4 @settitle T-gnus 6.17 Manual
9 @documentencoding ISO-8859-1
12 Copyright (c) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
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335 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
340 @setchapternewpage odd
345 @title T-gnus 6.17 Manual
347 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
349 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
355 @top The gnus Newsreader
359 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using T-gnus. The news
360 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
361 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
364 T-gnus provides @acronym{MIME} features based on @acronym{SEMI} API. So
365 T-gnus supports your right to read strange messages including big images
366 or other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
367 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
368 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities. Oh,
369 if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
371 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.17.
382 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
383 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
385 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
386 being accused of plagiarism:
388 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
389 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
390 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
391 can even read news with it!
393 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
394 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
395 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
396 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
397 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
403 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
404 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
405 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
406 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
407 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
408 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
409 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
410 * Various:: General purpose settings.
411 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
412 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
413 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
414 * Key Index:: Key Index.
416 Other related manuals
418 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
419 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
420 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
421 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
422 * SASL:(sasl). @acronym{SASL} authentication in Emacs.
425 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
429 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
430 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
431 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
432 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
433 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
434 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
435 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
436 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
437 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
438 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
439 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
443 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
444 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
445 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
449 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
450 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
451 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
452 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
453 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
454 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
455 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
456 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
457 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
458 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
459 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
460 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
461 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
462 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
463 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
464 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
465 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
469 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
470 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
471 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
475 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
476 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
477 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
478 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
479 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
483 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
484 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
485 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
486 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
487 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
491 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
492 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
493 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
494 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
495 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
496 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
497 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
498 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
499 * Threading:: How threads are made.
500 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
501 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
502 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
503 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
504 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
505 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
506 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
507 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
508 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
509 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
510 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
511 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
512 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
513 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
514 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
515 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
516 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
517 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
518 or reselecting the current group.
519 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
520 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
521 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
522 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
524 Summary Buffer Format
526 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
527 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
528 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
529 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
533 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
534 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
536 Reply, Followup and Post
538 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
539 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
540 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
541 * Canceling and Superseding::
545 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
546 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
547 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
548 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
549 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
550 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
554 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
555 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
557 Customizing Threading
559 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
560 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
561 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
562 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
566 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
567 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
568 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
569 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
570 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
571 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
575 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
576 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
577 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
581 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
582 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
583 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
584 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
585 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
586 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
587 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
588 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
589 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
590 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
591 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
593 Alternative Approaches
595 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
596 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
598 Various Summary Stuff
600 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
601 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
602 * Summary Generation Commands::
603 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
607 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
608 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
609 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
610 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
611 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
615 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
616 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
617 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
618 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
619 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
620 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
621 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
622 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
623 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
627 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
628 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
629 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
630 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
631 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
632 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
633 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
634 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
638 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
639 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
640 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
641 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
642 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
643 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
644 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
648 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
649 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
653 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
654 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
655 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
659 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
660 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
661 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
662 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
663 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
664 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
665 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
666 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
667 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
668 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
669 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
670 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
671 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
675 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
676 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
677 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
679 Choosing a Mail Back End
681 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
682 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
683 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
684 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
685 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
686 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
687 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
692 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
693 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
694 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
695 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
696 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
697 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
701 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
702 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
703 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
704 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
705 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
706 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
710 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
711 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
712 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
713 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
714 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
718 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
722 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
723 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
724 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
728 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
729 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
733 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
734 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
735 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
736 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
737 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
738 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
739 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
740 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
741 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
742 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
743 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
744 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
745 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
749 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
750 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
751 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
755 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
756 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
757 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
761 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
762 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
763 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
764 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
765 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
766 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
767 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
768 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
769 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
770 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
771 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
772 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
773 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
774 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
775 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
776 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
780 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
781 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
782 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
786 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
787 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
788 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
789 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
790 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
791 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
792 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
793 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
794 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
795 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
796 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
797 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
798 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
799 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
800 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
801 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
802 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
803 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
804 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
805 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
809 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
810 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
811 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
812 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
813 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
814 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
815 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
816 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
820 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
821 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
822 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
823 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
824 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
828 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
829 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
830 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
831 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
832 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
833 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
835 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
837 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
838 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
839 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
840 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
841 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
843 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
844 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
846 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
848 * SpamAssassin backend::
849 * ifile spam filtering::
850 * spam-stat spam filtering::
852 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
854 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
856 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
857 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
858 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
862 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
863 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
864 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
865 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
866 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
867 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
868 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
869 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
870 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
874 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
875 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
876 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
877 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
878 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
879 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
880 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
881 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
882 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
886 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
887 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
888 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
889 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
890 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
891 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
892 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
896 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
897 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
898 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
899 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
903 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
904 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
905 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
906 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
907 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
908 * Group Info:: The group info format.
909 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
910 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
911 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
915 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
916 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
917 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
918 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
919 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
920 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
924 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
925 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
929 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
930 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
936 @chapter Starting gnus
941 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
942 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
945 @findex gnus-other-frame
946 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
947 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
948 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
950 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
951 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
952 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when Gnus starts.
954 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
955 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
958 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
959 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
960 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
961 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
962 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
963 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
964 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
965 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
966 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
967 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
968 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
972 @node Finding the News
973 @section Finding the News
976 @vindex gnus-select-method
978 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
979 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
980 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
981 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
984 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
985 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
988 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
991 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
994 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
997 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
998 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
999 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1001 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1003 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1004 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1005 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1006 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1007 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1008 If that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1009 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1011 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1012 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1013 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1014 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1016 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1017 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1018 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1019 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1020 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1021 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1022 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1023 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1024 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1027 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1029 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1030 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1031 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1032 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1033 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1034 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1036 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1038 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1039 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1040 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1041 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1042 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1043 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1046 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1047 you would typically set this variable to
1050 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1054 @node The First Time
1055 @section The First Time
1056 @cindex first time usage
1058 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1059 be subscribed by default.
1061 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1062 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1063 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1064 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1067 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1068 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1069 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1071 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1072 help you with most common problems.
1074 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1075 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1079 @node The Server is Down
1080 @section The Server is Down
1081 @cindex server errors
1083 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1084 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1085 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1087 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1088 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1089 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1090 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1091 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1092 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1093 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1095 @findex gnus-no-server
1096 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1098 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1099 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1100 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1101 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1102 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1103 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1104 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1108 @section Slave Gnusae
1111 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1112 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1113 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1114 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1116 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1117 @file{.newsrc} file.
1119 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1120 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1121 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1122 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1123 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1124 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1125 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1128 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1129 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1130 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1131 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1132 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1133 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1134 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1135 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1137 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1138 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1140 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1141 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1142 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1143 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1144 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1146 @node Fetching a Group
1147 @section Fetching a Group
1148 @cindex fetching a group
1150 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1151 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1152 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1153 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1154 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1155 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1161 @cindex subscription
1163 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1164 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1165 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1166 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1167 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1168 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1169 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1170 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1171 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1174 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1175 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1176 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1180 @node Checking New Groups
1181 @subsection Checking New Groups
1183 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1184 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1185 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1186 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1187 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1188 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1189 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1190 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1191 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1192 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1194 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1195 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1196 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1197 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1198 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1199 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1200 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1201 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1202 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1203 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1204 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1206 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1207 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1208 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1209 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1210 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1211 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1214 @node Subscription Methods
1215 @subsection Subscription Methods
1217 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1218 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1219 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1221 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1222 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1224 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1228 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1229 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1230 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1231 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1232 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1234 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1235 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1236 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1237 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1239 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1240 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1241 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1243 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1244 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1245 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1246 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1247 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1248 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1249 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1250 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1251 up. Or something like that.
1253 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1254 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1255 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1256 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1257 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1259 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1260 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1261 Kill all new groups.
1263 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1264 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1265 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1266 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1267 topic parameter that looks like
1273 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1276 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1281 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1282 A closely related variable is
1283 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1284 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1285 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1286 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1289 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1290 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1291 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1292 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1295 @node Filtering New Groups
1296 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1298 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1299 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1300 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1303 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1306 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1307 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1308 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1309 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1310 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1311 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1312 subscribing these groups.
1313 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1314 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1316 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1317 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1318 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1319 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1320 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1321 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1322 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1323 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1325 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1326 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1327 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1328 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous,
1329 but I thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is
1330 more meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is
1331 used more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new
1332 groups that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1333 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1334 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1337 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1338 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1341 @node Changing Servers
1342 @section Changing Servers
1343 @cindex changing servers
1345 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1346 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1347 very flaky and you want to use another.
1349 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1350 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1354 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1355 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1356 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1357 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1360 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1361 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1362 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1363 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1365 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1366 @findex gnus-change-server
1367 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1368 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1369 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1370 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1371 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1373 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1374 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1375 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1376 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1377 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1379 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1380 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1381 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1382 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1383 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1384 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1386 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1387 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1388 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1389 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1391 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1392 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1393 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1394 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1395 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1396 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1397 cache for all groups).
1401 @section Startup Files
1402 @cindex startup files
1407 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1408 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1410 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1411 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1412 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1413 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1414 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1415 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1416 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1418 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1419 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1420 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1421 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1422 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1423 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1425 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1426 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1427 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1428 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1429 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1430 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1431 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1432 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1433 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1434 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1436 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1437 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1438 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1439 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1440 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1441 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1442 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1443 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1444 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1445 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1446 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1447 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1449 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1450 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1451 @vindex version-control
1452 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1453 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1454 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1455 If you want version control for this file, set
1456 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1457 @code{version-control} variable.
1459 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1460 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1461 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1462 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1463 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1464 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1465 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1466 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1467 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1468 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1471 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1472 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1474 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1475 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1478 @vindex gnus-init-file
1479 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1480 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1481 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1482 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1483 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1484 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1485 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1486 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1487 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1488 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1494 @cindex dribble file
1497 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1498 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1499 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1500 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1501 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1504 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1505 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1508 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1509 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1510 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1512 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1513 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1514 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1515 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1516 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1517 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1519 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1520 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1521 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1524 @node The Active File
1525 @section The Active File
1527 @cindex ignored groups
1529 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1530 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1531 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1533 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1534 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1535 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1536 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1537 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1538 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1539 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1542 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1543 @c if you set it to anything else.
1545 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1547 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1548 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1549 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1551 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1552 you actually subscribe to.
1554 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1555 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1556 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1557 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1559 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1560 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1561 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1562 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1563 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1564 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1566 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1567 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1568 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1571 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1572 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1573 @acronym{NNTP} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1574 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1575 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1576 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1578 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1579 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1581 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1582 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1584 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1585 secondary select methods.
1588 @node Startup Variables
1589 @section Startup Variables
1593 @item gnus-load-hook
1594 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1595 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1596 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1597 times you start gnus.
1599 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1600 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1601 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1603 @item gnus-startup-hook
1604 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1605 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1607 @item gnus-started-hook
1608 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1609 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1612 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1613 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1614 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1615 generating the group buffer.
1617 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1618 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1619 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1620 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1621 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1622 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1623 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1624 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1626 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1627 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1628 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1629 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1630 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1631 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1633 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1634 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1635 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1637 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1638 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1639 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1641 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1642 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1643 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1644 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1650 @chapter Group Buffer
1651 @cindex group buffer
1653 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1655 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1656 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1657 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1658 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1659 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1660 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1661 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1662 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1663 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1664 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1665 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1666 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1667 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1668 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1669 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1670 @c human rights at 9...
1673 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1674 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1675 long as gnus is active.
1679 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1680 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1681 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1682 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1683 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1684 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1685 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1686 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1692 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1693 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1694 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1695 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1696 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1697 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1698 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1699 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1700 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1701 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1702 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1703 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1704 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1705 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1706 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1707 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1708 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1712 @node Group Buffer Format
1713 @section Group Buffer Format
1716 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1717 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1718 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1722 @node Group Line Specification
1723 @subsection Group Line Specification
1724 @cindex group buffer format
1726 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1727 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1729 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1732 25: news.announce.newusers
1733 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1738 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1739 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1740 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1741 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1743 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1744 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1745 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1746 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1747 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1748 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1750 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1752 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1753 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1754 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1755 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1756 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1758 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1759 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1760 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1762 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1767 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1770 Whether the group is subscribed.
1773 Level of subscribedness.
1776 Number of unread articles.
1779 Number of dormant articles.
1782 Number of ticked articles.
1785 Number of read articles.
1788 Number of unseen articles.
1791 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1792 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1794 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1795 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1796 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1797 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1798 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1799 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1800 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1801 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1804 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1807 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1816 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1817 comment element in the group parameters.
1820 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1821 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1822 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1826 @samp{m} if moderated.
1829 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1835 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1841 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1845 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1848 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1849 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1850 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1851 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1852 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1855 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1857 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1861 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1864 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1868 The disk space used by the articles fetched by both the cache and
1869 agent. The value is automatically scaled to bytes(B), kilobytes(K),
1870 megabytes(M), or gigabytes(G) to minimize the column width. A format
1871 of %7F is sufficient for a fixed-width column.
1874 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1875 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1876 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1877 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1878 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1879 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1884 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1885 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1886 group, or a bogus native group.
1889 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1890 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1891 @cindex group mode line
1893 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1894 The mode line can be changed by setting
1895 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1896 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1900 The native news server.
1902 The native select method.
1906 @node Group Highlighting
1907 @subsection Group Highlighting
1908 @cindex highlighting
1909 @cindex group highlighting
1911 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1912 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1913 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1914 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1915 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1917 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1921 (cond (window-system
1922 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1923 (defface my-group-face-1
1924 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1925 (defface my-group-face-2
1926 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1927 "Second group face")
1928 (defface my-group-face-3
1929 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1930 (defface my-group-face-4
1931 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1932 (defface my-group-face-5
1933 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1935 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1936 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1937 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1938 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1939 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1940 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1943 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1945 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1952 The number of unread articles in the group.
1956 Whether the group is a mail group.
1958 The level of the group.
1960 The score of the group.
1962 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1964 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1965 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1967 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1968 topic being inserted.
1971 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1972 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1973 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1975 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1976 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1977 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1978 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1979 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1982 @node Group Maneuvering
1983 @section Group Maneuvering
1984 @cindex group movement
1986 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1987 expected, hopefully.
1993 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1994 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1995 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2001 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2002 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2003 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2007 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2008 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2012 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2013 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2017 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2018 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2019 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2023 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2024 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2025 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2028 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2034 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2035 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2036 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2041 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2042 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2043 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2047 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2048 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2049 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2052 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2053 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2054 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2055 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2059 @node Selecting a Group
2060 @section Selecting a Group
2061 @cindex group selection
2066 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2067 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2068 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2069 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2070 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2071 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2072 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2073 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2074 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2075 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2077 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2078 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2079 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2081 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2082 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2087 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2088 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2089 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2090 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2091 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2095 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2096 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2097 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2098 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2099 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2100 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2101 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2102 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2103 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2104 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2107 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2108 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2109 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2110 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2111 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2114 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2115 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2116 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2117 doing any processing of its contents
2118 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2119 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2120 manner will have no permanent effects.
2124 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2125 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2126 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2127 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2128 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2129 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2130 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2131 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2132 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2133 most recently will be fetched.
2135 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2136 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2137 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2140 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2141 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2142 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2143 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2144 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2145 Which article this is is controlled by the
2146 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2152 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2155 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2158 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2160 @item unseen-or-unread
2161 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2162 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2166 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2170 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2171 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2173 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2174 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2175 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2176 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2180 @node Subscription Commands
2181 @section Subscription Commands
2182 @cindex subscription
2190 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2191 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2192 Toggle subscription to the current group
2193 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2199 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2200 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2201 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2202 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2208 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2209 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2210 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2216 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2217 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2220 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2221 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2222 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2223 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2224 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2230 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2231 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2235 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2236 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2239 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2240 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2241 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2242 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2243 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2244 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2245 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2246 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2247 @file{.newsrc} file.
2251 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2261 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2262 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2263 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2264 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2265 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2266 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2271 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2272 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2273 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2277 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2278 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2279 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2281 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2282 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2283 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2284 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2285 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2286 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2293 @section Group Levels
2297 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2298 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2299 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2300 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2301 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2303 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2309 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2310 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2311 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2312 prompted for a level.
2315 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2316 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2317 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2318 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2319 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2320 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2321 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2322 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2323 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2324 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2325 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2326 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2327 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2328 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2329 reasons of efficiency.
2331 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2332 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2334 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2335 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2336 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2337 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2338 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2339 groups are hidden, in a way.
2341 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2342 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2343 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2344 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2345 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2346 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2348 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2349 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2350 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2351 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2352 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2353 list of killed groups.)
2355 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2356 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2357 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2359 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2360 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2361 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2362 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2363 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2364 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2365 relevant valid ranges.
2367 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2368 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2369 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2370 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2371 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2372 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2375 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2376 one with the best level.
2378 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2379 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2380 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2383 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2384 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2385 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2386 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2389 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2390 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2391 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2392 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2394 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2395 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2396 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2397 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2398 to 5. The default is 6.
2402 @section Group Score
2407 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2408 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2409 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2412 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2413 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2414 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2415 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2416 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2417 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2418 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2419 least significant part.))
2421 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2422 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2423 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2424 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2425 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2426 action after each summary exit, you can add
2427 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2428 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2429 slow things down somewhat.
2432 @node Marking Groups
2433 @section Marking Groups
2434 @cindex marking groups
2436 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2437 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2438 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2439 bidding on those groups.
2441 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2442 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2443 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2451 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2452 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2458 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2459 Remove the mark from the current group
2460 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2464 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2465 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2469 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2470 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2474 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2475 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2479 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2480 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2481 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2484 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2486 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2487 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2488 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2489 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2490 the command to be executed.
2493 @node Foreign Groups
2494 @section Foreign Groups
2495 @cindex foreign groups
2497 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2498 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2499 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2500 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2507 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2508 @cindex making groups
2509 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2510 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2511 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2515 @findex gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group
2516 Make an ephemeral group (@code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group}). Gnus
2517 will prompt you for a name, a method and an @dfn{address}.
2521 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2522 @cindex renaming groups
2523 Rename the current group to something else
2524 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2525 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2531 @findex gnus-group-customize
2532 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2536 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2537 @cindex renaming groups
2538 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2539 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2543 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2544 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2545 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2549 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2550 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2551 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2555 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2557 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2558 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2563 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2564 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2568 @cindex (ding) archive
2569 @cindex archive group
2570 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2571 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2572 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2573 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2574 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2575 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2576 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2580 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2582 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2583 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2584 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2585 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2589 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2591 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2592 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2593 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2597 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2598 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2600 Make a group based on some file or other
2601 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2602 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2603 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2604 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2605 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2606 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2607 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2608 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2609 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2613 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2614 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2615 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2616 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2620 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2624 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2625 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2626 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2627 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2628 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2629 @xref{Web Searches}.
2631 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2632 to a particular group by using a match string like
2633 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2637 @findex gnus-group-make-rss-group
2638 Make a group based on an @acronym{RSS} feed
2639 (@code{gnus-group-make-rss-group}). You will be prompted for an URL.
2643 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2644 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2645 This function will delete the current group
2646 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2647 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2648 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2649 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2650 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} groups), though.
2654 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2655 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2656 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2660 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2661 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2662 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2665 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2668 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2669 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2670 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2671 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2672 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2673 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2677 @node Group Parameters
2678 @section Group Parameters
2679 @cindex group parameters
2681 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2682 Here's an example group parameter list:
2685 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2689 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2690 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2691 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2692 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2694 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2695 is an alist of regexps and values.
2697 The following group parameters can be used:
2702 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2705 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2708 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2709 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2710 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2711 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2712 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2714 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2715 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2716 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2717 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2718 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2719 list address instead.
2721 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2725 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2728 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2731 It is totally ignored
2732 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2733 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2735 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2736 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2737 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2738 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2739 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2741 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2742 @cindex mail list groups
2743 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2744 entering summary buffer.
2746 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2751 @cindex Mail-Followup-To
2752 @findex gnus-find-subscribed-addresses
2753 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2754 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2755 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2756 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2757 headers for your posts to these lists. The second step is to put the
2758 following in your @file{.gnus.el}
2761 (setq message-subscribed-address-functions
2762 '(gnus-find-subscribed-addresses))
2765 @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for
2766 a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2770 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2771 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2772 of whether it has any unread articles.
2774 @item broken-reply-to
2775 @cindex broken-reply-to
2776 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2777 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2778 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2779 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2780 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2781 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2785 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2786 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2790 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2791 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2792 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2797 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2798 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2799 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2800 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2801 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2802 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2803 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2805 @strong{Caveat}: Adding @code{(gcc-self . t)} to the parameter list of
2806 @code{nntp} groups (or the like) isn't valid. An @code{nntp} server
2807 doesn't accept articles.
2811 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2812 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2813 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2815 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2818 @cindex total-expire
2819 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2820 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2821 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2822 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2825 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2829 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2830 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2831 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2832 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2833 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2834 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2835 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2838 @cindex expiry-target
2839 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2840 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2843 @cindex score file group parameter
2844 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2845 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2846 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2849 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2850 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2851 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2852 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2855 @cindex admin-address
2856 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2857 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2858 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2859 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2863 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2864 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2868 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2871 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2872 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2875 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2879 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2881 Here are some examples:
2885 Display only unread articles.
2888 Display everything except expirable articles.
2890 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2891 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2895 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2896 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2897 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2898 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2899 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2903 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2904 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2905 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2909 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2910 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2911 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2915 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2916 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2917 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2919 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2921 @item ignored-charsets
2922 @cindex ignored-charset
2923 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2924 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2925 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2927 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2930 @cindex posting-style
2931 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2932 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2933 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2934 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2935 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2937 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2938 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2939 like this in the group parameters:
2944 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2945 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2950 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2951 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2955 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2956 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2957 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2958 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2959 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2963 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2964 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2965 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2966 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2968 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
2969 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2970 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2971 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2974 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2975 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2979 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
2980 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
2982 @item (agent parameters)
2983 If the agent has been enabled, you can set any of the its parameters
2984 to control the behavior of the agent in individual groups. See Agent
2985 Parameters in @ref{Category Syntax}. Most users will choose to set
2986 agent parameters in either an agent category or group topic to
2987 minimize the configuration effort.
2989 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2990 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2991 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2992 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2993 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2994 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2995 @code{eval}ed there.
2997 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
2998 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
2999 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
3000 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3001 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3002 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3003 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3004 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3007 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3010 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3011 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3012 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3015 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3018 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3019 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3020 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3021 into the group parameters for the group.
3023 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function. If you want to
3024 hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put something like
3025 @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that group.
3026 @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the (meaningless) result of the
3029 Alternatively, since the VARIABLE becomes local to the group, this
3030 pattern can be used to temporarily change a hook. For example, if the
3031 following is added to a group parameter
3034 (gnus-summary-prepared-hook
3035 '(lambda nil (local-set-key "d" (local-key-binding "n"))))
3038 when the group is entered, the 'd' key will not mark the article as
3043 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3044 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3045 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3046 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3047 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3049 @vindex gnus-parameters
3050 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3051 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3055 (setq gnus-parameters
3057 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3058 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3059 (gnus-summary-line-format
3060 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3064 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3068 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3072 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3075 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3076 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3079 @node Listing Groups
3080 @section Listing Groups
3081 @cindex group listing
3083 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3091 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3092 List all groups that have unread articles
3093 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3094 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3095 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3096 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3103 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3104 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3105 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3106 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3107 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3108 unsubscribed groups).
3112 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3113 List all unread groups on a specific level
3114 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3115 with no unread articles.
3119 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3120 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3121 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3122 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3127 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3128 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3132 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3133 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3134 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3138 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3139 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3143 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3144 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3145 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3146 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3147 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3148 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3149 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3150 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3154 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3155 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3156 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3160 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3161 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3162 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3166 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3167 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3171 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3172 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3176 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3177 List groups limited within the current selection
3178 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3182 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3183 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3187 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3188 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3192 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3193 @cindex visible group parameter
3194 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3195 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3196 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3197 get the same effect.
3199 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3200 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3201 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3202 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3203 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3206 @node Sorting Groups
3207 @section Sorting Groups
3208 @cindex sorting groups
3210 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3211 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3212 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3213 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3214 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3215 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3220 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3221 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3222 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3224 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3225 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3226 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3228 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3229 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3230 Sort by group level.
3232 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3233 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3234 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3236 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3237 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3238 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3239 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3241 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3242 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3243 Sort by number of unread articles.
3245 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3246 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3247 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3249 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3250 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3251 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3256 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3257 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3261 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3262 some sorting criteria:
3266 @kindex G S a (Group)
3267 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3268 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3269 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3272 @kindex G S u (Group)
3273 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3274 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3275 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3278 @kindex G S l (Group)
3279 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3280 Sort the group buffer by group level
3281 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3284 @kindex G S v (Group)
3285 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3286 Sort the group buffer by group score
3287 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3290 @kindex G S r (Group)
3291 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3292 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3293 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3296 @kindex G S m (Group)
3297 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3298 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3299 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3302 @kindex G S n (Group)
3303 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3304 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3305 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3309 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3310 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3312 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3313 commands will sort in reverse order.
3315 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3319 @kindex G P a (Group)
3320 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3321 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3322 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3325 @kindex G P u (Group)
3326 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3327 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3328 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3331 @kindex G P l (Group)
3332 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3333 Sort the groups by group level
3334 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3337 @kindex G P v (Group)
3338 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3339 Sort the groups by group score
3340 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3343 @kindex G P r (Group)
3344 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3345 Sort the groups by group rank
3346 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3349 @kindex G P m (Group)
3350 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3351 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3352 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3355 @kindex G P n (Group)
3356 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3357 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3358 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3361 @kindex G P s (Group)
3362 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3363 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3367 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3371 @node Group Maintenance
3372 @section Group Maintenance
3373 @cindex bogus groups
3378 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3379 Find bogus groups and delete them
3380 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3384 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3385 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3386 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3387 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3388 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3392 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3393 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3394 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3395 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3396 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3397 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3400 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3401 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3402 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3403 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3408 @node Browse Foreign Server
3409 @section Browse Foreign Server
3410 @cindex foreign servers
3411 @cindex browsing servers
3416 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3417 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3418 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3419 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3422 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3423 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3424 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3425 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3427 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3432 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3433 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3437 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3438 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3441 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3442 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3443 Enter the current group and display the first article
3444 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3447 @kindex RET (Browse)
3448 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3449 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3453 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3454 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3455 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3461 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3462 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3466 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3467 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3471 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3472 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3473 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3478 @section Exiting gnus
3479 @cindex exiting gnus
3481 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3486 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3487 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3488 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3489 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3493 @findex gnus-group-exit
3494 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3495 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3499 @findex gnus-group-quit
3500 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3501 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3504 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3505 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3506 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3507 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3508 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3509 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3515 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3516 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3517 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3523 @section Group Topics
3526 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3527 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3528 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3529 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3530 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3531 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3535 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3536 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3547 2: alt.religion.emacs
3550 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3552 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3553 13: comp.sources.unix
3556 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3558 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3559 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3560 is a toggling command.)
3562 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3563 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3564 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3565 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3568 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3569 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3570 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3573 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3577 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3578 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3579 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3580 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3581 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3585 @node Topic Commands
3586 @subsection Topic Commands
3587 @cindex topic commands
3589 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3590 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3591 definitions slightly.
3593 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3594 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3595 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3596 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3597 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3598 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3600 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3607 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3608 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3609 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3613 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3615 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3616 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3617 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3618 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3621 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3622 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3623 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3624 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3628 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3629 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3630 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3631 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3637 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3638 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3639 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3643 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3644 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3645 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3648 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3649 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3650 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3651 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3652 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3654 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3655 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3659 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3660 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3667 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3669 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3670 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3671 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3672 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3673 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3674 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3678 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3684 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3685 Move the current group to some other topic
3686 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3687 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3691 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3692 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3696 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3697 Copy the current group to some other topic
3698 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3699 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3703 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3704 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3705 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3709 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3710 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3711 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3715 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3716 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3717 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3718 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3719 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3720 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3721 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3724 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3725 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3729 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3730 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3731 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3735 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3736 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3737 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3741 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3742 Toggle hiding empty topics
3743 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3747 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3748 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3749 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3750 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3753 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3754 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3755 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3756 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3757 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3760 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3761 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3762 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3763 expiry process (if any)
3764 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3768 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3769 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3772 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3773 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3774 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3778 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3779 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3780 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3783 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3784 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3785 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3788 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3789 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3790 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3794 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3795 @cindex group parameters
3796 @cindex topic parameters
3798 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3799 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3804 @node Topic Variables
3805 @subsection Topic Variables
3806 @cindex topic variables
3808 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3809 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3811 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3812 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3813 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3826 Number of groups in the topic.
3828 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3830 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3833 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3834 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3835 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3838 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3839 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3841 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3842 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3843 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3847 @subsection Topic Sorting
3848 @cindex topic sorting
3850 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3856 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3857 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3858 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3859 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3862 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3863 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3864 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3865 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3868 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3869 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3870 Sort the current topic by group level
3871 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3874 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3875 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3876 Sort the current topic by group score
3877 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3880 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3881 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3882 Sort the current topic by group rank
3883 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3886 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3887 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3888 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3889 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3892 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3893 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3894 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3895 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3898 @kindex T S s (Topic)
3899 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3900 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3901 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3902 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3906 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3907 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3911 @node Topic Topology
3912 @subsection Topic Topology
3913 @cindex topic topology
3916 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3923 2: alt.religion.emacs
3926 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3928 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3929 13: comp.sources.unix
3933 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3934 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3935 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3940 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3941 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3945 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3946 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3947 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3948 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3949 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3950 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3952 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3953 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3954 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3957 @node Topic Parameters
3958 @subsection Topic Parameters
3959 @cindex topic parameters
3961 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent
3962 (and ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid
3963 topic parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}). When the agent is
3964 enabled, all agent parameters (See Agent Parameters in @ref{Category
3965 Syntax}) are also valid topic parameters.
3967 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3972 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3973 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3974 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3977 @item subscribe-level
3978 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3979 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3980 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3984 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3985 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3986 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3987 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3994 2: alt.religion.emacs
3998 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
4000 8: comp.binaries.fractals
4001 13: comp.sources.unix
4006 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
4007 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
4008 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
4009 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
4010 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
4011 . "religion.SCORE")}.
