mail and Post
7923 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
7927 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
7928 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
7929 @cindex mailing lists
7931 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
7932 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
7933 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
7934 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
7935 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
7936 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
7937 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
7938 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
7939 still a pain, though.
7943 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
7944 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
7945 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
7948 @findex ispell-message
7950 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
7954 @node Archived Messages
7955 @section Archived Messages
7956 @cindex archived messages
7957 @cindex sent messages
7959 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
7960 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
7961 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
7962 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
7965 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
7966 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server Gnus is to
7967 use to store sent messages. The default is:
7971 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive/"))
7974 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
7975 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
7976 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
7977 directory chosen, you could say something like:
7980 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
7981 '(nnfolder "archive"
7982 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
7983 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
7984 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
7987 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
7989 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
7990 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
7991 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
7993 This variable can be used to do the following:
7997 Messages will be saved in that group.
7998 @item a list of strings
7999 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8000 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8001 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8003 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8008 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8010 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8013 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8015 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8018 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8020 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8021 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8022 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8023 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8028 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8029 '((if (message-news-p)
8034 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8035 messages in one file per month:
8038 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8039 '((if (message-news-p)
8041 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8042 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8045 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8046 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8048 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8049 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8050 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8051 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8052 Gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8053 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8054 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8055 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8056 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8057 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8059 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8060 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8061 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8062 this will disable archiving.
8065 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8066 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8067 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8068 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8069 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8072 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8073 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8074 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8077 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8078 but the latter is the preferred method.
8082 @c @node Posting Styles
8083 @c @section Posting Styles
8084 @c @cindex posting styles
8087 @c All them variables, they make my head swim.
8089 @c So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8090 @c on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8091 @c and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8094 @c @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8095 @c One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8096 @c variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8097 @c came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8098 @c a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8103 @c (signature . "Peace and happiness")
8104 @c (organization . "What me?"))
8106 @c (signature . "Death to everybody"))
8107 @c ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8108 @c (organization . "Emacs is it")))
8111 @c As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8112 @c @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8113 @c ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8114 @c over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8115 @c applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8116 @c the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8117 @c @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8118 @c signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8120 @c The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8121 @c string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8122 @c If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8123 @c arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8124 @c referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8125 @c any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8128 @c Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8129 @c attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8130 @c can be one of @code{signature}, @code{organization} or @code{from}. The
8131 @c attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8132 @c a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8135 @c The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8136 @c return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8137 @c list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8139 @c So here's a new example:
8142 @c (setq gnus-posting-styles
8144 @c (signature . "~/.signature")
8145 @c (from . "user@@foo (user)")
8146 @c ("X-Home-Page" . (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8147 @c (organization . "People's Front Against MWM"))
8149 @c (signature . my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8150 @c ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8151 @c (signature . my-quote-randomizer))
8152 @c (posting-from-work-p
8153 @c (signature . "~/.work-signature")
8154 @c (from . "user@@bar.foo (user)")
8155 @c (organization . "Important Work, Inc"))
8157 @c (signature . "~/.mail-signature"))))
8164 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8165 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8166 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8167 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8168 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8170 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8171 some sort using the Gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8172 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8173 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8174 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8178 @vindex nndraft-directory
8179 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8180 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8181 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8182 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8183 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8184 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8186 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8187 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8190 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8191 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8192 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8193 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8194 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8195 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8196 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8197 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8198 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8199 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8200 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8201 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8202 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8203 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8205 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8206 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8207 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8209 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8211 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8212 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8213 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8215 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8218 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8219 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8220 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8221 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8222 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8223 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8224 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8227 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8228 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8229 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8232 @node Rejected Articles
8233 @section Rejected Articles
8234 @cindex rejected articles
8236 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8237 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8238 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8239 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8241 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of Gnus.
8242 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8243 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8244 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So Gnus saves these
8245 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8247 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8248 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8249 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8252 @node Select Methods
8253 @chapter Select Methods
8254 @cindex foreign groups
8255 @cindex select methods
8257 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8258 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8259 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8260 personal mail group.
8262 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8263 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8264 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8265 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8266 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8267 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8269 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8270 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8272 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8275 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8276 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8277 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8278 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8279 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8281 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8284 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8285 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8286 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8287 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8288 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8289 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8293 @node The Server Buffer
8294 @section The Server Buffer
8296 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8297 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8298 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8299 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8300 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8301 backend represents a virtual server.
8303 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8304 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8305 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8306 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8308 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8309 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8310 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8311 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8312 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8313 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8314 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8316 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8317 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8320 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8321 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8322 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8323 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8324 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8325 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8326 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8329 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8330 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8333 @node Server Buffer Format
8334 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8335 @cindex server buffer format
8337 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8338 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8339 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8340 variable, with some simple extensions:
8345 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8348 The name of this server.
8351 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8354 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8357 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8358 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8359 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable. The following specs are
8370 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8373 @node Server Commands
8374 @subsection Server Commands
8375 @cindex server commands
8381 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8382 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8386 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8387 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8390 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8391 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8392 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8396 @findex gnus-server-exit
8397 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8401 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8402 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8406 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8407 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8411 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8412 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8416 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8417 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8421 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8422 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8423 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8428 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8429 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8430 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8431 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8436 @node Example Methods
8437 @subsection Example Methods
8439 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8442 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8445 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8451 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8452 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8455 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
8456 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8458 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8459 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
8463 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8466 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8467 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
8469 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8470 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8471 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8475 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8478 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8481 Here's the method for a public spool:
8485 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8486 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8489 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8490 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8491 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8492 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8493 should probably look something like this:
8497 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8498 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8499 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8500 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8501 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8506 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8507 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8509 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
8510 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
8512 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
8513 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
8514 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
8516 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
8518 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
8519 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
8520 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
8521 will contain the following:
8531 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
8532 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
8533 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
8536 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
8537 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
8538 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
8541 @node Server Variables
8542 @subsection Server Variables
8544 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
8545 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
8546 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
8547 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
8548 won't change the "derived" variables.
8550 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
8551 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
8552 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
8553 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
8554 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
8555 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
8556 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
8557 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
8558 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
8562 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
8563 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
8564 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
8568 @node Servers and Methods
8569 @subsection Servers and Methods
8571 Wherever you would normally use a select method
8572 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
8573 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
8574 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
8578 @node Unavailable Servers
8579 @subsection Unavailable Servers
8581 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
8582 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
8583 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
8584 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
8585 actually the case or not.
8587 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
8588 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
8589 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
8590 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
8591 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
8592 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
8593 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
8594 it will regard that server as ``down''.
8596 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
8597 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
8599 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
8600 with the following commands:
8606 @findex gnus-server-open-server
8607 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
8608 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
8612 @findex gnus-server-close-server
8613 Close the connection (if any) to the server
8614 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
8618 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
8619 Mark the current server as unreachable
8620 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
8623 @kindex M-o (Server)
8624 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
8625 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
8626 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
8629 @kindex M-c (Server)
8630 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
8631 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
8632 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
8636 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
8637 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
8638 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
8644 @section Getting News
8645 @cindex reading news
8646 @cindex news backends
8648 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
8649 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
8650 or it can read from a local spool.
8653 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
8654 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
8659 @subsection @sc{nntp}
8662 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
8663 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
8664 server as the, uhm, address.
8666 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
8667 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
8668 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
8669 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
8671 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
8672 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
8673 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
8675 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
8680 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
8681 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
8682 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
8684 @cindex authentification
8685 @cindex nntp authentification
8686 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8687 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
8688 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
8689 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
8690 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
8691 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
8692 present in this hook.
8694 @item nntp-authinfo-function
8695 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
8696 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
8697 server. Available functions include:
8700 @item nntp-send-authinfo
8701 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
8702 This function will use your current login name as the user name and will
8703 prompt you for the password. This is the default.
8705 @item nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
8706 @findex nntp-send-nosy-authinfo
8707 This function will prompt you for both user name and password.
8709 @item nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
8710 @findex nntp-send-authinfo-from-file
8711 This function will use your current login name as the user name and will
8712 read the @sc{nntp} password from @file{~/.nntp-authinfo}.
8715 @item nntp-server-action-alist
8716 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
8717 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
8718 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
8719 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
8722 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
8726 You probably don't want to do that, though.
8728 The default value is
8731 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
8732 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
8735 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
8736 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
8738 @item nntp-maximum-request
8739 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
8740 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
8741 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
8742 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
8743 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
8744 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
8745 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
8747 @item nntp-connection-timeout
8748 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
8749 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
8750 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
8751 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
8752 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
8753 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
8754 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
8755 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
8756 no timeouts are done.
8758 @item nntp-command-timeout
8759 @vindex nntp-command-timeout
8760 @cindex PPP connections
8761 @cindex dynamic IP addresses
8762 If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
8763 address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
8764 changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
8765 waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
8766 unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
8767 then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
8768 number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
8769 the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
8770 likely number is 30 seconds.
8772 @item nntp-retry-on-break
8773 @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
8774 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
8775 hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
8778 @item nntp-server-hook
8779 @vindex nntp-server-hook
8780 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
8783 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
8784 @findex nntp-open-telnet
8785 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
8786 @item nntp-open-connection-function
8787 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
8788 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Three pre-made
8789 functions are @code{nntp-open-network-stream}, which is the default, and
8790 simply connects to some port or other on the remote system. The other
8791 two are @code{nntp-open-rlogin}, which does an @samp{rlogin} on the
8792 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
8793 available there, and @code{nntp-open-telnet}, which does a @samp{telnet}
8794 to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet} to get to the
8797 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
8801 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
8802 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
8803 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
8805 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
8806 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
8807 User name on the remote system.
8811 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
8814 @item nntp-telnet-command
8815 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
8816 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
8818 @item nntp-telnet-switches
8819 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
8820 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
8822 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
8823 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
8824 User name for log in on the remote system.
8826 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
8827 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
8828 Password to use when logging in.
8830 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
8831 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
8832 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
8837 @item nntp-end-of-line
8838 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
8839 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
8840 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
8841 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
8843 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
8844 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
8845 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
8849 @vindex nntp-address
8850 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
8852 @item nntp-port-number
8853 @vindex nntp-port-number
8854 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
8857 @item nntp-buggy-select
8858 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
8859 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
8861 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
8862 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
8863 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
8864 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
8867 @item nntp-xover-commands
8868 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
8871 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
8872 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
8876 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
8877 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
8878 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
8879 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
8880 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
8881 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
8882 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
8883 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
8884 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
8885 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
8886 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
8888 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
8889 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
8890 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
8892 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8893 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
8894 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
8895 server closes connection.
8901 @subsection News Spool
8905 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
8906 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
8907 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
8910 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @samp{} (or
8911 anything else) as the address.
8913 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
8914 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
8915 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
8916 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
8920 @item nnspool-inews-program
8921 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
8922 Program used to post an article.
8924 @item nnspool-inews-switches
8925 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
8926 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
8928 @item nnspool-spool-directory
8929 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
8930 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
8931 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
8933 @item nnspool-nov-directory
8934 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
8935 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
8936 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
8938 @item nnspool-lib-dir
8939 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
8940 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
8942 @item nnspool-active-file
8943 @vindex nnspool-active-file
8944 The path to the active file.
8946 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
8947 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
8948 The path to the group descriptions file.
8950 @item nnspool-history-file
8951 @vindex nnspool-history-file
8952 The path to the news history file.
8954 @item nnspool-active-times-file
8955 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
8956 The path to the active date file.
8958 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
8959 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
8960 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
8963 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8964 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
8966 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
8967 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
8968 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
8974 @section Getting Mail
8975 @cindex reading mail
8978 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
8982 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
8983 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
8984 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
8985 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
8986 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
8987 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
8988 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
8989 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
8990 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
8991 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
8992 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
8996 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
8997 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
8999 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9000 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9001 and things will happen automatically.
9003 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9004 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9007 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9008 '((nnml "private")))
9011 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9012 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9013 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9014 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9015 like any other group.
9017 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9020 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9021 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9022 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9026 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9027 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9028 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9031 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9032 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9033 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9036 @node Splitting Mail
9037 @subsection Splitting Mail
9038 @cindex splitting mail
9039 @cindex mail splitting
9041 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9042 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9043 to be split into groups.
9046 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9047 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9048 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9052 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9053 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9054 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9055 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9056 determine if it belongs in this mail group.
9058 If the first element is the special symbol @code{junk}, then messages
9059 that match the regexp will disappear into the aether. Use with
9062 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9063 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9064 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9065 mail belongs in that group.
9067 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9068 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9069 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9070 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9071 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9072 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9074 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9075 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9076 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9077 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9078 thinks should carry this mail message.
9080 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9081 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9082 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9083 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9085 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9086 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9087 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9088 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9089 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9091 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9094 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9095 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9096 links. If that's the case for you, set
9097 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9098 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9100 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9101 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9102 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9103 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9105 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9106 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9107 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9108 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9109 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9110 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9111 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9112 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9116 @node Mail Backend Variables
9117 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9119 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9123 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9124 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9125 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9126 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9128 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9129 @item nnmail-spool-file
9133 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9134 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9135 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9136 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9137 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9138 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9139 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9140 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9141 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9142 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9143 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9144 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9145 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9146 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9147 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9149 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9151 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9152 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9155 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9156 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9157 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9158 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9159 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9160 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9162 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9163 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9164 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9165 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9166 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9167 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9168 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9171 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9172 @item nnmail-crash-box
9173 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9174 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9175 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9178 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9179 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9180 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
9181 used for, well, anything, really.
9183 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9184 @item nnmail-split-hook
9185 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
9186 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9187 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9188 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9189 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9190 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9191 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{gnus-article-decode-rfc1522}
9192 is one likely function to add to this hook.
9194 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9195 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9196 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9197 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9198 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9199 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9200 starting to handle the new mail) and
9201 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9202 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9203 default file modes the new mail files get:
9206 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9207 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9209 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9210 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9213 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9214 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9215 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9216 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9217 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9218 it will be used instead.
9220 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9221 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9222 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9223 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9225 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9226 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9229 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9230 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9231 @cindex incoming mail files
9232 @cindex deleting incoming files
9233 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9234 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9237 @c This is @code{nil} by
9238 @c default for reasons of security.
9240 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9241 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9242 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9243 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9244 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9247 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9249 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9250 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9251 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9252 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9253 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9254 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9255 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9257 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9258 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9260 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9262 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9263 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9264 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9265 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9266 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9271 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9272 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9273 @cindex mail splitting
9274 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9276 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9277 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9278 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9279 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9280 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9281 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9283 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9286 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9287 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9288 ;; from real errors.
9289 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9291 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9292 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9293 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9294 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9295 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9296 ;; Other mailing lists...
9297 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9298 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9300 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9301 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9305 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9306 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9307 the five possible split syntaxes:
9312 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name.
9315 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9316 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9317 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9320 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9321 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9322 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9323 be stored in one or more groups.
9326 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9327 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9330 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9331 this message anywhere.
9334 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9335 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
9336 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
9341 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
9342 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
9343 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
9344 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
9345 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
9347 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
9348 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
9349 are expanded as specified by the variable
9350 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
9351 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
9354 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
9355 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
9356 when all this splitting is performed.
9358 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
9359 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
9360 substitions in the group names), you can say things like:
9363 (any "debian-\(\\w*\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
9366 @node Mail and Procmail
9367 @subsection Mail and Procmail
9372 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
9373 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
9374 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
9375 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
9376 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9378 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9379 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9382 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9383 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9384 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
9385 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9386 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9387 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
9389 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
9392 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
9394 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
9395 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
9397 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
9398 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
9399 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
9400 to include all your mail groups.
9402 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
9403 method will be created automatically.
9405 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9406 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
9407 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
9408 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
9409 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
9410 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
9411 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
9412 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
9414 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
9415 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
9416 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
9417 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
9418 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
9420 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9421 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
9422 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
9423 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
9424 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
9425 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
9427 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
9428 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
9429 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
9430 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
9431 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
9434 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
9435 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
9436 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
9437 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
9438 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
9442 @node Incorporating Old Mail
9443 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
9445 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
9446 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
9447 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
9450 Doing so can be quite easy.
9452 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
9453 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
9454 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
9455 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
9456 your @code{nnml} groups.
9462 Go to the group buffer.
9465 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
9466 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9469 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
9472 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
9473 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
9476 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
9477 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
9480 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
9481 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
9482 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
9483 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
9484 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
9486 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
9487 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
9488 using the new mail backend.
9492 @subsection Expiring Mail
9493 @cindex article expiry
9495 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
9496 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
9497 different approach to mail reading.
9499 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
9500 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
9501 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
9502 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
9503 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
9504 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
9507 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
9508 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
9509 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
9510 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
9511 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
9512 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
9513 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
9514 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
9516 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9517 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
9518 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
9519 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
9520 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
9521 column in the summary buffer.
9523 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
9524 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
9525 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
9526 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
9529 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
9531 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
9532 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
9533 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
9536 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
9537 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
9538 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
9539 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
9540 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
9542 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
9543 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
9546 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9547 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
9550 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
9551 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
9553 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
9554 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
9555 don't really mix very well.
9557 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
9558 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
9559 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
9560 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
9563 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
9564 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
9565 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
9566 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
9569 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9571 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
9573 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
9575 ((string= group "mail.junk")
9577 ((string= group "important")
9583 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
9584 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
9586 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
9587 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
9588 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
9591 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
9592 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9594 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9595 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
9596 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
9597 easier for procmail users.
9599 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
9600 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
9601 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
9602 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
9603 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
9604 caution. Even more dangerous is the
9605 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
9606 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
9607 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
9608 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
9609 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
9610 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
9611 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
9614 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
9618 @subsection Washing Mail
9619 @cindex mail washing
9620 @cindex list server brain damage
9621 @cindex incoming mail treatment
9623 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
9624 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
9625 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
9626 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
9627 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
9628 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
9630 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
9631 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
9632 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
9635 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
9636 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
9637 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
9638 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
9641 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9642 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9643 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
9644 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
9647 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9648 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
9649 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
9650 Emacs running on MS machines.
9654 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9655 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
9656 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
9657 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
9660 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9661 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
9662 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
9663 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
9665 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9666 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
9667 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
9668 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
9669 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
9670 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
9671 also be a list of regexp.
9673 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
9674 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
9677 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
9678 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
9681 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
9682 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
9683 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
9687 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9688 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
9689 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
9693 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
9694 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
9695 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
9702 @subsection Duplicates
9704 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
9705 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
9706 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
9707 @cindex duplicate mails
9708 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
9709 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
9710 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
9711 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
9712 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
9713 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
9714 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
9715 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
9716 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
9717 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
9718 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
9719 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
9720 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
9722 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
9723 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
9724 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
9725 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
9727 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
9730 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
9731 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
9735 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
9736 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
9737 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
9738 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
9739 (any mail "mail.misc")
9746 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9747 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
9752 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
9753 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
9754 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
9755 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
9756 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
9759 @node Not Reading Mail
9760 @subsection Not Reading Mail
9762 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
9763 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
9764 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
9766 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
9767 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
9769 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9770 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
9771 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
9772 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
9773 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
9774 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
9775 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
9776 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
9777 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
9778 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
9779 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
9781 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
9782 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
9786 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
9787 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
9789 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
9790 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
9791 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
9794 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
9795 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
9796 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
9797 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
9798 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
9803 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
9805 @cindex unix mail box
9807 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
9808 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
9809 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
9810 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
9811 which group it belongs in.
9813 Virtual server settings:
9816 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
9817 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
9818 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
9820 @item nnmbox-active-file
9821 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
9822 The name of the active file for the mail box.
9824 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
9825 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
9826 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
9832 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
9836 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
9837 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
9838 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
9839 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
9840 article to say which group it belongs in.
9842 Virtual server settings:
9845 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
9846 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
9847 The name of the rmail mbox file.
9849 @item nnbabyl-active-file
9850 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
9851 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
9853 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9854 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
9855 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
9860 @subsubsection Mail Spool
9862 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
9864 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
9865 format. It should be used with some caution.
9867 @vindex nnml-directory
9868 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
9869 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
9870 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
9871 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
9873 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
9876 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
9877 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
9878 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
9879 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
9880 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
9881 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
9882 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
9883 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
9885 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
9886 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
9887 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
9888 backend when it comes to reading mail.
9890 Virtual server settings:
9893 @item nnml-directory
9894 @vindex nnml-directory
9895 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
9897 @item nnml-active-file
9898 @vindex nnml-active-file
9899 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
9901 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
9902 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
9903 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
9906 @item nnml-get-new-mail
9907 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
9908 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
9910 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
9911 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
9912 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
9914 @item nnml-nov-file-name
9915 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
9916 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
9918 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
9919 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
9920 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
9924 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
9925 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
9926 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
9927 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
9928 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
9929 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
9930 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
9935 @subsubsection MH Spool
9937 @cindex mh-e mail spool
9939 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
9940 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
9941 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
9942 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
9944 Virtual server settings:
9947 @item nnmh-directory
9948 @vindex nnmh-directory
9949 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
9951 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
9952 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
9953 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
9956 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
9957 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
9958 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
9959 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
9960 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
9961 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
9962 to set this variable to @code{t}.
9967 @subsubsection Mail Folders
9969 @cindex mbox folders
9970 @cindex mail folders
9972 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
9973 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
9974 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
9977 Virtual server settings:
9980 @item nnfolder-directory
9981 @vindex nnfolder-directory
9982 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
9984 @item nnfolder-active-file
9985 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
9986 The name of the active file.
9988 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9989 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
9990 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
9992 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
9993 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
9994 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
9997 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
9998 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
9999 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10000 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10001 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10002 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10005 @node Other Sources
10006 @section Other Sources
10008 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10009 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10013 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10014 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10015 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10016 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10017 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10018 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10022 @node Directory Groups
10023 @subsection Directory Groups
10025 @cindex directory groups
10027 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10028 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10031 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10032 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10033 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10034 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10036 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10037 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10038 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10039 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10040 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10042 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10044 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10045 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10046 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10047 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10050 @node Anything Groups
10051 @subsection Anything Groups
10054 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10055 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10056 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10059 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10060 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10061 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10062 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10063 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10064 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10065 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10066 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10067 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10068 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10071 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10072 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10073 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10074 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10076 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10077 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10078 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10079 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10081 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10082 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10083 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10084 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10085 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10086 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10087 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10088 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10093 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10094 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10095 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10096 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10098 @item nneething-exclude-files
10099 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10100 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10101 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10103 @item nneething-map-file
10104 @vindex nneething-map-file
10105 Name of the map files.
10109 @node Document Groups
10110 @subsection Document Groups
10112 @cindex documentation group
10115 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10116 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10123 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10128 The standard Unix mbox file.
10130 @cindex MMDF mail box
10132 The MMDF mail box format.
10135 Several news articles appended into a file.
10138 @cindex rnews batch files
10139 The rnews batch transport format.
10140 @cindex forwarded messages
10143 Forwarded articles.
10147 @cindex MIME digest
10148 @cindex 1153 digest
10149 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10150 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10151 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10153 @item standard-digest
10154 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10157 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10160 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10161 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10162 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10165 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10166 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10167 group. And that's it.
10169 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10170 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10171 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10172 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10173 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10174 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10175 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10176 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10177 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10178 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10180 Virtual server variables:
10183 @item nndoc-article-type
10184 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10185 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10186 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10187 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-digest}, @code{standard-digest},
10188 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or @code{guess}.
10190 @item nndoc-post-type
10191 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10192 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10193 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10198 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10202 @node Document Server Internals
10203 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10205 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10206 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10207 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10208 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10210 First, here's an example document type definition:
10214 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10215 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10218 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10219 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10220 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10221 types can be defined with very few settings:
10224 @item first-article
10225 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10226 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10229 @item article-begin
10230 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10231 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10233 @item head-begin-function
10234 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10237 @item nndoc-head-begin
10238 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10241 @item nndoc-head-end
10242 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10243 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10245 @item body-begin-function
10246 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10250 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10253 @item body-end-function
10254 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10258 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10261 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10262 regexp will be totally ignored.
10266 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10267 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10268 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10269 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10270 something that's palatable for Gnus:
10273 @item prepare-body-function
10274 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
10275 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
10276 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
10278 @item article-transform-function
10279 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
10280 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
10281 body of the article.