4013 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
4014 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
4015 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
4016 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4017 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4019 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4020 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4021 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4022 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4023 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4024 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4025 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4026 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4029 @node Misc Group Stuff
4030 @section Misc Group Stuff
4033 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4034 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4035 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4036 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4037 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4044 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4045 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4046 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4050 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4051 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4052 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4053 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4054 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4055 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4056 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4060 @findex gnus-group-mail
4061 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4062 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4063 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4064 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4068 @findex gnus-group-news
4069 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4070 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4071 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4073 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4074 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4075 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4076 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4077 for this to work though.
4081 Variables for the group buffer:
4085 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4086 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4087 is called after the group buffer has been
4090 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4091 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4092 is called after the group buffer is
4093 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4096 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4097 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4098 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4099 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4101 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4102 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4103 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4104 whether they are empty or not.
4106 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4107 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4108 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4109 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4113 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4114 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4117 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4118 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4119 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4120 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4121 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4122 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4123 default is @code{nil}.
4127 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4128 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4133 @node Scanning New Messages
4134 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4135 @cindex new messages
4136 @cindex scanning new news
4142 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4143 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4144 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4145 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4146 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4147 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4152 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4153 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4154 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4155 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4156 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4157 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4158 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4160 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4161 @cindex activating groups
4163 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4164 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4169 @findex gnus-group-restart
4170 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4171 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4172 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4176 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4177 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4179 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4180 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4184 @node Group Information
4185 @subsection Group Information
4186 @cindex group information
4187 @cindex information on groups
4194 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4195 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4198 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4199 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4200 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4201 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4202 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4203 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4204 used for fetching the file.
4206 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4207 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4211 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4212 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4214 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4215 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4218 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4219 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4220 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4224 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4225 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4226 @cindex control message
4227 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4228 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4229 group if given a prefix argument.
4231 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4232 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4233 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4234 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4236 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4237 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4238 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4242 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4244 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4245 @cindex describing groups
4246 @cindex group description
4247 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4248 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4249 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4253 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4254 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4255 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4262 @findex gnus-version
4263 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4267 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4268 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4271 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4274 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4275 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4279 @node Group Timestamp
4280 @subsection Group Timestamp
4282 @cindex group timestamps
4284 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4285 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4286 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4289 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4292 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4294 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4295 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4298 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4299 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4302 This will result in lines looking like:
4305 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4306 0: custom 19961002T012713
4309 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4310 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4314 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4315 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4318 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4319 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4323 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4324 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4325 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4326 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4328 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4334 @subsection File Commands
4335 @cindex file commands
4341 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4342 @vindex gnus-init-file
4343 @cindex reading init file
4344 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4345 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4349 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4350 @cindex saving .newsrc
4351 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4352 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4353 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4356 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4357 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4358 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4363 @node Sieve Commands
4364 @subsection Sieve Commands
4365 @cindex group sieve commands
4367 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4368 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4369 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4370 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4371 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4373 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4374 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4375 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4376 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4377 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4378 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4379 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4380 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4381 regenerate the Sieve script.
4383 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4384 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4385 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4386 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4387 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4388 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4389 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4390 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4391 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4392 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4395 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4396 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4401 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4407 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4408 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4409 @cindex generating sieve script
4410 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4411 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4415 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4416 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4417 @cindex updating sieve script
4418 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4419 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4420 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4425 @node Summary Buffer
4426 @chapter Summary Buffer
4427 @cindex summary buffer
4429 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4430 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4432 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4433 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4435 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4438 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4439 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4440 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4441 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4442 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4443 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4444 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4445 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4446 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4447 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4448 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4449 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4450 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4451 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4452 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4453 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4454 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4455 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4456 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4457 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4458 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4459 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4460 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4461 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4462 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4463 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4464 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4465 or reselecting the current group.
4466 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4467 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4468 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4469 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4473 @node Summary Buffer Format
4474 @section Summary Buffer Format
4475 @cindex summary buffer format
4479 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4480 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4481 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4487 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4488 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4489 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4490 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4493 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4494 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4495 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4496 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4497 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4498 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4499 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4500 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4501 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4502 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4503 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4504 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4505 other function instead:
4508 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4509 'mail-extract-address-components)
4512 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4513 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4514 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4515 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4518 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4519 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4521 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4522 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4523 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4524 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4525 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4527 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4528 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4529 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4530 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4531 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4532 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4534 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4536 The following format specification characters and extended format
4537 specification(s) are understood:
4543 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4544 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4546 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4547 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4548 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4550 Full @code{From} header.
4552 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4554 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4557 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4558 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4559 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4560 may be more thorough.
4562 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4565 Number of lines in the article.
4567 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4568 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4570 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4571 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4573 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4575 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4576 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4589 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4590 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4591 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4592 line-drawing glyphs.
4594 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4595 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4596 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4597 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4599 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4600 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4601 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4602 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4604 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4605 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4606 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4607 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4609 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4610 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4611 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4613 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4614 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4615 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4617 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4618 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4619 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4621 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4622 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4623 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4628 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4629 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4631 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4632 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4634 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4635 for adopted articles.
4637 One space for each thread level.
4639 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4641 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4644 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4645 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4646 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4649 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4651 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4652 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4653 default level. If the difference between
4654 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4655 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4663 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4665 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4671 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4672 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4674 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4675 article has any children.
4681 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4682 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4684 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4685 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4686 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{x}}, where @var{x} is the letter
4687 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4688 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4689 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4692 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4693 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4694 There can only be one such area.
4696 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4697 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4698 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4699 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4700 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4701 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4703 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4704 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4706 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4709 @node To From Newsgroups
4710 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4714 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4715 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4716 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4717 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4718 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4722 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4723 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4724 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4728 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4729 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4732 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4733 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4736 @findex gnus-extra-header
4737 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4738 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4739 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4742 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4746 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4747 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4748 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4749 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4750 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4751 headers are used instead.
4755 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4756 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4757 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4758 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4759 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4760 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4763 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4764 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4765 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4766 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4768 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4772 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4774 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4775 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4776 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4777 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4781 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4784 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4785 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4788 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4789 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4790 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4796 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4797 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4800 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4801 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4803 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4804 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4805 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4806 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4808 Here are the elements you can play with:
4814 Unprefixed group name.
4816 Current article number.
4818 Current article score.
4822 Number of unread articles in this group.
4824 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4827 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4828 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4829 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4830 and no unselected ones.
4832 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4833 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4835 Subject of the current article.
4837 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4839 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4841 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4843 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4845 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4847 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4851 @node Summary Highlighting
4852 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4856 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4857 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4858 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4859 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4860 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4862 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4863 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4864 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4865 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4867 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4868 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4869 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4870 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4872 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4873 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4874 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4875 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4876 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4877 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4880 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4881 ((> score default) . bold))
4883 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4884 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4888 @node Summary Maneuvering
4889 @section Summary Maneuvering
4890 @cindex summary movement
4892 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4893 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4895 None of these commands select articles.
4900 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4901 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4902 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4903 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4904 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4908 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4909 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4910 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4911 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4912 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4915 @kindex G g (Summary)
4916 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4917 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4918 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4921 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4922 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4923 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4924 to the group buffer.
4926 Variables related to summary movement:
4930 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4931 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4932 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4933 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4934 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4935 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4936 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4937 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4938 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4939 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4940 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4941 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4942 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4943 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4945 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4946 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4947 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4948 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4949 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4950 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4951 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4953 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4955 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4956 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4957 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4958 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4959 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4961 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4962 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4963 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4964 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4965 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4966 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4967 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4968 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4971 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4972 the given number of lines from the top.
4977 @node Choosing Articles
4978 @section Choosing Articles
4979 @cindex selecting articles
4982 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4983 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4987 @node Choosing Commands
4988 @subsection Choosing Commands
4990 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4991 and they all select and display an article.
4993 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4994 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4998 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4999 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5000 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
5001 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5003 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
5004 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
5005 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
5010 @kindex G n (Summary)
5011 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
5012 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
5013 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5018 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5019 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5020 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5025 @kindex G N (Summary)
5026 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5027 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5032 @kindex G P (Summary)
5033 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5034 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5037 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5038 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5039 Go to the next article with the same subject
5040 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5043 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5044 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5045 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5046 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5050 @kindex G f (Summary)
5052 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5053 Go to the first unread article
5054 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5058 @kindex G b (Summary)
5060 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5061 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5062 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5063 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5068 @kindex G l (Summary)
5069 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5070 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5073 @kindex G o (Summary)
5074 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5076 @cindex article history
5077 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5078 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5079 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5080 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5081 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5082 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5087 @kindex G j (Summary)
5088 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5089 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5090 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5095 @node Choosing Variables
5096 @subsection Choosing Variables
5098 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5101 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5102 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5103 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5104 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5105 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5106 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5108 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5109 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5110 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5111 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5112 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5113 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5115 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5116 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5117 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5118 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5119 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5120 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5121 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5122 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5123 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5124 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5125 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5126 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5127 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5128 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5133 @node Paging the Article
5134 @section Scrolling the Article
5135 @cindex article scrolling
5140 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5141 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5142 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5143 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5144 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5146 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5147 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5148 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5149 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5150 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5151 what is considered uninteresting with
5152 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5153 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5156 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5157 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5158 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5161 @kindex RET (Summary)
5162 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5163 Scroll the current article one line forward
5164 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5167 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5168 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5169 Scroll the current article one line backward
5170 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5174 @kindex A g (Summary)
5176 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5177 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5178 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5179 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5180 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5181 the way it came from the server.
5183 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5184 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5185 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5188 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5193 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5198 @kindex A < (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5200 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5201 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5206 @kindex A > (Summary)
5207 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5208 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5212 @kindex A s (Summary)
5214 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5215 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5216 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5220 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5221 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5226 @node Reply Followup and Post
5227 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5230 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5231 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5232 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5233 * Canceling and Superseding::
5237 @node Summary Mail Commands
5238 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5240 @cindex composing mail
5242 Commands for composing a mail message:
5248 @kindex S r (Summary)
5250 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5251 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5252 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5253 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5254 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5259 @kindex S R (Summary)
5260 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5261 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5262 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5263 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5264 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5267 @kindex S w (Summary)
5268 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5269 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5270 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5271 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5272 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5273 present, that's used instead.
5276 @kindex S W (Summary)
5277 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5278 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5279 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5280 the process/prefix convention.
5283 @kindex S v (Summary)
5284 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5285 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5286 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5287 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5288 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5289 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5292 @kindex S V (Summary)
5293 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5294 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5295 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5296 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5299 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5300 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5301 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5302 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5303 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5304 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5305 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5306 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5309 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5310 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5311 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5312 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5313 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5317 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5318 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5319 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5320 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5321 Forward the current article to some other person
5322 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5323 headers of the forwarded article.
5328 @kindex S m (Summary)
5329 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5330 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5331 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5332 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5333 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5338 @kindex S i (Summary)
5339 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5340 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5341 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5342 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5344 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5345 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5346 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5347 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5348 for this to work though.
5351 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5352 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5353 @cindex bouncing mail
5354 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5355 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5356 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5357 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5358 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5359 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5360 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5361 very well fail, though.
5364 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5365 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5366 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5367 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5368 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5369 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5370 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5371 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5372 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5373 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5375 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5376 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5377 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5378 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5379 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5381 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5382 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5385 @kindex S D e (Summary)
5386 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message-edit
5388 Like the previous command, but will allow you to edit the message as
5389 if it were a new message before resending.
5392 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5393 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5394 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5395 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5396 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5399 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5400 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5401 @cindex crossposting
5402 @cindex excessive crossposting
5403 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5404 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5406 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5407 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5408 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5409 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5410 command understands the process/prefix convention
5411 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5415 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5416 Manual}, for more information.
5419 @node Summary Post Commands
5420 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5422 @cindex composing news
5424 Commands for posting a news article:
5430 @kindex S p (Summary)
5431 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5432 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5433 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5434 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5435 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5440 @kindex S f (Summary)
5441 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5442 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5443 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5447 @kindex S F (Summary)
5449 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5450 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5451 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5452 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5453 process/prefix convention.
5456 @kindex S n (Summary)
5457 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5458 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5459 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5462 @kindex S N (Summary)
5463 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5464 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5465 message through mail and include the original message
5466 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5467 the process/prefix convention.
5470 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5471 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5472 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5473 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5474 headers of the forwarded article.
5477 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5478 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5480 @cindex making digests
5481 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5482 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5483 process/prefix convention.
5486 @kindex S u (Summary)
5487 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5488 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5489 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5490 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5493 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5494 Manual}, for more information.
5497 @node Summary Message Commands
5498 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5502 @kindex S y (Summary)
5503 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5504 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5505 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5506 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5507 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5512 @node Canceling and Superseding
5513 @subsection Canceling Articles
5514 @cindex canceling articles
5515 @cindex superseding articles
5517 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5518 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5520 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5522 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5524 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5525 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5526 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5527 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5528 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5529 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5531 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5532 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5535 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5536 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5537 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5539 Gnus ensures that only you can cancel your own messages using a
5540 @code{Cancel-Lock} header (@pxref{Canceling News, Canceling News, ,
5541 message, Message Manual}).
5543 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5544 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5545 your original article.
5547 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5549 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5550 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5551 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5554 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5555 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5556 have posted almost the same article twice.
5558 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5559 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5560 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5561 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5562 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5563 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5564 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5565 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5566 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5567 canceled/superseded.
5569 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5571 @node Delayed Articles
5572 @section Delayed Articles
5573 @cindex delayed sending
5574 @cindex send delayed
5576 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5577 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5578 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5579 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5582 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5585 @findex gnus-delay-article
5586 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5587 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5588 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5589 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5593 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5594 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5595 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5596 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5599 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5600 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5601 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5604 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5605 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5606 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5607 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5608 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5609 that means a time tomorrow.
5612 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5613 couple of variables:
5616 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5617 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5618 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5619 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5621 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5622 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5623 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5624 formats described above.
5626 @item gnus-delay-group
5627 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5628 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5629 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5630 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5632 @item gnus-delay-header
5633 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5634 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5635 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5636 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5639 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5640 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5641 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5642 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5643 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5645 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5646 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5647 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5648 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5649 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5650 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5651 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5654 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5655 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5657 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5658 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5659 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5660 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5661 argument is ignored.
5663 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5664 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5665 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5669 @node Marking Articles
5670 @section Marking Articles
5671 @cindex article marking
5672 @cindex article ticking
5675 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5677 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5678 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5679 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5681 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5684 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks.
5688 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5689 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5690 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5691 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5692 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5693 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5697 @node Unread Articles
5698 @subsection Unread Articles
5700 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5705 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5706 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5708 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5709 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5710 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5711 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5712 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5713 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5714 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5717 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5718 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5720 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5721 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5722 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5723 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5727 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5728 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5730 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5735 @subsection Read Articles
5736 @cindex expirable mark
5738 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5743 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5744 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5745 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5748 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5749 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5752 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5753 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5754 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5757 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5758 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5761 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5762 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5765 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5766 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5769 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5770 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5773 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5774 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5777 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5778 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5781 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5782 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5786 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5787 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5788 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5792 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5793 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5795 One more special mark, though:
5799 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5800 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5802 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5803 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5804 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5805 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5811 @subsection Other Marks
5812 @cindex process mark
5815 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5821 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5822 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5823 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5824 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5825 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5828 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5829 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5830 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5831 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5834 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5835 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5836 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5839 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5840 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5841 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5844 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5845 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5846 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5847 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5850 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5851 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5852 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5853 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5854 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5855 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5858 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5859 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5860 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5861 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5864 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5865 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5866 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5867 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5868 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5872 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5873 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5874 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5875 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5876 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5877 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5880 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5881 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5882 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5883 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5884 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5885 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5889 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5890 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5891 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5892 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5893 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5896 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5897 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5898 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5899 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5900 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5901 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5905 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5906 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5907 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5909 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5910 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5911 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5915 @subsection Setting Marks
5916 @cindex setting marks
5918 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5923 @kindex M c (Summary)
5924 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5925 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5926 @cindex mark as unread
5927 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5928 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5934 @kindex M t (Summary)
5935 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5936 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5937 @xref{Article Caching}.
5942 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5943 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5944 Mark the current article as dormant
5945 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5949 @kindex M d (Summary)
5951 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5952 Mark the current article as read
5953 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5957 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5958 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5959 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5964 @kindex M k (Summary)
5965 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5966 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5967 and then select the next unread article
5968 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5972 @kindex M K (Summary)
5973 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5974 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5975 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5976 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5979 @kindex M C (Summary)
5980 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5981 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5982 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5985 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5986 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5987 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5988 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5991 @kindex M H (Summary)
5992 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5993 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5994 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5997 @kindex M h (Summary)
5998 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5999 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
6000 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
6003 @kindex C-w (Summary)
6004 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
6005 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
6006 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
6009 @kindex M V k (Summary)
6010 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
6011 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
6012 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
6016 @kindex M e (Summary)
6018 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
6019 Mark the current article as expirable
6020 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
6023 @kindex M b (Summary)
6024 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6025 Set a bookmark in the current article
6026 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6029 @kindex M B (Summary)
6030 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6031 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6032 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6035 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6036 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6037 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6038 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6041 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6042 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6043 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6044 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6047 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6048 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6049 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6050 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6051 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6054 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6055 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6056 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6057 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6058 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6059 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6060 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6061 The default is @code{t}.
6064 @node Generic Marking Commands
6065 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6067 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6068 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6069 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6070 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6071 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6074 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6075 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6078 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6079 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6080 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6081 to list in this manual.
6083 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6084 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6085 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6086 article, you could say something like:
6090 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6091 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6092 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6100 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6101 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6105 @node Setting Process Marks
6106 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6107 @cindex setting process marks
6109 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6110 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6111 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6112 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6113 commands into the cache. For more information,
6114 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6121 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6122 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6123 Mark the current article with the process mark
6124 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6125 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6129 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6130 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6131 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6132 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6135 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6136 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6137 Remove the process mark from all articles
6138 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6141 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6142 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6143 Invert the list of process marked articles
6144 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6147 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6148 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6149 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6150 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6153 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6154 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6155 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6156 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6159 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6160 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6161 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6164 @kindex M P g (Summary)
6165 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6166 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6169 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6170 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6171 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6172 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6175 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6176 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6177 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6178 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6181 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6182 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6183 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6184 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6187 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6188 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6189 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6192 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6193 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6194 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6195 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6198 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6199 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6200 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}).
6203 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6204 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6205 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6206 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6209 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6210 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6211 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6212 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6215 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6216 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6217 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6218 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6221 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6222 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6223 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6224 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6228 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6229 set process marks based on article body contents.
6236 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6237 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6238 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6241 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6242 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6243 additional articles.
6249 @kindex / / (Summary)
6250 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6251 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6252 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6256 @kindex / a (Summary)
6257 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6258 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6259 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6263 @kindex / x (Summary)
6264 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6265 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6266 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6267 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6272 @kindex / u (Summary)
6274 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6275 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6276 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6277 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6278 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6281 @kindex / m (Summary)
6282 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6283 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6284 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6287 @kindex / t (Summary)
6288 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6289 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6290 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6291 articles younger than that number of days.
6294 @kindex / n (Summary)
6295 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6296 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6297 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6298 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6301 @kindex / w (Summary)
6302 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6303 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6304 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6308 @kindex / . (Summary)
6309 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6310 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6311 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6314 @kindex / v (Summary)
6315 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6316 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6317 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6320 @kindex / p (Summary)
6321 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6322 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6323 group parameter predicate
6324 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6325 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6328 @kindex / r (Summary)
6329 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-replied
6330 Limit the summary buffer to replied articles
6331 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-replied}). If given a prefix, exclude
6336 @kindex M S (Summary)
6337 @kindex / E (Summary)
6338 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6339 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6340 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6343 @kindex / D (Summary)
6344 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6345 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6346 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6349 @kindex / * (Summary)
6350 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6351 Include all cached articles in the limit
6352 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6355 @kindex / d (Summary)
6356 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6357 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6358 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6361 @kindex / M (Summary)
6362 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6363 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6366 @kindex / T (Summary)
6367 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6368 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6371 @kindex / c (Summary)
6372 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6373 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6374 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6377 @kindex / C (Summary)
6378 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6379 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6380 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6381 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6384 @kindex / N (Summary)
6385 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6386 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6387 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6390 @kindex / o (Summary)
6391 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6392 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6393 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6401 @cindex article threading
6403 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6404 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6405 hierarchical fashion.
6407 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6408 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6409 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6410 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6411 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6412 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6413 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6415 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6419 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6422 A tree-like article structure.
6425 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6428 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6429 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6430 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6431 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6432 called loose threads.
6434 @item thread gathering
6435 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6437 @item sparse threads
6438 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6439 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6445 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6446 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6450 @node Customizing Threading
6451 @subsection Customizing Threading
6452 @cindex customizing threading
6455 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6456 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6457 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6458 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6463 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6466 @cindex loose threads
6469 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6470 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6471 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6472 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6473 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6474 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6476 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6477 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6478 There are four possible values:
6482 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6483 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6484 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6485 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6486 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6491 @cindex adopting articles
6496 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6497 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6498 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6499 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6502 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6503 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6504 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6505 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6506 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6507 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6508 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6509 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6510 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6511 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6514 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6515 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6516 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6520 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6521 display them after one another.
6524 Don't gather loose threads.
6527 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6528 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6529 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6530 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6531 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6532 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6533 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6534 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6535 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6536 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6537 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6539 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6540 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6541 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6544 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6545 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6546 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6547 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6548 simplification is used.
6550 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6551 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6552 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6553 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6555 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6557 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6563 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6564 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6565 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6566 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6571 (mapconcat 'identity
6572 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6574 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6577 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6580 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6581 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6582 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6583 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6584 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6585 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6587 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6590 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6591 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6592 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6594 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6595 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6598 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6599 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6600 Remove excessive whitespace.
6602 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6603 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6604 Remove all whitespace.
6607 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6610 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6611 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6612 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6613 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6614 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6615 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6616 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6617 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6619 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6620 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6621 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6622 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6623 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6624 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6625 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6626 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6627 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6631 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6632 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6633 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6634 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6636 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6637 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6638 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6641 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6645 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6646 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6652 @node Filling In Threads
6653 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6656 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6657 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6658 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6659 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
6660 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
6661 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
6662 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
6663 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
6664 old headers only works if the back end you are using carries overview
6665 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6666 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6667 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can
6670 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6671 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6672 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6674 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6675 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6676 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6679 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6680 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6681 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6682 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6683 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6684 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6685 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6686 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6687 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6688 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6689 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6690 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6691 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6692 @code{nil} by default.
6694 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6695 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6696 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6697 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6698 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6699 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6700 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6702 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6703 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6704 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6709 @node More Threading
6710 @subsubsection More Threading
6713 @item gnus-show-threads
6714 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6715 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6716 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6717 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6718 slower and more awkward.
6720 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6721 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6722 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6725 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6726 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6727 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6732 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6733 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6734 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6737 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6738 unread, but you get my drift.)
6741 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6742 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6743 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6744 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6745 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6746 threads are expunged.
6748 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6749 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6750 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6753 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6754 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6755 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6756 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6757 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6758 result in a new thread.
6760 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6761 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6762 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6765 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6766 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6767 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6768 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6769 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6770 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6771 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6772 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6773 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6774 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6775 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6780 @node Low-Level Threading
6781 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6785 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6786 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6787 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6788 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6789 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6790 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6792 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6793 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6794 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6795 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6796 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6797 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6798 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6799 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6800 meaningful. Here's one example:
6803 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6805 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6806 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6808 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6810 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6817 @node Thread Commands
6818 @subsection Thread Commands
6819 @cindex thread commands
6825 @kindex T k (Summary)
6826 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6827 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6828 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6829 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6830 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6835 @kindex T l (Summary)
6836 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6837 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6838 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6839 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6842 @kindex T i (Summary)
6843 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6844 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6845 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6848 @kindex T # (Summary)
6849 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6850 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6851 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6854 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6855 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6856 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6857 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6860 @kindex T T (Summary)
6861 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6862 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6865 @kindex T s (Summary)
6866 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6867 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6868 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6871 @kindex T h (Summary)
6872 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6873 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6876 @kindex T S (Summary)
6877 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6878 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6881 @kindex T H (Summary)
6882 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6883 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6886 @kindex T t (Summary)
6887 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6888 Re-thread the current article's thread
6889 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6890 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6893 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6894 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6895 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6896 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6900 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6901 understand the numeric prefix.
6906 @kindex T n (Summary)
6908 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6910 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6911 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6912 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6915 @kindex T p (Summary)
6917 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6919 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6920 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6921 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6924 @kindex T d (Summary)
6925 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6926 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6929 @kindex T u (Summary)
6930 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6931 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6934 @kindex T o (Summary)
6935 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6936 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6939 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6940 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6941 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6942 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6943 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6944 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6945 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6946 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6947 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6948 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6949 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6950 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6954 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6955 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6957 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6958 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6959 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6960 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6961 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6962 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6963 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6964 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6965 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
6966 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
6967 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6968 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6969 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6970 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6972 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6973 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6974 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6975 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6976 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6977 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6978 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6979 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6981 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6982 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6983 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6985 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6986 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6987 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6988 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6989 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6990 ascending article order.
6992 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6993 by number, you could do something like:
6996 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6997 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6998 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6999 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
7002 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
7003 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
7004 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
7005 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
7006 which the articles arrived.
7008 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
7012 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
7014 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
7015 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
7018 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
7019 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
7020 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
7021 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
7024 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
7025 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
7026 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
7027 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
7028 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
7029 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
7030 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
7031 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7032 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7033 variable. It is very similar to the
7034 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7035 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7036 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7037 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7038 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7039 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7040 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7042 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7046 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7047 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7048 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7053 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7054 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7055 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7056 @cindex article pre-fetch
7059 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7060 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7061 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7062 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7063 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7065 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7066 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
7068 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7069 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7070 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7071 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7072 connection is blocked.
7074 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7075 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7076 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7077 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
7079 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7080 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7081 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7082 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7085 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7088 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7089 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7090 happen automatically.
7092 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7093 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7094 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7095 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7096 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7097 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7098 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7100 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7101 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7102 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7103 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7104 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7105 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7106 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7107 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7108 article data structure as the only parameter.
7110 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7111 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7114 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7115 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7116 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7117 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7120 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7123 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7124 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
7125 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7127 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7128 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7129 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7130 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7134 Remove articles when they are read.
7137 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7140 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7142 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7143 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7144 @c from the next group.
7147 @node Article Caching
7148 @section Article Caching
7149 @cindex article caching
7152 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7153 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7154 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7155 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7156 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7158 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7160 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7161 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7162 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7163 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7164 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7165 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7166 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7167 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7169 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7170 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7171 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7172 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7173 as dormant, and don't worry.
7175 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7177 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7178 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7179 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7180 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7181 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7182 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7183 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7184 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7185 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7186 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7188 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7189 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7190 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7191 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7192 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7193 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7194 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7195 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7196 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7197 not then be downloaded by this command.
7199 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7200 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7201 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7202 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7203 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7204 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7206 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7207 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7208 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7209 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7210 variables, the group is not cached.
7212 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7213 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7214 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7215 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7216 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7217 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7218 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7219 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7220 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7223 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7224 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7225 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7226 where, isn't that cool?
7228 @node Persistent Articles
7229 @section Persistent Articles
7230 @cindex persistent articles
7232 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7233 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7234 useful in my opinion.
7236 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7237 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7238 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7239 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7240 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7241 the expiry going on at the news server.
7243 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7244 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7245 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7251 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7252 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7255 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7256 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7257 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7258 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7262 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7264 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7265 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7266 interested in persistent articles:
7269 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7273 @node Article Backlog
7274 @section Article Backlog
7276 @cindex article backlog
7278 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7279 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7280 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7281 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7282 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7283 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7284 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7285 increase memory usage some.
7287 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7288 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7289 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7290 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7291 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7292 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7293 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7295 The default value is 20.
7298 @node Saving Articles
7299 @section Saving Articles
7300 @cindex saving articles
7302 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7303 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7304 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7305 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7306 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7308 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7309 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7310 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7312 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7313 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7314 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7316 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7317 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7318 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7319 deleted before saving.
7325 @kindex O o (Summary)
7327 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7328 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7329 Save the current article using the default article saver
7330 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7333 @kindex O m (Summary)
7334 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7335 Save the current article in mail format
7336 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7339 @kindex O r (Summary)
7340 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7341 Save the current article in Rmail format
7342 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7345 @kindex O f (Summary)
7346 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7347 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7348 Save the current article in plain file format
7349 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7352 @kindex O F (Summary)
7353 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7354 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7355 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7358 @kindex O b (Summary)
7359 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7360 Save the current article body in plain file format
7361 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7364 @kindex O h (Summary)
7365 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7366 Save the current article in mh folder format
7367 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7370 @kindex O v (Summary)
7371 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7372 Save the current article in a VM folder
7373 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7377 @kindex O p (Summary)
7379 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7380 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7381 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7382 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7383 complete headers in the piped output.
7386 @kindex O P (Summary)
7387 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7388 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7389 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7390 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7391 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7392 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7393 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7397 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7398 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7399 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7400 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7401 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7402 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7403 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7404 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7405 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7406 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7407 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7408 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7412 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7413 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7414 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7415 functions below, or you can create your own.
7419 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7420 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7421 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7422 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7423 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7424 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7425 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7427 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7428 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7429 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7430 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7431 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7432 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7434 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7435 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7436 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7437 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7438 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7439 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7440 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7442 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7443 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7444 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7445 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7446 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7447 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7449 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7450 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7451 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7452 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7453 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7455 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7456 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7457 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7458 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7459 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7462 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7463 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7464 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7465 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7466 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7468 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7469 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7470 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7471 reader to use this setting.
7474 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7475 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7476 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7477 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7480 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7481 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7482 available functions that generate names:
7486 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7487 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7488 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7490 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7491 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7492 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7494 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7495 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7496 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7498 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7499 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7500 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7502 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7503 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7504 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7507 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7508 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7509 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7510 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7511 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7515 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7516 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7517 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7518 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7521 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7522 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7523 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7524 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7525 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7526 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7527 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7528 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7529 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7531 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7532 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7533 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7534 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7536 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7537 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7538 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7541 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7542 lots of mail groups called things like
7543 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7544 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7545 following will do just that:
7548 (defun my-save-name (group)
7549 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7550 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7552 (setq gnus-split-methods
7553 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7558 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7559 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7560 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7561 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7562 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7563 all the files in the top level directory
7564 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7565 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7566 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7567 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7569 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7570 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7571 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7572 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7573 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7576 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7580 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7581 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7582 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7585 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7586 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7587 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7588 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7591 @node Decoding Articles
7592 @section Decoding Articles
7593 @cindex decoding articles
7595 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7596 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7599 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7600 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7601 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7602 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7603 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7604 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7608 @cindex article series
7609 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7610 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7611 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7612 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7613 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7615 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7616 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7617 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7619 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7620 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7621 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7623 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7624 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7625 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7628 @node Uuencoded Articles
7629 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7631 @cindex uuencoded articles
7636 @kindex X u (Summary)
7637 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7638 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7639 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7642 @kindex X U (Summary)
7643 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7644 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7645 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7648 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7649 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7650 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7653 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7654 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7655 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7656 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7660 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7661 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7662 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7663 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7664 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7666 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7667 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7668 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7669 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7672 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7673 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7674 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7675 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7676 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7677 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7681 @node Shell Archives
7682 @subsection Shell Archives
7684 @cindex shell archives
7685 @cindex shared articles
7687 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7688 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7689 some commands to deal with these:
7694 @kindex X s (Summary)
7695 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7696 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7699 @kindex X S (Summary)
7700 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7701 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7704 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7705 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7706 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7709 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7710 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7711 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7712 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7716 @node PostScript Files
7717 @subsection PostScript Files
7723 @kindex X p (Summary)
7724 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7725 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7728 @kindex X P (Summary)
7729 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7730 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7731 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7734 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7735 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7736 View the current PostScript series
7737 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7740 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7741 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7742 View and save the current PostScript series
7743 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7748 @subsection Other Files
7752 @kindex X o (Summary)
7753 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7754 Save the current series
7755 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7758 @kindex X b (Summary)
7759 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7760 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7761 doesn't really work yet.
7765 @node Decoding Variables
7766 @subsection Decoding Variables
7768 Adjective, not verb.
7771 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7772 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7773 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7777 @node Rule Variables
7778 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7779 @cindex rule variables
7781 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7782 variables are of the form
7785 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7792 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7793 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7795 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7796 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7799 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7800 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7803 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7804 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7805 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7806 user and default view rules.
7808 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7809 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7810 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7815 @node Other Decode Variables
7816 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7819 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7821 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7822 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7823 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7824 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7825 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7829 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7830 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7833 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7834 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7835 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7838 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7839 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7840 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7841 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7842 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7845 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7846 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7847 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7849 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7850 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7851 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7852 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7853 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7856 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7857 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7858 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7860 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7861 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7862 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7863 looking for files to display.
7865 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7866 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7867 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7870 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7871 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7872 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7875 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7876 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7877 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7880 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7881 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7882 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7885 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7886 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7887 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7888 decoded articles as unread.
7890 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7891 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7892 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7893 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7895 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7896 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7897 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7899 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7900 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7902 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7903 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
7904 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7905 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7907 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7908 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7909 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7910 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7911 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7912 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7913 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7914 simply dropped them.
7919 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7920 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7924 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7925 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7926 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7927 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7928 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7929 for you when you post the article.
7931 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7932 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7933 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7934 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7936 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7937 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7938 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7939 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7940 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7941 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7942 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7944 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7945 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7946 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7947 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7948 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7949 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7950 Default is @code{t}.
7956 @subsection Viewing Files
7957 @cindex viewing files
7958 @cindex pseudo-articles
7960 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7961 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7962 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7963 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7964 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7965 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7966 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7968 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7969 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7970 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7971 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7973 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7974 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7975 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7977 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7978 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7979 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7980 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7981 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7983 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7984 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7985 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7986 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7987 a list of parameters to that command.
7989 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7990 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7991 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7993 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7994 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7995 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7998 @node Article Treatment
7999 @section Article Treatment
8001 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
8002 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
8003 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
8004 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
8005 these articles easier.
8008 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
8009 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
8010 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
8011 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
8012 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
8013 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
8014 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
8015 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
8016 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
8017 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
8018 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
8022 @node Article Highlighting
8023 @subsection Article Highlighting
8024 @cindex highlighting
8026 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
8027 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8032 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8033 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8034 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8035 Do much highlighting of the current article
8036 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8037 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8040 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8041 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8042 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8043 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8044 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8045 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8046 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8047 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8048 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8049 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8050 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8051 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8054 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8055 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8056 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8058 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8061 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8063 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8064 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8065 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8067 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8068 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8069 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8071 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8072 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8073 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8074 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8075 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8076 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8078 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8079 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8080 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8082 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8083 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8084 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8086 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8087 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8088 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8089 that it's a citation.
8091 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8092 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8093 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8095 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8096 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8097 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8099 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8100 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8101 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8102 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8104 @item gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8105 @vindex gnus-cite-ignore-quoted-from
8106 If non-@code{nil}, no citation highlighting will be performed on lines
8107 beginning with @samp{>From }. Those lines may have been quoted by MTAs
8108 in order not to mix up with the envelope From line. The default value
8115 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8116 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8117 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8118 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8119 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8120 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8121 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8122 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8127 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8130 @node Article Fontisizing
8131 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8133 @cindex article emphasis
8135 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8136 @kindex W e (Summary)
8137 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8138 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8139 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8140 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8142 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8143 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8144 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8145 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8146 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8147 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8148 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8149 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8153 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8154 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8155 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8164 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8165 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8166 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8167 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8168 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8169 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8170 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8171 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8172 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8173 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8174 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8175 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8176 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8178 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8179 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8180 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8184 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8187 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8189 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8190 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8191 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8192 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8194 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8197 @node Article Hiding
8198 @subsection Article Hiding
8199 @cindex article hiding
8201 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8202 too much cruft in most articles.
8207 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8208 @findex gnus-article-hide
8209 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8210 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8211 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8214 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8215 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8216 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8220 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8221 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8222 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8223 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8226 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8227 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8228 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8232 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8233 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8234 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8235 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8236 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8237 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8238 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8239 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8243 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8244 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8245 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8246 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8251 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8252 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8253 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8254 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8257 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8258 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8259 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8260 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8263 @cindex stripping advertisements
8264 @cindex advertisements
8265 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8266 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8267 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8268 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8269 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8270 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8271 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8272 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8273 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8274 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8277 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8278 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8279 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8283 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8284 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8285 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8286 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8287 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8288 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8289 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8290 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8291 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8292 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8293 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8296 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8297 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8303 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8304 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8305 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8306 customizing the hiding:
8310 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8311 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8312 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8313 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8314 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8315 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8316 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8321 Starting point of the hidden text.
8323 Ending point of the hidden text.
8325 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8327 Number of lines of hidden text.
8330 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8331 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8332 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8333 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8334 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8339 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8340 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8342 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8343 following two variables:
8346 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8347 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8348 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8349 50), hide the cited text.
8351 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8352 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8353 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8358 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8359 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8360 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8361 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8362 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8363 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8367 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8368 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8369 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8371 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8372 citation customization.
8374 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8378 @node Article Washing
8379 @subsection Article Washing
8381 @cindex article washing
8383 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8384 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8386 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8387 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8390 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8391 articles by default.
8396 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8397 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8401 Force redisplaying of the current article
8402 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8403 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8404 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8405 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8408 @kindex W l (Summary)
8409 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8410 Remove page breaks from the current article
8411 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8415 @kindex W r (Summary)
8416 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8417 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8418 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8419 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8420 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8421 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8423 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8424 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8425 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8426 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8429 @kindex W m (Summary)
8430 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8431 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8435 @kindex W t (Summary)
8437 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8438 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8439 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8442 @kindex W v (Summary)
8443 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8444 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8445 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8448 @kindex W m (Summary)
8449 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8450 Toggle whether to run the article through @acronym{MIME} before
8451 displaying (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8454 @kindex W o (Summary)
8455 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8456 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8459 @kindex W d (Summary)
8460 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8461 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8463 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8465 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8466 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8467 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8468 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8471 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8472 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8473 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8474 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8477 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8478 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8479 @cindex Outlook Express
8480 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8481 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8482 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8485 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8486 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8487 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8488 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8489 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8490 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8491 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8492 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8493 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8494 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8497 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8498 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8499 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8500 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8503 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8504 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8505 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8506 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8509 @kindex W w (Summary)
8510 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8511 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8513 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8517 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8518 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8519 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8522 @kindex W C (Summary)
8523 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8524 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8525 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8528 @kindex W c (Summary)
8529 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8530 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8531 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8532 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8533 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8535 @kindex W q (Summary)
8536 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8537 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8538 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8539 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8540 makes strings like @samp{d@'ej@`a vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu},
8541 which doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually
8542 done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8543 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8544 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8547 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8548 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8549 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8550 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8551 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8552 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8553 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8554 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8557 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8558 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8559 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8560 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8561 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8564 @kindex W A (Summary)
8565 @findex gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences
8566 @cindex @acronym{ANSI} control sequences
8567 Translate @acronym{ANSI} SGR control sequences into overlays or
8568 extents (@code{gnus-article-treat-ansi-sequences}). @acronym{ANSI}
8569 sequences are used in some Chinese hierarchies for highlighting.
8572 @kindex W u (Summary)
8573 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8574 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8575 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8576 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8577 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8580 @kindex W h (Summary)
8581 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8582 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8583 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8584 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8586 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8588 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8589 The default is to use the function specified by
8590 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8591 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8592 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8593 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8601 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8604 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8607 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8610 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8615 @kindex W b (Summary)
8616 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8617 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8618 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8621 @kindex W B (Summary)
8622 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8623 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8624 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8627 @kindex W p (Summary)
8628 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8629 Verify a signed control message
8630 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8631 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8632 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8633 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8634 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8635 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8638 @kindex W s (Summary)
8639 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8640 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8641 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8642 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8645 @kindex W a (Summary)
8646 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8647 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8648 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8651 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8652 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8653 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8654 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8657 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8658 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8659 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8660 lines with a single empty line.
8661 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8664 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8665 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8666 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8667 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8670 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8671 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8672 Do all the three commands above
8673 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8676 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8677 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8678 Remove all blank lines
8679 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8682 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8683 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8684 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8685 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8688 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8689 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8690 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8691 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8695 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8698 @node Article Header
8699 @subsection Article Header
8701 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8706 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8707 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8708 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8711 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8712 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8713 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8714 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8717 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8718 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8719 Fold all the message headers
8720 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8723 @kindex W E w (Summary)
8724 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8725 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8726 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8731 @node Article Buttons
8732 @subsection Article Buttons
8735 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8736 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8737 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8738 button on these references.
8740 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8741 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8742 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8743 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8744 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8748 @item gnus-button-alist
8749 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8750 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8753 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8759 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8760 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8761 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8762 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8763 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8766 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8767 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8768 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8771 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8772 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8773 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8774 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8775 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8777 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8780 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8783 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8784 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8788 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8791 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8794 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8795 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8796 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8797 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8798 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8801 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8804 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8807 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8810 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8811 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8813 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8815 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8816 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8817 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8818 default values of the variables above.
8820 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8822 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8823 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8824 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8825 argument with a string naming the man page.
8827 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8829 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8830 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8831 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8833 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8834 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8835 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8836 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8837 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8838 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8839 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8840 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8841 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8842 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8843 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8844 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8846 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8847 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8848 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8849 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8850 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8853 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8854 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8855 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8856 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8858 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8860 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8861 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8862 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8863 argument, the string naming the URL.
8866 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8867 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8868 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8872 @item gnus-article-button-face
8873 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8874 Face used on buttons.
8876 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8877 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8878 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8882 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8885 @node Article Button Levels
8886 @subsection Article button levels
8887 @cindex button levels
8888 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8889 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8890 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8891 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8892 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8893 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8894 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8895 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8898 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
8899 (setq gnus-parameters
8900 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8901 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8902 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8907 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8908 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8909 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8910 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8911 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8912 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8914 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8915 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8916 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8917 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8918 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8919 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8920 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8921 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8922 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8923 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8924 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8925 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8926 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8928 @item gnus-button-man-level
8929 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8930 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8931 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8933 @item gnus-button-message-level
8934 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8935 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8936 Related variables and functions include
8937 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8938 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8939 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8940 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8942 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8943 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8944 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8945 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8946 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8947 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8948 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8954 @subsection Article Date
8956 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8957 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8958 when the article was sent.
8963 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8964 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8965 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8966 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8969 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8970 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8972 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8973 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8976 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8977 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8978 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8981 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8982 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8983 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8984 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8987 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8988 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8989 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8990 @findex format-time-string
8991 Display the date using a user-defined format
8992 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8993 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8994 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8995 for a list of possible format specs.
8998 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8999 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
9000 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
9001 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
9002 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
9003 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
9006 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
9009 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
9010 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
9011 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
9014 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
9015 into wonderful absurdities.
9017 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
9020 (gnus-start-date-timer)
9023 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
9024 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
9028 @kindex W T o (Summary)
9029 @findex gnus-article-date-original
9030 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
9031 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
9032 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
9033 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
9034 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
9038 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
9039 preferred format automatically.
9042 @node Article Display
9043 @subsection Article Display
9048 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9049 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9051 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9052 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9054 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9055 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9057 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9058 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9060 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9061 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9063 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9068 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9069 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9070 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9071 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9074 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9075 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9076 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9077 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9080 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9081 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9082 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9085 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9086 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9087 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9090 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9091 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9092 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9093 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9096 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9097 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9098 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9099 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9102 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9103 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9104 Remove all images from the article buffer
9105 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9111 @node Article Signature
9112 @subsection Article Signature
9114 @cindex article signature
9116 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9117 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9118 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9119 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9120 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9121 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9122 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9123 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9124 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9127 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9128 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9129 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9130 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9131 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9132 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9133 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9134 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9137 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9140 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9141 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9142 signature when displaying articles.
9146 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9149 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9152 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9153 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9155 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9156 in question is not a signature.
9159 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9160 listed above. Here's an example:
9163 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9164 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9167 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9168 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9169 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9170 signature after all.
9173 @node Article Miscellanea
9174 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9178 @kindex A t (Summary)
9179 @findex gnus-article-babel
9180 Translate the article from one language to another
9181 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9187 @section MIME Commands
9188 @cindex MIME decoding
9190 @cindex viewing attachments
9192 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9193 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9199 @kindex K v (Summary)
9200 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9203 @kindex K o (Summary)
9204 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9207 @kindex K c (Summary)
9208 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9211 @kindex K e (Summary)
9212 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9215 @kindex K i (Summary)
9216 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9219 @kindex K | (Summary)
9220 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9223 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9228 @kindex K b (Summary)
9229 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9230 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9234 @kindex K m (Summary)
9235 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9236 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9237 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9238 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9239 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9242 @kindex X m (Summary)
9243 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9244 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9245 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9246 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9249 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9250 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9251 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9252 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9255 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9256 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9257 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9258 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9261 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9262 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9263 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9264 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9266 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9267 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9268 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9269 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9270 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9271 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9274 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9275 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9276 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9277 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9284 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9285 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9286 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9287 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9290 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9293 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9297 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9298 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9299 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9300 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9301 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9302 default is @code{nil}.
9304 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9305 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9306 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9307 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9308 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9309 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9310 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9312 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9313 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9314 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9315 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9316 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9317 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9318 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9319 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9321 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9322 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9323 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9324 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9325 displayed. This variable overrides
9326 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9327 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9330 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9331 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9332 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9334 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9335 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9336 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9337 default value is @code{nil}.
9339 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9340 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9341 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9342 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9343 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9344 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9345 save all jpegs into some directory).
9347 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9350 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9351 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9353 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9354 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9355 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9356 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9357 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9360 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9361 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9362 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9364 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9365 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed
9366 Display "multipart/alternative" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9368 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9369 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed
9370 Display "multipart/related" parts as "multipart/mixed".
9372 If displaying "text/html" is discouraged, see
9373 @code{mm-discouraged-alternatives} in @ref{Display Customization,
9374 Display Customization, , emacs-mime, Emacs-Mime Manual}. Images or
9375 other material inside a "multipart/related" part might be overlooked
9376 when this variable is nil.
9378 @vindex gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9379 @item gnus-mime-display-multipart-as-mixed
9380 Display "multipart" parts as "multipart/mixed". If t, it overrides nil
9381 values of @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-alternative-as-mixed} and
9382 @code{gnus-mime-display-multipart-related-as-mixed}.
9384 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9385 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9386 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9387 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9389 Ready-made functions include@*
9390 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9391 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9392 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9393 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9394 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9395 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9396 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9397 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9398 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9399 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9400 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9401 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9403 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9404 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9406 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9407 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9408 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9411 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9412 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9413 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9414 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9418 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9427 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9428 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9429 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9430 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9431 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9432 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9433 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9435 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9436 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9437 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9438 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9440 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9441 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9442 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9443 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9444 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9445 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9446 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9447 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9448 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9450 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9451 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9452 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9453 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9454 quoted-printable header encoding.
9456 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9457 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9458 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9462 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9465 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9466 means encode all charsets),
9468 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9469 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9470 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9477 @cindex coding system aliases
9478 @cindex preferred charset
9480 @xref{Encoding Customization, , Encoding Customization, emacs-mime,
9481 The Emacs MIME Manual}, for additional variables that control which
9482 MIME charsets are used when sending messages.
9484 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9486 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9487 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9490 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9491 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9494 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9495 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9497 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9500 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9503 This will almost do the right thing.
9505 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9509 (codepage-setup 1251)
9510 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9514 @node Article Commands
9515 @section Article Commands
9522 @kindex A P (Summary)
9523 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9524 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9525 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9526 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9527 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9528 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9533 @node Summary Sorting
9534 @section Summary Sorting
9535 @cindex summary sorting
9537 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9538 can't really see why you'd want that.
9543 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9544 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9545 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9548 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9549 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9550 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9553 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9554 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9555 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9558 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9559 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9560 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9563 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9564 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9565 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9568 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9569 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9570 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9573 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9574 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9575 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9578 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9579 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9580 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9583 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9584 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9585 Sort using the default sorting method
9586 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9589 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9590 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9591 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9592 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9593 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9597 @node Finding the Parent
9598 @section Finding the Parent
9599 @cindex parent articles
9600 @cindex referring articles
9605 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9606 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9607 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9608 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9609 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9610 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9611 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9612 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9613 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9615 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9616 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9617 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9618 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9619 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9623 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9624 @kindex A R (Summary)
9625 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9626 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9629 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9630 @kindex A T (Summary)
9631 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9632 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9633 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9634 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9635 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9636 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9637 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9639 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9640 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9641 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9642 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9643 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9644 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9647 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9648 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9650 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9651 You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
9652 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9653 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9654 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9655 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9656 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9659 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9660 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9661 by giving this command a prefix.
9663 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9664 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9665 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9666 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9667 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9668 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9671 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9672 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9673 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9676 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9677 then ask Google if that fails:
9680 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9682 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9685 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9686 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9687 @code{nnbabyl}, @code{nnmaildir}, @code{nnml}, are able to locate
9688 articles from any groups, while @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9689 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current
9690 group. (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does
9691 not support this at all.
9694 @node Alternative Approaches
9695 @section Alternative Approaches
9697 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9698 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9701 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9702 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9707 @subsection Pick and Read
9708 @cindex pick and read
9710 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9711 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9712 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9713 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9715 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9716 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9717 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9718 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9719 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9720 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9722 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9727 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9728 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9729 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9730 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9731 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9732 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9733 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9734 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9737 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9738 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9739 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9740 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9744 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9745 Unpick the thread or article
9746 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9747 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9748 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9749 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9750 the thread or article at that line.
9754 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9755 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9756 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9757 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9758 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9759 will still be visible when you are reading.
9763 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9764 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9765 which is mapped to the same function
9766 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9768 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9771 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9774 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9775 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9777 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9778 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9779 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9781 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9782 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9783 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9784 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9785 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9786 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9787 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9791 @subsection Binary Groups
9792 @cindex binary groups
9794 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9795 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9796 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9797 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9798 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9799 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9800 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9803 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9804 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9805 command, when you have turned on this mode
9806 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9808 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9809 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9813 @section Tree Display
9816 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9817 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9818 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9819 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9822 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9825 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9826 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9827 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9829 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9830 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9831 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9832 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9833 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9835 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9836 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9837 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9838 default is @code{modeline}.
9840 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9841 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9842 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9843 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9844 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9845 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9846 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9852 The name of the poster.
9854 The @code{From} header.
9856 The number of the article.
9858 The opening bracket.
9860 The closing bracket.
9865 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9867 Variables related to the display are:
9870 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9871 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9872 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9873 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
9875 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9876 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
9877 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
9879 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9881 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9882 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9883 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9884 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9888 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9889 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9890 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9891 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9892 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9893 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9894 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9895 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9896 other windows displayed next to it.
9898 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9902 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9903 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9906 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9907 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9908 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9909 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9910 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9911 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9912 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9916 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9919 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9929 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9934 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9935 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9937 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9939 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9945 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9946 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9947 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9950 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9951 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9952 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9953 (gnus-add-configuration
9957 (summary 0.75 point)
9962 @xref{Window Layout}.
9965 @node Mail Group Commands
9966 @section Mail Group Commands
9967 @cindex mail group commands
9969 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9970 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9972 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9973 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9978 @kindex B e (Summary)
9979 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9980 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9981 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9982 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9983 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9986 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9987 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9988 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9989 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9990 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9991 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9994 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9995 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9996 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9997 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9998 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9999 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
10002 @kindex B m (Summary)
10004 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
10005 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
10006 Move the article from one mail group to another
10007 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10008 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10011 @kindex B c (Summary)
10013 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
10014 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
10015 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
10016 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
10017 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
10020 @kindex B B (Summary)
10021 @cindex crosspost mail
10022 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
10023 Crosspost the current article to some other group
10024 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
10025 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
10026 be properly updated.
10029 @kindex B i (Summary)
10030 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
10031 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
10032 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
10033 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10036 @kindex B I (Summary)
10037 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
10038 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
10039 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
10040 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
10043 @kindex B r (Summary)
10044 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
10045 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
10046 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
10047 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
10048 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
10049 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
10050 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
10051 (which is the default).
10055 @kindex B w (Summary)
10056 @kindex e (Summary)
10057 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
10058 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
10059 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
10060 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
10061 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
10062 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
10063 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
10066 @kindex B q (Summary)
10067 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
10068 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
10069 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
10070 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10073 @kindex B t (Summary)
10074 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10075 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10076 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10079 @kindex B p (Summary)
10080 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10081 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10082 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10083 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10084 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10085 article from your news server (or rather, from
10086 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10087 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10088 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10089 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10090 just not have arrived yet.
10093 @kindex K E (Summary)
10094 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10095 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10096 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10097 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10098 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10102 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10103 @cindex moving articles
10104 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
10105 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10106 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10107 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10108 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10109 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10110 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10113 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10114 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10115 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10116 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10120 @node Various Summary Stuff
10121 @section Various Summary Stuff
10124 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10125 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10126 * Summary Generation Commands::
10127 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10131 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10132 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10133 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10134 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10135 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10136 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10138 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10139 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10140 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10143 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10144 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10145 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10147 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10148 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10149 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10150 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10151 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10152 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10155 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10156 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10157 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10158 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10159 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10161 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10162 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10163 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10166 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10167 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10168 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10169 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10170 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10171 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10172 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
10173 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10174 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10175 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10177 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10178 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10179 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10180 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10181 list of articles to be selected.
10183 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10184 the list in one particular group:
10187 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10188 (if (string= group "some.group")
10189 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10193 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10194 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10195 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10196 variables and their default expressions to be evalled (when the default
10197 values are not @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary
10200 Note: The default expressions will be evaluated (using function
10201 @code{eval}) before assignment to the local variable rather than just
10202 assigned to it. If the default expression is the symbol @code{global},
10203 that symbol will not be evaluated but the global value of the local
10204 variable will be used instead.
10206 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
10207 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
10208 buffers. For example:
10211 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10212 '(message-use-followup-to
10213 (gnus-visible-headers .
10214 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10217 Also @pxref{Group Parameters}.
10221 @node Summary Group Information
10222 @subsection Summary Group Information
10227 @kindex H f (Summary)
10228 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10229 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10230 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10231 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10232 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10233 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10234 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10235 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10236 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10239 @kindex H d (Summary)
10240 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10241 Give a brief description of the current group
10242 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10243 rereading the description from the server.
10246 @kindex H h (Summary)
10247 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10248 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10249 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10252 @kindex H i (Summary)
10253 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10254 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10258 @node Searching for Articles
10259 @subsection Searching for Articles
10264 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10265 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10266 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10267 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10270 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10271 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10272 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10273 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10276 @kindex & (Summary)
10277 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10278 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10279 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10280 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10281 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10282 search backward instead.
10284 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string RET #} will put the process mark on
10285 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10288 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10289 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10290 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10291 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10294 @node Summary Generation Commands
10295 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10300 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10301 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10302 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10305 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10306 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10307 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10308 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10311 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10312 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10313 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10314 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10319 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10320 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10326 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10327 @kindex A D (Summary)
10328 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10329 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10330 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10331 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10332 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10333 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10334 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10335 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10339 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10340 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10341 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10342 several documents into one biiig group
10343 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10344 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10345 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10346 command understands the process/prefix convention
10347 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10350 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10351 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10352 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10353 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10354 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10355 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10358 @kindex = (Summary)
10359 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10360 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10361 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10364 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10365 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10366 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10367 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10370 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10371 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10372 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10373 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10378 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10379 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10380 @cindex summary exit
10381 @cindex exiting groups
10383 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10384 group and return you to the group buffer.
10391 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10392 @kindex Z Q (Summary)
10393 @kindex q (Summary)
10394 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10395 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10396 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10397 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10398 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10399 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10400 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10401 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10402 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10403 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10404 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10405 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10409 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10410 @kindex Q (Summary)
10411 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10412 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10413 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10417 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10418 @kindex c (Summary)
10419 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10420 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10421 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10422 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10425 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10426 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10427 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10428 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10431 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10432 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10433 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10434 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10438 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10439 @kindex C-x C-s (Summary)
10440 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10441 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10442 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10443 all articles, both read and unread.
10447 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10448 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10449 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10450 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10451 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10452 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10453 articles, both read and unread.
10456 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10457 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10458 Exit the group and go to the next group
10459 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10462 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10463 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10464 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10465 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10468 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10469 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10470 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10471 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10472 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10473 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10476 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10477 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10478 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10479 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10481 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10482 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10483 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10484 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10485 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10486 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10487 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10488 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10489 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10490 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10491 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10492 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10494 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10496 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10497 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10498 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10499 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10500 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10501 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10502 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10503 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10504 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10507 @node Crosspost Handling
10508 @section Crosspost Handling
10512 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10513 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10514 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10515 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10516 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10517 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10520 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10521 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10522 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10523 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10524 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10526 @cindex cross-posting
10528 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10529 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10530 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10531 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10532 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10533 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10534 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10535 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10536 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10537 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10538 the cross reference mechanism.
10540 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10541 @cindex overview.fmt
10542 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10543 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10544 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10545 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10546 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10547 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10550 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10551 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10552 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10557 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10560 @node Duplicate Suppression
10561 @section Duplicate Suppression
10563 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10564 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10565 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10566 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10571 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10572 is evil and not very common.
10575 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10576 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10579 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10580 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10583 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10586 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10587 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10589 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10590 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10591 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10592 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10593 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10594 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10595 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10598 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10599 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10600 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10601 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10602 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10603 saw the article in.
10606 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10607 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10608 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10610 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10611 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10612 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10613 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10614 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10615 session are suppressed.
10617 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10618 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10619 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10620 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10622 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10623 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10624 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10625 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10628 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10629 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10630 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10631 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10632 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10633 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10634 to you to figure out, I think.
10639 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10640 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10641 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10646 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10647 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10648 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10649 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10652 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10653 or newer is recommended.
10657 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10658 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10661 @item mm-verify-option
10662 @vindex mm-verify-option
10663 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10664 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10665 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10667 @item mm-decrypt-option
10668 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10669 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10670 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10671 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10674 @vindex mml1991-use
10675 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10676 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10677 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10681 @vindex mml2015-use
10682 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10683 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10684 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10689 @cindex snarfing keys
10690 @cindex importing PGP keys
10691 @cindex PGP key ring import
10692 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10693 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10694 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10695 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10696 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10697 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10698 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10699 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10700 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10703 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10706 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10707 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10710 @section Mailing List
10711 @cindex mailing list
10714 @kindex A M (summary)
10715 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10716 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10717 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10718 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10721 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10726 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10727 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10728 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10731 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10732 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10733 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10736 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10737 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10738 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10742 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10743 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10744 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10747 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10748 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10749 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10752 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10753 @findex gnus-mailing-list-archive
10754 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10759 @node Article Buffer
10760 @chapter Article Buffer
10761 @cindex article buffer
10763 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10764 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10765 tell gnus otherwise.