10283 @item generate-head-function
10284 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
10285 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
10286 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
10287 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
10291 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
10296 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10297 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10298 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
10299 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
10300 (head-end . "^ ?$")
10301 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
10302 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
10303 (subtype digest guess))
10306 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
10307 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
10308 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
10309 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
10310 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
10312 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
10313 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
10314 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
10315 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
10316 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
10317 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
10318 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
10319 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
10320 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
10321 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
10329 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
10330 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
10331 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
10333 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
10334 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
10335 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
10338 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
10339 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
10340 that interested in doing things properly.
10342 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
10343 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
10346 First some terminology:
10351 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
10352 get news and/or mail from.
10355 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
10356 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
10359 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
10363 @item message packets
10364 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
10365 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
10366 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10368 @item response packets
10369 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
10370 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
10371 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10381 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
10382 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
10383 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
10384 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
10387 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
10390 You put the packet in your home directory.
10393 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
10394 the native or secondary server.
10397 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
10398 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
10401 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
10405 You transfer this packet to the server.
10408 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
10411 You then repeat until you die.
10415 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
10416 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
10419 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
10420 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
10421 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
10425 @node SOUP Commands
10426 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
10428 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
10432 @kindex G s b (Group)
10433 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
10434 Pack all unread articles in the current group
10435 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
10436 process/prefix convention.
10439 @kindex G s w (Group)
10440 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
10441 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
10444 @kindex G s s (Group)
10445 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
10446 Send all replies from the replies packet
10447 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
10450 @kindex G s p (Group)
10451 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
10452 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
10455 @kindex G s r (Group)
10456 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
10457 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
10460 @kindex O s (Summary)
10461 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
10462 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
10463 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
10464 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10469 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
10474 @item gnus-soup-directory
10475 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
10476 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
10477 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
10479 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
10480 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
10481 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
10482 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
10484 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
10485 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
10486 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
10487 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
10489 @item gnus-soup-packer
10490 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
10491 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10492 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
10494 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
10495 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
10496 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10497 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10499 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
10500 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
10501 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
10503 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10504 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10505 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
10506 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
10512 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
10515 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
10516 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
10517 you can read them at leisure.
10519 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
10523 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
10524 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
10525 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
10526 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
10528 @item nnsoup-directory
10529 @vindex nnsoup-directory
10530 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
10531 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
10533 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
10534 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
10535 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
10536 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
10538 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
10539 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
10540 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
10541 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
10542 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
10544 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
10545 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
10546 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
10547 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
10549 @item nnsoup-active-file
10550 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
10551 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
10552 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
10553 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
10554 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
10556 @item nnsoup-packer
10557 @vindex nnsoup-packer
10558 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
10559 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
10561 @item nnsoup-unpacker
10562 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
10563 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
10564 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10566 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
10567 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
10568 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
10571 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
10572 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
10573 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
10580 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
10582 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
10583 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
10584 more for that to happen.
10586 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
10587 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
10588 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
10591 In specific, this is what it does:
10594 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
10595 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
10598 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
10599 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
10600 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
10604 @subsection Web Searches
10608 @cindex InReference
10609 @cindex Usenet searches
10610 @cindex searching the Usenet
10612 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
10613 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
10614 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
10615 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
10616 searches without having to use a browser.
10618 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
10619 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
10620 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
10621 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
10622 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
10624 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
10625 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
10626 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
10627 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
10628 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
10629 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
10630 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
10631 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
10632 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
10633 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
10636 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
10637 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
10638 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
10639 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
10640 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
10641 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
10643 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
10644 to use @code{nnweb}.
10646 Virtual server variables:
10651 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
10652 are @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
10655 @vindex nnweb-search
10656 The search string to feed to the search engine.
10658 @item nnweb-max-hits
10659 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
10660 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
10663 @item nnweb-type-definition
10664 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
10665 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
10666 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
10671 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
10675 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
10678 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
10681 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
10685 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
10692 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
10693 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
10694 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
10697 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
10698 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
10699 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
10701 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
10707 @item nngateway-address
10708 @vindex nngateway-address
10709 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
10711 @item nngateway-header-transformation
10712 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
10713 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
10714 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
10715 transformation should be called, and defaults to
10716 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
10717 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
10720 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
10721 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
10722 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
10725 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
10728 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
10731 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
10736 So, to use this, simply say something like:
10739 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
10743 @node Combined Groups
10744 @section Combined Groups
10746 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
10750 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
10751 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
10755 @node Virtual Groups
10756 @subsection Virtual Groups
10758 @cindex virtual groups
10760 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
10763 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
10764 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
10765 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
10767 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
10768 regexp to match component groups.
10770 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
10771 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
10772 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
10773 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
10774 the virtual group.)
10776 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
10777 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
10780 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
10783 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
10784 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
10786 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
10787 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
10788 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
10789 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
10792 "^nntp+some.server.jp:soc.motss$\\|^nntp+some.server.no:soc.motss$"
10795 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
10796 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
10797 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
10798 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
10799 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
10801 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
10802 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
10803 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
10805 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
10806 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
10807 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
10808 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
10809 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
10810 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
10811 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
10812 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
10813 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
10814 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
10815 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
10818 @node Kibozed Groups
10819 @subsection Kibozed Groups
10823 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
10824 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
10825 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
10826 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
10828 @kindex G k (Group)
10829 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
10832 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
10833 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
10834 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
10835 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
10837 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
10838 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
10839 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
10841 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
10842 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
10843 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
10844 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
10845 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
10846 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
10847 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
10848 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
10850 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
10851 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
10852 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
10853 Stranger things have happened.
10855 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
10856 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
10858 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
10859 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
10860 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
10861 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
10862 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
10863 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
10865 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
10866 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
10869 @node Gnus Unplugged
10870 @section Gnus Unplugged
10875 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
10877 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
10878 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
10879 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
10880 read news. Believe it or not.
10882 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
10883 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
10884 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
10885 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
10886 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
10888 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
10889 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
10890 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
10891 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
10892 reading news on a machine.
10894 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
10898 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
10899 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
10903 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
10904 @file{.gnus.el} file:
10911 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
10913 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
10916 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
10917 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
10918 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
10919 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
10920 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
10921 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
10926 @subsection Agent Basics
10928 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
10930 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
10931 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
10932 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
10933 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
10935 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
10936 connected to the net continously.
10938 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
10939 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
10941 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
10946 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
10947 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
10948 already fetched while in this mode.
10951 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
10952 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
10953 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
10956 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
10957 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
10958 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
10959 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
10962 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
10963 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
10964 then you read the news offline.
10967 And then you go to step 2.
10970 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
10976 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
10977 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
10978 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
10979 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
10980 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
10981 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
10984 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}
10991 @node Agent Categories
10992 @subsection Agent Categories
10994 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
10995 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
10996 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
10997 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
10998 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
10999 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11000 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11002 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11003 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11004 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11007 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11008 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11009 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11013 @node Category Syntax
11014 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11016 A category consists of two things.
11020 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11021 are eligible for downloading; and
11024 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11025 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11026 score} is wholly unrelated to normal scores.)
11029 A predicate consists of predicates with logical operators sprinkled in
11032 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11034 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11035 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11041 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11042 short (for some value of ``short'').
11044 Here's a more complex predicate:
11053 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11054 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11057 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11058 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11059 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11061 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11062 you want to do, you can write your own.
11066 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11067 lines; default 100.
11070 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11071 lines; default 200.
11074 True iff the article has a download score less than
11075 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11078 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11079 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11082 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11083 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11084 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11093 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11094 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11095 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11098 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11099 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11100 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11101 following headers can be scored on: @code{From}, @code{Subject},
11102 @code{Date}, @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars}, @code{Message-ID},
11103 and @code{References}.
11106 @node The Category Buffer
11107 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
11109 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
11110 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
11111 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
11113 The following commands are available in this buffer:
11117 @kindex q (Category)
11118 @findex gnus-category-exit
11119 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
11122 @kindex k (Category)
11123 @findex gnus-category-kill
11124 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
11127 @kindex c (Category)
11128 @findex gnus-category-copy
11129 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
11132 @kindex a (Category)
11133 @findex gnus-category-add
11134 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
11137 @kindex p (Category)
11138 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
11139 Edit the predicate of the current category
11140 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
11143 @kindex g (Category)
11144 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
11145 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
11146 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
11149 @kindex s (Category)
11150 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
11151 Edit the download score rule of the current category
11152 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
11155 @kindex l (Category)
11156 @findex gnus-category-list
11157 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
11161 @node Category Variables
11162 @subsubsection Category Variables
11165 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
11166 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
11167 Hook run in category buffers.
11169 @item gnus-category-line-format
11170 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
11171 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
11172 Variables}). Legal elements are:
11176 The name of the category.
11179 The number of groups in the category.
11182 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
11183 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
11184 Format of the category mode line.
11186 @item gnus-agent-short-article
11187 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
11188 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
11190 @item gnus-agent-long-article
11191 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
11192 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
11194 @item gnus-agent-low-score
11195 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
11196 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
11199 @item gnus-agent-high-score
11200 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
11201 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
11207 @node Agent Commands
11208 @subsection Agent Commands
11210 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
11211 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
11212 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
11216 * Group Agent Commands::
11217 * Summary Agent Commands::
11218 * Server Agent Commands::
11222 @node Group Agent Commands
11223 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
11227 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
11228 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
11229 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
11230 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
11233 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
11234 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
11235 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
11238 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
11239 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
11240 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
11241 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
11244 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
11245 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
11246 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
11247 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}
11250 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
11251 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
11252 Add the current group to an Agent category
11253 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
11258 @node Summary Agent Commands
11259 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
11263 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
11264 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
11265 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
11268 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
11269 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
11270 Remove the downloading mark from the article
11271 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
11274 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
11275 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
11276 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
11279 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
11280 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
11281 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
11286 @node Server Agent Commands
11287 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
11291 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
11292 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
11293 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
11294 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
11297 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
11298 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
11299 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
11300 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
11305 @node Outgoing Messages
11306 @subsection Outgoing Messages
11308 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
11309 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
11310 after posting, and edit them at will.
11312 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
11313 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
11314 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
11315 messages in the draft group.
11319 @node Agent Variables
11320 @subsection Agent Variables
11323 @item gnus-agent-directory
11324 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
11325 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
11326 @file{~/News/agent/}.
11328 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11329 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11330 Hook run when connecting to the network.
11332 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11333 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11334 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
11339 @node Example Setup
11340 @subsection Example Setup
11342 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
11343 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
11344 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
11347 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
11348 ;;; from your ISP's server.
11349 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
11351 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
11352 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
11353 (setenv "MAILSERVER" "pop.your-isp.com")
11354 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
11356 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
11357 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11359 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
11363 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
11364 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
11367 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
11368 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
11369 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
11370 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
11371 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
11374 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
11375 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
11376 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
11377 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
11378 back all the killed groups.)
11380 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
11381 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
11382 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
11389 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
11390 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
11391 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
11394 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
11395 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
11396 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
11397 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
11398 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
11400 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
11401 before generating the summary buffer.
11403 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
11404 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
11405 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
11407 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
11408 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
11409 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
11410 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
11413 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
11414 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
11415 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
11416 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
11417 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
11418 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
11419 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
11420 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
11421 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
11422 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
11423 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
11424 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
11425 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
11426 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
11427 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
11428 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
11432 @node Summary Score Commands
11433 @section Summary Score Commands
11434 @cindex score commands
11436 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
11437 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
11438 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
11439 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
11440 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
11442 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
11443 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
11444 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
11445 score file the current one.
11447 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
11452 @kindex V s (Summary)
11453 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
11454 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
11457 @kindex V S (Summary)
11458 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
11459 Display the score of the current article
11460 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
11463 @kindex V t (Summary)
11464 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
11465 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
11466 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
11469 @kindex V R (Summary)
11470 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
11471 Run the current summary through the scoring process
11472 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
11473 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
11474 effect you're having.
11477 @kindex V a (Summary)
11478 @findex gnus-summary-score-entry
11479 Add a new score entry, and allow specifying all elements
11480 (@code{gnus-summary-score-entry}).
11483 @kindex V c (Summary)
11484 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
11485 Make a different score file the current
11486 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
11489 @kindex V e (Summary)
11490 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
11491 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
11492 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
11496 @kindex V f (Summary)
11497 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
11498 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
11499 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
11502 @kindex V F (Summary)
11503 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
11504 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
11505 after editing score files.
11508 @kindex V C (Summary)
11509 @findex gnus-score-customize
11510 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
11511 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
11515 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
11520 @kindex V m (Summary)
11521 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
11522 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
11523 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
11526 @kindex V x (Summary)
11527 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
11528 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
11529 expunge all articles below this score
11530 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
11533 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
11534 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
11539 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
11540 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
11542 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
11543 keys are available:
11547 Score on the author name.
11550 Score on the subject line.
11553 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
11556 Score on thread---the References line.
11562 Score on the number of lines.
11565 Score on the Message-ID.
11568 Score on followups.
11578 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
11579 what headers you are scoring on.
11591 Substring matching.
11594 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
11623 Greater than number.
11628 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
11629 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
11630 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
11634 Temporary score entry.
11637 Permanent score entry.
11640 Immediately scoring.
11645 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
11646 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
11647 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
11648 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
11650 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
11651 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
11652 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
11653 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
11654 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
11656 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
11657 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
11658 pretend they are keymaps or not.
11661 @node Group Score Commands
11662 @section Group Score Commands
11663 @cindex group score commands
11665 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
11670 @kindex W f (Group)
11671 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
11672 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
11673 all the time. This command will flush the cache
11674 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
11679 @node Score Variables
11680 @section Score Variables
11681 @cindex score variables
11685 @item gnus-use-scoring
11686 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
11687 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
11688 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
11690 @item gnus-kill-killed
11691 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
11692 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
11693 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
11694 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
11695 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
11696 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
11697 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
11699 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
11700 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
11701 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
11702 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
11703 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
11705 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
11706 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
11707 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
11708 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
11710 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
11711 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
11712 @cindex score cache
11713 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
11714 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
11715 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
11716 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
11717 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
11718 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
11721 @item gnus-save-score
11722 @vindex gnus-save-score
11723 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
11724 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
11725 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
11727 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
11728 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
11729 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
11730 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
11731 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
11732 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
11733 manually entered data.
11735 @item gnus-summary-default-score
11736 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
11737 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
11739 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
11740 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
11741 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
11742 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
11743 articles will be hidden.
11745 @item gnus-score-over-mark
11746 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
11747 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
11748 default. Default is @samp{+}.
11750 @item gnus-score-below-mark
11751 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
11752 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
11753 default. Default is @samp{-}.
11755 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
11756 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
11757 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
11758 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
11760 Predefined functions available are:
11763 @item gnus-score-find-single
11764 @findex gnus-score-find-single
11765 Only apply the group's own score file.
11767 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
11768 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
11769 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
11770 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
11771 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
11772 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
11773 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
11774 then a regexp match is done.
11776 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
11777 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
11779 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
11780 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
11781 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
11782 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
11784 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
11785 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
11786 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
11787 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
11788 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
11791 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
11792 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
11793 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
11794 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
11795 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
11796 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
11799 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
11800 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
11801 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
11802 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
11803 are expired. It's 7 by default.
11805 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
11806 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
11807 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
11808 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
11809 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
11810 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
11811 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
11814 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
11815 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
11816 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
11821 @node Score File Format
11822 @section Score File Format
11823 @cindex score file format
11825 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
11826 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
11827 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
11829 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
11833 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
11835 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
11837 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
11839 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
11844 (mark-and-expunge -10)
11848 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
11849 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
11850 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
11851 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
11855 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
11856 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
11858 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
11859 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
11860 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
11862 Six keys are supported by this alist:
11867 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
11868 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
11869 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
11870 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
11871 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
11872 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
11873 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
11874 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
11875 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
11876 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
11877 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
11878 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
11879 to articles that matches these score entries.
11881 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
11882 score entry has one to four elements.
11886 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
11887 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
11891 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
11892 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
11893 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
11894 is successful. If this element is not present, the
11895 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
11896 instead. This is 1000 by default.
11899 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
11900 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
11901 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
11902 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
11903 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
11906 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
11907 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
11908 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
11909 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
11912 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
11913 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
11914 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
11915 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
11916 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
11917 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
11918 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
11919 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
11920 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
11921 instead, if you feel like.
11924 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
11925 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}. When matching on @code{Lines}, be
11926 careful because some backends (like @code{nndir}) do not generate
11927 @code{Lines} header, so every article ends up being marked as having 0
11928 lines. This can lead to strange results if you happen to lower score of
11929 the articles with few lines.
11932 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
11933 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
11934 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
11935 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
11936 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
11937 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
11938 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
11942 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
11943 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
11944 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
11945 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
11946 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
11947 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
11948 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
11949 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
11952 @item Head, Body, All
11953 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
11957 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
11958 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
11959 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
11960 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
11961 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
11962 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
11963 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
11967 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
11968 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
11969 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
11970 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
11971 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
11972 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
11973 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
11974 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
11975 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
11976 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
11980 @cindex Score File Atoms
11982 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
11983 lower than this number will be marked as read.
11986 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
11987 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
11989 @item mark-and-expunge
11990 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
11991 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
11994 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
11995 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
11996 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
11997 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
11998 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
12001 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
12002 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
12005 @item exclude-files
12006 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
12007 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
12011 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
12012 ignored when handling global score files.
12015 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
12016 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}).
12019 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
12020 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
12021 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
12022 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
12024 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
12028 (mark-and-expunge -100)
12031 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
12032 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
12033 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
12034 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
12035 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
12037 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
12038 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
12039 ordinary scoring rules.
12042 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
12043 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
12044 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
12045 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
12046 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
12047 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
12048 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12049 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
12050 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
12051 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
12052 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
12056 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
12057 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
12058 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
12059 file for a number of groups.
12062 @cindex local variables
12063 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
12064 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
12065 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
12066 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
12067 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
12071 @node Score File Editing
12072 @section Score File Editing
12074 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
12075 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
12076 with a mode for that.
12078 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
12079 additional commands:
12084 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
12085 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
12086 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
12087 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
12090 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
12091 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
12092 Insert the current date in numerical format
12093 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
12094 you were wondering.
12097 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
12098 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
12099 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
12100 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
12101 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
12106 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
12108 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
12109 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
12111 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
12112 e} to begin editing score files.
12115 @node Adaptive Scoring
12116 @section Adaptive Scoring
12117 @cindex adaptive scoring
12119 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
12120 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
12121 stupidity, to be precise.
12123 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
12124 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
12125 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
12126 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
12127 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12128 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
12129 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
12130 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
12131 variable to @code{(word line)}.
12133 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12134 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
12135 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
12136 might look something like this:
12139 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12140 '((gnus-unread-mark)
12141 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
12142 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
12143 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
12144 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
12145 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
12146 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
12147 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
12148 (gnus-ancient-mark)
12149 (gnus-low-score-mark)
12150 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
12153 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
12154 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
12155 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
12156 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
12157 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
12158 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
12161 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
12162 will be applied to each article.
12164 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
12165 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
12166 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
12167 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
12169 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
12170 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
12171 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
12172 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
12174 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
12175 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
12176 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
12177 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
12179 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
12180 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
12181 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
12182 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
12183 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
12184 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
12186 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
12187 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
12188 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
12189 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
12190 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
12191 aspirins afterwards.)
12193 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
12194 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
12195 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
12197 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
12198 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
12199 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
12201 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
12202 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
12203 let you use different rules in different groups.
12205 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
12206 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
12207 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
12210 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
12211 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
12212 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
12213 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
12214 the length of the match is less than
12215 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
12216 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
12219 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12220 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
12221 headers. If you adapt on words, the
12222 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
12223 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
12226 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12227 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
12228 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
12229 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
12230 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
12233 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
12234 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
12235 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
12236 score with 30 points.
12238 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
12239 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
12240 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
12241 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
12242 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
12244 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
12245 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
12246 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
12247 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
12249 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
12250 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
12251 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
12253 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
12254 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
12255 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
12256 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
12259 @node Home Score File
12260 @section Home Score File
12262 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
12263 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
12264 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
12265 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
12267 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
12268 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
12269 could perhaps use the same home score file.
12271 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
12272 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
12277 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
12281 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
12282 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
12286 A list. The elements in this list can be:
12290 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
12291 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
12294 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
12295 the home score file.
12298 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
12301 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
12306 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
12309 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12310 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
12313 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
12314 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
12317 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12318 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
12321 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
12323 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
12324 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
12325 their own home score files:
12328 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12329 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
12330 '("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
12331 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
12332 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE"))
12335 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
12336 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
12337 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
12338 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
12339 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
12341 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
12342 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
12343 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
12344 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
12345 precedence over this variable.
12348 @node Followups To Yourself
12349 @section Followups To Yourself
12351 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
12352 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
12353 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
12354 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
12355 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
12356 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
12360 @item gnus-score-followup-article
12361 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
12362 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
12365 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
12366 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
12367 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
12371 @vindex message-sent-hook
12372 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
12373 @code{message-sent-hook}.
12375 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
12376 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
12380 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
12381 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
12384 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
12385 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
12390 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
12394 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
12395 is system-dependent.
12399 @section Scoring Tips
12400 @cindex scoring tips
12406 @cindex scoring crossposts
12407 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
12408 the @code{Xref} header.
12410 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
12413 @item Multiple crossposts
12414 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
12415 more than, say, 3 groups:
12417 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
12420 @item Matching on the body
12421 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
12422 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
12423 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
12424 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
12425 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
12426 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
12427 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
12430 @item Marking as read
12431 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
12432 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
12433 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
12437 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
12439 @item Negated character classes
12440 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
12441 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
12442 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
12446 @node Reverse Scoring
12447 @section Reverse Scoring
12448 @cindex reverse scoring
12450 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
12451 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
12452 like this in your score file:
12456 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
12461 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
12462 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
12465 @node Global Score Files
12466 @section Global Score Files
12467 @cindex global score files
12469 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
12470 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
12471 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
12473 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
12474 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
12475 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
12477 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
12478 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
12479 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
12480 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
12481 files are applicable to which group.
12483 Say you want to use the score file
12484 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
12485 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
12488 (setq gnus-global-score-files
12489 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
12490 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
12493 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
12494 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
12495 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
12496 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
12497 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
12499 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
12500 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
12502 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
12503 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
12504 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
12505 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
12506 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
12507 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
12509 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
12515 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
12517 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
12519 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
12521 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
12522 lowered out of existence.
12524 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
12525 articles completely.
12528 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
12529 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
12530 old articles for a long time.
12533 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
12534 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
12535 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
12536 holding our breath yet?
12540 @section Kill Files
12543 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
12544 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
12545 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
12547 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
12548 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
12549 files into score files.
12551 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
12552 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
12553 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
12554 that isn't a very good idea.
12556 Normal kill files look like this:
12559 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12560 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
12564 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
12565 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
12567 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
12568 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
12571 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
12576 @kindex M-k (Summary)
12577 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
12578 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
12581 @kindex M-K (Summary)
12582 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
12583 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
12586 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
12591 @kindex M-k (Group)
12592 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
12593 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
12596 @kindex M-K (Group)
12597 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
12598 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
12601 Kill file variables:
12604 @item gnus-kill-file-name
12605 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
12606 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
12607 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
12608 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
12609 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
12610 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
12612 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
12613 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
12614 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
12615 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
12618 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
12619 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
12620 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
12621 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
12622 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
12623 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
12624 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
12625 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
12626 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
12628 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
12629 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
12630 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
12635 @node Converting Kill Files
12636 @section Converting Kill Files
12638 @cindex converting kill files
12640 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
12641 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
12642 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
12645 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
12646 You can fetch it from
12647 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
12649 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
12650 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
12651 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
12659 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
12660 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
12661 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
12663 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
12664 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
12665 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
12666 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
12667 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
12668 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
12669 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
12670 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
12674 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
12675 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
12676 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
12677 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
12681 @node Using GroupLens
12682 @subsection Using GroupLens
12684 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
12686 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
12687 better bit in town at the moment.
12689 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
12693 @item gnus-use-grouplens
12694 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
12695 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
12696 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
12698 @item grouplens-pseudonym
12699 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
12700 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
12701 with the Better Bit Bureau.