10768 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10769 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10770 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10771 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10772 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10776 @node Hiding Headers
10777 @section Hiding Headers
10778 @cindex hiding headers
10779 @cindex deleting headers
10781 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10782 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10784 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10785 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10786 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10787 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10788 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10789 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10790 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10791 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10792 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10794 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10798 @item gnus-visible-headers
10799 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10800 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10801 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10802 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10804 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10805 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10808 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10811 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10814 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10815 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10816 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10817 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10818 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10819 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10821 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10822 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10825 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10828 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10831 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10832 variable will have no effect.
10836 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10837 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10838 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10839 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10840 the headers are to be displayed.
10842 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10843 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10846 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10849 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10850 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10852 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10853 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10854 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10855 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10856 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10857 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead it
10858 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10861 These conditions are:
10864 Remove all empty headers.
10866 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10867 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10869 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same addresses as
10870 the @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group
10873 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10876 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10877 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
10879 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10880 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10882 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10883 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10885 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10888 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10890 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10893 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10896 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10897 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10900 This is also the default value for this variable.
10904 @section Using MIME
10905 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
10907 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10908 while people stand around yawning.
10910 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10911 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10913 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10914 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10915 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10917 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10918 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10919 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10920 gnus handles @acronym{MIME} by pushing the articles through
10921 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10922 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10923 calls the @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For
10924 more information on @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View, see its manual page
10925 (however it is not existed yet, sorry).
10927 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10928 @acronym{MIME} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set,
10929 then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10930 These can't be avoided.
10932 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10933 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10934 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10935 @acronym{MIME} has decoded the sound file in the article and some
10936 horrible sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you
10937 can't find the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are
10938 starting to look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't,
10939 and you can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else
10940 in the room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll
10941 feel rather stupid.)
10943 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10945 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10946 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10947 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10948 buffer when there are nobody else.
10950 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10953 @node Customizing Articles
10954 @section Customizing Articles
10955 @cindex article customization
10957 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10958 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10959 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10960 called automatically when you select the articles.
10962 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10963 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10964 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10965 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10967 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10968 for sensible values.
10972 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10975 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10978 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10981 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10984 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10988 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10989 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10990 regexps in the list.
10993 A list where the first element is not a string:
10995 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10996 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10997 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
11001 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
11005 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
11010 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
11011 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
11012 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
11013 considered to contain just a single part.
11015 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
11016 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
11017 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
11018 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
11019 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
11020 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
11021 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
11023 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
11024 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
11025 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
11026 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
11029 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
11030 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
11032 @xref{Article Buttons}.
11034 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
11035 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
11036 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
11037 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
11038 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
11039 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
11040 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
11041 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
11042 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
11043 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
11044 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
11046 @xref{Article Washing}.
11048 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
11049 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
11050 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
11051 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
11052 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
11053 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
11054 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
11056 @xref{Article Date}.
11058 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
11059 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
11060 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
11064 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
11066 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
11068 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
11069 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
11070 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
11074 @item gnus-treat-display-x-face (head)
11078 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
11082 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
11083 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11084 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11085 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11086 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11087 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11088 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11089 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11090 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11091 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11093 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11095 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11096 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11097 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11099 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11101 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11102 @item gnus-treat-translate
11103 @item gnus-treat-ansi-sequences (t)
11104 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11106 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11107 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11108 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11109 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11111 @xref{Article Header}.
11116 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11117 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11118 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11119 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11120 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11124 @node Article Keymap
11125 @section Article Keymap
11127 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11128 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11129 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11130 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11133 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11138 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11139 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11140 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11141 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11144 @kindex DEL (Article)
11145 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11146 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11147 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11150 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11151 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11152 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11153 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11154 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11157 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11158 @findex gnus-article-mail
11159 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11160 given a prefix, include the mail.
11163 @kindex s (Article)
11164 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11165 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11166 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11169 @kindex ? (Article)
11170 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11171 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11172 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11175 @kindex TAB (Article)
11176 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11177 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11178 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11181 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11182 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11183 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11186 @kindex R (Article)
11187 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11188 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11189 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11190 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11194 @kindex F (Article)
11195 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11196 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11197 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11198 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11206 @section Misc Article
11210 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11211 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11212 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11213 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11216 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11217 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11218 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11219 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11220 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11222 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11223 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11224 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11225 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11226 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11227 the contents of the article buffer.
11229 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11230 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11231 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11233 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11234 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11235 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11236 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11238 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11239 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11240 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11241 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11243 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11244 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11245 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11246 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Summary Buffer Mode
11247 Line}). It accepts the same format specifications as that variable,
11248 with two extensions:
11253 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11254 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11255 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11260 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11263 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11266 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11267 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11268 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11271 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11274 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11277 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11282 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11286 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11288 @item gnus-break-pages
11289 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11290 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11291 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11292 paging will not be done.
11294 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11295 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11296 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11300 @cindex internationalized domain names
11301 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11302 @item gnus-use-idna
11303 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11304 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11305 @samp{Cc} headers. This requires
11306 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11307 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11312 @node Composing Messages
11313 @chapter Composing Messages
11314 @cindex composing messages
11317 @cindex sending mail
11322 @cindex using s/mime
11323 @cindex using smime
11325 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11326 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11327 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11328 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11329 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11330 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11333 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11334 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11335 * POP before SMTP:: You cannot send a mail unless you read a mail.
11336 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11337 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11338 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11339 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11340 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11341 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11344 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11345 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11351 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11354 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11355 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11356 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11357 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11358 @code{nil} include all headers.
11360 @item gnus-add-to-list
11361 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11362 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11363 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11365 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11366 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11367 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11368 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11369 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11370 confirmation is should be asked for.
11372 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11373 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11375 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11376 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11377 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11378 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11379 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11384 @node Posting Server
11385 @section Posting Server
11387 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11388 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11390 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11392 It can be quite complicated.
11394 @vindex gnus-post-method
11395 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11396 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11397 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11398 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11399 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11400 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11401 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11402 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11403 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11406 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11409 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11410 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11411 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11412 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11414 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11415 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11417 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11418 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11421 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11422 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11424 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11425 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11426 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11427 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11428 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11429 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11430 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11431 package correctly. An example:
11434 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11435 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11436 ;; @r{The following variable needs to be set if you are using smtpmail.el}
11437 ;; @r{distributed with FLIM, lesser than the version 1.14.6.}
11438 (setq smtp-default-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11441 To the thing similar to this, there is
11442 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your @acronym{ISP}
11443 requires the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication.
11444 @xref{POP before SMTP}.
11446 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11447 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11448 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11450 @node POP before SMTP
11451 @section POP before SMTP
11452 @cindex pop before smtp
11453 @findex message-smtpmail-send-it
11454 @findex mail-source-touch-pop
11456 Does your @acronym{ISP} require the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP}
11457 authentication? It is whether you need to connect to the @acronym{POP}
11458 mail server within a certain time before sending mails. If so, there is
11459 a convenient way. To do that, put the following lines in your
11460 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
11463 (setq message-send-mail-function 'message-smtpmail-send-it)
11464 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook 'mail-source-touch-pop)
11468 It means to let Gnus connect to the @acronym{POP} mail server in advance
11469 whenever you send a mail. The @code{mail-source-touch-pop} function
11470 does only a @acronym{POP} authentication according to the value of
11471 @code{mail-sources} without fetching mails, just before sending a mail.
11472 Note that you have to use @code{message-smtpmail-send-it} which runs
11473 @code{message-send-mail-hook} rather than @code{smtpmail-send-it} and
11474 set the value of @code{mail-sources} for a @acronym{POP} connection
11475 correctly. @xref{Mail Sources}.
11477 If you have two or more @acronym{POP} mail servers set in
11478 @code{mail-sources}, you may want to specify one of them to
11479 @code{mail-source-primary-source} as the @acronym{POP} mail server to be
11480 used for the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. If it
11481 is your primary @acronym{POP} mail server (i.e., you are fetching mails
11482 mainly from that server), you can set it permanently as follows:
11485 (setq mail-source-primary-source
11486 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11487 :password "secret"))
11491 Otherwise, bind it dynamically only when performing the
11492 @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication as follows:
11495 (add-hook 'message-send-mail-hook
11497 (let ((mail-source-primary-source
11498 '(pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11499 :password "secret")))
11500 (mail-source-touch-pop))))
11503 @node Mail and Post
11504 @section Mail and Post
11506 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11510 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11511 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11512 @cindex mailing lists
11514 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11515 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11516 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11517 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11518 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11519 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11520 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11521 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11522 still a pain, though.
11524 @item gnus-user-agent
11525 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11528 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11529 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11530 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11531 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11532 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11533 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11534 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11538 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11539 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11540 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11543 @findex ispell-message
11545 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11548 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11549 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11552 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11556 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11557 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11559 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11562 Modify to suit your needs.
11565 @node Archived Messages
11566 @section Archived Messages
11567 @cindex archived messages
11568 @cindex sent messages
11570 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11571 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11572 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11573 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11576 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11577 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11580 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11581 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11582 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11585 (nnfolder "archive"
11586 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11587 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11588 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11589 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11592 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11593 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11594 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11595 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11598 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11599 '(nnfolder "archive"
11600 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11601 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11602 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11605 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11607 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11608 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11609 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11611 This variable can be used to do the following:
11615 Messages will be saved in that group.
11617 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11618 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11619 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11620 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11621 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11622 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11623 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11624 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11627 @item a list of strings
11628 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11630 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11631 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11634 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11639 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11641 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11644 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11646 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11649 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11651 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11652 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11653 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11654 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11657 More complex stuff:
11659 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11660 '((if (message-news-p)
11665 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11666 messages in one file per month:
11669 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11670 '((if (message-news-p)
11672 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11675 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11676 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11678 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11679 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11680 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11681 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11682 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11683 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11684 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11685 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11686 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11687 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11689 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11690 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11691 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11692 this will disable archiving.
11695 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11696 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11697 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11698 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11699 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11702 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11703 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11704 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11707 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11708 but the latter is the preferred method.
11710 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11711 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11712 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11714 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11715 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11716 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11717 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11718 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11719 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11720 changed in the future.
11725 @node Posting Styles
11726 @section Posting Styles
11727 @cindex posting styles
11730 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11732 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11733 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11734 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11737 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11738 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11739 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11740 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11741 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11746 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11747 (organization "What me?"))
11749 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11750 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11751 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11754 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11755 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11756 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11757 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11758 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11759 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11760 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11761 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11763 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11764 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11765 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11766 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11767 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11768 @var{regexp} are strings. (The original article is the one you are
11769 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11770 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11771 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11772 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11773 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11774 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11775 said to @dfn{match}.
11777 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11778 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. In
11779 addition, you can also use the @code{(@var{name} :file @var{value})}
11780 form or the @code{(@var{name} :value @var{value})} form. Where
11781 @code{:file} signifies @var{value} represents a file name and its
11782 contents should be used as the attribute value, @code{:value} signifies
11783 @var{value} does not represent a file name explicitly. The attribute
11784 name can be one of:
11787 @item @code{signature}
11788 @item @code{signature-file}
11789 @item @code{x-face-file}
11790 @item @code{address}, overriding @code{user-mail-address}
11791 @item @code{name}, overriding @code{(user-full-name)}
11795 The attribute name can also be a string or a symbol. In that case,
11796 this will be used as a header name, and the value will be inserted in
11797 the headers of the article; if the value is @code{nil}, the header
11798 name will be removed. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form
11799 is evaluated, and the result is thrown away.
11801 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11802 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11803 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11804 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11805 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11806 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11807 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11808 references chars lines xref extra.
11810 @vindex message-reply-headers
11812 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11813 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11814 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11816 @findex message-mail-p
11817 @findex message-news-p
11819 So here's a new example:
11822 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11824 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11826 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11827 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11829 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11830 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
11831 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11832 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
11833 (signature my-news-signature))
11834 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
11835 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11836 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
11837 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11838 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11839 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
11840 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11841 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11842 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11843 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11845 (From (save-excursion
11846 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11847 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11849 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11852 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11853 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11854 if you fill many roles.
11856 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11857 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11858 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11859 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11860 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11861 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11862 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11863 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11868 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11870 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11872 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11873 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11876 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11879 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11880 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11887 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11888 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11889 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11890 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11891 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11893 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11894 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11895 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11896 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11897 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11901 @vindex nndraft-directory
11902 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11903 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11904 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11905 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11906 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11907 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11909 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11910 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11911 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11912 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11913 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11914 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11915 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11916 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11917 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11919 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11920 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11921 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11922 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11923 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11924 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11925 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11926 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11927 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11928 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11929 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11930 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11931 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11932 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11934 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11935 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11936 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11938 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11939 @kindex D e (Draft)
11940 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11941 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11942 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11944 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11947 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11948 @kindex D s (Draft)
11949 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11950 @kindex D S (Draft)
11951 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11952 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11953 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11954 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11955 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11958 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11959 @kindex D t (Draft)
11960 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11961 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11962 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11965 @node Rejected Articles
11966 @section Rejected Articles
11967 @cindex rejected articles
11969 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11970 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11971 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11972 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11974 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11975 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11976 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11977 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11978 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11980 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11981 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11982 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11984 @node Signing and encrypting
11985 @section Signing and encrypting
11987 @cindex using s/mime
11988 @cindex using smime
11990 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
11991 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
11992 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
11993 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
11995 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11996 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11997 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11998 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11999 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
12000 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
12001 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
12002 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
12003 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
12004 automatically encrypted messages.
12006 Instructing @acronym{MML} to perform security operations on a
12007 @acronym{MIME} part is done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for
12008 signing and the @kbd{C-c C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
12013 @kindex C-c C-m s s (Message)
12014 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
12016 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12019 @kindex C-c C-m s o (Message)
12020 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12022 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12025 @kindex C-c C-m s p (Message)
12026 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
12028 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12031 @kindex C-c C-m c s (Message)
12032 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
12034 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
12037 @kindex C-c C-m c o (Message)
12038 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
12040 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
12043 @kindex C-c C-m c p (Message)
12044 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
12046 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
12049 @kindex C-c C-m C-n (Message)
12050 @findex mml-unsecure-message
12051 Remove security related @acronym{MML} tags from message.
12055 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
12057 @node Select Methods
12058 @chapter Select Methods
12059 @cindex foreign groups
12060 @cindex select methods
12062 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
12063 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
12064 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
12065 personal mail group.
12067 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
12068 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
12069 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
12070 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
12071 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
12072 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
12074 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
12075 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
12077 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
12080 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
12081 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
12082 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
12083 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
12084 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
12086 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
12089 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
12090 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
12091 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
12092 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
12093 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
12094 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
12095 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
12096 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
12100 @node Server Buffer
12101 @section Server Buffer
12103 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
12104 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
12105 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
12106 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
12107 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
12108 back end represents a virtual server.
12110 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
12111 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
12112 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
12113 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
12115 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
12116 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
12117 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
12118 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
12119 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
12120 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
12121 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
12123 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
12124 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
12127 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
12128 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
12129 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
12130 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
12131 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
12132 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
12133 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
12136 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
12137 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
12140 @node Server Buffer Format
12141 @subsection Server Buffer Format
12142 @cindex server buffer format
12144 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
12145 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
12146 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
12147 variable, with some simple extensions:
12152 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12155 The name of this server.
12158 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12161 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12164 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12165 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12166 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12167 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12177 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12180 @node Server Commands
12181 @subsection Server Commands
12182 @cindex server commands
12188 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12189 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12193 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12194 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12197 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12198 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12199 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12203 @findex gnus-server-exit
12204 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12208 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12209 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12213 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12214 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12218 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12219 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12223 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12224 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12228 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12229 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12230 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12235 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12236 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12237 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12238 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12243 @node Example Methods
12244 @subsection Example Methods
12246 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12249 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12252 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12258 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12259 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12262 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12263 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12265 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12266 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12270 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12273 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12274 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12276 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12277 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12278 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12282 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12285 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12288 Here's the method for a public spool:
12292 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12293 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12299 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12300 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12301 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12302 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12303 should probably look something like this:
12307 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12308 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12309 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12310 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12313 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12314 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12315 configuration to the example above:
12318 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12321 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12323 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12324 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12325 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12329 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12330 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12331 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12332 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12335 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12336 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12337 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12338 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12341 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12342 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12344 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12345 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12347 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12348 would probably be best to use @code{nnml} to read the cache. You
12349 could also use @code{nnspool} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12351 Type @kbd{a nnml RET cache RET}.
12353 You should now have a brand new @code{nnml} virtual server called
12354 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12355 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12356 will contain the following:
12366 (nnml-directory "~/News/cache/")
12367 (nnml-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12370 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12371 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12372 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12375 @node Server Variables
12376 @subsection Server Variables
12377 @cindex server variables
12378 @cindex server parameters
12380 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12381 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12382 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12383 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12384 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12386 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12387 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12388 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12389 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12390 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12391 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12392 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12393 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12394 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12398 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12399 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12400 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12403 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12405 @node Servers and Methods
12406 @subsection Servers and Methods
12408 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12409 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12410 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12411 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12415 @node Unavailable Servers
12416 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12418 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12419 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12420 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12421 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12422 actually the case or not.
12424 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12425 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12426 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12427 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12428 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12429 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12430 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12431 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12433 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12434 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12436 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12437 with the following commands:
12443 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12444 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12445 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12449 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12450 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12451 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12455 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12456 Mark the current server as unreachable
12457 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12460 @kindex M-o (Server)
12461 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12462 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12463 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12466 @kindex M-c (Server)
12467 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12468 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12469 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12473 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12474 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12475 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12479 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12480 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12486 @section Getting News
12487 @cindex reading news
12488 @cindex news back ends
12490 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12491 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12492 or it can read from a local spool.
12495 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12496 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12504 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12505 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12506 server as the, uhm, address.
12508 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12509 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12510 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12511 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12513 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12514 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12515 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12517 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12522 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12523 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12524 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12526 @cindex authentification
12527 @cindex nntp authentification
12528 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12529 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12530 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12531 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12532 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12533 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12534 present in this hook.
12536 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12537 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12538 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12539 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12540 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12541 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12542 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12543 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12544 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12545 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12546 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12547 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12551 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12554 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12556 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12557 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12558 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12559 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12560 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12561 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12562 @samp{force} is explained below.
12566 Here's an example file:
12569 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12570 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12573 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12574 have to be first, for instance.
12576 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12577 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12578 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12579 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12580 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12581 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12582 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12584 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12585 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12591 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12592 previously mentioned.
12594 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12596 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12597 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12598 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12599 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12600 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12603 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12604 '(("innd" (ding))))
12607 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12609 The default value is
12612 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12613 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12614 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12617 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12618 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12620 @item nntp-maximum-request
12621 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12622 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12623 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12624 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12625 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12626 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12627 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12629 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12630 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12631 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12632 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12633 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12634 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12635 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12636 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12637 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12638 no timeouts are done.
12640 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12641 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12642 @c @cindex PPP connections
12643 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12644 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12645 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12646 @c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
12647 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12648 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12649 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12650 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12651 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12652 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12654 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12655 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12656 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12657 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12658 @c described above.
12660 @item nntp-server-hook
12661 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12662 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
12665 @item nntp-buggy-select
12666 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12667 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12669 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12670 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12671 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12672 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12675 @item nntp-xover-commands
12676 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12677 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12679 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12680 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12684 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12685 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12686 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12687 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12688 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12689 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12690 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12691 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12692 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12693 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12694 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12696 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12697 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12698 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12700 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12701 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12702 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12703 server closes connection.
12705 @item nntp-record-commands
12706 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12707 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12708 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12709 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12710 that doesn't seem to work.
12712 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12713 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12714 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12715 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12716 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12717 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12718 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12719 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12721 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12722 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12723 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12724 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12725 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12726 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12727 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12730 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12733 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12734 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12736 @item nntp-read-timeout
12737 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12738 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12739 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12740 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12741 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12744 @item nntp-list-options
12745 @vindex nntp-list-options
12746 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12747 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12748 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12749 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12750 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12754 (setq gnus-select-method
12755 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12756 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12759 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12760 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12761 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12762 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12763 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12764 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12765 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12768 (setq gnus-select-method
12769 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12770 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12773 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12774 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12775 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12776 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12777 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12778 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12779 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12782 (setq gnus-select-method
12783 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12784 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12789 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12790 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12791 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12795 @node Direct Functions
12796 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12797 @cindex direct connection functions
12799 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12800 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12801 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12802 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12805 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12806 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12807 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12810 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12811 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12812 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12813 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12814 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12817 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12818 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12820 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12821 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12822 (nntp-port-number )
12823 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12826 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12827 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12828 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12829 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12830 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12831 then define a server as follows:
12834 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12835 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12837 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12838 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12839 (nntp-port-number 563)
12840 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12843 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12844 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12845 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12846 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12847 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12848 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12849 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12850 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12854 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12855 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12856 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12859 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12860 session, which is not a good idea.
12864 @node Indirect Functions
12865 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12866 @cindex indirect connection functions
12868 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12869 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12870 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12871 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12872 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12873 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12876 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12877 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12878 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12879 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12880 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12882 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12885 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12886 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12887 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12888 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12890 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12891 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12892 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12893 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12894 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12895 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12896 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12897 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12901 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
12902 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12904 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
12905 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat
12906 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{netcat}
12907 (@uref{http://netcat.sourceforge.net/}) instead of @samp{telnet} to
12908 connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the intermediate host.
12910 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-netcat}-specific variables:
12913 @item nntp-via-netcat-command
12914 @vindex nntp-via-netcat-command
12915 Command used to connect to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from the
12916 intermediate host. The default is @samp{nc}. You can also use other
12917 programs like @samp{connect}
12918 (@uref{http://www.imasy.or.jp/~gotoh/ssh/connect.html}) instead.
12920 @item nntp-via-netcat-switches
12921 @vindex nntp-via-netcat-switches
12922 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12923 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @code{nil}.
12925 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12926 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12927 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12929 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12930 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12931 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}.
12934 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12935 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12936 Does essentially also the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12937 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12939 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12942 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12943 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12944 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12947 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12948 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12949 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12950 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12952 @item nntp-via-user-password
12953 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12954 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12956 @item nntp-via-envuser
12957 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12958 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12959 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12960 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12962 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12963 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12964 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12965 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12969 Note that you may want to change the value for @code{nntp-end-of-line}
12970 to @samp{\n} (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12974 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12979 @item nntp-via-user-name
12980 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12981 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12983 @item nntp-via-address
12984 @vindex nntp-via-address
12985 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12990 @node Common Variables
12991 @subsubsection Common Variables
12993 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12994 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12999 @item nntp-pre-command
13000 @vindex nntp-pre-command
13001 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
13002 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
13003 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
13004 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
13007 @vindex nntp-address
13008 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
13010 @item nntp-port-number
13011 @vindex nntp-port-number
13012 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
13013 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
13014 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
13015 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
13016 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
13017 not work with named ports.
13019 @item nntp-end-of-line
13020 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
13021 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
13022 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
13023 using a non native telnet connection function.
13025 @item nntp-telnet-command
13026 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
13027 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
13028 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
13029 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
13032 @item nntp-telnet-switches
13033 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
13034 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
13041 @subsection News Spool
13045 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
13046 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
13047 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
13050 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
13051 anything else) as the address.
13053 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
13054 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
13055 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
13056 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
13060 @item nnspool-inews-program
13061 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
13062 Program used to post an article.
13064 @item nnspool-inews-switches
13065 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
13066 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
13068 @item nnspool-spool-directory
13069 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
13070 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
13071 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
13073 @item nnspool-nov-directory
13074 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
13075 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
13076 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
13078 @item nnspool-lib-dir
13079 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
13080 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
13082 @item nnspool-active-file
13083 @vindex nnspool-active-file
13084 The name of the active file.
13086 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
13087 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
13088 The name of the group descriptions file.
13090 @item nnspool-history-file
13091 @vindex nnspool-history-file
13092 The name of the news history file.
13094 @item nnspool-active-times-file
13095 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
13096 The name of the active date file.
13098 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
13099 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
13100 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
13103 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13104 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
13106 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
13107 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
13108 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
13115 @section Getting Mail
13116 @cindex reading mail
13119 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
13123 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
13124 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
13125 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
13126 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
13127 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
13128 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
13129 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
13130 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
13131 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
13132 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
13133 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
13134 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
13135 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
13139 @node Mail in a Newsreader
13140 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
13142 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
13143 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
13144 of a culture shock.
13146 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
13147 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
13149 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
13150 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
13151 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
13152 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
13154 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
13156 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
13157 deleted? How awful!
13159 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
13160 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
13161 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
13162 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
13165 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
13166 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
13167 they want to treat a message.
13169 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
13170 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
13171 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
13172 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
13173 archived somewhere else.
13175 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
13176 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
13177 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
13178 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
13179 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
13181 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
13182 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
13183 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13185 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13186 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13189 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13190 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13191 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13192 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13193 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13195 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13196 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13197 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13198 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13199 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13200 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13204 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13205 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13207 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13208 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13209 and things will happen automatically.
13211 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13212 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13215 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13218 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13219 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13220 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13221 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13222 like any other group.
13224 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13227 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13228 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13229 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13233 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13234 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13235 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13238 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13239 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13240 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13243 @node Splitting Mail
13244 @subsection Splitting Mail
13245 @cindex splitting mail
13246 @cindex mail splitting
13247 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13249 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13250 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13251 to be split into groups.
13254 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13255 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13256 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13257 ("mail.other" "")))
13260 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13261 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13262 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13263 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13264 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13265 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13266 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13269 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13273 In that case, @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether
13274 the inserted text should be made lowercase. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13276 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13277 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13278 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13279 mail belongs in that group.
13281 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13282 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
13283 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13284 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
13285 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
13286 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.) When new groups are
13287 created by splitting mail, you may want to run
13288 @code{gnus-group-find-new-groups} to see the new groups.
13290 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13291 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13292 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13293 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13294 thinks should carry this mail message.
13296 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13297 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13298 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13299 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13301 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13302 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13303 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13304 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13305 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
13307 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13310 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13311 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13312 links. If that's the case for you, set
13313 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13314 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13316 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13317 @findex nnmail-split-history
13318 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13319 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13320 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13321 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13324 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13325 Header lines longer than the value of
13326 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13329 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13330 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13331 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13332 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13333 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13334 charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
13335 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13336 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13338 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13339 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13340 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13341 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13342 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13343 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13344 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13345 other kinds of entries.)
13347 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13348 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13349 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13350 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13351 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13352 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13353 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13354 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13355 month's rent money.
13359 @subsection Mail Sources
13361 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13362 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13363 maildir, for instance.
13366 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13367 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13368 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13372 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13373 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13375 @cindex mail server
13378 @cindex mail source
13380 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13381 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13386 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13389 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13390 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13391 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13394 The following mail source types are available:
13398 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13404 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13405 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13406 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13410 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13413 An example file mail source:
13416 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13419 Or using the default file name:
13425 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13426 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13427 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13428 mail spool while moving the mail.
13430 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13434 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13437 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13441 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13444 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13446 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13449 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13453 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13454 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13455 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13456 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13457 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13458 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13459 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13460 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13461 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13462 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13464 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13465 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13466 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13467 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13473 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13477 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13481 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13482 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13483 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13484 predicate are considered.
13488 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13492 An example directory mail source:
13495 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13500 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13506 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13507 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13510 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13511 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13512 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13513 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13514 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13517 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13521 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13522 the user is prompted.
13525 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13526 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13529 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13532 The valid format specifier characters are:
13536 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13537 included in this string.
13540 The name of the server.
13543 The port number of the server.
13546 The user name to use.
13549 The password to use.
13552 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13553 corresponding keywords.
13556 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13557 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13560 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13561 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13564 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13565 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13566 mail should be moved to.
13568 @item :authentication
13569 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13570 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13574 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13575 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13576 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13577 programs and libraries:
13581 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13582 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13583 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13585 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13586 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13591 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13592 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13596 @vindex pop3-movemail
13597 @vindex pop3-leave-mail-on-server
13598 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13599 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used. If the
13600 @code{pop3-leave-mail-on-server} is non-@code{nil} the mail is to be
13601 left on the @acronym{POP} server after fetching when using
13602 @code{pop3-movemail}. Note that POP servers maintain no state
13603 information between sessions, so what the client believes is there and
13604 what is actually there may not match up. If they do not, then the whole
13605 thing can fall apart and leave you with a corrupt mailbox.
13607 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13608 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13614 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13617 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13618 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13621 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13624 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13628 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13629 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13630 contains exactly one mail.
13636 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13637 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13640 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13641 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13643 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13644 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13645 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13648 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13649 from locking problems).
13653 Two example maildir mail sources:
13656 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13657 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13661 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13666 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13667 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13668 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13669 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13670 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13672 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13673 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13679 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13680 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13683 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13684 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13687 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13691 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13695 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13696 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13697 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13698 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13700 @item :authentication
13701 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13702 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13703 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13704 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13707 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13708 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13709 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13715 The valid format specifier characters are:
13719 The name of the server.
13722 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13725 The port number of the server.
13728 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13729 corresponding keywords.
13732 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13733 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13736 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13737 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13738 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13739 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13740 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13741 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13744 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13745 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13746 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13747 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13750 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13751 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13755 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13758 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13760 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13764 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{http://www.hotmail.com/},
13765 @uref{http://webmail.netscape.com/}, @uref{http://www.netaddress.com/},
13766 @uref{http://mail.yahoo.com/}.
13768 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13769 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13771 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13777 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13778 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13781 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13785 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13789 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13790 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13794 An example webmail source:
13797 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13799 :password "secret")
13804 @item Common Keywords
13805 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13811 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13812 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13817 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13822 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13823 useful when you use local mail and news.
13828 @subsubsection Function Interface
13830 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13831 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13832 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13833 consider the following mail-source setting:
13836 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13837 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13840 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13841 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13842 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13843 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13844 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13846 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13849 @node Mail Source Customization
13850 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13852 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13853 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13857 @item mail-source-crash-box
13858 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13859 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
13860 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13862 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13863 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13864 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13865 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13866 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13867 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
13868 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13869 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13871 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13872 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13873 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13874 files. This variable only applies when
13875 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13877 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13878 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13879 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13881 @item mail-source-directory
13882 @vindex mail-source-directory
13883 Directory where incoming mail source files (if any) will be stored. The
13884 default is @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for
13885 is to say where the incoming files will be stored if the variable
13886 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil} or a number.
13888 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13889 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13890 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13891 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13892 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13893 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13895 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13896 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13897 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13899 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13900 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13901 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
13902 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13907 @node Fetching Mail
13908 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13910 @vindex mail-sources
13911 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13912 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13913 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13914 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13916 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13917 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13920 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
13921 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
13926 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13927 :password "secret")))
13930 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13934 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13935 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13938 :password "secret")))
13942 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13943 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13944 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13945 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13946 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13947 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13951 @node Mail Back End Variables
13952 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13954 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13958 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13959 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13960 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13961 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13963 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13964 @item nnmail-split-hook
13965 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13966 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
13967 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
13968 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13969 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13970 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13971 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13972 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13973 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13976 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13977 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13978 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13979 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13980 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13981 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13982 starting to handle the new mail) and
13983 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13984 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13985 default file modes the new mail files get:
13988 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13989 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13991 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13992 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13995 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13996 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13997 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13998 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13999 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
14000 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
14001 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
14003 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
14004 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
14005 @findex delete-file
14006 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
14008 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14009 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14010 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
14011 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
14012 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
14014 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
14015 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
14016 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
14017 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
14018 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
14020 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
14021 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
14022 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
14027 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
14028 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
14029 @cindex mail splitting
14030 @cindex fancy mail splitting
14032 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
14033 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
14034 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
14035 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
14036 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
14037 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
14039 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
14042 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
14043 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
14044 ;; @r{from real errors.}
14045 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
14047 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
14048 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
14049 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
14050 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
14051 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
14052 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
14053 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
14054 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
14055 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
14056 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
14057 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
14058 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
14059 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
14060 (any "mypackage@@somewhere" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
14061 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
14062 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
14063 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
14067 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a
14068 (possibly) recursive structure where each split may contain other
14069 splits. Here are the possible split syntaxes:
14074 If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group name. Normal
14075 regexp match expansion will be done. See below for examples.
14077 @item (@var{field} @var{value} [- @var{restrict} [@dots{}] ] @var{split})
14078 If the split is a list, the first element of which is a string, then
14079 store the message as specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field}
14080 (a regexp) contains @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict}
14081 (yet another regexp) matches some string after @var{field} and before
14082 the end of the matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If
14083 none of the @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
14085 @item (| @var{split} @dots{})
14086 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{|} (vertical
14087 bar), then process each @var{split} until one of them matches. A
14088 @var{split} is said to match if it will cause the mail message to be
14089 stored in one or more groups.
14091 @item (& @var{split} @dots{})
14092 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{&}, then
14093 process all @var{split}s in the list.
14096 If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save (i.e., delete)
14097 this message. Use with extreme caution.
14099 @item (: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})
14100 If the split is a list, and the first element is @samp{:}, then the
14101 second element will be called as a function with @var{args} given as
14102 arguments. The function should return a @var{split}.
14105 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
14106 body of the messages:
14109 (defun split-on-body ()
14113 (goto-char (point-min))
14114 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
14118 The buffer is narrowed to the message in question when @var{function}
14119 is run. That's why @code{(widen)} needs to be called after
14120 @code{save-excursion} and @code{save-restriction} in the example
14121 above. Also note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will
14122 not be downloaded by default. You need to set
14123 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
14124 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
14126 @item (! @var{func} @var{split})
14127 If the split is a list, and the first element is @code{!}, then
14128 @var{split} will be processed, and @var{func} will be called as a
14129 function with the result of @var{split} as argument. @var{func}
14130 should return a split.
14133 If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
14137 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
14138 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
14139 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
14140 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
14141 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
14143 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
14144 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
14145 they are expanded as specified by the variable
14146 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
14147 where the @sc{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @sc{cdr}
14148 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
14149 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
14153 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
14155 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
14156 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
14158 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
14161 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
14162 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
14163 when all this splitting is performed.
14165 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
14166 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
14167 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
14170 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
14173 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
14174 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
14176 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
14177 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
14178 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
14179 groupings 1 through 9.
14181 @vindex nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded
14182 Where @code{nnmail-split-lowercase-expanded} controls whether the
14183 lowercase of the matched string should be used for the substitution.
14184 Setting it as non-@code{nil} is useful to avoid the creation of multiple
14185 groups when users send to an address using different case
14186 (i.e. mailing-list@@domain vs Mailing-List@@Domain). The default value
14189 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words
14190 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} controls whether partial
14191 words are matched during fancy splitting.
14193 Normally, regular expressions given in @code{nnmail-split-fancy} are
14194 implicitly surrounded by @code{\<...\>} markers, which are word
14195 delimiters. If this variable is true, they are not implicitly
14196 surrounded by anything.
14199 (any "joe" "joemail")
14202 In this example, messages sent from @samp{joedavis@@foo.org} will
14203 normally not be filed in @samp{joemail}. With
14204 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-match-partial-words} set to t, however, the
14205 match will happen. In effect, the requirement of a word boundary is
14206 removed and instead the match becomes more like a grep.
14208 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
14209 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
14210 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
14211 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
14212 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
14213 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
14214 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
14215 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
14216 it once per thread.
14218 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
14219 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
14220 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
14221 using the colon feature, like so:
14223 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
14224 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
14226 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
14227 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14231 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14232 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14233 in the file specified by the variable
14234 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14235 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14236 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14237 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14238 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14239 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14240 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14241 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14242 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14243 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14244 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14245 300 kBytes in size.)
14246 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14247 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14248 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14249 messages goes into the new group.
14251 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14252 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14253 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14254 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14255 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14256 ``outgoing'' group.
14259 @node Group Mail Splitting
14260 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14261 @cindex mail splitting
14262 @cindex group mail splitting
14264 @findex gnus-group-split
14265 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14266 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14267 You just have to set @code{to-list} and/or @code{to-address} in group
14268 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14269 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14270 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14271 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @code{to-list} or
14272 @code{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14274 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14275 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @code{extra-aliases} group
14276 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14277 rather use a regular expression, set @code{split-regexp}.
14279 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14280 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14281 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14282 @code{to-list}, @code{to-address}, all of @code{extra-aliases} and all
14283 matches of @code{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14284 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14285 @code{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14287 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14288 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14289 parameter @code{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14290 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14291 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @code{split-spec} may be set to
14292 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14293 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14295 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14296 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14297 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14298 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14299 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14300 some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14301 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14302 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14303 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14304 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14305 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14306 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14307 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14309 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14314 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14315 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14317 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14318 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14319 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14320 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14322 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14325 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14326 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14327 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14330 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14331 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14332 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14336 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14337 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14338 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14342 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14345 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14346 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14347 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14348 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14349 fancy split, used like @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14350 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @code{split-regexp} matches the
14351 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14352 Otherwise, if some group has @code{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14353 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14355 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14356 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14357 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14358 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14359 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14360 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14361 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14362 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14363 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14365 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14366 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14367 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14368 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14369 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14370 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14373 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14376 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14377 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14378 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14379 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14380 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14383 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14384 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14385 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14386 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14388 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14389 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14390 @cindex incorporating old mail
14391 @cindex import old mail
14393 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14394 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14395 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14398 Doing so can be quite easy.
14400 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14401 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14402 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14403 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14404 your @code{nnml} groups.
14410 Go to the group buffer.
14413 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14414 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14417 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14420 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14421 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14424 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14425 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14428 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14429 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14430 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14431 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14432 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14434 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14435 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14436 using the new mail back end.
14439 @node Expiring Mail
14440 @subsection Expiring Mail
14441 @cindex article expiry
14443 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14444 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14445 different approach to mail reading.
14447 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14448 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14449 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14450 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14451 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14452 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14455 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14456 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14457 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14458 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14459 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14460 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14461 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14462 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14463 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14465 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14466 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14467 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14468 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14469 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14470 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14471 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14474 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14475 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14476 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14477 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14478 into its own group.)
14480 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14481 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14482 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14483 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14484 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14485 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14486 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14487 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14490 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14491 Groups that match the regular expression
14492 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14493 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14494 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14496 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14497 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14498 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14499 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14500 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14502 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14504 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14505 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14506 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14509 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14510 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14511 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14512 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14513 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14515 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14516 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14519 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14520 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14523 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14524 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14526 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14527 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14528 don't really mix very well.
14530 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14531 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14532 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14533 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14536 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14537 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14538 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14539 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14542 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14544 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14546 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14548 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14550 ((string= group "important")
14556 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14557 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14559 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14560 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14561 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14564 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14565 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14567 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14568 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14569 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14570 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14571 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14572 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14573 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14574 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14575 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14576 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14577 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14578 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14579 name or @code{delete}.
14581 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14583 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14586 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14587 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14588 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14589 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14590 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14593 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14594 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14595 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14596 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14597 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14600 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14601 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14602 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14603 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14604 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14605 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14607 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14608 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14609 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14610 easier for procmail users.
14612 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14613 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14614 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14615 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14616 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14617 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14618 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14619 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14620 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14621 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14622 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14623 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14624 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14627 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14629 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14630 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14631 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14632 auto-expire turned on.
14636 @subsection Washing Mail
14637 @cindex mail washing
14638 @cindex list server brain damage
14639 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14641 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14642 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14643 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14644 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14645 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14646 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14648 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14649 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14650 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14653 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14654 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14655 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14656 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14659 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14660 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14661 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14662 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14663 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14666 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14667 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14668 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14669 Emacs running on MS machines.
14673 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14674 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14675 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14676 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14679 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14680 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14681 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14682 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14684 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14685 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14686 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14687 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14688 into a feature by documenting it.)
14690 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14691 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14692 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14693 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14694 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14695 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14696 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14699 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14700 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14703 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14704 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14707 This can also be done non-destructively with
14708 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14710 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14711 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14712 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14714 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14715 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14717 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14718 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14719 @code{References} headers.
14723 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14724 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14725 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14729 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14730 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14731 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14738 @subsection Duplicates
14740 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14741 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14742 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14743 @cindex duplicate mails
14744 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14745 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14746 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14747 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14748 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14749 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14750 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14751 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14752 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14753 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14754 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14755 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14756 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14758 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14759 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14760 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14761 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14763 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14766 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14767 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14771 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14772 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14773 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14774 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14775 (any mail "mail.misc")
14776 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14782 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14783 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14784 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14788 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14789 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14790 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14791 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14792 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14795 @node Not Reading Mail
14796 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14798 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14799 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14800 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14802 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14803 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14804 mail, which should help.
14806 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14807 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14808 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14809 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14810 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14811 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14812 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14813 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14814 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14815 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14816 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14818 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14819 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14823 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14824 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14826 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14827 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14828 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14830 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14831 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14832 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14836 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14837 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
14838 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14839 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14840 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14841 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14842 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14846 @node Unix Mail Box
14847 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14849 @cindex unix mail box
14851 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14852 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14853 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14854 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14855 which group it belongs in.
14857 Virtual server settings:
14860 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14861 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14862 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14865 @item nnmbox-active-file
14866 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14867 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14868 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14870 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14871 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14872 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14873 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14878 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14882 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14883 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14884 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
14885 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14886 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14888 Virtual server settings:
14891 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14892 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14893 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14895 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14896 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14897 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14898 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14900 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14901 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14902 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14908 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14910 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
14912 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14913 format. It should be used with some caution.
14915 @vindex nnml-directory
14916 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14917 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14918 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14919 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14921 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14924 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14925 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14926 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14927 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14928 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14929 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14930 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14931 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14933 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14934 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14935 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14936 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14938 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14940 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14941 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14942 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14943 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14944 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14945 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14946 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14947 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14950 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14951 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14952 them next time it starts.
14954 Virtual server settings:
14957 @item nnml-directory
14958 @vindex nnml-directory
14959 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14960 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14963 @item nnml-active-file
14964 @vindex nnml-active-file
14965 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14966 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14968 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14969 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14970 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14971 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14973 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14974 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14975 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14978 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14979 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14980 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
14981 default is @code{nil}.
14983 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14984 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14985 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14987 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14988 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14989 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14991 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14992 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14993 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14994 default is @code{nil}.
14996 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14997 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14998 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
15000 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
15001 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
15002 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
15007 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
15008 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of
15009 whack, you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
15010 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
15011 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
15012 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
15013 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
15018 @subsubsection MH Spool
15020 @cindex mh-e mail spool
15022 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
15023 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks
15024 file. This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than
15025 @code{nnml}, but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts
15028 Virtual server settings:
15031 @item nnmh-directory
15032 @vindex nnmh-directory
15033 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
15034 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
15037 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
15038 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
15039 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
15043 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
15044 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
15045 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks
15046 they are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
15047 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
15048 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not
15049 have to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
15054 @subsubsection Maildir
15058 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
15059 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
15060 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
15061 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. @code{nnmaildir}
15062 also stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory
15065 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
15066 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
15067 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
15068 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
15069 can still do that with @code{nnmaildir}, but the more common
15070 configuration is to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs
15071 that appear as group in Gnus.
15073 @code{nnmaildir} is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will
15074 never corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never
15075 corrupt its data in the filesystem.
15077 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each
15078 maildir. So you can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to
15079 another, and you will keep your marks.
15081 Virtual server settings:
15085 For each of your @code{nnmaildir} servers (it's very unlikely that
15086 you'd need more than one), you need to create a directory and populate
15087 it with maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not
15088 choose a directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir
15089 will be represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the
15090 filename of the symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames
15091 in the directory starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is
15092 scanned when you first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in
15093 the group buffer; if any maildirs have been removed or added,
15094 @code{nnmaildir} notices at these times.
15096 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
15097 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
15098 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
15099 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
15100 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
15101 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
15102 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
15103 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
15104 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
15105 if @code{nnmaildir} uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical
15108 @item target-prefix
15109 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
15110 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
15111 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
15114 When you create a group on an @code{nnmaildir} server, the maildir is
15115 created with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
15116 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
15117 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
15118 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
15119 the group @code{foo}, @code{nnmaildir} will create
15120 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
15121 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
15122 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
15124 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
15125 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
15126 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
15127 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
15128 symlinks pointing to them will be).
15130 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
15131 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
15132 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
15133 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
15134 @code{force} argument.
15136 @item directory-files
15137 This should be a function with the same interface as
15138 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
15139 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
15140 parameter is optional; the default is
15141 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
15142 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
15143 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
15144 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
15145 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
15146 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
15149 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
15150 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
15151 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
15152 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
15153 value is @code{nil}.
15155 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
15156 an @code{nnmaildir} group. The results might happen to be useful, but
15157 that would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be
15158 different in the future. If your split rules create new groups,
15159 remember to supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
15162 @subsubsection Group parameters
15164 @code{nnmaildir} uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore
15165 all this; the default behavior for @code{nnmaildir} is the same as the
15166 default behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after
15167 one week, etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this
15168 functionality is unique to @code{nnmaildir}, so you can ignore it if
15169 you're just trying to duplicate the behavior you already have with
15172 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
15173 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
15174 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
15175 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
15176 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
15177 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
15178 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
15179 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
15180 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
15184 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article
15185 before it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
15186 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
15187 @code{nnmaildir} falls back to the usual
15188 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
15189 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
15190 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
15191 60 60)]}; @code{nnmaildir} will evaluate the form and use the result.
15192 An article's age is measured starting from the article file's
15193 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
15194 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
15195 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
15198 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
15200 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
15202 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
15203 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
15204 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an @code{nnmaildir}
15205 group, the article will be just as old in the destination group as it
15206 was in the source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
15207 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
15208 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
15209 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
15210 article. So that form can refer to
15211 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
15212 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, @code{nnmaildir} does
15213 not fall back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
15214 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
15217 If this is set to @code{t}, @code{nnmaildir} will treat the articles
15218 in this maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed
15219 from @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in
15220 @file{new/}, not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles
15221 cannot be edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the
15222 @file{new/} directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox
15223 containing a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the
15224 maildir outside @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for
15225 a shared mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or
15226 have write permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't
15227 contain extra copies of the articles.
15229 @item directory-files
15230 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15231 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15232 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15233 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15235 @item distrust-Lines:
15236 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmaildir} will always count the lines of an
15237 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15238 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15241 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever
15242 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15243 say that all articles have these marks, regardless of whether the
15244 marks stored in the filesystem say so. This is a proof-of-concept
15245 feature that will probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done
15246 in Gnus proper, or abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15249 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15250 Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for article marks, @code{nnmaildir} will
15251 say that no articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks
15252 stored in the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15253 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15254 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15255 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15257 @item nov-cache-size
15258 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To
15259 speed things up, @code{nnmaildir} keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory
15260 for a limited number of articles in each group. (This is probably not
15261 worthwhile, and will probably be removed in the future.) This
15262 parameter's value is noticed only the first time a group is seen after
15263 the server is opened---i.e., when you first start Gnus, typically.
15264 The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized until the server is closed
15265 and reopened. The default is an estimate of the number of articles
15266 that would be displayed in the summary buffer: a count of articles
15267 that are either marked with @code{tick} or not marked with
15268 @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15271 @subsubsection Article identification
15272 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15273 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15274 contains no colons. @code{nnmaildir} ignores, but preserves, the
15275 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15276 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15277 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15278 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15279 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15280 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15281 request the article in the summary buffer.
15283 @subsubsection NOV data
15284 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used
15285 to generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15286 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15287 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15288 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically
15289 when the article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can
15290 force @code{nnmaildir} to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a
15291 single article simply by deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV}
15292 file, but @emph{beware}: this will also cause @code{nnmaildir} to
15293 assign a new article number for this article, which may cause trouble
15294 with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15296 @subsubsection Article marks
15297 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15298 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15299 When Gnus asks @code{nnmaildir} for a group's marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15300 looks for such files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus
15301 asks @code{nnmaildir} to store a new set of marks, @code{nnmaildir}
15302 creates and deletes the corresponding files as needed. (Actually,
15303 rather than create a new file for each mark, it just creates hard
15304 links to @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15306 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15307 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15308 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15309 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15310 this while Gnus is running and your @code{nnmaildir} server is open,
15311 it's best to exit all summary buffers for @code{nnmaildir} groups and
15312 type @kbd{s} in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or
15313 @kbd{M-g} in the group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not
15314 pick up the changes, and might undo them.
15318 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15320 @cindex mbox folders
15321 @cindex mail folders
15323 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a
15324 separate file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format.
15325 @code{nnfolder} will add extra headers to keep track of article
15326 numbers and arrival dates.
15328 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15330 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15331 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15332 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15333 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15334 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15335 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15336 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder}
15337 directory. Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to
15338 backup, use @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup
15339 into the @code{nnfolder} directory).
15341 Virtual server settings:
15344 @item nnfolder-directory
15345 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15346 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this
15347 directory. The default is the value of @code{message-directory}
15348 (whose default is @file{~/Mail})
15350 @item nnfolder-active-file
15351 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15352 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15354 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15355 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15356 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15357 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15359 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15360 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15361 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The
15362 default is @code{t}
15364 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15365 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15366 @cindex backup files
15367 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15368 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If
15369 you wish to switch this off, you could say something like the
15370 following in your @file{.emacs} file:
15373 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15374 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15376 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15379 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15380 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15381 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15382 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15383 extract some information from it before removing it.
15385 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15386 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15387 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15388 default is @code{nil}.
15390 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15391 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15392 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15394 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15395 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15396 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15397 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15399 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15400 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15401 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15402 default is @code{nil}.
15404 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15405 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15406 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15408 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15409 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15410 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15411 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15416 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15417 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15418 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15419 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15420 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15421 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15424 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15425 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15427 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15428 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15429 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15430 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15431 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15433 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15434 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15435 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15436 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15437 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15438 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15439 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15440 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15443 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15444 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15445 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15446 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15451 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15452 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15453 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15454 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15455 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15456 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15457 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15458 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15459 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15460 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15461 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15462 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15463 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15468 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15469 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15470 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15471 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15472 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15473 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15474 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15475 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15476 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15477 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15478 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15479 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15480 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15481 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15483 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15484 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15489 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15490 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15491 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15492 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15493 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15494 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15495 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15496 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15497 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15498 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15499 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15500 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15501 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15502 provided by the active file and overviews.
15504 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15505 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15506 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15507 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15508 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15511 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15512 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15517 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15518 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15519 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15520 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15521 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15522 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15523 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15527 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15528 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15529 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15530 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15531 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15532 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15533 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15534 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15535 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15537 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15538 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15539 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15540 friendly mail back end all over.
15544 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15545 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15548 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15549 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15550 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15551 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15552 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15553 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15554 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15555 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15558 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15559 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15560 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15561 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15562 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15563 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15564 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15565 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15566 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15567 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15568 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15570 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15571 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15572 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15573 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15574 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15577 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15578 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15579 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15580 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15581 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15582 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15583 removed in the future.
15585 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15586 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15587 on your file system.
15589 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15590 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15595 @node Browsing the Web
15596 @section Browsing the Web
15598 @cindex browsing the web
15602 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15603 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15604 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15605 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15606 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15607 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15608 even know what a news group is.
15610 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15611 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15612 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15613 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15614 you mad in the end.
15616 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15619 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15620 interfaces to these sources.
15624 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15625 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15626 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15627 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15628 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15629 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15632 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15634 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15635 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15636 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15637 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15638 though, you should be ok.
15640 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15641 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15642 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15643 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15644 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15646 @node Archiving Mail
15647 @subsection Archiving Mail
15648 @cindex archiving mail
15649 @cindex backup of mail
15651 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15652 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15653 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15654 marks is fairly simple.
15656 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15657 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15660 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15661 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15662 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15663 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15664 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15665 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15666 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15667 before you restore the data.
15669 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15670 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15671 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15672 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15673 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15674 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15675 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15676 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15677 is unnecessary in that case.
15680 @subsection Web Searches
15685 @cindex Usenet searches
15686 @cindex searching the Usenet
15688 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15689 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15690 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15691 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15692 searches without having to use a browser.
15694 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15695 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15696 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15697 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15698 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15700 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15701 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15702 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15703 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15704 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15705 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15706 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15707 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15708 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15709 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15712 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15713 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15714 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'@^etre} is to
15715 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15716 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15717 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15719 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15720 to use @code{nnweb}.
15722 Virtual server variables:
15727 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15728 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15729 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15732 @vindex nnweb-search
15733 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15735 @item nnweb-max-hits
15736 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15737 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15740 @item nnweb-type-definition
15741 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15742 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15743 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15748 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15752 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15755 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15758 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15762 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15769 @subsection Slashdot
15773 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15774 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15775 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15777 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15778 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15781 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15782 '((nnslashdot "")))
15785 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15786 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15787 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15788 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15789 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15792 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15793 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15795 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15796 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15797 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15798 @samp{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @samp{br} added to
15799 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15800 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15801 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15803 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15806 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15807 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15808 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15809 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15810 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15811 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15812 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15814 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15815 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15816 The login name to use when posting.
15818 @item nnslashdot-password
15819 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15820 The password to use when posting.
15822 @item nnslashdot-directory
15823 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15824 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15825 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15827 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15828 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15829 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the
15830 information on news articles and comments. The default is@*
15831 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15833 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15834 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15835 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch comments.
15837 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15838 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15839 The @acronym{URL} format string that will be used to fetch the news
15840 article. The default is
15841 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15843 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15844 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15845 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15847 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15848 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15849 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15850 updated. The default is 0.
15857 @subsection Ultimate
15859 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15861 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
15862 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15863 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15864 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15866 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15867 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15868 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @acronym{URL}
15869 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15870 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15871 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15872 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15874 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15877 @item nnultimate-directory
15878 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15879 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
15880 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15885 @subsection Web Archive
15887 @cindex Web Archive
15889 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15890 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15891 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15892 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15895 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15896 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15897 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15898 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
15899 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
15900 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15901 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15902 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15904 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15907 @item nnwarchive-directory
15908 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15909 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
15910 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15912 @item nnwarchive-login
15913 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15914 The account name on the web server.
15916 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15917 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15918 The password for your account on the web server.
15926 Some web sites have an RDF Site Summary (@acronym{RSS}).
15927 @acronym{RSS} is a format for summarizing headlines from news related
15928 sites (such as BBC or CNN). But basically anything list-like can be
15929 presented as an @acronym{RSS} feed: weblogs, changelogs or recent
15930 changes to a wiki (e.g. @url{http://cliki.net/recent-changes.rdf}).
15932 @acronym{RSS} has a quite regular and nice interface, and it's
15933 possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15935 @kindex G R (Summary)
15936 Use @kbd{G R} from the summary buffer to subscribe to a feed---you
15937 will be prompted for the location of the feed.
15939 An easy way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something like
15940 the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET y}, then
15941 subscribe to groups.
15944 You can also use the following commands to import and export your
15945 subscriptions from a file in @acronym{OPML} format (Outline Processor
15948 @defun nnrss-opml-import file
15949 Prompt for an @acronym{OPML} file, and subscribe to each feed in the
15953 @defun nnrss-opml-export
15954 Write your current @acronym{RSS} subscriptions to a buffer in
15955 @acronym{OPML} format.
15958 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15961 @item nnrss-directory
15962 @vindex nnrss-directory
15963 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15964 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15966 @item nnrss-use-local
15967 @vindex nnrss-use-local
15968 @findex nnrss-generate-download-script
15969 If you set @code{nnrss-use-local} to @code{t}, @code{nnrss} will read
15970 the feeds from local files in @code{nnrss-directory}. You can use
15971 the command @code{nnrss-generate-download-script} to generate a
15972 download script using @command{wget}.
15975 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15976 the summary buffer.
15979 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15980 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15982 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15984 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15985 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15988 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15991 (require 'browse-url)
15993 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15995 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15998 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15999 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
16002 (browse-url (cdr url))
16003 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
16004 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
16006 (eval-after-load "gnus"
16007 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
16008 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
16009 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
16012 @node Customizing w3
16013 @subsection Customizing w3
16019 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
16020 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
16021 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
16023 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
16024 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
16025 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
16028 (eval-after-load "w3"
16030 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
16031 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
16032 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
16033 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
16035 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
16038 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
16039 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
16046 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
16048 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
16049 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
16050 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
16051 specify the network address of the server.
16053 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
16054 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
16055 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
16056 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
16057 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
16058 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
16060 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
16061 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
16062 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
16063 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
16065 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
16066 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
16067 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
16068 usage explained in this section.
16070 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
16071 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
16072 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
16076 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
16077 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
16078 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
16080 (nnimap-address "localhost")
16081 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
16082 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
16084 (nnimap-server-port 143)
16085 (nnimap-address "localhost")
16086 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
16087 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
16088 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
16089 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
16090 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
16091 (nnimap-stream network))
16092 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
16094 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
16095 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
16096 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
16099 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
16100 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
16101 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
16102 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
16104 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
16109 @item nnimap-address
16110 @vindex nnimap-address
16112 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
16113 server name if not specified.
16115 @item nnimap-server-port
16116 @vindex nnimap-server-port
16117 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
16119 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
16122 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16123 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
16126 @item nnimap-list-pattern
16127 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
16128 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
16129 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
16130 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
16131 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
16132 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
16134 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
16135 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
16136 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
16139 Example server specification:
16142 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16143 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
16144 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
16147 @item nnimap-stream
16148 @vindex nnimap-stream
16149 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
16150 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
16151 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
16152 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
16153 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
16155 Example server specification:
16158 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16159 (nnimap-stream ssl))
16162 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
16166 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
16167 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
16169 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
16171 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
16172 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
16175 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
16176 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
16178 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
16179 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
16181 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
16183 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
16186 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
16187 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
16188 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
16189 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
16190 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
16191 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
16192 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
16193 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
16194 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
16197 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
16198 needed. It is available from
16199 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
16201 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
16202 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
16203 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
16204 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
16205 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
16206 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
16207 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
16210 @vindex imap-ssl-program
16211 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
16212 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
16213 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
16214 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
16215 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
16216 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
16219 @vindex imap-shell-program
16220 @vindex imap-shell-host
16221 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
16222 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
16224 @item nnimap-authenticator
16225 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
16227 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
16228 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
16230 Example server specification:
16233 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
16234 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
16237 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
16241 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
16242 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
16244 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
16247 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
16248 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
16250 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
16252 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
16254 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
16257 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
16259 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16260 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16261 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16262 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16263 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16264 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16267 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16268 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16269 running in circles yet?
16271 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16272 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16275 The possible options are:
16280 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16283 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16284 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16285 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16286 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16288 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16293 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16294 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16296 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16297 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16298 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16299 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16300 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16303 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16304 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16307 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16308 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16309 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16310 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16313 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16314 as ticked for other users.