12703 @item grouplens-newsgroups
12704 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
12705 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
12709 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
12710 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
12711 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
12712 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
12713 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
12714 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
12717 @node Rating Articles
12718 @subsection Rating Articles
12720 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
12721 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
12722 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
12723 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
12726 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
12731 @kindex r (GroupLens)
12732 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
12733 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
12736 @kindex k (GroupLens)
12737 @findex grouplens-score-thread
12738 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
12739 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
12740 threads in rec.humor.
12744 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
12745 the score of the article you're reading.
12750 @kindex n (GroupLens)
12751 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
12752 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
12755 @kindex , (GroupLens)
12756 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
12757 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
12761 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
12762 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
12765 @node Displaying Predictions
12766 @subsection Displaying Predictions
12768 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
12769 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
12770 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
12771 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
12772 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
12774 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
12775 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
12776 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
12777 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
12778 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
12779 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
12780 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
12781 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
12782 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
12783 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
12784 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
12785 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
12786 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
12788 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
12789 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
12790 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
12791 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
12793 The following are valid values for that variable.
12796 @item prediction-spot
12797 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
12800 @item confidence-interval
12801 A numeric confidence interval.
12803 @item prediction-bar
12804 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
12806 @item confidence-bar
12807 Numerical confidence.
12809 @item confidence-spot
12810 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
12812 @item prediction-num
12813 Plain-old numeric value.
12815 @item confidence-plus-minus
12816 Prediction +/- confidence.
12821 @node GroupLens Variables
12822 @subsection GroupLens Variables
12826 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
12827 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
12828 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
12829 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
12832 @item grouplens-bbb-host
12833 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
12836 @item grouplens-bbb-port
12837 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
12839 @item grouplens-score-offset
12840 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
12841 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
12844 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
12845 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
12846 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
12851 @node Advanced Scoring
12852 @section Advanced Scoring
12854 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
12855 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
12856 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
12857 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
12858 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
12860 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
12864 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
12865 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
12866 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
12870 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
12871 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
12873 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
12874 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
12875 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
12876 non-@code{nil} value.
12878 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
12879 operator, and various match operators.
12886 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
12887 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
12888 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
12893 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
12894 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
12895 then this operator will return @code{false}.
12900 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
12901 logical negation of the value of its argument.
12905 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
12906 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
12907 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
12908 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
12909 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
12910 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
12911 the ancestry you want to go.
12913 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
12914 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
12915 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
12916 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
12917 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
12920 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
12921 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
12923 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
12924 when he's talking about Gnus:
12928 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12929 ("subject" "Gnus"))
12935 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
12939 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12946 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
12947 really don't want to read what he's written:
12951 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12952 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
12956 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
12957 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
12958 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
12965 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
12966 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
12967 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
12968 ("body" "white.*socks"))
12972 The possibilities are endless.
12975 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
12976 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
12978 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
12979 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
12980 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
12981 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
12982 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
12983 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
12984 @samp{subject}) first.
12986 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
12987 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
12998 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
12999 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
13005 ("subject" "Gnus")))
13012 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
13013 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
13018 @section Score Decays
13019 @cindex score decays
13022 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
13023 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
13024 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
13025 use them in any sensible way.
13027 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
13028 @findex gnus-decay-score
13029 @vindex gnus-score-decay-function
13030 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
13031 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
13032 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
13033 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
13034 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-score-decay-function}
13035 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
13036 definition of that function:
13039 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
13040 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant' and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
13043 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
13045 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
13047 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
13050 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
13051 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
13052 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
13053 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
13057 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
13060 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
13063 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
13067 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
13068 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
13069 the new score, which should be an integer.
13071 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
13072 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
13079 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
13080 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
13081 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
13082 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
13083 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
13084 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
13085 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
13086 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
13087 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
13088 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
13089 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
13090 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
13091 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
13092 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
13093 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolited commercial email.
13094 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
13098 @node Process/Prefix
13099 @section Process/Prefix
13100 @cindex process/prefix convention
13102 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
13103 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
13105 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
13106 command to be performed on.
13110 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
13111 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
13112 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
13113 with the current one.
13115 @vindex transient-mark-mode
13116 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
13117 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
13119 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
13120 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
13123 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
13124 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
13126 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
13129 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
13130 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
13131 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
13132 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13134 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
13135 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
13136 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
13137 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
13138 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
13139 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
13140 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
13141 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
13145 @section Interactive
13146 @cindex interaction
13150 @item gnus-novice-user
13151 @vindex gnus-novice-user
13152 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
13153 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
13154 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
13155 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
13158 @item gnus-expert-user
13159 @vindex gnus-expert-user
13160 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will never ever be asked any
13161 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
13162 matter how strange.
13164 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
13165 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
13166 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
13167 is @code{t} by default.
13169 @item gnus-interactive-exit
13170 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
13171 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
13176 @node Formatting Variables
13177 @section Formatting Variables
13178 @cindex formatting variables
13180 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
13181 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
13182 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
13183 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
13186 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
13187 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
13188 lots of percentages everywhere.
13191 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
13192 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
13193 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
13194 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
13197 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
13198 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
13199 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
13200 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
13201 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
13202 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
13203 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
13204 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
13206 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
13207 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
13209 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
13210 @findex gnus-update-format
13211 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
13212 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
13213 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
13214 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
13218 @node Formatting Basics
13219 @subsection Formatting Basics
13221 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
13222 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
13223 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
13225 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
13226 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
13227 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
13228 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
13229 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
13232 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
13233 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
13234 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
13235 less than 4 characters wide.
13238 @node Advanced Formatting
13239 @subsection Advanced Formatting
13241 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
13242 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
13243 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
13244 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
13246 These are the valid modifiers:
13251 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
13255 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
13260 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
13263 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
13268 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
13271 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
13274 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
13277 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
13281 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
13282 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
13283 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
13284 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
13285 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
13286 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
13287 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
13289 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
13290 last operation, padding.
13292 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
13293 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
13294 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
13295 @xref{Compilation}.
13298 @node User-Defined Specs
13299 @subsection User-Defined Specs
13301 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
13302 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
13303 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
13304 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
13305 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
13306 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
13307 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
13308 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
13309 should protect against that.
13311 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
13312 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
13313 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
13314 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
13318 @node Formatting Fonts
13319 @subsection Formatting Fonts
13321 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
13322 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
13323 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
13324 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
13327 Text inside the @samp{%[} and @samp{%]} specifiers will have their
13328 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
13329 default. If you say @samp{%1[}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
13330 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
13331 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
13332 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
13334 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
13337 ;; Create three face types.
13338 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
13339 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
13341 ;; We want the article count to be in
13342 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
13343 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
13344 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
13346 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
13347 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
13349 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
13350 (setq gnus-group-line-format
13351 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
13354 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
13355 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
13357 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
13358 mode-line variables.
13361 @node Windows Configuration
13362 @section Windows Configuration
13363 @cindex windows configuration
13365 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
13367 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
13368 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
13369 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
13370 @code{t} by default.
13372 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
13373 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
13374 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
13377 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
13378 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
13379 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
13383 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
13384 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
13385 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
13386 possible names is listed below.
13388 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
13389 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
13392 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
13396 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
13397 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
13398 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
13399 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
13400 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
13401 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
13402 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
13403 size spec per split.
13405 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
13408 Here's a more complicated example:
13411 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
13412 (summary 0.25 point)
13413 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
13417 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
13418 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
13419 occupy, not a percentage.
13421 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
13422 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
13423 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
13424 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
13425 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
13428 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
13431 (article (horizontal 1.0
13436 (summary 0.25 point)
13441 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
13442 @code{horizontal} thingie?
13444 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
13445 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
13446 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
13447 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
13448 the screen is to be given to this strip.
13450 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
13451 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
13452 lines from the splits.
13454 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
13458 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
13459 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
13460 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
13461 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
13462 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] ")"
13463 size = number | frame-params
13464 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
13467 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
13468 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
13469 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
13470 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
13472 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
13473 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
13474 @cindex window height
13475 @cindex window width
13476 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
13477 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
13478 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
13479 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
13480 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
13481 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
13483 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
13484 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
13485 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
13486 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
13488 @findex gnus-configure-frame
13489 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
13490 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
13491 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
13492 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
13493 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
13494 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
13495 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
13496 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
13497 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
13498 configuration list.
13501 (gnus-configure-frame
13505 (article 0.3 point))
13513 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
13514 @code{frame} split:
13517 (gnus-configure-frame
13520 (summary 0.25 point)
13522 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
13523 (user-position . t)
13524 (left . -1) (top . 1))
13529 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
13530 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
13531 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
13532 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
13533 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
13534 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
13535 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
13536 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
13539 Here's a list of all possible keys for
13540 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
13542 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
13543 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
13544 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
13545 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
13546 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
13547 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
13549 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
13550 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
13551 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
13555 (message (horizontal 1.0
13556 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
13558 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
13563 @findex gnus-add-configuration
13564 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
13565 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
13566 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
13567 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
13570 (gnus-add-configuration
13571 '(article (vertical 1.0
13573 (summary .25 point)
13577 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
13578 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
13579 Gnus has been loaded.
13581 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
13582 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
13583 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
13584 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
13585 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
13589 @section Compilation
13590 @cindex compilation
13591 @cindex byte-compilation
13593 @findex gnus-compile
13595 Remember all those line format specification variables?
13596 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
13597 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
13598 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
13599 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
13600 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
13603 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
13604 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
13605 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
13606 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
13607 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
13608 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
13609 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
13613 @section Mode Lines
13616 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
13617 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
13618 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
13619 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
13620 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
13621 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
13622 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
13625 @cindex display-time
13627 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
13628 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
13629 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
13630 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
13631 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
13632 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
13633 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
13634 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
13637 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
13639 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
13640 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
13642 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
13643 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
13644 (length display-time-string)))))
13647 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
13648 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
13649 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
13650 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
13651 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
13654 @node Highlighting and Menus
13655 @section Highlighting and Menus
13657 @cindex highlighting
13660 @vindex gnus-visual
13661 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
13662 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
13663 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
13666 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
13667 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
13670 @item group-highlight
13671 Do highlights in the group buffer.
13672 @item summary-highlight
13673 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
13674 @item article-highlight
13675 Do highlights in the article buffer.
13677 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
13679 Create menus in the group buffer.
13681 Create menus in the summary buffers.
13683 Create menus in the article buffer.
13685 Create menus in the browse buffer.
13687 Create menus in the server buffer.
13689 Create menus in the score buffers.
13691 Create menus in all buffers.
13694 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
13695 buffers, you could say something like:
13698 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
13701 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
13704 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
13707 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
13708 in all Gnus buffers.
13710 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
13713 @item gnus-mouse-face
13714 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
13715 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
13716 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
13720 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
13724 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
13725 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
13726 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
13728 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
13729 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
13730 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
13732 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
13733 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
13734 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
13736 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
13737 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
13738 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
13740 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
13741 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
13742 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
13744 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
13745 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
13746 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
13757 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
13758 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
13759 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
13760 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
13761 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
13765 @vindex gnus-carpal
13766 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
13767 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
13768 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
13773 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
13774 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
13775 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
13777 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
13778 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
13779 Face used on buttons.
13781 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
13782 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
13783 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
13785 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
13786 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
13787 Buttons in the group buffer.
13789 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
13790 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
13791 Buttons in the summary buffer.
13793 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
13794 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
13795 Buttons in the server buffer.
13797 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
13798 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
13799 Buttons in the browse buffer.
13802 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
13803 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
13804 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
13812 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
13813 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
13814 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
13815 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
13816 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
13818 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
13819 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
13820 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
13822 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
13823 been idle for thirty minutes:
13826 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
13829 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
13833 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
13836 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
13837 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
13838 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
13840 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
13841 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
13842 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
13843 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
13845 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
13846 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
13847 @var{idle} minutes.
13849 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
13850 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
13853 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
13854 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
13855 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
13857 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
13858 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
13859 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
13860 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
13862 @vindex gnus-use-demon
13863 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
13864 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
13866 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
13867 your @file{.gnus} file:
13869 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
13871 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
13874 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
13875 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
13876 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
13877 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
13878 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
13879 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
13880 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
13881 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
13882 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
13883 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
13885 @findex gnus-demon-init
13886 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
13887 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
13888 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
13889 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
13890 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
13892 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you overdo it. Adding
13893 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
13894 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
13903 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
13904 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
13906 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
13907 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
13908 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
13909 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
13912 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
13913 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
13914 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
13915 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
13917 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
13918 this will make spam disappear.
13920 There are some variables to customize, of course:
13923 @item gnus-use-nocem
13924 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
13925 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
13928 @item gnus-nocem-groups
13929 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
13930 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
13931 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
13932 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
13934 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
13935 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
13936 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
13937 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
13938 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;" "jem@@xpat.com;" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
13939 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
13941 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
13944 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
13945 @cindex Chris Lewis
13946 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
13947 usenet abuse than anybody else.
13950 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
13951 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
13952 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
13954 @item jem@@xpat.com;
13956 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
13959 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
13960 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
13961 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
13964 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
13965 ones you want to listen to.
13967 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
13968 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
13970 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
13971 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
13972 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
13973 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
13975 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
13976 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
13979 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
13981 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
13989 This might be dangerous, though.
13991 @item gnus-nocem-directory
13992 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
13993 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
13994 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
13996 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
13997 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
13998 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
13999 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
14000 might then see old spam.
14004 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
14005 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
14006 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
14007 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
14014 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
14015 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
14016 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
14018 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
14019 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
14020 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
14021 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
14022 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
14023 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
14024 @code{undo} function.
14026 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
14027 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
14028 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
14029 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
14030 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
14031 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
14032 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
14033 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
14034 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
14035 never be totally undoable.
14037 @findex gnus-undo-mode
14038 @vindex gnus-use-undo
14040 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
14041 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
14042 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
14043 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
14048 @section Moderation
14051 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
14052 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
14053 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
14056 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
14060 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
14063 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
14065 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
14070 You split your incoming mail by matching on
14071 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
14072 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
14075 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
14076 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
14079 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
14080 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
14084 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
14087 (setq gnus-moderated-list
14088 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
14092 @node XEmacs Enhancements
14093 @section XEmacs Enhancements
14096 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
14100 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
14101 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
14102 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
14103 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
14112 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-att.ps}
14113 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-berkeley.ps}
14114 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-caltech.ps}
14115 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-canada.ps}
14116 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-cr.ps}
14117 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-cygnus.ps}
14118 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-gov.ps}
14119 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-mit.ps}
14120 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-nasa.ps}
14121 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-qmw.ps}
14122 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-rms.ps}
14123 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-ruu.ps}
14127 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
14128 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
14129 over your shoulder as you read news.
14132 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
14133 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
14134 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
14135 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
14136 * Picon Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
14141 @subsubsection Picon Basics
14143 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
14146 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
14147 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
14148 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
14149 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
14150 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
14151 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
14152 @code{GIF} formats.
14155 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases, point
14156 your Web browser at
14157 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
14159 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14160 Gnus expects picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
14161 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14164 @node Picon Requirements
14165 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
14167 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
14168 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
14171 Additionally, you must have @code{xpm} support compiled into XEmacs.
14173 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14174 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you must have
14175 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
14176 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
14180 @subsubsection Easy Picons
14182 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
14183 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
14186 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
14187 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14188 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-prepare-hook 'gnus-group-display-picons t)
14189 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
14194 @subsubsection Hard Picons
14196 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
14197 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
14198 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
14199 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
14200 feature, you need to first decide where to display them.
14204 @item gnus-picons-display-where
14205 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
14206 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
14207 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
14208 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
14209 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
14210 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
14211 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
14217 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-seuu.ps}
14218 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-stanford.ps}
14219 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-sun.ps}
14220 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-ubc.ps}
14221 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-ufl.ps}
14222 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-uio.ps}
14223 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-unit.ps}
14224 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-upenn.ps}
14225 \gnuspicon{tmp/picons-wesleyan.ps}
14229 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
14230 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
14232 Now that you've made that decision, you need to add the following
14233 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get
14234 displayed at the right time.
14236 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
14237 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
14239 @item gnus-article-display-picons
14240 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14241 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
14242 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
14243 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
14245 @item gnus-group-display-picons
14246 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14247 Displays picons representing the current group. This function should
14248 be added to the @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook} or to the
14249 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} if @code{gnus-picons-display-where}
14250 is set to @code{article}.
14252 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
14253 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
14254 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
14255 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
14259 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
14260 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
14263 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14267 @node Picon Configuration
14268 @subsubsection Picon Configuration
14270 The following variables offer further control over how things are
14271 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
14272 don't need to worry about.
14275 @item gnus-picons-database
14276 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14277 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
14278 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
14279 subdirectories. Defaults to @file{/usr/local/faces}.
14281 @item gnus-picons-news-directory
14282 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directory
14283 Sub-directory of the faces database containing the icons for
14286 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
14287 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
14288 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
14289 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
14291 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
14292 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
14293 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
14294 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
14295 want to add @samp{unknown} to this list.
14297 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14298 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14299 The command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
14300 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
14301 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
14302 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
14304 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
14305 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
14306 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
14307 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
14309 @item gnus-picons-buffer
14310 @vindex gnus-picons-buffer
14311 The name of the buffer that @code{picons} points to. Defaults to
14312 @samp{*Icon Buffer*}.
14317 @subsection Smileys
14320 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
14321 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
14323 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
14324 @file{.gnus.el} file:
14327 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
14330 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
14331 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
14332 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
14333 text and maps that to file names.
14335 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
14336 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
14337 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
14338 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
14339 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
14340 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
14342 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
14343 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
14345 Here's the default value of @code{smiley-smiley-regexp-alist}:
14348 (setq smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
14349 '(("\\(:-+[<«]+\\)\\W" 1 "FaceAngry.xpm")
14350 ("\\(:-+\\]+\\)\\W" 1 "FaceGoofy.xpm")
14351 ("\\(:-+D\\)\\W" 1 "FaceGrinning.xpm")
14352 ("\\(:-+[@}»]+\\)\\W" 1 "FaceHappy.xpm")
14353 ("\\(:-*)+\\)\\W" 1 "FaceHappy.xpm")
14354 ("\\(:-+[/\\\"]+\\)\\W" 1 "FaceIronic.xpm")
14355 ("\\([8|]-+[|Oo%]\\)\\W" 1 "FaceKOed.xpm")
14356 ("\\([:|]-+#+\\)\\W" 1 "FaceNyah.xpm")
14357 ("\\(:-+[(@{]+\\)\\W" 1 "FaceSad.xpm")
14358 ("\\(:-+[Oo\*]\\)\\W" 1 "FaceStartled.xpm")
14359 ("\\(:-+|\\)\\W" 1 "FaceStraight.xpm")
14360 ("\\(:-+p\\)\\W" 1 "FaceTalking.xpm")
14361 ("\\(:-+d\\)\\W" 1 "FaceTasty.xpm")
14362 ("\\(;-+[>)@}»]+\\)\\W" 1 "FaceWinking.xpm")
14363 ("\\(:-+[Vvµ]\\)\\W" 1 "FaceWry.xpm")
14364 ("\\(][:8B]-[)>]\\)\\W" 1 "FaceDevilish.xpm")
14365 ("\\([:|]-+P\\)\\W" 1 "FaceYukky.xpm")))
14368 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
14369 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
14370 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
14372 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
14373 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
14377 @item smiley-data-directory
14378 @vindex smiley-data-directory
14379 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
14381 @item smiley-flesh-color
14382 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
14383 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
14385 @item smiley-features-color
14386 @vindex smiley-features-color
14387 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
14389 @item smiley-tongue-color
14390 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
14391 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
14393 @item smiley-circle-color
14394 @vindex smiley-circle-color
14395 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
14397 @item smiley-mouse-face
14398 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
14399 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
14405 @subsection Toolbar
14409 @item gnus-use-toolbar
14410 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
14411 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
14412 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
14413 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
14415 @item gnus-group-toolbar
14416 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
14417 The toolbar in the group buffer.
14419 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
14420 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
14421 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
14423 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
14424 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
14425 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
14431 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
14434 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
14435 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
14436 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
14437 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
14438 unusual directory structure.
14440 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
14441 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
14442 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
14443 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
14445 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
14446 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
14447 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
14448 Legal values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
14449 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
14450 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
14452 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
14453 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
14454 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
14462 @node Fuzzy Matching
14463 @section Fuzzy Matching
14464 @cindex fuzzy matching
14466 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
14467 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
14469 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
14470 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
14471 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
14473 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
14474 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
14475 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
14476 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
14477 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
14480 @node Thwarting Email Spam
14481 @section Thwarting Email Spam
14485 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
14487 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
14488 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
14489 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
14490 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
14491 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
14492 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
14493 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
14494 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
14497 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
14498 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
14499 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
14500 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
14501 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrouos hair on your toes!'')
14502 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
14506 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
14507 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
14509 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
14510 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
14511 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
14512 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
14513 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
14514 part of the mail address.)
14517 (setq message-default-news-headers
14518 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
14521 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14522 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
14527 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
14528 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
14529 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
14535 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
14536 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
14537 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
14538 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
14540 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
14541 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
14542 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
14543 twarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
14544 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
14545 your fancy split rule in this way:
14550 (to "larsi" "misc")
14554 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
14555 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
14556 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
14557 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
14558 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
14560 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
14561 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, availiable FOR FREE
14562 at @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
14563 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
14564 cosmic balance somewhat.
14566 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
14567 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
14568 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
14569 to non-existant domains is yucky, in my opinion.
14572 @node Various Various
14573 @section Various Various
14579 @item gnus-home-directory
14580 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
14581 defaults to @file{~/}.
14583 @item gnus-directory
14584 @vindex gnus-directory
14585 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
14586 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
14587 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
14589 @item gnus-default-directory
14590 @vindex gnus-default-directory
14591 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
14592 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
14593 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
14594 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
14595 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
14596 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
14599 @vindex gnus-verbose
14600 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
14601 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
14602 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
14603 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
14604 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
14606 @item gnus-verbose-backends
14607 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
14608 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
14609 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
14611 @item nnheader-max-head-length
14612 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
14613 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
14614 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
14615 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
14616 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
14617 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
14618 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
14619 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
14620 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
14622 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
14623 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
14624 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
14625 read when doing the operation described above.
14627 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
14628 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
14630 @cindex invalid characters in file names
14631 @cindex characters in file names
14632 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
14633 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
14634 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
14637 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
14641 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
14642 Windows (phooey) systems.
14644 @item gnus-hidden-properties
14645 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
14646 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
14647 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
14648 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
14650 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
14651 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
14652 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
14653 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
14654 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
14656 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
14657 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
14658 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
14667 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
14668 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
14670 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
14672 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
14678 Not because of victories @*
14681 but for the common sunshine,@*
14683 the largess of the spring.
14687 but for the day's work done@*
14688 as well as I was able;@*
14689 not for a seat upon the dais@*
14690 but at the common table.@*
14695 @chapter Appendices
14698 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
14699 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
14700 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
14701 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
14702 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
14703 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
14704 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
14712 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
14713 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
14715 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
14716 can point your (feh!) web browser to
14717 @file{http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
14718 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
14719 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
14721 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
14722 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
14723 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
14724 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
14725 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
14726 appropriate name, don't you think?)
14728 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
14729 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
14730 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
14731 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
14733 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
14734 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
14735 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
14737 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
14738 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
14740 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
14741 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4''.
14743 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
14744 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
14745 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
14746 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
14747 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
14751 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
14752 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
14753 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
14754 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
14755 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
14756 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
14757 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
14764 What's the point of Gnus?
14766 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
14767 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
14768 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
14769 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
14770 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
14771 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
14772 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
14773 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
14774 keep track of millions of people who post?
14776 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
14777 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
14778 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
14779 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
14780 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
14781 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
14782 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
14783 every one of you to explore and invent.
14785 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
14786 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
14789 @node Compatibility
14790 @subsection Compatibility
14792 @cindex compatibility
14793 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
14794 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
14795 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
14800 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
14804 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
14807 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
14810 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
14811 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
14812 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
14813 important variables have their values copied into their global
14814 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
14815 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
14817 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
14818 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
14819 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
14820 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
14821 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
14825 @cindex highlighting
14826 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
14827 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
14828 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
14829 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
14830 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
14831 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
14834 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
14835 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
14836 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
14837 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
14839 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
14840 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
14841 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
14842 to stop doing it the old way.