16316 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16318 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16320 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16321 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16322 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16323 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16325 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16326 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16327 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16328 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16330 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16331 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16333 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16334 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16335 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16336 @ref{NNTP}. An example of an .authinfo line for an IMAP server, is:
16339 machine students.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis port imap
16342 Note that it should be @code{port imap}, or @code{port 143}, if you
16343 use a @code{nnimap-stream} of @code{tls} or @code{ssl}, even if the
16344 actual port number used is port 993 for secured IMAP. For
16345 convenience, Gnus will accept @code{port imaps} as a synonym of
16348 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16349 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16351 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16352 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16358 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16359 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16360 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16361 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16362 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16363 * Debugging IMAP:: What to do when things don't work.
16368 @node Splitting in IMAP
16369 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16370 @cindex splitting imap mail
16372 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16373 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16374 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16375 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16376 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16380 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16381 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16382 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16384 Here are the variables of interest:
16388 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16389 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16391 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16393 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16394 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16395 found will be used.
16397 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16399 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16400 @cindex splitting, inbox
16402 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16404 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16405 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16406 splitting is disabled!
16409 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16410 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16413 No nnmail equivalent.
16415 @item nnimap-split-rule
16416 @cindex splitting, rules
16417 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16419 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16422 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16423 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16424 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16425 Neither did I, we need examples.
16428 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16430 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16431 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16432 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16435 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16436 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16437 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16439 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16440 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16444 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16447 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16448 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16450 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16451 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16452 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16453 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16455 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16456 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16457 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16458 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16459 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16460 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16462 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16463 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16464 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16466 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16467 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16468 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16470 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16472 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16473 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16474 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16477 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16478 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16479 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16480 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16481 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16482 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16485 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16486 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16487 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16488 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16489 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16490 group/function elements.
16492 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16494 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16496 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16498 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16499 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16501 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16502 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16503 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16506 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16507 @cindex splitting, fancy
16508 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16509 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16511 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16512 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16513 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16515 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16516 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16517 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16518 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16523 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16524 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16527 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16529 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16530 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16531 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16533 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16534 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16535 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16536 splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
16540 @node Expiring in IMAP
16541 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16542 @cindex expiring imap mail
16544 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16545 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16546 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16547 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16548 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16549 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16552 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16553 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16554 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16555 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16556 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16557 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16558 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16559 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16563 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16564 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16566 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16567 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16569 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16571 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16572 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16573 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16574 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16578 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16579 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16580 @cindex editing imap acls
16581 @cindex Access Control Lists
16582 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16583 @kindex G l (Group)
16584 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16586 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16587 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16588 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16591 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16592 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16593 editing window with detailed instructions.
16595 Some possible uses:
16599 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16600 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16601 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16603 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16604 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16605 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16609 @node Expunging mailboxes
16610 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16614 @cindex manual expunging
16615 @kindex G x (Group)
16616 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16618 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16619 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16620 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16622 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16625 @node A note on namespaces
16626 @subsection A note on namespaces
16627 @cindex IMAP namespace
16630 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16631 by the following text in the RFC:
16634 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16636 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16637 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16638 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16639 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16641 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16642 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16643 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16644 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16645 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16646 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16649 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16650 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16651 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16653 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16654 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16655 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16656 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16657 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16658 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16659 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16660 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16663 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16664 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16665 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16667 @node Debugging IMAP
16668 @subsection Debugging IMAP
16669 @cindex IMAP debugging
16670 @cindex protocol dump (IMAP)
16672 @acronym{IMAP} is a complex protocol, more so than @acronym{NNTP} or
16673 @acronym{POP3}. Implementation bugs are not unlikely, and we do our
16674 best to fix them right away. If you encounter odd behaviour, chances
16675 are that either the server or Gnus is buggy.
16677 If you are familiar with network protocols in general, you will
16678 probably be able to extract some clues from the protocol dump of the
16679 exchanges between Gnus and the server. Even if you are not familiar
16680 with network protocols, when you include the protocol dump in
16681 @acronym{IMAP}-related bug reports you are helping us with data
16682 critical to solving the problem. Therefore, we strongly encourage you
16683 to include the protocol dump when reporting IMAP bugs in Gnus.
16687 Because the protocol dump, when enabled, generates lots of data, it is
16688 disabled by default. You can enable it by setting @code{imap-log} as
16695 This instructs the @code{imap.el} package to log any exchanges with
16696 the server. The log is stored in the buffer @samp{*imap-log*}. Look
16697 for error messages, which sometimes are tagged with the keyword
16698 @code{BAD}---but when submitting a bug, make sure to include all the
16701 @node Other Sources
16702 @section Other Sources
16704 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16705 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16709 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16710 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16711 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16712 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16713 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16717 @node Directory Groups
16718 @subsection Directory Groups
16720 @cindex directory groups
16722 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16723 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16726 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16727 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16728 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16729 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16731 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16732 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16733 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16734 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16735 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16737 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16739 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16740 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16741 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16742 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16745 @node Anything Groups
16746 @subsection Anything Groups
16749 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16750 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16751 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16754 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16755 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16756 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16757 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16758 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16759 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16760 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16761 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16762 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16763 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16766 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16767 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16768 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16769 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16771 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16772 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16773 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16774 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16776 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16777 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16778 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16779 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16780 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16781 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16782 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16783 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16788 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16789 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16790 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16791 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16793 @item nneething-exclude-files
16794 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16795 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16796 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16798 @item nneething-include-files
16799 @vindex nneething-include-files
16800 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16801 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16803 @item nneething-map-file
16804 @vindex nneething-map-file
16805 Name of the map files.
16809 @node Document Groups
16810 @subsection Document Groups
16812 @cindex documentation group
16815 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16816 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16823 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
16828 The standard Unix mbox file.
16830 @cindex MMDF mail box
16832 The MMDF mail box format.
16835 Several news articles appended into a file.
16838 @cindex rnews batch files
16839 The rnews batch transport format.
16840 @cindex forwarded messages
16843 Forwarded articles.
16846 Netscape mail boxes.
16849 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
16851 @item standard-digest
16852 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16855 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
16857 @item lanl-gov-announce
16858 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16860 @item rfc822-forward
16861 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16864 The Outlook mail box.
16867 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16870 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16873 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16876 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16882 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16885 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16891 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16892 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16893 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16896 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16897 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16898 group. And that's it.
16900 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16901 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16902 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16903 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16904 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16905 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16906 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16907 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16908 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16909 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16911 Virtual server variables:
16914 @item nndoc-article-type
16915 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16916 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16917 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16918 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16919 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16920 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16922 @item nndoc-post-type
16923 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16924 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16925 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16930 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16934 @node Document Server Internals
16935 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16937 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16938 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16939 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16940 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16942 First, here's an example document type definition:
16946 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16947 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16950 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16951 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16952 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16953 types can be defined with very few settings:
16956 @item first-article
16957 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16958 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16961 @item article-begin
16962 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16963 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16965 @item head-begin-function
16966 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16969 @item nndoc-head-begin
16970 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16973 @item nndoc-head-end
16974 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16975 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16977 @item body-begin-function
16978 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16982 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16985 @item body-end-function
16986 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16990 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16993 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16994 regexp will be totally ignored.
16998 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16999 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
17000 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
17001 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
17002 something that's palatable for Gnus:
17005 @item prepare-body-function
17006 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
17007 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
17008 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
17010 @item article-transform-function
17011 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
17012 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
17013 body of the article.
17015 @item generate-head-function
17016 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
17017 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
17018 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
17019 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
17023 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
17028 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17029 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
17030 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
17031 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
17032 (head-end . "^ ?$")
17033 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
17034 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
17035 (subtype digest guess))
17038 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
17039 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
17040 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
17041 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
17042 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
17044 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
17045 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
17046 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
17047 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
17048 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
17049 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
17050 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
17051 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
17052 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
17053 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
17054 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
17055 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
17063 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
17064 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
17065 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
17067 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
17068 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
17069 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
17072 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
17073 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
17074 that interested in doing things properly.
17076 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
17077 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
17080 First some terminology:
17085 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
17086 get news and/or mail from.
17089 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
17090 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
17093 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
17097 @item message packets
17098 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
17099 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
17100 default, where @var{x} is a number.
17102 @item response packets
17103 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
17104 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
17105 default, where @var{x} is a number.
17115 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
17116 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
17117 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
17118 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
17121 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
17124 You put the packet in your home directory.
17127 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
17128 the native or secondary server.
17131 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
17132 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
17135 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
17139 You transfer this packet to the server.
17142 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
17145 You then repeat until you die.
17149 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
17150 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
17153 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
17154 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
17155 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
17159 @node SOUP Commands
17160 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
17162 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
17166 @kindex G s b (Group)
17167 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
17168 Pack all unread articles in the current group
17169 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
17170 process/prefix convention.
17173 @kindex G s w (Group)
17174 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
17175 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
17178 @kindex G s s (Group)
17179 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
17180 Send all replies from the replies packet
17181 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
17184 @kindex G s p (Group)
17185 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
17186 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
17189 @kindex G s r (Group)
17190 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
17191 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
17194 @kindex O s (Summary)
17195 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
17196 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
17197 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
17198 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17203 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
17208 @item gnus-soup-directory
17209 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
17210 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
17211 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
17213 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
17214 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
17215 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
17216 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
17218 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
17219 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
17220 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
17221 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
17223 @item gnus-soup-packer
17224 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
17225 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17226 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
17228 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
17229 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
17230 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
17231 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17233 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
17234 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
17235 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
17237 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17238 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
17239 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
17240 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
17246 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
17249 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
17250 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
17251 you can read them at leisure.
17253 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
17257 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
17258 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
17259 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
17260 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
17262 @item nnsoup-directory
17263 @vindex nnsoup-directory
17264 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
17265 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
17267 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
17268 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
17269 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
17270 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
17272 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
17273 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
17274 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
17275 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
17276 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
17278 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
17279 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
17280 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
17281 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
17283 @item nnsoup-active-file
17284 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
17285 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
17286 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
17287 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
17288 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
17290 @item nnsoup-packer
17291 @vindex nnsoup-packer
17292 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
17293 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
17295 @item nnsoup-unpacker
17296 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
17297 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
17298 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
17300 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
17301 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
17302 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17305 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17306 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17307 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17310 @item nnsoup-always-save
17311 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17312 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17318 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17320 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17321 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17322 more for that to happen.
17324 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17325 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17326 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17329 In specific, this is what it does:
17332 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17333 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17336 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17337 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17338 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17341 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17342 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17343 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17346 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17347 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17348 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17350 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17356 @item nngateway-address
17357 @vindex nngateway-address
17358 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17360 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17361 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17362 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17363 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17364 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17365 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17366 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17369 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17370 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17371 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17374 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17377 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17380 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17383 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17385 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17388 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17389 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17390 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17392 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17394 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17395 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17396 @code{nngateway-address}.
17404 (setq gnus-post-method
17406 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17407 (nngateway-header-transformation
17408 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17411 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17414 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17419 @node Combined Groups
17420 @section Combined Groups
17422 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17426 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17427 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17431 @node Virtual Groups
17432 @subsection Virtual Groups
17434 @cindex virtual groups
17435 @cindex merging groups
17437 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17440 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17441 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17442 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17444 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17445 regexp to match component groups.
17447 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17448 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17449 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17450 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17451 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17452 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17453 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17454 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17456 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17457 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17460 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17463 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17464 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17466 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17467 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17468 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17469 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17472 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17475 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17476 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17477 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17479 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17480 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17481 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17482 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17483 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17485 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17486 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17487 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17489 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17490 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17491 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17492 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17493 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17494 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17495 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17496 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17497 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17498 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17499 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17501 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17502 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17503 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17504 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17505 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17506 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17507 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17509 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17510 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17512 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17513 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17517 @node Kibozed Groups
17518 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17522 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17523 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17524 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17525 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17527 @kindex G k (Group)
17528 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17531 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17532 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17533 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17534 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17536 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17537 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17538 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17540 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17541 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17542 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17543 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17544 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17545 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17546 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17547 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17549 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17550 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17551 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17552 Stranger things have happened.
17554 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17555 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17557 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17558 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17559 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17560 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17561 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17562 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17563 component articles.
17565 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17566 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17569 @node Gnus Unplugged
17570 @section Gnus Unplugged
17575 @cindex Gnus unplugged
17577 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17578 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17579 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17580 read news. Believe it or not.
17582 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17583 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17584 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17585 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17586 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17588 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17589 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17590 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17591 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17592 reading news on a machine.
17594 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17595 fact, you don't have to configure anything as the agent is now enabled
17596 by default (@pxref{Agent Variables, gnus-agent}).
17598 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17601 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17602 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17603 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17604 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
17605 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17606 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17607 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17608 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
17609 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17610 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17611 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17612 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17613 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17618 @subsection Agent Basics
17620 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17622 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17623 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17624 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17625 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17627 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17628 connected to the net continuously.
17630 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17631 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17633 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
17634 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
17635 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
17636 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
17637 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
17639 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
17640 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
17641 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
17642 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
17643 they're kinda like plugged always).
17645 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
17646 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
17647 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
17650 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
17651 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
17652 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
17653 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
17654 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
17656 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17661 @findex gnus-unplugged
17662 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17663 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17664 already fetched while in this mode.
17667 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17668 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17669 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17670 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
17671 Source Specifiers}).
17674 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
17675 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
17676 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
17677 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
17678 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
17681 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17682 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17683 then you read the news offline.
17686 And then you go to step 2.
17689 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17695 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17696 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17697 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17698 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17699 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17700 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17701 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17702 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17705 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17706 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17707 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17708 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
17710 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17711 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17712 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17713 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17714 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17715 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17719 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17723 @node Agent Categories
17724 @subsection Agent Categories
17726 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17727 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17728 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17729 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17730 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17731 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17732 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17734 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17735 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17736 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17737 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17738 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17740 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17741 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17742 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17743 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17744 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17747 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17748 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17749 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17750 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17751 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17752 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17756 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17757 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17758 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17762 @node Category Syntax
17763 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17765 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17766 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17767 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17770 @cindex Agent Parameters
17772 @item agent-cat-name
17773 The name of the category.
17776 The list of groups that are in this category.
17778 @item agent-predicate
17779 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17780 are eligible for downloading; and
17782 @item agent-score-file
17783 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17784 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17785 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17787 @item agent-enable-expiration
17788 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17789 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17790 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17791 only groups that should not be expired.
17793 @item agent-days-until-old
17794 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17795 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17797 @item agent-low-score
17798 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17800 @item agent-high-score
17801 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17803 @item agent-length-when-short
17804 an integer that overrides the value of
17805 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17807 @item agent-length-when-long
17808 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17810 @item agent-enable-undownloaded-faces
17811 a symbol indicating whether the summary buffer should display
17812 undownloaded articles using the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face}
17813 faces. Any symbol other than @code{nil} will enable the use of
17814 undownloaded faces.
17817 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17820 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17821 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17822 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17825 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17826 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17827 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17828 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17830 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17831 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17832 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17834 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17835 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17836 operators sprinkled in between.
17838 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17840 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17841 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17847 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17848 short (for some value of ``short'').
17850 Here's a more complex predicate:
17859 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17860 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17863 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17864 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17865 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17867 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17868 you want to do, you can write your own.
17870 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17871 bound to the value determined by calling
17872 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17873 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17874 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17875 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17876 predicate to individual groups.
17880 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17881 lines; default 100.
17884 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17885 lines; default 200.
17888 True iff the article has a download score less than
17889 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17892 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17893 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17896 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17897 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17898 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17907 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17908 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17909 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17912 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17913 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17914 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17915 something along the lines of the following:
17918 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17919 "Say whether an article is old."
17920 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17921 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17924 with the predicate then defined as:
17927 (not my-article-old-p)
17930 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17931 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17935 (require 'gnus-agent)
17936 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17937 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17938 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17941 and simply specify your predicate as:
17947 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17948 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17949 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17950 just don't give a damn.
17952 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17953 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17954 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17955 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
17956 parameters like so:
17959 (agent-predicate . short)
17962 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17963 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17964 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17966 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17969 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17972 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17973 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17974 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17977 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17978 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17979 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17980 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17981 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17982 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17984 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17985 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17986 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17987 if it's to be specific to that group.
17989 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17996 This has the same syntax as a normal Gnus score file except only a
17997 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
18003 Category specification
18007 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18013 Group/Topic Parameter specification
18016 (agent-score ("from"
18017 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
18022 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
18028 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
18029 keywords stated above.
18035 Category specification
18038 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
18044 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
18048 Group Parameter specification
18051 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
18054 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
18059 Use @code{normal} score files
18061 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
18062 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
18063 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
18064 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
18066 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
18067 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
18068 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
18069 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
18073 Category Specification
18080 Group Parameter specification
18083 (agent-score . file)
18088 @node Category Buffer
18089 @subsubsection Category Buffer
18091 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
18092 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
18093 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
18095 The following commands are available in this buffer:
18099 @kindex q (Category)
18100 @findex gnus-category-exit
18101 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
18104 @kindex e (Category)
18105 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
18106 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
18107 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
18110 @kindex k (Category)
18111 @findex gnus-category-kill
18112 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
18115 @kindex c (Category)
18116 @findex gnus-category-copy
18117 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
18120 @kindex a (Category)
18121 @findex gnus-category-add
18122 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
18125 @kindex p (Category)
18126 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
18127 Edit the predicate of the current category
18128 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
18131 @kindex g (Category)
18132 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
18133 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
18134 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
18137 @kindex s (Category)
18138 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
18139 Edit the download score rule of the current category
18140 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
18143 @kindex l (Category)
18144 @findex gnus-category-list
18145 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
18149 @node Category Variables
18150 @subsubsection Category Variables
18153 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
18154 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
18155 Hook run in category buffers.
18157 @item gnus-category-line-format
18158 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
18159 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
18160 Variables}). Valid elements are:
18164 The name of the category.
18167 The number of groups in the category.
18170 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
18171 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
18172 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
18174 @item gnus-agent-short-article
18175 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
18176 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
18178 @item gnus-agent-long-article
18179 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
18180 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
18182 @item gnus-agent-low-score
18183 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
18184 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
18187 @item gnus-agent-high-score
18188 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
18189 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
18192 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
18193 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18194 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
18195 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
18196 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
18197 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
18198 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
18199 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
18203 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18204 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
18205 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
18206 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
18207 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
18208 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
18209 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
18214 @node Agent Commands
18215 @subsection Agent Commands
18216 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
18217 @kindex J j (Agent)
18219 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
18220 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
18221 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
18225 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
18226 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
18227 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
18233 @node Group Agent Commands
18234 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
18238 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
18239 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
18240 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
18241 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
18244 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
18245 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
18246 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
18249 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
18250 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
18251 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
18252 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
18255 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
18256 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
18257 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
18258 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
18261 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
18262 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
18263 Add the current group to an Agent category
18264 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
18265 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18268 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
18269 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
18270 Remove the current group from its category, if any
18271 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
18272 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18275 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
18276 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18277 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
18283 @node Summary Agent Commands
18284 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
18288 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
18289 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
18290 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
18293 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
18294 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
18295 Remove the downloading mark from the article
18296 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
18300 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
18301 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
18302 Toggle whether to download the article
18303 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
18307 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
18308 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
18309 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
18312 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18313 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18314 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18315 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18318 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18319 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
18320 Download all processable articles in this group.
18321 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
18324 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18325 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18326 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18327 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18332 @node Server Agent Commands
18333 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18337 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18338 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18339 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18340 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18343 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18344 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18345 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18346 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18351 @node Agent Visuals
18352 @subsection Agent Visuals
18354 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18355 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18356 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18357 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18358 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18359 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18360 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18361 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18362 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18363 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18365 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18366 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18367 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18368 way, ``If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18369 less than satisfying unplugged session''. For this reason, the Agent
18370 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18371 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18372 articles will be available when unplugged.
18374 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18375 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18376 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18377 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18378 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18379 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18380 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18381 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18383 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18384 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18385 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18386 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18387 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18388 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18389 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18390 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18391 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18393 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18394 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18395 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18396 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18397 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear. For those
18398 users using the agent to improve online performance by caching the NOV
18399 database (most users since 5.10.2), the undownloaded faces may appear
18400 to be an absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since none
18401 of their articles have been fetched into the Agent, all of the
18402 normal faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces.
18404 If you would like to use the undownloaded faces, you must enable the
18405 undownloaded faces by setting the @code{agent-enable-undownloaded-faces}
18406 group parameter to t. This parameter, like all other agent
18407 parameters, may be set on an Agent Category (@pxref{Agent
18408 Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic Parameters}), or an
18409 individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18411 The one problem common to all users using the agent is how quickly it
18412 can consume disk space. If you using the agent on many groups, it is
18413 even more difficult to effectively recover disk space. One solution
18414 is the @samp{%F} format available in @code{gnus-group-line-format}.
18415 This format will display the actual disk space used by articles
18416 fetched into both the agent and cache. By knowing which groups use
18417 the most space, users know where to focus their efforts when ``agent
18418 expiring'' articles.
18420 @node Agent as Cache
18421 @subsection Agent as Cache
18423 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18424 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18425 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18426 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18427 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18428 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18429 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18430 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18431 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18433 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18434 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18435 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18436 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18437 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18440 @subsection Agent Expiry
18442 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18443 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18444 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18445 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18446 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18447 @cindex agent expiry
18448 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18451 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18452 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18453 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18454 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18455 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18456 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18457 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18458 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18460 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
18461 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
18462 synchronized with the group.
18464 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18465 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18467 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18468 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18469 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18470 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18471 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18472 be kept indefinitely.
18474 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18475 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18476 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18477 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18479 @node Agent Regeneration
18480 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18482 @cindex agent regeneration
18483 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18484 @cindex regeneration
18486 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18487 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18488 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18489 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18490 internal inconsistencies.
18492 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18493 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18494 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18495 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18496 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18497 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18499 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18500 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18501 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18502 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18503 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18504 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18506 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18507 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18508 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18509 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18510 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18511 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18514 @node Agent and IMAP
18515 @subsection Agent and IMAP
18517 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
18518 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
18519 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
18520 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
18522 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
18523 are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
18524 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
18525 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
18527 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
18528 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
18529 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
18530 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18532 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18533 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18534 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18535 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18536 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18537 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
18539 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
18540 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
18541 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
18542 in the group buffer.
18544 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
18545 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
18550 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18553 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18557 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18558 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18559 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18560 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
18561 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18562 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18563 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18564 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18567 @node Outgoing Messages
18568 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18570 By default, when Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail
18571 and news) are stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}).
18572 You can view them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18574 You can control the circumstances under which outgoing mail is queued
18575 (see @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail}, @pxref{Agent Variables}). Outgoing
18576 news is always queued when Gnus is unplugged, and never otherwise.
18578 You can send the messages either from the draft group with the special
18579 commands available there, or you can use the @kbd{J S} command in the
18580 group buffer to send all the sendable messages in the draft group.
18581 Posting news will only work when Gnus is plugged, but you can send
18584 If sending mail while unplugged does not work for you and you worry
18585 about hitting @kbd{J S} by accident when unplugged, you can have Gnus
18586 ask you to confirm your action (see
18587 @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue}, @pxref{Agent Variables}).
18589 @node Agent Variables
18590 @subsection Agent Variables
18595 Is the agent enabled? The default is @code{t}. When first enabled,
18596 the agent will use @code{gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods} to
18597 automatically mark some backends as agentized. You may change which
18598 backends are agentized using the agent commands in the server buffer.
18600 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
18601 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
18604 @item gnus-agent-directory
18605 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18606 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18607 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18609 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18610 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18611 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18612 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18613 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18616 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18617 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18618 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18620 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18621 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18622 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18624 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18625 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18626 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18628 @item gnus-agent-cache
18629 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18630 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
18631 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18632 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18634 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18635 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18636 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18637 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18638 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18639 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18640 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18643 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18644 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18645 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18646 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18647 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18648 read. The default is t.
18650 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18651 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18652 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18653 agent will let the agent predicate decide whether articles need to be
18654 downloaded or not, for all articles. When @code{nil}, the default,
18655 the agent will only let the predicate decide whether unread articles
18656 are downloaded or not. If you enable this, you may also want to look
18657 into the agent expiry settings (@pxref{Category Variables}), so that
18658 the agent doesn't download articles which the agent will later expire,
18659 over and over again.
18661 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18662 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18663 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18664 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18665 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18666 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18667 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18668 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18669 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18670 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18671 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18672 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18675 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18676 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18677 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18678 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18679 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18680 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18681 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18682 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18683 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18685 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18686 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18687 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
18688 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18689 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18690 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18692 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18693 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18694 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18695 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18696 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18698 @item gnus-agent-queue-mail
18699 @vindex gnus-agent-queue-mail
18700 When @code{gnus-agent-queue-mail} is @code{always}, Gnus will always
18701 queue mail rather than sending it straight away. When @code{t}, Gnus
18702 will queue mail when unplugged only. When @code{nil}, never queue
18703 mail. The default is @code{t}.
18705 @item gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
18706 @vindex gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue
18707 When @code{gnus-agent-prompt-send-queue} is non-@code{nil} Gnus will
18708 prompt you to confirm that you really wish to proceed if you hit
18709 @kbd{J S} while unplugged. The default is @code{nil}.
18711 @item gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18712 @vindex gnus-agent-auto-agentize-methods
18713 If you have never used the Agent before (or more technically, if
18714 @file{~/News/agent/lib/servers} does not exist), Gnus will
18715 automatically agentize a few servers for you. This variable control
18716 which backends should be auto-agentized. It is typically only useful
18717 to agentize remote backends. The auto-agentizing has the same effect
18718 as running @kbd{J a} on the servers (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}).
18719 If the file exist, you must manage the servers manually by adding or
18720 removing them, this variable is only applicable the first time you
18721 start Gnus. The default is @samp{(nntp nnimap)}.
18726 @node Example Setup
18727 @subsection Example Setup
18729 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18730 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18731 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18734 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
18735 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
18736 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18738 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
18739 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
18740 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18742 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
18743 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18745 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
18746 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
18747 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
18750 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18751 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18754 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18755 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18756 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18757 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18758 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18761 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18762 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18763 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18764 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18765 back all the killed groups.)
18767 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18768 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18769 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18772 @node Batching Agents
18773 @subsection Batching Agents
18774 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18776 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18777 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18778 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18780 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18781 following incantation:
18785 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18789 @node Agent Caveats
18790 @subsection Agent Caveats
18792 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18793 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18797 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18799 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18800 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18801 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18803 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18804 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18806 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18810 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18811 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18812 locally stored articles.
18819 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18820 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18821 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18824 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18825 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18826 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18827 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18828 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18830 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18831 before generating the summary buffer.
18833 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18834 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18835 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18837 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18838 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18839 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18840 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18843 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18844 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18845 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18846 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18847 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18848 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18849 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18850 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18851 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18852 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18853 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18854 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18855 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18856 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18857 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18858 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18862 @node Summary Score Commands
18863 @section Summary Score Commands
18864 @cindex score commands
18866 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18867 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18868 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18869 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18870 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18872 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18873 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18874 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18875 score file the current one.
18877 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18882 @kindex V s (Summary)
18883 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18884 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18887 @kindex V S (Summary)
18888 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18889 Display the score of the current article
18890 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18893 @kindex V t (Summary)
18894 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18895 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18896 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18897 may type @kbd{e} to edit score file corresponding to the score rule on
18898 current line and @kbd{f} to format (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) the
18899 score file and edit it.
18902 @kindex V w (Summary)
18903 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18904 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18907 @kindex V R (Summary)
18908 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18909 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18910 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18911 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18912 effect you're having.
18915 @kindex V c (Summary)
18916 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18917 Make a different score file the current
18918 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18921 @kindex V e (Summary)
18922 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18923 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18924 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18928 @kindex V f (Summary)
18929 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18930 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18931 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18934 @kindex V F (Summary)
18935 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18936 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18937 after editing score files.
18940 @kindex V C (Summary)
18941 @findex gnus-score-customize
18942 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18943 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18947 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18952 @kindex V m (Summary)
18953 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18954 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18955 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18958 @kindex V x (Summary)
18959 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18960 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18961 expunge all articles below this score
18962 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18965 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18966 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18969 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18970 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18974 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18975 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18977 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18978 keys are available:
18982 Score on the author name.
18985 Score on the subject line.
18988 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18991 Score on the @code{References} line.
18997 Score on the number of lines.
19000 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
19003 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
19004 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
19007 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
19008 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
19009 @file{ADAPT} files.)
19018 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
19024 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
19025 what headers you are scoring on.
19037 Substring matching.
19040 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
19069 Greater than number.
19074 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
19075 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
19076 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
19081 Temporary score entry.
19084 Permanent score entry.
19087 Immediately scoring.
19091 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
19092 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
19093 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
19097 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
19098 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
19099 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
19100 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
19102 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
19103 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
19104 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
19105 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
19106 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
19108 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
19109 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
19110 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
19111 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
19112 current score file.
19114 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
19115 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
19116 pretend they are keymaps or not.
19119 @node Group Score Commands
19120 @section Group Score Commands
19121 @cindex group score commands
19123 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
19128 @kindex W e (Group)
19129 @findex gnus-score-edit-all-score
19130 Edit the apply-to-all-groups all.SCORE file. You will be popped into
19131 a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score File Editing}).
19134 @kindex W f (Group)
19135 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
19136 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
19137 all the time. This command will flush the cache
19138 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
19142 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
19144 @findex gnus-batch-score
19145 @cindex batch scoring
19147 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
19151 @node Score Variables
19152 @section Score Variables
19153 @cindex score variables
19157 @item gnus-use-scoring
19158 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
19159 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
19160 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
19162 @item gnus-kill-killed
19163 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
19164 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
19165 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
19166 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
19167 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
19168 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
19169 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
19171 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
19172 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
19173 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
19174 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
19175 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
19177 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
19178 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
19179 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
19180 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
19182 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19183 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
19184 @cindex score cache
19185 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
19186 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
19187 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
19188 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
19189 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
19190 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
19191 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
19194 @item gnus-save-score
19195 @vindex gnus-save-score
19196 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
19197 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
19198 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19200 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
19201 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
19202 across group visits.
19204 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19205 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
19206 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
19207 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
19208 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
19209 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
19210 manually entered data.
19212 @item gnus-summary-default-score
19213 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
19214 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
19216 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
19217 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
19218 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
19219 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
19220 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
19221 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
19223 @item gnus-score-over-mark
19224 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
19225 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
19226 default. Default is @samp{+}.
19228 @item gnus-score-below-mark
19229 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
19230 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
19231 default. Default is @samp{-}.
19233 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19234 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
19235 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
19236 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
19238 Predefined functions available are:
19241 @item gnus-score-find-single
19242 @findex gnus-score-find-single
19243 Only apply the group's own score file.
19245 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
19246 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
19247 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
19248 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
19249 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
19250 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
19251 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
19252 then a regexp match is done.
19254 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
19255 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
19257 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
19258 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
19259 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
19260 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
19262 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19263 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
19264 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
19265 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
19266 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
19270 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
19271 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
19272 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
19273 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
19274 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
19275 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
19276 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
19279 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
19280 overall score file, you could use the value
19282 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
19283 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
19286 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
19287 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
19288 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
19289 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
19290 are expired. It's 7 by default.
19292 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19293 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
19294 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
19295 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
19296 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
19297 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
19298 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
19299 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
19301 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19302 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
19303 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
19305 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
19306 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
19307 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
19308 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
19309 threading---according to the current value of
19310 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
19311 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
19312 simplified in this manner.
19317 @node Score File Format
19318 @section Score File Format
19319 @cindex score file format
19321 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
19322 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
19323 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
19325 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
19329 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
19331 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
19333 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
19335 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
19340 (mark-and-expunge -10)
19344 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
19345 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
19346 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
19347 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
19351 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
19352 Scoring}, for a different approach.
19354 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
19355 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
19356 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
19358 Six keys are supported by this alist:
19363 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
19364 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
19365 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
19366 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
19367 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
19368 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
19369 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
19370 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
19371 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
19372 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
19373 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19374 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19375 to articles that matches these score entries.
19377 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19378 score entry has one to four elements.
19382 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19383 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19387 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19388 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19389 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19390 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19391 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19392 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19395 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19396 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19397 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19398 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19399 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19402 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19403 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19404 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19405 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19408 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19409 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19410 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19411 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19412 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19413 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19414 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19415 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19416 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19417 instead, if you feel like.
19420 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19421 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19422 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19423 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19424 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin
19425 host, if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks @samp{NNTP-Posting-Host} in
19429 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s
19430 "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19434 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19435 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19437 These predicates are true if
19440 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19443 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19444 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19451 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19452 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19453 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19454 it's not. I think.)
19456 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19457 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19458 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19459 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19462 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19463 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19464 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19465 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19466 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19467 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19468 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19472 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19473 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19474 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19475 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19476 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19477 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19478 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19479 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19482 @item Head, Body, All
19483 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19487 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19488 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19489 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19490 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19491 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19492 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19493 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19497 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19498 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19499 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19500 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19501 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19502 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19503 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19504 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19505 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19506 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19507 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19511 @cindex score file atoms
19513 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19514 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19517 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19518 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19520 @item mark-and-expunge
19521 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19522 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
19525 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
19526 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
19527 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
19528 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
19529 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
19532 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
19533 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
19536 @item exclude-files
19537 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
19538 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
19542 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
19543 ignored when handling global score files.
19546 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
19547 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
19548 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
19549 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
19552 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
19553 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
19554 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
19555 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
19557 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
19561 (mark-and-expunge -100)
19564 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
19565 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
19566 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
19567 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
19568 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
19570 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
19571 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
19572 scoring rules exist.
19575 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
19576 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
19577 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
19578 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
19579 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
19580 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
19581 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19582 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
19583 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
19584 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
19585 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
19589 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
19590 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
19591 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
19592 file for a number of groups.
19595 @cindex local variables
19596 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
19597 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
19598 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
19599 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
19600 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19605 @node Score File Editing
19606 @section Score File Editing
19608 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19609 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19610 with a mode for that.
19612 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19613 additional commands:
19618 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19619 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19620 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19621 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19624 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19625 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19626 Insert the current date in numerical format
19627 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19628 you were wondering.
19631 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19632 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19633 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19634 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19635 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19640 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19642 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19643 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19645 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f}, @kbd{V e} and
19646 @kbd{V t} to begin editing score files.
19649 @node Adaptive Scoring
19650 @section Adaptive Scoring
19651 @cindex adaptive scoring
19653 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19654 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19655 stupidity, to be precise.
19657 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19658 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19659 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19660 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19661 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19662 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19663 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19664 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19665 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19667 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19668 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19669 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19670 might look something like this:
19673 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19674 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19675 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19676 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19677 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19678 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19679 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19680 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19681 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19682 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19683 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19684 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19687 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19688 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19689 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19690 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19691 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19692 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19695 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19696 will be applied to each article.
19698 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19699 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19700 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19701 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19703 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19704 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19705 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19706 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19708 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19709 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19710 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19711 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19713 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19714 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19715 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19716 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19717 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19718 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19720 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19721 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19722 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19724 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19725 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19726 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19728 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19729 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19730 let you use different rules in different groups.
19732 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19733 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19734 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19737 @vindex gnus-adaptive-pretty-print
19738 Adaptive score files can get huge and are not meant to be edited by
19739 human hands. If @code{gnus-adaptive-pretty-print} is @code{nil} (the
19740 deafult) those files will not be written in a human readable way.
19742 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19743 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19744 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19745 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19746 the length of the match is less than
19747 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19748 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19751 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19752 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19753 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19754 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19755 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19758 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19759 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19760 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19761 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19762 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19765 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19766 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19767 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19768 score with 30 points.
19770 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19771 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19772 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19773 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19774 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19776 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19777 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19778 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19779 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19780 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19782 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19783 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19784 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19785 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19787 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19788 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19789 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19790 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19792 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19793 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19794 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19795 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19796 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19798 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19799 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19800 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19802 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19803 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19804 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19805 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19808 @node Home Score File
19809 @section Home Score File
19811 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19812 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19813 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19814 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19816 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19817 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19818 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19820 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19821 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19826 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19830 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19831 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19835 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19839 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19840 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19843 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
19844 be used as the home score file.
19847 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19850 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19855 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19858 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19859 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19862 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19863 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19865 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19867 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19868 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19871 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19872 Other functions include
19875 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19876 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19877 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19878 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19882 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19883 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19884 their own home score files:
19887 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19888 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
19889 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19890 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
19891 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19894 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19895 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19896 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19897 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19898 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19900 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19901 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19902 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19903 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19904 precedence over this variable.
19907 @node Followups To Yourself
19908 @section Followups To Yourself
19910 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19911 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19912 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19913 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19914 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19915 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19919 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19920 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19921 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19924 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19925 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19926 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19930 @vindex message-sent-hook
19931 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19932 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19934 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19938 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19939 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19943 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19944 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19947 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19948 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19953 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19957 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19958 is system-dependent.
19961 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19962 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19963 @cindex scoring on other headers
19965 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19966 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19967 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19968 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19969 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19971 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19972 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
19973 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
19974 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
19975 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19977 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
19980 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19981 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19984 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19985 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19986 time if you have much mail.
19988 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19989 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19995 @section Scoring Tips
19996 @cindex scoring tips
20002 @cindex scoring crossposts
20003 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
20004 the @code{Xref} header.
20006 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
20009 @item Multiple crossposts
20010 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
20011 more than, say, 3 groups:
20014 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
20018 @item Matching on the body
20019 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
20020 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
20021 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
20022 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
20023 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
20024 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
20025 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
20028 @item Marking as read
20029 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
20030 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
20031 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
20035 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
20037 @item Negated character classes
20038 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
20039 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
20040 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
20044 @node Reverse Scoring
20045 @section Reverse Scoring
20046 @cindex reverse scoring
20048 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
20049 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
20050 like this in your score file:
20054 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
20059 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
20060 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
20063 @node Global Score Files
20064 @section Global Score Files
20065 @cindex global score files
20067 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
20068 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
20069 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
20071 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
20072 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
20073 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
20075 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
20076 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
20077 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
20078 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
20079 files are applicable to which group.
20081 To use the score file
20082 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
20083 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
20087 (setq gnus-global-score-files
20088 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
20089 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
20092 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
20094 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
20095 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
20096 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
20097 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
20099 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
20100 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
20102 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
20103 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
20104 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
20105 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
20106 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
20107 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
20109 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
20115 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
20117 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
20119 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
20121 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
20122 lowered out of existence.
20124 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
20125 articles completely.
20128 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
20129 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
20130 old articles for a long time.
20133 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
20134 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
20135 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
20136 holding our breath yet?
20140 @section Kill Files
20143 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
20144 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
20145 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
20147 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
20148 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
20149 files into score files.
20151 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
20152 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
20153 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
20154 that isn't a very good idea.
20156 Normal kill files look like this:
20159 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20160 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
20164 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
20165 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
20167 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
20168 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
20171 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
20176 @kindex M-k (Summary)
20177 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
20178 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
20181 @kindex M-K (Summary)
20182 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
20183 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
20186 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
20191 @kindex M-k (Group)
20192 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
20193 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
20196 @kindex M-K (Group)
20197 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
20198 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
20201 Kill file variables:
20204 @item gnus-kill-file-name
20205 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
20206 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
20207 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
20208 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
20209 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
20210 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
20212 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20213 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
20214 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
20215 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
20218 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
20219 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
20220 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
20221 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
20222 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
20223 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
20224 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
20225 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
20226 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
20228 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20229 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
20230 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
20235 @node Converting Kill Files
20236 @section Converting Kill Files
20238 @cindex converting kill files
20240 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
20241 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
20242 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
20245 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
20246 You can fetch it from
20247 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
20249 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
20250 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
20251 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
20255 @node Advanced Scoring
20256 @section Advanced Scoring
20258 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20259 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20260 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20261 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20262 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20264 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20268 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20269 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20270 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20274 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20275 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20277 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20278 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20279 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20280 non-@code{nil} value.
20282 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20283 operator, and various match operators.
20290 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20291 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20292 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20297 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20298 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20299 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20304 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20305 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20309 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20310 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20311 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20312 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20313 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20314 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20315 the ancestry you want to go.
20317 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20318 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20319 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20320 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20321 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20324 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20325 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20327 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20328 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20331 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20332 when he's talking about Gnus:
20337 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20338 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20345 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20349 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20356 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20357 really don't want to read what he's written:
20361 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20362 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20366 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20367 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20368 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20375 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20376 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20377 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20378 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20382 The possibilities are endless.
20385 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20386 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20388 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20389 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20390 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20391 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20392 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20393 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20394 @samp{subject}) first.
20396 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20397 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20408 Then that means ``score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20409 current article''. An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20415 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20422 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20423 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20428 @section Score Decays
20429 @cindex score decays
20432 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20433 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20434 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20435 use them in any sensible way.
20437 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20438 @findex gnus-decay-score
20439 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20440 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20441 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20442 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20443 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20444 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20445 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20446 definition of that function:
20449 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20450 "Decay SCORE according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20451 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20453 (* (if (< score 0) -1 1)
20455 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20457 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20458 (if (and (featurep 'xemacs)
20459 ;; XEmacs' floor can handle only the floating point
20460 ;; number below the half of the maximum integer.
20461 (> (abs n) (lsh -1 -2)))
20463 (car (split-string (number-to-string n) "\\.")))
20467 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20468 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20469 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20470 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20474 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20477 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20480 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20484 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20485 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20486 the new score, which should be an integer.
20488 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20489 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20494 @include message.texi
20495 @chapter Emacs MIME
20496 @include emacs-mime.texi
20498 @include sieve.texi
20500 @c @include pgg.texi
20502 @c @include sasl.texi
20510 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20511 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20512 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20513 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20514 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20515 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20516 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20517 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20518 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20519 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20520 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20521 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20522 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20523 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20524 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20525 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20526 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20527 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20528 * Other modes:: Interaction with other modes.
20529 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20533 @node Process/Prefix
20534 @section Process/Prefix
20535 @cindex process/prefix convention
20537 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20538 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20540 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20541 command to be performed on.
20545 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20546 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20547 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20548 with the current one.
20550 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20551 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20552 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20554 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20555 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20558 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20559 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20561 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20564 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20565 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20566 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20567 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20569 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20570 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20571 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20572 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20573 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20574 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20575 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20576 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20578 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20579 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20580 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20581 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20582 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20586 @section Interactive
20587 @cindex interaction
20591 @item gnus-novice-user
20592 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20593 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20594 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20595 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20596 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20599 @item gnus-expert-user
20600 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20601 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20602 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20603 matter how strange.
20605 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20606 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20607 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20608 is @code{t} by default.
20610 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20611 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20612 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20617 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20618 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20619 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20621 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20622 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20623 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20624 rule of 900 to the current article.
20626 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20627 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20628 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20629 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20630 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20631 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20632 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20634 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20635 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20636 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20637 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20638 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20639 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20640 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20641 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20642 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20644 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20645 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20646 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20648 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20652 @node Formatting Variables
20653 @section Formatting Variables
20654 @cindex formatting variables
20656 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20657 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20658 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20659 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20660 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20663 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20664 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20665 lots of percentages everywhere.
20668 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20669 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20670 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20671 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20672 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20673 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20674 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20675 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20678 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20679 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20680 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20681 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20682 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20683 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20684 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20685 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20687 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20688 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20690 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20691 @findex gnus-update-format
20692 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20693 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20694 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20695 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20699 @node Formatting Basics
20700 @subsection Formatting Basics
20702 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20703 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20704 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20706 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20707 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20708 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20709 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20710 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20713 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20714 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20715 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20716 less than 4 characters wide.
20718 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20719 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20722 @node Mode Line Formatting
20723 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20725 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20726 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20727 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20728 with the following two differences:
20733 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20736 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20737 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20738 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20739 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20740 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20741 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20742 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20747 @node Advanced Formatting
20748 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20750 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20751 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20752 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20753 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20755 These are the valid modifiers:
20760 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20764 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20769 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20772 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20777 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20780 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20783 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20786 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20792 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20797 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20798 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20799 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20800 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20801 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20802 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20803 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20805 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20806 last operation, padding.
20808 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20809 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
20810 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
20811 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
20812 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
20813 the look of your lines.
20814 @xref{Compilation}.
20817 @node User-Defined Specs
20818 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20820 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20821 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20822 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20823 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20824 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20825 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20826 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20827 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20828 should protect against that.
20830 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20831 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20833 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20834 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20835 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20836 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20840 @node Formatting Fonts
20841 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20843 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20844 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20845 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20846 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20849 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20850 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20851 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20852 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20853 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20854 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20856 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20857 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20858 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20859 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20860 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20861 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20862 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20863 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20864 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20865 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20866 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20869 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20872 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
20873 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20874 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20876 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
20877 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
20878 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
20879 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20880 ;; @r{Set the color.}
20881 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20882 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20884 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
20885 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20886 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20889 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20890 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20892 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20893 mode-line variables.
20895 @node Positioning Point
20896 @subsection Positioning Point
20898 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20899 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20900 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20902 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20904 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20905 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20906 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20908 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20909 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20910 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20915 @subsection Tabulation
20917 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20918 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20919 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20920 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20922 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
20923 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20925 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20926 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20927 This is the soft tabulator.
20929 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20930 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20931 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20934 @node Wide Characters
20935 @subsection Wide Characters
20937 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20938 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20939 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20941 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20942 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20943 these countries, that's not true.
20945 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20946 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20947 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20948 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20952 @node Window Layout
20953 @section Window Layout
20954 @cindex window layout
20956 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20958 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20959 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20960 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20961 @code{t} by default.
20963 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20964 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20966 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20967 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20968 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20971 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20972 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20973 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20977 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20978 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20979 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20980 possible names is listed below.
20982 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20983 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20986 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20990 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20991 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20992 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20993 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20994 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20995 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20996 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20997 size spec per split.
20999 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
21000 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
21001 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
21002 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
21003 present) gets focus.
21005 Here's a more complicated example:
21008 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
21009 (summary 0.25 point)
21010 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
21014 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
21015 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
21016 occupy, not a percentage.
21018 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
21019 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
21020 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
21021 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
21022 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
21025 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
21028 (article (horizontal 1.0
21033 (summary 0.25 point)
21038 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
21039 @code{horizontal} thingie?
21041 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
21042 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
21043 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
21044 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
21045 the screen is to be given to this strip.
21047 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
21048 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
21049 lines from the splits.
21051 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
21056 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
21057 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
21058 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
21059 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
21060 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
21061 size = number | frame-params
21062 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
21066 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
21067 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
21068 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
21069 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
21071 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
21072 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
21073 @cindex window height
21074 @cindex window width
21075 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
21076 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
21077 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
21078 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
21079 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
21080 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
21082 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
21083 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
21084 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
21085 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
21087 @findex gnus-configure-frame
21088 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
21089 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
21090 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
21091 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
21092 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
21093 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
21094 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
21095 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
21096 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
21097 configuration list.
21100 (gnus-configure-frame
21104 (article 0.3 point))
21112 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
21113 @code{frame} split:
21116 (gnus-configure-frame
21119 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
21121 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
21122 (user-position . t)
21123 (left . -1) (top . 1))
21128 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
21129 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
21130 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
21131 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
21132 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
21133 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
21134 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
21135 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
21137 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
21138 be found in its default value.
21140 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
21141 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
21142 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
21146 (message (horizontal 1.0
21147 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
21149 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
21154 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
21155 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
21156 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
21161 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
21162 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
21163 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
21164 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
21165 (name . "Message"))
21166 (message 1.0 point))))
21169 @findex gnus-add-configuration
21170 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
21171 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
21172 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
21173 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
21176 (gnus-add-configuration
21177 '(article (vertical 1.0
21179 (summary .25 point)
21183 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
21184 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
21185 Gnus has been loaded.
21187 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
21188 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
21189 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21190 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21191 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21193 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21194 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21195 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21198 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21202 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21203 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21218 (gnus-add-configuration
21221 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21223 (summary 0.16 point)
21226 (gnus-add-configuration
21229 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21230 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21236 @node Faces and Fonts
21237 @section Faces and Fonts
21242 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21243 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21244 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21249 @section Compilation
21250 @cindex compilation
21251 @cindex byte-compilation
21253 @findex gnus-compile
21255 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21256 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21257 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
21258 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
21259 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
21260 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21261 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21262 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21265 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21266 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21267 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21268 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
21269 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
21272 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
21273 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
21274 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
21275 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
21276 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
21281 @section Mode Lines
21284 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21285 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21286 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21287 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21288 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21289 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21290 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21293 @cindex display-time
21295 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21296 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21297 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21298 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21299 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21300 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21301 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21302 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21305 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21307 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21308 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21310 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21311 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21312 (length display-time-string)))))
21315 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21316 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21317 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21318 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21319 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21322 @node Highlighting and Menus
21323 @section Highlighting and Menus
21325 @cindex highlighting
21328 @vindex gnus-visual
21329 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21330 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21331 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21334 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21335 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21338 @item group-highlight
21339 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21340 @item summary-highlight
21341 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21342 @item article-highlight
21343 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21345 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21347 Create menus in the group buffer.
21349 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21351 Create menus in the article buffer.
21353 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21355 Create menus in the server buffer.
21357 Create menus in the score buffers.
21359 Create menus in all buffers.
21362 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21363 buffers, you could say something like:
21366 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21369 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21372 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21375 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21376 in all Gnus buffers.
21378 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
21381 @item gnus-mouse-face
21382 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
21383 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
21384 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
21388 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
21392 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
21393 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
21394 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
21396 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
21397 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
21398 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
21400 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
21401 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
21402 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
21404 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
21405 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
21406 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
21408 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
21409 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
21410 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
21412 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
21413 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
21414 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21425 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21426 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21427 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21428 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21429 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21433 @vindex gnus-carpal
21434 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21435 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21436 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21441 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21442 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21443 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21445 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21446 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21447 Face used on buttons.
21449 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21450 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21451 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21453 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21454 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21455 Buttons in the group buffer.
21457 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21458 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21459 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21461 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21462 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21463 Buttons in the server buffer.
21465 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21466 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21467 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21470 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21471 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21472 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21480 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21481 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21482 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21483 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21484 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21486 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21487 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21488 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21490 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21491 been idle for thirty minutes:
21494 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21497 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
21501 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21504 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
21505 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21506 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21508 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21509 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21510 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21511 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21513 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21514 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21515 @var{idle} minutes.
21517 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21518 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21521 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21522 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21523 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21525 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21526 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21527 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21528 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21530 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21531 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21533 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21535 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21538 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21539 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21540 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21541 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21542 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21543 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21544 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21545 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21546 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21547 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21548 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21550 @findex gnus-demon-init
21551 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21552 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21553 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21554 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21555 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21557 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21558 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21559 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21568 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21569 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21571 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21572 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21573 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21574 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21577 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21578 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21579 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21580 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21582 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21583 this will make spam disappear.
21585 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21588 @item gnus-use-nocem
21589 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21590 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21593 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21594 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21595 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21598 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21599 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
21602 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21603 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21604 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21605 people you want to listen to. The default is
21607 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
21608 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
21610 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21612 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
21613 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21615 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21616 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21617 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21618 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21619 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21620 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21621 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21622 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21623 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21624 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21626 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21627 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21630 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21633 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21634 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21637 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21640 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21643 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21644 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21646 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21647 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21648 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21649 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21651 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21652 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21655 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21657 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21665 This might be dangerous, though.
21667 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21668 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21669 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
21670 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21672 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21673 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21674 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21675 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21676 might then see old spam.
21678 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21679 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21680 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21681 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21682 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21685 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21686 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21687 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21688 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21692 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21693 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21694 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21695 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21702 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21703 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21704 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21706 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21707 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21708 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21709 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21710 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21711 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21712 @code{undo} function.
21714 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21715 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21716 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21717 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21718 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21719 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21720 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21721 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21722 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21723 never be totally undoable.
21725 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21726 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21728 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21729 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21730 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21731 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21735 @node Predicate Specifiers
21736 @section Predicate Specifiers
21737 @cindex predicate specifiers
21739 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21740 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21741 to type all that much.
21743 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21748 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21749 gnus-article-unread-p)
21752 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21753 functions all take one parameter.
21755 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21756 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21757 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21758 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21763 @section Moderation
21766 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21767 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21768 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21771 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21775 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21778 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21780 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21785 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21786 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21787 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21790 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21791 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21794 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21795 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21799 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21802 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21803 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21807 @node Image Enhancements
21808 @section Image Enhancements
21810 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
21811 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
21812 taken advantage of that.
21815 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21816 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
21817 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21818 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21819 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21827 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21828 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21829 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21833 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21834 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21835 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21843 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21844 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21845 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21846 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21848 The variable that controls this is the
21849 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21850 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21851 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21852 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21853 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21855 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21856 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21857 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21858 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21861 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21862 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21863 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21864 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21865 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21866 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21867 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21868 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21870 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21878 @vindex gnus-x-face
21879 Face to show X-Face. The colors from this face are used as the
21880 foreground and background colors of the displayed X-Faces. The
21881 default colors are black and white.
21883 @item gnus-face-properties-alist
21884 @vindex gnus-face-properties-alist
21885 Alist of image types and properties applied to Face (@pxref{Face}) and
21886 X-Face images. The default value is @code{((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face))
21887 (png . nil))} for Emacs or @code{((xface . (:face gnus-x-face)))} for
21888 XEmacs. Here are examples:
21891 ;; Specify the altitude of Face and X-Face images in the From header.
21892 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
21893 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :ascent 80))
21894 (png . (:ascent 80))))
21896 ;; Show Face and X-Face images as pressed buttons.
21897 (setq gnus-face-properties-alist
21898 '((pbm . (:face gnus-x-face :relief -2))
21899 (png . (:relief -2))))
21902 @pxref{Image Descriptors, ,Image Descriptors, elisp, The Emacs Lisp
21903 Reference Manual} for the valid properties for various image types.
21904 Currently, @code{pbm} is used for X-Face images and @code{png} is used
21905 for Face images in Emacs. Only the @code{:face} property is effective
21906 on the @code{xface} image type in XEmacs if it is built with the
21907 @samp{libcompface} library.
21910 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21911 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21913 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21914 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21915 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21916 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21917 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21918 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21919 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21920 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21921 header data as a string.
21923 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21924 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21925 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21926 randomly generated data.
21928 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21929 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21930 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21931 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21932 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21934 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21935 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21938 (setq message-required-news-headers
21939 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21940 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21943 Using the last function would be something like this:
21946 (setq message-required-news-headers
21947 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21948 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21949 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21950 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21958 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
21960 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
21961 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
21962 represent the author of the message.
21965 @findex gnus-article-display-face
21966 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
21967 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
21970 The @code{gnus-face-properties-alist} variable affects the appearance of
21971 displayed Face images. @xref{X-Face}.
21973 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21974 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
21976 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
21977 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
21978 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
21980 @findex gnus-face-from-file
21981 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
21982 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
21983 converts the file to Face format by using the
21984 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
21986 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
21987 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21990 (setq message-required-news-headers
21991 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21992 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
21993 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
21998 @subsection Smileys
22003 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
22008 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
22009 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
22011 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
22012 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
22015 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
22018 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
22019 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
22020 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
22021 text and maps that to file names.
22023 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
22024 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
22025 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
22026 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
22027 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
22030 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
22035 @item smiley-data-directory
22036 @vindex smiley-data-directory
22037 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
22039 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
22040 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
22041 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
22055 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
22056 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
22057 over your shoulder as you read news.
22059 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
22068 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
22069 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
22070 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
22071 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
22072 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
22073 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
22074 @code{GIF} formats.
22077 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
22078 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
22079 point your Web browser at
22080 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
22082 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
22083 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
22085 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
22086 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
22089 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
22093 @item gnus-picon-databases
22094 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
22095 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
22096 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
22097 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
22098 "/usr/local/faces")}.
22100 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
22101 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
22102 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22103 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
22105 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
22106 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
22107 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
22108 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
22110 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
22111 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
22112 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
22113 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
22114 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
22116 @item gnus-picon-file-types
22117 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
22118 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
22119 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
22125 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
22128 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22129 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
22130 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
22131 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
22132 unusual directory structure.
22134 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
22135 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
22136 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
22137 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
22139 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
22140 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
22141 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
22142 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
22143 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
22144 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
22146 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22147 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
22148 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
22153 @subsubsection Toolbar
22157 @item gnus-use-toolbar
22158 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
22159 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
22160 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
22161 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
22163 @item gnus-group-toolbar
22164 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
22165 The toolbar in the group buffer.
22167 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
22168 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
22169 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
22171 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22172 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
22173 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
22184 @node Fuzzy Matching
22185 @section Fuzzy Matching
22186 @cindex fuzzy matching
22188 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
22189 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
22191 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
22192 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
22193 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
22195 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
22196 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
22197 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
22198 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
22199 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
22202 @node Thwarting Email Spam
22203 @section Thwarting Email Spam
22207 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22209 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
22210 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
22211 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
22212 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
22213 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
22214 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
22215 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
22216 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
22219 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
22220 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
22221 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
22222 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
22223 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
22224 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
22226 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
22229 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22230 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22231 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22232 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22233 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22234 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22237 @node The problem of spam
22238 @subsection The problem of spam
22240 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22241 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22243 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22245 First, some background on spam.
22247 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22248 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it
22249 exists because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail,
22250 so only a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to
22251 make it worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most
22252 common spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for
22253 further spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers},
22254 but terms like @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, @emph{sociopaths}, and
22255 @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22257 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22258 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22259 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22260 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22261 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22262 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22263 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22264 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22265 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22268 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering, at the mail
22269 server or when you sort through incoming mail. If you get 200 spam
22270 messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you block
22271 @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about @samp{VIAGRA}, you
22272 discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the message. If you get
22273 lots of spam from Bulgaria, for example, you try to filter all mail
22274 from Bulgarian IPs.
22276 This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate e-mail. The
22277 risks of blocking a whole country (Bulgaria, Norway, Nigeria, China,
22278 etc.) or even a continent (Asia, Africa, Europe, etc.) from contacting
22279 you should be obvious, so don't do it if you have the choice.
22281 In another instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest has
22282 been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it @strong{contained}
22283 words that were common in spam messages. Nevertheless, in isolated
22284 cases, with great care, direct filtering of mail can be useful.
22286 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22287 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22288 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22289 Ghana, Estonia, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22290 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into a
22291 database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the number
22292 of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When a user
22293 of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a message is
22294 spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22296 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22297 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22298 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22299 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22300 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22301 sending spam, and their web sites and mailing lists have been shut
22302 down for some time because of the incident.
22304 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22305 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22306 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22307 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22308 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22309 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22310 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22311 to store the database of spam analyses. Statistical analysis on the
22312 server is gaining popularity. This has the advantage of letting the
22313 user Just Read Mail, but has the disadvantage that it's harder to tell
22314 the server that it has misclassified mail.
22316 Fighting spam is not easy, no matter what anyone says. There is no
22317 magic switch that will distinguish Viagra ads from Mom's e-mails.
22318 Even people are having a hard time telling spam apart from non-spam,
22319 because spammers are actively looking to fool us into thinking they
22320 are Mom, essentially. Spamming is irritating, irresponsible, and
22321 idiotic behavior from a bunch of people who think the world owes them
22322 a favor. We hope the following sections will help you in fighting the
22325 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22326 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22330 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22332 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22333 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22335 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22336 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22337 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22338 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22339 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22340 part of the mail address.)