14844 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
14846 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
14848 @cindex reporting bugs
14850 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
14851 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
14852 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
14856 @subsection Conformity
14858 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
14859 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
14866 There are no known breaches of this standard.
14870 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
14872 @item Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
14873 @cindex Good Net-Keeping Seal of Approval
14874 Gnus has been through the Seal process and failed. I think it'll pass
14875 the next inspection.
14877 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
14878 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
14879 We do have some breaches to this one.
14884 Gnus does no MIME handling, and this standard-to-be seems to think that
14885 MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
14888 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
14889 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
14890 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
14891 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
14892 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
14897 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
14898 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
14903 @subsection Emacsen
14909 Gnus should work on :
14914 Emacs 19.32 and up.
14917 XEmacs 19.14 and up.
14920 Mule versions based on Emacs 19.32 and up.
14924 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
14925 reliably, at least.
14927 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
14928 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
14929 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
14934 @subsection Contributors
14935 @cindex contributors
14937 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
14938 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
14939 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
14940 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
14941 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
14942 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
14943 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
14944 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
14945 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
14946 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
14948 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
14954 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
14957 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
14958 well as numerous other things).
14961 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
14964 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
14967 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
14968 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
14971 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
14974 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
14975 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
14978 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
14981 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
14984 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
14987 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
14990 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinsky---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
14991 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
14994 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
14997 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
15000 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
15003 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
15007 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
15010 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
15013 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
15016 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports.
15020 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
15021 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
15023 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
15032 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
15036 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
15051 Massimo Campostrini,
15056 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
15061 Michael Welsh Duggan,
15068 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
15073 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
15077 François Felix Ingrand,
15078 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
15085 Peter Skov Knudsen,
15086 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
15087 Thor Kristoffersen,
15102 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
15103 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
15109 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
15114 John McClary Prevost,
15122 Philippe Schnoebelen,
15123 Randal L. Schwartz,
15144 Katsumi Yamaoka. @c Yamaoka
15146 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
15147 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
15148 (550kB and counting).
15150 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
15153 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
15154 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
15158 @subsection New Features
15159 @cindex new features
15162 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
15163 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
15164 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
15167 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
15168 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
15169 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
15173 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
15175 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
15180 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
15181 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
15184 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
15185 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
15188 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
15191 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
15192 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
15193 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
15196 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
15197 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
15198 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
15199 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
15202 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
15203 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15206 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
15207 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
15208 (@pxref{The Active File}).
15211 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
15212 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
15215 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
15216 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
15217 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
15220 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
15221 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
15222 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
15225 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
15226 the @file{.emacs} file.
15229 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
15230 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15233 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
15234 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
15237 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
15238 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15241 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
15242 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
15245 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
15246 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
15249 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
15252 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
15253 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
15256 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
15257 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
15260 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
15261 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
15264 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
15267 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
15268 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
15271 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
15275 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
15279 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
15280 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
15283 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
15289 @node September Gnus
15290 @subsubsection September Gnus
15292 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
15297 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
15298 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
15302 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
15303 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
15307 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
15311 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
15312 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
15315 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
15319 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
15322 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
15325 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
15328 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
15332 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
15333 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
15336 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
15340 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
15344 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
15348 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
15352 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
15355 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
15356 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
15359 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
15363 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
15364 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
15367 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
15370 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
15371 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
15372 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
15375 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
15379 The Gnus cache is much faster.
15382 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
15386 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
15387 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
15390 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
15391 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
15394 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
15395 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
15398 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
15399 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
15400 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
15403 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
15404 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
15407 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
15410 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
15413 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15414 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
15418 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
15421 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
15424 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
15425 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
15428 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
15432 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
15435 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
15438 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
15442 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
15445 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
15449 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
15452 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
15455 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
15456 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
15459 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
15460 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
15464 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
15465 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
15468 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
15472 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
15473 buffer to allow easier treatment.
15476 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
15479 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
15483 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
15487 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
15488 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
15491 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
15495 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
15496 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
15499 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
15500 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
15503 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
15507 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
15510 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
15511 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
15515 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
15518 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
15524 @subsubsection Red Gnus
15526 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
15531 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
15534 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
15535 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
15538 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
15539 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
15543 Article washing status can be displayed in the
15544 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
15547 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
15550 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
15551 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
15554 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
15558 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
15559 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
15563 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
15564 Server Internals}).
15567 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
15571 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
15574 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
15575 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
15578 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
15579 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
15580 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
15583 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
15584 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
15587 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
15588 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
15591 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
15595 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
15596 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
15599 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
15600 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
15603 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
15607 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
15610 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
15614 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
15615 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
15618 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
15619 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
15622 A new command for reading collections of documents
15623 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
15624 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
15627 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
15631 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
15632 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
15635 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
15636 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
15637 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
15640 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
15641 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
15645 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
15649 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
15653 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
15657 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
15661 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
15662 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
15665 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
15668 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-emphasize)
15674 @node Newest Features
15675 @subsection Newest Features
15678 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
15681 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
15685 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
15687 Really do unbinhexing.
15690 And much, much, much more. There is more to come than has already been
15691 implemented. (But that's always true, isn't it?)
15693 @file{<URL:http://www.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/rgnus/todo>} is where the actual
15694 up-to-the-second todo list is located, so if you're really curious, you
15695 could point your Web browser over that-a-way.
15700 @section The Manual
15704 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
15705 either @code{texi2dvi}
15707 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
15708 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
15710 to get what you hold in your hands now.
15712 The following conventions have been used:
15717 This is a @samp{string}
15720 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
15723 This is a @file{file}
15726 This is a @code{symbol}
15730 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
15734 (setq flargnoze "yes")
15737 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
15740 (setq flumphel 'yes)
15743 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
15744 ever get them confused.
15748 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
15749 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
15750 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
15751 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
15752 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
15753 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
15754 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
15761 @section Terminology
15763 @cindex terminology
15768 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
15769 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
15770 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
15771 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
15772 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
15776 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
15777 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
15778 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
15779 not posting, and replying is not following up.
15783 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
15787 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
15792 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
15793 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
15794 is all done by the backends.
15798 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
15799 default, way of getting news.
15803 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
15804 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
15809 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
15810 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
15814 A message that has been posted as news.
15817 @cindex mail message
15818 A message that has been mailed.
15822 A mail message or news article
15826 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
15831 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
15836 A line from the head of an article.
15840 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
15841 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
15845 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
15846 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
15847 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
15848 normal @sc{head} format.
15852 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
15853 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
15854 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
15855 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
15856 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
15857 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
15859 @item killed groups
15860 @cindex killed groups
15861 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
15862 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
15864 @item zombie groups
15865 @cindex zombie groups
15866 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
15869 @cindex active file
15870 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
15871 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
15872 is rather large, as you might surmise.
15875 @cindex bogus groups
15876 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
15877 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
15878 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
15882 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
15884 @item select method
15885 @cindex select method
15886 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
15889 @item virtual server
15890 @cindex virtual server
15891 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
15892 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
15893 whole is a virtual server.
15897 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
15898 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
15901 @item ephemeral groups
15902 @cindex ephemeral groups
15903 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
15904 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
15905 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
15908 @cindex solid groups
15909 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
15910 group buffer are solid groups.
15912 @item sparse articles
15913 @cindex sparse articles
15914 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
15915 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
15919 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
15920 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
15924 @cindex thread root
15925 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
15926 articles in the thread.
15930 An article that has responses.
15934 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
15938 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
15939 specified by RFC1153.
15944 @node Customization
15945 @section Customization
15946 @cindex general customization
15948 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
15949 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
15950 for some quite common situations.
15953 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
15954 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
15955 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
15956 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
15960 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
15961 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
15963 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
15964 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
15965 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
15969 @item gnus-read-active-file
15970 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
15971 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
15972 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
15973 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
15974 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
15976 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
15977 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
15978 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
15979 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
15983 @node Slow Terminal Connection
15984 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
15986 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
15987 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
15988 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
15992 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
15993 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
15994 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
15995 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
15996 horizontal and vertical recentering.
15998 @item gnus-visible-headers
15999 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
16000 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
16001 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
16002 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
16004 @item gnus-article-display-hook
16005 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
16007 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
16008 '(gnus-article-hide-headers gnus-article-hide-signature
16009 gnus-article-hide-citation))
16012 @item gnus-use-full-window
16013 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
16014 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
16015 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
16016 want to read them anyway.
16018 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
16019 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
16022 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
16023 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
16024 lines, which might save some time.
16028 @node Little Disk Space
16029 @subsection Little Disk Space
16032 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
16033 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
16037 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
16038 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
16039 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
16040 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
16043 @item gnus-save-killed-list
16044 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
16045 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
16046 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
16047 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
16053 @subsection Slow Machine
16054 @cindex slow machine
16056 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
16057 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
16059 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
16060 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
16062 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
16063 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
16064 summary buffer faster.
16066 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
16067 processing a bit faster.
16070 @node Troubleshooting
16071 @section Troubleshooting
16072 @cindex troubleshooting
16074 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
16082 Make sure your computer is switched on.
16085 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
16086 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
16090 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
16091 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
16092 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
16093 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
16096 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
16100 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
16101 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
16102 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
16103 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
16104 something like that.
16107 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
16110 @cindex reporting bugs
16112 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
16114 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
16115 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
16116 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
16117 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
16119 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
16120 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
16121 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
16122 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
16125 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
16126 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
16127 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
16128 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
16129 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
16130 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
16132 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
16133 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
16134 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
16137 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
16138 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
16140 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
16141 @cindex ding mailing list
16142 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
16143 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
16146 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
16147 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
16149 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
16150 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
16151 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
16152 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
16155 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
16156 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
16157 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
16158 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
16159 and general methods of operation.
16162 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
16163 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
16164 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
16165 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
16166 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
16167 * Group Info:: The group info format.
16168 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
16169 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
16173 @node Gnus Utility Functions
16174 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
16175 @cindex Gnus utility functions
16176 @cindex utility functions
16178 @cindex internal variables
16180 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
16181 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
16182 Below is a list of the most common ones.
16186 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
16187 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
16188 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
16190 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
16191 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
16192 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
16194 @item gnus-group-real-name
16195 @findex gnus-group-real-name
16196 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
16199 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
16200 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
16201 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
16202 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
16204 @item gnus-get-info
16205 @findex gnus-get-info
16206 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
16208 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
16209 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
16210 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
16213 @item gnus-continuum-version
16214 @findex gnus-continuum-version
16215 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
16216 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
16219 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
16220 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
16221 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
16223 @item gnus-news-group-p
16224 @findex gnus-news-group-p
16225 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
16227 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
16228 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
16229 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
16231 @item gnus-server-to-method
16232 @findex gnus-server-to-method
16233 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
16235 @item gnus-server-equal
16236 @findex gnus-server-equal
16237 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
16239 @item gnus-group-native-p
16240 @findex gnus-group-native-p
16241 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
16243 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
16244 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
16245 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
16247 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
16248 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
16249 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
16251 @item group-group-find-parameter
16252 @findex group-group-find-parameter
16253 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
16254 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
16256 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
16257 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
16258 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
16260 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
16261 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
16262 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
16264 @item gnus-check-backend-function
16265 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
16266 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
16267 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
16270 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
16274 @item gnus-read-method
16275 @findex gnus-read-method
16276 Prompts the user for a select method.
16281 @node Backend Interface
16282 @subsection Backend Interface
16284 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
16285 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
16286 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
16287 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
16288 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
16289 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
16291 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
16292 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
16293 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
16294 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
16295 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
16296 been opened, the function should fail.
16298 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
16299 name. Take this example:
16303 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
16304 (nntp-port-number 4324))
16307 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
16308 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
16310 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
16311 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
16312 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
16314 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
16315 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
16316 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
16318 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
16319 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
16320 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
16321 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
16322 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
16323 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
16326 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
16327 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
16328 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
16329 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
16332 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
16335 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
16338 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
16339 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
16340 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
16341 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
16342 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
16343 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
16347 @node Required Backend Functions
16348 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
16352 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
16354 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
16355 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
16356 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
16357 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
16359 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
16360 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
16361 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
16362 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
16364 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
16365 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
16366 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
16367 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
16368 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
16369 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
16370 number, do maximum fetches.
16372 Here's an example HEAD:
16375 221 1056 Article retrieved.
16376 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
16377 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
16378 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
16379 Subject: Re: Something very droll
16380 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
16381 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
16383 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
16384 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
16385 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
16389 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
16390 these in the data buffer.
16392 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
16396 head = error / valid-head
16397 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
16398 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
16399 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
16400 header = <text> eol
16403 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
16404 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
16408 nov-buffer = *nov-line
16409 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
16410 field = <text except TAB>
16413 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
16417 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
16419 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
16420 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
16422 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
16423 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
16424 server. In fact, it should do so.
16426 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
16427 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
16430 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
16432 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
16433 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
16436 There should be no data returned.
16439 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
16441 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
16442 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
16443 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
16444 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
16446 There should be no data returned.
16449 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
16451 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
16452 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
16453 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
16454 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
16456 There should be no data returned.
16459 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
16461 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
16463 There should be no data returned.
16466 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
16468 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
16469 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
16470 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
16471 it would be nice if that were possible.
16473 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
16474 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
16475 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
16476 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
16477 into its article buffer.
16479 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
16480 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
16481 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
16482 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
16483 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
16484 on successful article retrieval.
16487 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
16489 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
16490 making @var{group} the current group.
16492 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
16495 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
16498 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
16501 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
16502 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
16503 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
16504 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
16505 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
16506 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
16507 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
16508 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
16511 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
16512 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
16513 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
16517 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
16519 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
16520 a no-op on most backends.
16522 There should be no data returned.
16525 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
16527 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
16530 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
16533 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
16534 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
16537 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
16538 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
16541 active-file = *active-line
16542 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
16544 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
16547 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
16548 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
16549 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
16552 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
16554 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
16555 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
16556 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
16557 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
16558 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
16559 clear if the posting could not be completed.
16561 There should be no result data from this function.
16566 @node Optional Backend Functions
16567 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
16571 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
16573 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
16574 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
16575 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
16577 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
16578 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
16579 former is in the same format as the data from
16580 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
16581 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
16584 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
16588 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
16590 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
16591 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
16592 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
16593 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
16594 should return the (altered) group info.
16596 There should be no result data from this function.
16599 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
16601 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
16602 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
16603 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
16604 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
16605 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
16606 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
16607 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
16608 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
16610 There should be no result data from this function.
16613 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
16615 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
16616 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
16617 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
16618 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
16619 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
16621 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
16622 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
16623 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
16626 There should be no result data from this function.
16629 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
16631 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
16632 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
16633 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
16634 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
16635 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
16636 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
16637 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
16639 There should be no result data from this function.
16642 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
16644 The result data from this function should be a description of
16648 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
16650 description = <text>
16653 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
16655 The result data from this function should be the description of all
16656 groups available on the server.
16659 description-buffer = *description-line
16663 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
16665 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
16666 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
16667 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
16670 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
16672 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
16674 There should be no return data.
16677 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
16679 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
16680 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
16681 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
16682 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
16683 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
16686 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
16689 There should be no result data returned.
16692 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
16695 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
16696 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
16698 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
16699 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
16700 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
16701 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
16702 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
16703 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
16705 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
16706 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
16709 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
16710 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
16712 There should be no data returned.
16715 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
16717 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
16718 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
16719 this function in short order.
16721 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
16722 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
16724 There should be no data returned.
16727 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
16729 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
16730 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
16732 There should be no data returned.
16735 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
16737 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
16738 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
16739 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
16741 There should be no data returned.
16744 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
16746 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
16747 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
16749 There should be no data returned.
16754 @node Error Messaging
16755 @subsubsection Error Messaging
16757 @findex nnheader-report
16758 @findex nnheader-get-report
16759 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
16760 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
16761 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
16762 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
16763 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
16764 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
16767 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
16769 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
16772 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
16773 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
16774 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
16775 takes one argument---the server symbol.
16777 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
16778 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
16779 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
16782 @node Writing New Backends
16783 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
16785 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
16786 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
16787 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
16788 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
16789 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
16792 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
16793 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
16794 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
16796 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
16797 package called @code{nnoo}.
16799 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
16800 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
16806 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
16807 parameters. For instance:
16810 (nnoo-declare nndir
16814 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
16815 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
16818 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
16819 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
16820 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
16822 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
16823 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
16824 a function in those backends.
16827 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
16828 "Where nndir will look for groups."
16829 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
16832 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
16833 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
16834 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
16836 @item nnoo-define-basics
16837 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
16841 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
16845 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
16846 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
16847 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
16849 @item nnoo-map-functions
16850 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
16851 functions from the parent backends.
16854 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
16855 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
16856 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
16859 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
16860 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
16861 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
16862 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
16865 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
16866 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
16867 haven't already been defined.
16873 nnmh-request-newgroups)
16877 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
16878 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
16879 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
16884 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
16887 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
16888 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
16892 (require 'nnheader)
16896 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
16898 (nnoo-declare nndir
16901 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
16902 "Where nndir will look for groups."
16903 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
16905 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
16906 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
16909 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
16910 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
16911 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
16913 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
16914 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
16916 ;;; Interface functions.
16918 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
16920 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
16921 (setq nndir-directory
16922 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
16924 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
16925 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
16926 (push `(nndir-current-group
16927 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
16929 (push `(nndir-top-directory
16930 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
16932 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
16934 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
16935 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
16936 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
16937 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
16938 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
16942 nnmh-status-message
16944 nnmh-request-newgroups))
16950 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
16951 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
16953 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
16954 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
16955 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
16956 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
16958 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
16959 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
16964 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
16967 The abilities can be:
16971 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
16973 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
16975 This backend supports both mail and news.
16977 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
16980 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
16981 articles and groups.
16983 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
16984 true for almost all backends.
16985 @item prompt-address
16986 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
16987 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
16988 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
16992 @node Mail-like Backends
16993 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
16995 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
16996 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
16997 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
16998 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
17001 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
17002 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
17003 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
17006 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
17007 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
17010 This function takes four parameters.
17014 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
17017 @item exit-function
17018 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
17020 @item temp-directory
17021 Where the temporary files should be stored.
17024 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
17025 performed for one group only.
17028 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
17029 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
17030 find the article number assigned to this article.
17032 The function also uses the following variables:
17033 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
17034 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
17035 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
17036 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
17040 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
17041 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
17045 @node Score File Syntax
17046 @subsection Score File Syntax
17048 Score files are meant to be easily parsable, but yet extremely
17049 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
17050 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
17052 Here's a typical score file:
17056 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
17063 BNF definition of a score file:
17066 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
17067 element = rule / atom
17068 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
17069 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
17070 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
17071 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
17073 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
17074 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
17075 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
17076 date-header = "date"
17077 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
17078 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
17079 score = "nil" / <integer>
17080 date = "nil" / <natural number>
17081 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
17082 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
17083 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
17084 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
17085 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
17086 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
17087 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
17088 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
17089 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
17090 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
17091 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
17092 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
17093 exclude-files / read-only / touched
17094 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
17095 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
17096 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
17097 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
17098 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
17099 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
17100 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
17101 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
17102 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
17103 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
17104 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
17105 eval = "eval" space <form>
17106 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
17109 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
17112 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
17113 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
17114 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
17115 one looong line, then that's ok.
17117 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
17118 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
17122 @subsection Headers
17124 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
17125 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
17126 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
17127 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
17129 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
17130 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
17131 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
17132 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
17133 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
17134 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
17135 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
17137 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
17138 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
17139 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
17140 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
17141 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
17143 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
17150 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
17151 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
17153 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
17154 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
17155 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
17156 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
17158 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
17162 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
17165 is transformed into
17168 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
17171 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
17172 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
17175 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
17178 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
17179 is slightly tricky:
17182 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
17188 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
17191 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
17197 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
17204 and is equal to the previous range.
17206 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
17207 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
17208 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
17212 range = simple-range / normal-range
17213 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
17214 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
17215 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
17216 number *[ " " contents ]
17219 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
17220 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
17221 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
17222 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
17223 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
17228 @subsection Group Info
17230 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
17231 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
17232 describes the group.
17234 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
17235 second is a more complex one:
17238 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
17240 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
17241 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
17243 (auto-expire (to-address "ding@@gnus.org")))
17246 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
17247 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
17248 normally is a small integer. The third element is a list of ranges of
17249 read articles. The fourth element is a list of lists of article marks
17250 of various kinds. The fifth element is the select method (or virtual
17251 server, if you like). The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group
17252 parameters}, which is what this section is about.
17254 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
17255 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
17256 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
17258 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
17261 info = "(" group space level space read
17262 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
17263 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
17264 group = quote <string> quote
17265 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
17267 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
17268 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
17269 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
17270 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
17273 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
17274 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
17277 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
17278 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
17281 @item gnus-info-group
17282 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
17283 @findex gnus-info-group
17284 @findex gnus-info-set-group
17285 Get/set the group name.
17287 @item gnus-info-rank
17288 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
17289 @findex gnus-info-rank
17290 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
17291 Get/set the group rank.
17293 @item gnus-info-level
17294 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
17295 @findex gnus-info-level
17296 @findex gnus-info-set-level
17297 Get/set the group level.
17299 @item gnus-info-score
17300 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
17301 @findex gnus-info-score
17302 @findex gnus-info-set-score
17303 Get/set the group score.
17305 @item gnus-info-read
17306 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
17307 @findex gnus-info-read
17308 @findex gnus-info-set-read
17309 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
17311 @item gnus-info-marks
17312 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
17313 @findex gnus-info-marks
17314 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
17315 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
17317 @item gnus-info-method
17318 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
17319 @findex gnus-info-method
17320 @findex gnus-info-set-method
17321 Get/set the group select method.
17323 @item gnus-info-params
17324 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
17325 @findex gnus-info-params
17326 @findex gnus-info-set-params
17327 Get/set the group parameters.
17330 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
17331 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
17333 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
17334 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
17335 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
17336 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
17339 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
17340 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
17344 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
17345 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
17346 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
17348 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
17349 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
17350 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
17351 Gnus, that's very useful.
17353 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
17354 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
17355 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
17356 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
17357 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
17358 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
17359 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
17360 following function:
17363 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
17367 (,function ,@@args))
17371 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
17372 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
17373 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
17376 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
17377 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
17378 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
17380 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
17381 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
17382 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
17385 @node Various File Formats
17386 @subsection Various File Formats
17389 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
17390 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
17394 @node Active File Format
17395 @subsubsection Active File Format
17397 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
17398 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
17401 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
17404 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
17405 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
17406 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
17407 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
17408 no.general 1000 900 y
17411 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
17414 active = *group-line
17415 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
17416 group = <non-white-space string>
17418 high-number = <non-negative integer>
17419 low-number = <positive integer>
17420 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
17424 @node Newsgroups File Format
17425 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
17427 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
17428 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
17429 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
17432 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
17433 Here's the definition:
17437 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
17438 group = <non-white-space string>
17440 description = <string>
17444 @node Emacs for Heathens
17445 @section Emacs for Heathens
17447 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
17448 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
17449 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
17450 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
17451 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
17452 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
17453 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
17457 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
17458 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
17463 @subsection Keystrokes
17467 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
17470 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
17473 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
17474 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
17475 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
17476 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
17477 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
17478 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
17480 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
17481 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
17482 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
17483 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
17484 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
17485 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
17486 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
17488 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
17489 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
17490 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
17491 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
17492 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
17493 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
17494 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
17496 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
17497 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
17498 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
17499 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
17500 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
17506 @subsection Emacs Lisp
17508 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
17509 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
17510 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
17511 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
17513 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
17514 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
17515 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
17516 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
17517 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
17518 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
17519 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
17522 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
17523 write the following:
17526 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
17529 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
17530 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
17531 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
17534 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
17535 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
17536 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
17537 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
17538 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
17540 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
17541 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
17542 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
17546 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
17550 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
17553 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
17554 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
17557 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
17560 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
17561 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
17564 @include gnus-faq.texi