22343 (setq message-default-news-headers
22344 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22347 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22348 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22352 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22353 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22354 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22359 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22360 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22361 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22362 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22364 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22365 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22366 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22367 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22368 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22369 your fancy split rule in this way:
22374 (to "larsi" "misc")
22378 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
22379 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
22380 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
22381 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
22382 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
22384 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
22385 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
22386 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
22387 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
22389 Be careful with this approach. Spammers are wise to it.
22393 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
22394 @cindex SpamAssassin
22395 @cindex Vipul's Razor
22398 The days where the hints in the previous section were sufficient in
22399 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
22400 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
22401 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
22402 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
22403 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
22404 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
22406 Note that this section does not involve the @code{spam.el} package,
22407 which is discussed in the next section. If you don't care for all
22408 the features of @code{spam.el}, you can make do with these simple
22411 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
22412 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
22413 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
22414 Specifiers}) follow.
22418 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
22422 "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
22425 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
22426 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
22427 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
22430 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
22434 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22437 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
22438 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
22442 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
22443 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
22444 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
22445 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
22448 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
22450 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
22454 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
22455 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
22459 Note that with the nnimap backend, message bodies will not be
22460 downloaded by default. You need to set
22461 @code{nnimap-split-download-body} to @code{t} to do that
22462 (@pxref{Splitting in IMAP}).
22464 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
22465 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
22466 spam. And here is the nifty function:
22469 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
22470 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
22472 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
22473 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
22474 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
22478 @subsection Hashcash
22481 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
22482 costly and demonstrably unique for each message they send. This has
22483 the obvious drawback that you cannot rely on everyone in the world
22484 using this technique, since it is not part of the Internet standards,
22485 but it may be useful in smaller communities.
22487 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
22488 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
22489 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
22490 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
22491 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
22492 instead prefers that everyone you contact through e-mail supports the
22493 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
22494 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
22495 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
22496 one of them separately.
22499 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
22500 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
22501 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:} header.
22502 For more details, and for the external application @code{hashcash} you
22503 need to install to use this feature, see
22504 @uref{http://www.hashcash.org/}. Even more information can be found
22505 at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
22507 If you wish to generate hashcash for each message you send, you can
22508 customize @code{message-generate-hashcash} (@pxref{Mail Headers, ,Mail
22509 Headers,message, The Message Manual}), as in:
22512 (setq message-generate-hashcash t)
22515 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
22519 @item hashcash-default-payment
22520 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
22521 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
22522 should consist of. By default this is 10, which is a rather low
22523 value. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
22525 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22526 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22527 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22528 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22529 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22530 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22531 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22532 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22533 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22535 @item hashcash-path
22536 @vindex hashcash-path
22537 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed. This variable should
22538 be automatically set by @code{executable-find}, but if it's nil
22539 (usually because the @code{hashcash} binary is not in your path)
22540 you'll get a warning when you check hashcash payments and an error
22541 when you generate hashcash payments.
22545 Gnus can verify hashcash cookies, although this can also be done by
22546 hand customized mail filtering scripts. To verify a hashcash cookie
22547 in a message, use the @code{mail-check-payment} function in the
22548 @code{hashcash.el} library. You can also use the @code{spam.el}
22549 package with the @code{spam-use-hashcash} backend to validate hashcash
22550 cookies in incoming mail and filter mail accordingly (@pxref{Anti-spam
22551 Hashcash Payments}).
22553 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22554 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22555 @cindex spam filtering
22558 The idea behind @file{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22559 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @file{spam.el} does two things: it
22560 filters new mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22561 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @file{spam.el} to indicate
22564 First of all, you @strong{must} run the function
22565 @code{spam-initialize} to autoload @code{spam.el} and to install the
22566 @code{spam.el} hooks. There is one exception: if you use the
22567 @code{spam-use-stat} (@pxref{spam-stat spam filtering}) setting, you
22568 should turn it on before @code{spam-initialize}:
22571 (setq spam-use-stat t) ;; if needed
22575 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
22577 First, some hooks will get installed by @code{spam-initialize}. There
22578 are some hooks for @code{spam-stat} so it can save its databases, and
22579 there are hooks so interesting things will happen when you enter and
22580 leave a group. More on the sequence of events later (@pxref{Spam
22581 ELisp Package Sequence of Events}).
22583 You get the following keyboard commands:
22593 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22594 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22596 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22597 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22598 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22599 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22605 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22606 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22608 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22614 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22615 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22619 * Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events::
22620 * Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail::
22621 * Spam ELisp Package Global Variables::
22622 * Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples::
22623 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22624 * BBDB Whitelists::
22625 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
22626 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
22628 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22630 * SpamAssassin backend::
22631 * ifile spam filtering::
22632 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22634 * Extending the Spam ELisp package::
22637 @node Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
22638 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Sequence of Events
22639 @cindex spam filtering
22640 @cindex spam filtering sequence of events
22643 You must read this section to understand how @code{spam.el} works.
22644 Do not skip, speed-read, or glance through this section.
22646 There are two @emph{contact points}, if you will, between
22647 @code{spam.el} and the rest of Gnus: checking new mail for spam, and
22650 Getting new mail is done in one of two ways. You can either split
22651 your incoming mail or you can classify new articles as ham or spam
22652 when you enter the group.
22654 Splitting incoming mail is better suited to mail backends such as
22655 @code{nnml} or @code{nnimap} where new mail appears in a single file
22656 called a @dfn{Spool File}. See @xref{Spam ELisp Package Filtering of
22659 @vindex gnus-spam-autodetect
22660 @vindex gnus-spam-autodetect-methods
22661 For backends such as @code{nntp} there is no incoming mail spool, so
22662 an alternate mechanism must be used. This may also happen for
22663 backends where the server is in charge of splitting incoming mail, and
22664 Gnus does not do further splitting. The @code{spam-autodetect} and
22665 @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameters (accessible with
22666 @kbd{G c} and @kbd{G p} as usual), and the corresponding variables
22667 @code{gnus-spam-autodetect} and @code{gnus-spam-autodetect-methods}
22668 (accessible with @kbd{M-x customize-variable} as usual) can help.
22670 When @code{spam-autodetect} is used (you can turn it on for a
22671 group/topic or wholesale by regex, as needed), it hooks into the
22672 process of entering a group. Thus, entering a group with unseen or
22673 unread articles becomes the substitute for checking incoming mail.
22674 Whether only unseen articles or all unread articles will be processed
22675 is determined by the @code{spam-autodetect-recheck-messages}. When
22676 set to @code{t}, unread messages will be rechecked.
22678 @code{spam-autodetect} grants the user at once more and less control
22679 of spam filtering. The user will have more control over each group's
22680 spam methods, so for instance the @samp{ding} group may have
22681 @code{spam-use-BBDB} as the autodetection method, while the
22682 @samp{suspect} group may have the @code{spam-use-blacklist} and
22683 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} methods enabled. Every article detected to
22684 be spam will be marked with the spam mark @samp{$} and processed on
22685 exit from the group as normal spam. The user has less control over
22686 the @emph{sequence} of checks, as he might with @code{spam-split}.
22688 When the newly split mail goes into groups, or messages are
22689 autodetected to be ham or spam, those groups must be exited (after
22690 entering, if needed) for further spam processing to happen. It
22691 matters whether the group is considered a ham group, a spam group, or
22692 is unclassified, based on its @code{spam-content} parameter
22693 (@pxref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). Spam groups have the
22694 additional characteristic that, when entered, any unseen or unread
22695 articles (depending on the @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam}
22696 variable) will be marked as spam. Thus, mail split into a spam group
22697 gets automatically marked as spam when you enter the group.
22699 So, when you exit a group, the @code{spam-processors} are applied, if
22700 any are set, and the processed mail is moved to the
22701 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination}
22702 depending on the article's classification. If the
22703 @code{ham-process-destination} or the @code{spam-process-destination},
22704 whichever is appropriate, are @code{nil}, the article is left in the
22707 If a spam is found in any group (this can be changed to only non-spam
22708 groups with @code{spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only}), it is
22709 processed by the active @code{spam-processors} (@pxref{Spam ELisp
22710 Package Global Variables}) when the group is exited. Furthermore, the
22711 spam is moved to the @code{spam-process-destination} (@pxref{Spam
22712 ELisp Package Global Variables}) for further training or deletion.
22713 You have to load the @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
22714 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want spam to be processed
22715 no more than once. Thus, spam is detected and processed everywhere,
22716 which is what most people want. If the
22717 @code{spam-process-destination} is @code{nil}, the spam is marked as
22718 expired, which is usually the right thing to do.
22720 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22721 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22723 If a ham mail is found in a ham group, as determined by the
22724 @code{ham-marks} parameter, it is processed as ham by the active ham
22725 @code{spam-processor} when the group is exited. With the variables
22726 @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} and
22727 @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} the behavior can be further
22728 altered so ham found anywhere can be processed. You have to load the
22729 @code{gnus-registry.el} package and enable the
22730 @code{spam-log-to-registry} variable if you want ham to be processed
22731 no more than once. Thus, ham is detected and processed only when
22732 necessary, which is what most people want. More on this in
22733 @xref{Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples}.
22735 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22736 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22738 If all this seems confusing, don't worry. Soon it will be as natural
22739 as typing Lisp one-liners on a neural interface@dots{} err, sorry, that's
22740 50 years in the future yet. Just trust us, it's not so bad.
22742 @node Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
22743 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Filtering of Incoming Mail
22744 @cindex spam filtering
22745 @cindex spam filtering incoming mail
22748 To use the @file{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22749 must add the following to your fancy split list
22750 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22756 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22757 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22758 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22760 Also, @code{spam-split} will not modify incoming mail in any way.
22762 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22763 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22764 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22765 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}. Make sure the contents
22766 of @code{spam-split-group} are an @emph{unqualified} group name, for
22767 instance in an @code{nnimap} server @samp{your-server} the value
22768 @samp{spam} will turn out to be @samp{nnimap+your-server:spam}. The
22769 value @samp{nnimap+server:spam}, therefore, is wrong and will
22770 actually give you the group
22771 @samp{nnimap+your-server:nnimap+server:spam} which may or may not
22772 work depending on your server's tolerance for strange group names.
22774 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
22775 e.g. @code{spam-use-regex-headers} or @code{"maybe-spam"}. Why is
22778 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
22779 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
22782 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22783 (any "ding" "ding")
22785 ;; @r{default mailbox}
22789 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
22790 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
22791 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
22792 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
22793 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
22794 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
22796 You can let SpamAssassin headers supersede ding rules, but all other
22797 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
22798 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
22803 ;; @r{all spam detected by @code{spam-use-regex-headers} goes to @samp{regex-spam}}
22804 (: spam-split "regex-spam" 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22805 (any "ding" "ding")
22806 ;; @r{all other spam detected by spam-split goes to @code{spam-split-group}}
22808 ;; @r{default mailbox}
22812 This lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks depending on
22813 your particular needs, and to target the results of those checks to a
22814 particular spam group. You don't have to throw all mail into all the
22815 spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that messages to
22816 mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have resource-intensive
22817 blackhole checks performed on them. You could also specify different
22818 spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap split. Go crazy.
22820 You should still have specific checks such as
22821 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you
22822 specifically invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is
22823 that when loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done
22824 depending on what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set. This
22825 is usually not critical, though.
22827 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22829 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22830 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22831 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
22832 message headers. If you use @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
22833 @code{spam-check-ifile}, or @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that
22834 can benefit from the full message body), you should set this variable.
22835 It is not set by default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and
22836 that is not an appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user.
22838 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22840 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22841 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22844 @node Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
22845 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Global Variables
22846 @cindex spam filtering
22847 @cindex spam filtering variables
22848 @cindex spam variables
22851 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
22852 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22853 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22854 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22855 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22856 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22857 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22858 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22859 will be detected later.
22861 The format of the spam or ham processor entry used to be a symbol,
22862 but now it is a @sc{cons} cell. See the individual spam processor entries
22863 for more information.
22865 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22866 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22867 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22868 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22869 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22870 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22871 by customizing the corresponding variable
22872 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22873 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22874 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22875 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22876 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22877 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22878 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22881 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
22883 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22884 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
22885 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
22886 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
22887 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
22888 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
22889 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to @code{nil}. You
22890 should remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary
22891 buffer for every message that is not spam after all. To remove the
22892 @samp{$} mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or
22893 @kbd{d} for declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a
22894 group, all spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam
22895 processor which will study them as spam samples.
22897 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22898 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
22899 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22900 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22901 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22902 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22903 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22904 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
22907 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22908 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
22909 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks (the idea is
22910 that these articles have been read, but are not spam). It can be
22911 useful to also include the tick mark in the ham marks. It is not
22912 recommended to make the unread mark a ham mark, because it normally
22913 indicates a lack of classification. But you can do it, and we'll be
22918 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22919 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
22920 the spam mark. It is not recommended to change that, but you can if
22921 you really want to.
22924 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
22925 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
22926 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
22927 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
22928 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
22929 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
22932 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
22933 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
22934 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
22935 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
22936 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
22937 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
22938 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
22939 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
22940 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with @kbd{M-x
22941 customize-variable @key{RET} gnus-ham-process-destinations}). Each
22942 group name list is a standard Lisp list, if you prefer to customize
22943 the variable manually. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
22944 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
22945 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
22946 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
22948 If ham can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22949 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22951 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
22952 expression! This enables you to send your ham to a regular mail
22953 group and to a @emph{ham training} group.
22955 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
22956 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
22958 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups
22959 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-spam-groups} is
22960 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in spam groups
22961 to be processed. Normally this is not done, you are expected instead
22962 to send your ham to a ham group and process it there.
22964 @vindex spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups
22965 By default the variable @code{spam-process-ham-in-nonham-groups} is
22966 @code{nil}. Set it to @code{t} if you want ham found in non-ham (spam
22967 or unclassified) groups to be processed. Normally this is not done,
22968 you are expected instead to send your ham to a ham group and process
22971 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
22972 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
22973 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
22974 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
22975 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
22976 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
22977 customize this variable with @kbd{M-x customize-variable @key{RET}
22978 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). Each group name list is a standard
22979 Lisp list, if you prefer to customize the variable manually. If the
22980 @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set, the spam
22981 articles are only expired. The group name is fully qualified, meaning
22982 that if you see @samp{nntp:servername} before the group name in the
22983 group buffer then you need it here as well.
22985 If spam can not be moved---because of a read-only backend such as
22986 @acronym{NNTP}, for example, it will be copied.
22988 Note that you can use multiples destinations per group or regular
22989 expression! This enables you to send your spam to multiple @emph{spam
22992 @vindex spam-log-to-registry
22993 The problem with processing ham and spam is that Gnus doesn't track
22994 this processing by default. Enable the @code{spam-log-to-registry}
22995 variable so @code{spam.el} will use @code{gnus-registry.el} to track
22996 what articles have been processed, and avoid processing articles
22997 multiple times. Keep in mind that if you limit the number of registry
22998 entries, this won't work as well as it does without a limit.
23000 @vindex spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam
23001 Set this variable if you want only unseen articles in spam groups to
23002 be marked as spam. By default, it is set. If you set it to
23003 @code{nil}, unread articles will also be marked as spam.
23005 @vindex spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group
23006 Set this variable if you want ham to be unmarked before it is moved
23007 out of the spam group. This is very useful when you use something
23008 like the tick mark @samp{!} to mark ham---the article will be placed
23009 in your @code{ham-process-destination}, unmarked as if it came fresh
23010 from the mail server.
23012 @vindex spam-autodetect-recheck-messages
23013 When autodetecting spam, this variable tells @code{spam.el} whether
23014 only unseen articles or all unread articles should be checked for
23015 spam. It is recommended that you leave it off.
23017 @node Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
23018 @subsubsection Spam ELisp Package Configuration Examples
23019 @cindex spam filtering
23020 @cindex spam filtering configuration examples
23021 @cindex spam configuration examples
23024 @subsubheading Ted's setup
23026 From Ted Zlatanov <tzz@@lifelogs.com>.
23028 ;; @r{for @code{gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent} and spam autodetection}
23029 ;; @r{see @file{gnus-registry.el} for more information}
23030 (gnus-registry-initialize)
23033 ;; @r{I like @kbd{C-s} for marking spam}
23034 (define-key gnus-summary-mode-map "\C-s" 'gnus-summary-mark-as-spam)
23037 spam-log-to-registry t ; @r{for spam autodetection}
23039 spam-use-regex-headers t ; @r{catch X-Spam-Flag (SpamAssassin)}
23040 ;; @r{all groups with @samp{spam} in the name contain spam}
23041 gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
23042 '(("spam" gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
23043 ;; @r{see documentation for these}
23044 spam-move-spam-nonspam-groups-only nil
23045 spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam t
23046 spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group t
23047 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23048 ;; @r{understand what this does before you copy it to your own setup!}
23049 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
23050 ;; @r{trace references to parents and put in their group}
23051 (: gnus-registry-split-fancy-with-parent)
23052 ;; @r{this will catch server-side SpamAssassin tags}
23053 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
23054 (any "ding" "ding")
23055 ;; @r{note that spam by default will go to @samp{spam}}
23057 ;; @r{default mailbox}
23060 ;; @r{my parameters, set with @kbd{G p}}
23062 ;; @r{all nnml groups, and all nnimap groups except}
23063 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} and}
23064 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam}: any spam goes to nnimap training,}
23065 ;; @r{because it must have been detected manually}
23067 ((spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
23069 ;; @r{all @acronym{NNTP} groups}
23070 ;; @r{autodetect spam with the blacklist and ham with the BBDB}
23071 ((spam-autodetect-methods spam-use-blacklist spam-use-BBDB)
23072 ;; @r{send all spam to the training group}
23073 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train"))
23075 ;; @r{only some @acronym{NNTP} groups, where I want to autodetect spam}
23076 ((spam-autodetect . t))
23078 ;; @r{my nnimap @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:spam} group}
23080 ;; @r{this is a spam group}
23081 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam)
23083 ;; @r{any spam (which happens when I enter for all unseen messages,}
23084 ;; @r{because of the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} setting above), goes to}
23085 ;; @r{@samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train} unless I mark it as ham}
23087 (spam-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:train")
23089 ;; @r{any ham goes to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail} folder, but}
23090 ;; @r{also to my @samp{nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham} folder for training}
23092 (ham-process-destination "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:mail"
23093 "nnimap+mail.lifelogs.com:trainham")
23094 ;; @r{in this group, only @samp{!} marks are ham}
23096 (gnus-ticked-mark))
23097 ;; @r{remembers senders in the blacklist on the way out---this is}
23098 ;; @r{definitely not needed, it just makes me feel better}
23099 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist)))
23101 ;; @r{Later, on the @acronym{IMAP} server I use the @samp{train} group for training}
23102 ;; @r{SpamAssassin to recognize spam, and the @samp{trainham} group fora}
23103 ;; @r{recognizing ham---but Gnus has nothing to do with it.}
23107 @subsubheading Using @file{spam.el} on an IMAP server with a statistical filter on the server
23108 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
23110 My provider has set up bogofilter (in combination with @acronym{DCC}) on
23111 the mail server (@acronym{IMAP}). Recognized spam goes to
23112 @samp{spam.detected}, the rest goes through the normal filter rules,
23113 i.e. to @samp{some.folder} or to @samp{INBOX}. Training on false
23114 positives or negatives is done by copying or moving the article to
23115 @samp{training.ham} or @samp{training.spam} respectively. A cron job on
23116 the server feeds those to bogofilter with the suitable ham or spam
23117 options and deletes them from the @samp{training.ham} and
23118 @samp{training.spam} folders.
23120 With the following entries in @code{gnus-parameters}, @code{spam.el}
23121 does most of the job for me:
23124 ("nnimap:spam\\.detected"
23125 (gnus-article-sort-functions '(gnus-article-sort-by-chars))
23126 (ham-process-destination "nnimap:INBOX" "nnimap:training.ham")
23127 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-spam))
23128 ("nnimap:\\(INBOX\\|other-folders\\)"
23129 (spam-process-destination . "nnimap:training.spam")
23130 (spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham))
23135 @item @b{The Spam folder:}
23137 In the folder @samp{spam.detected}, I have to check for false positives
23138 (i.e. legitimate mails, that were wrongly judged as spam by
23139 bogofilter or DCC).
23141 Because of the @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam} entry, all
23142 messages are marked as spam (with @code{$}). When I find a false
23143 positive, I mark the message with some other ham mark (@code{ham-marks},
23144 @ref{Spam ELisp Package Global Variables}). On group exit, those
23145 messages are copied to both groups, @samp{INBOX} (where I want to have
23146 the article) and @samp{training.ham} (for training bogofilter) and
23147 deleted from the @samp{spam.detected} folder.
23149 The @code{gnus-article-sort-by-chars} entry simplifies detection of
23150 false positives for me. I receive lots of worms (sweN, @dots{}), that all
23151 have a similar size. Grouping them by size (i.e. chars) makes finding
23152 other false positives easier. (Of course worms aren't @i{spam}
23153 (@acronym{UCE}, @acronym{UBE}) strictly speaking. Anyhow, bogofilter is
23154 an excellent tool for filtering those unwanted mails for me.)
23156 @item @b{Ham folders:}
23158 In my ham folders, I just hit @kbd{S x}
23159 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) whenever I see an unrecognized spam
23160 mail (false negative). On group exit, those messages are moved to
23161 @samp{training.ham}.
23164 @subsubheading Reporting spam articles in Gmane groups with @code{spam-report.el}
23166 From Reiner Steib <reiner.steib@@gmx.de>.
23168 With following entry in @code{gnus-parameters}, @kbd{S x}
23169 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}) marks articles in @code{gmane.*}
23170 groups as spam and reports the to Gmane at group exit:
23174 (spam-process (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane)))
23177 Additionally, I use @code{(setq spam-report-gmane-use-article-number nil)}
23178 because I don't read the groups directly from news.gmane.org, but
23179 through my local news server (leafnode). I.e. the article numbers are
23180 not the same as on news.gmane.org, thus @code{spam-report.el} has to check
23181 the @code{X-Report-Spam} header to find the correct number.
23183 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
23184 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
23185 @cindex spam filtering
23186 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
23187 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
23190 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
23192 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
23193 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
23194 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
23195 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
23200 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
23202 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
23203 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
23204 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23205 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
23206 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23210 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
23212 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
23213 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23214 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
23218 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
23220 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23221 customizing the group parameters or the
23222 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23223 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23224 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
23228 Instead of the obsolete
23229 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist}, it is recommended
23230 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-blacklist)}. Everything will work
23231 the same way, we promise.
23235 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
23237 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23238 customizing the group parameters or the
23239 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23240 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23241 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23246 Instead of the obsolete
23247 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist}, it is recommended
23248 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-whitelist)}. Everything will work
23249 the same way, we promise.
23253 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
23254 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
23255 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
23256 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
23257 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
23259 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
23260 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
23261 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
23262 Emacs regular expression syntax.
23264 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
23265 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
23266 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
23267 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
23268 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
23269 @file{blacklist} respectively.
23271 @node BBDB Whitelists
23272 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
23273 @cindex spam filtering
23274 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
23275 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
23278 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
23280 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23281 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
23282 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
23283 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
23284 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
23285 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
23286 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23290 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
23292 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
23293 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
23294 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
23295 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
23296 classified as spammers.
23300 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
23302 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23303 customizing the group parameters or the
23304 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23305 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
23306 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
23311 Instead of the obsolete
23312 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB}, it is recommended
23313 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-BBDB)}. Everything will work
23314 the same way, we promise.
23318 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
23319 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
23320 @cindex spam reporting
23321 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
23322 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
23325 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
23327 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23328 customizing the group parameters or the
23329 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23330 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23331 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators via a
23334 Gmane can be found at @uref{http://gmane.org}.
23338 Instead of the obsolete
23339 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane}, it is recommended
23340 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-gmane)}. Everything will work the
23341 same way, we promise.
23345 @defvar spam-report-gmane-use-article-number
23347 This variable is @code{t} by default. Set it to @code{nil} if you are
23348 running your own news server, for instance, and the local article
23349 numbers don't correspond to the Gmane article numbers. When
23350 @code{spam-report-gmane-use-article-number} is @code{nil},
23351 @code{spam-report.el} will use the @code{X-Report-Spam} header that
23356 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
23357 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
23358 @cindex spam filtering
23359 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
23362 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
23364 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
23365 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
23366 instead of the sender address. Messages without a hashcash payment
23367 token will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an explicit
23368 filter, meaning that unless a hashcash token is found, the messages
23369 are not assumed to be spam or ham.
23374 @subsubsection Blackholes
23375 @cindex spam filtering
23376 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
23379 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
23381 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
23382 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
23383 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
23384 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
23385 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
23386 contains outdated servers.
23388 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
23389 @file{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
23390 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
23391 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
23392 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
23393 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
23397 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
23399 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
23403 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
23405 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
23406 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
23410 @defvar spam-use-dig
23412 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
23413 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
23417 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
23418 ham processor for blackholes.
23420 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
23421 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
23422 @cindex spam filtering
23423 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
23426 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
23428 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
23429 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
23430 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
23431 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
23432 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
23433 message is spam or ham, respectively.
23437 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
23439 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
23440 the message, positively identify it as spam.
23444 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
23446 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
23447 the message, positively identify it as ham.
23451 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
23452 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
23455 @subsubsection Bogofilter
23456 @cindex spam filtering
23457 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
23460 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
23462 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
23465 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
23466 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
23467 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
23468 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
23469 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
23470 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
23472 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
23473 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
23476 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
23477 processing will be turned off.
23479 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
23483 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
23485 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
23486 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
23487 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
23488 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
23489 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
23490 installation documents for details.
23492 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
23496 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
23497 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23498 customizing the group parameters or the
23499 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23500 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
23501 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
23505 Instead of the obsolete
23506 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
23507 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
23508 the same way, we promise.
23511 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
23512 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23513 customizing the group parameters or the
23514 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23515 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23516 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
23517 of non-spam messages.
23521 Instead of the obsolete
23522 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter}, it is recommended
23523 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-bogofilter)}. Everything will work
23524 the same way, we promise.
23527 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
23529 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
23530 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
23531 database directory.
23535 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
23536 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23537 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
23538 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
23539 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
23540 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
23542 @node SpamAssassin backend
23543 @subsubsection SpamAssassin backend
23544 @cindex spam filtering
23545 @cindex spamassassin, spam filtering
23548 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin
23550 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use SpamAssassin.
23552 SpamAssassin assigns a score to each article based on a set of rules
23553 and tests, including a Bayesian filter. The Bayesian filter can be
23554 trained by associating the @samp{$} mark for spam articles. The
23555 spam score can be viewed by using the command @kbd{S t} in summary
23558 If you set this variable, each article will be processed by
23559 SpamAssassin when @code{spam-split} is called. If your mail is
23560 preprocessed by SpamAssassin, and you want to just use the
23561 SpamAssassin headers, set @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}
23564 You should not enable this is you use
23565 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers}.
23569 @defvar spam-use-spamassassin-headers
23571 Set this variable if your mail is preprocessed by SpamAssassin and
23572 want @code{spam-split} to split based on the SpamAssassin headers.
23574 You should not enable this is you use @code{spam-use-spamassassin}.
23578 @defvar spam-spamassassin-path
23580 This variable points to the SpamAssassin executable. If you have
23581 @code{spamd} running, you can set this variable to the @code{spamc}
23582 executable for faster processing. See the SpamAssassin documentation
23583 for more information on @code{spamd}/@code{spamc}.
23587 SpamAssassin is a powerful and flexible spam filter that uses a wide
23588 variety of tests to identify spam. A ham and a spam processors are
23589 provided, plus the @code{spam-use-spamassassin} and
23590 @code{spam-use-spamassassin-headers} variables to indicate to
23591 spam-split that SpamAssassin should be either used, or has already
23592 been used on the article. The 2.63 version of SpamAssassin was used
23593 to test this functionality.
23595 @node ifile spam filtering
23596 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
23597 @cindex spam filtering
23598 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
23601 @defvar spam-use-ifile
23603 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
23604 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
23608 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
23610 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
23611 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
23612 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
23616 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
23618 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
23619 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
23620 the default value of @samp{spam}.
23623 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
23625 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
23626 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
23630 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
23631 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
23632 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
23633 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
23636 @node spam-stat spam filtering
23637 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
23638 @cindex spam filtering
23639 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
23643 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
23645 @defvar spam-use-stat
23647 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
23648 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
23652 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
23653 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23654 customizing the group parameters or the
23655 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23656 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
23657 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
23661 Instead of the obsolete
23662 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
23663 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
23664 the same way, we promise.
23667 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
23668 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23669 customizing the group parameters or the
23670 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
23671 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
23672 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
23673 of non-spam messages.
23677 Instead of the obsolete
23678 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat}, it is recommended
23679 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-stat)}. Everything will work
23680 the same way, we promise.
23683 This enables @file{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
23684 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
23685 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
23686 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
23687 @code{spam-split} are provided.
23690 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
23691 @cindex spam filtering
23695 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
23696 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
23697 installed separately.
23699 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
23700 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
23701 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
23702 mail as a spam mail or not.
23704 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
23705 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
23706 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
23708 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
23709 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
23711 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
23712 To enable SpamOracle usage by @file{spam.el}, set the variable
23713 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
23714 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
23715 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
23716 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
23717 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
23718 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
23722 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
23723 spam-split-group "Junk"
23724 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
23725 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
23726 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
23729 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
23730 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
23734 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
23735 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
23736 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
23740 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
23741 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
23742 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
23743 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
23744 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
23745 database to live somewhere special, set
23746 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
23749 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
23750 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
23751 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
23752 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
23753 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
23754 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
23755 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @file{spam.el}'s
23756 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
23757 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
23758 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
23760 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
23761 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23762 customizing the group parameter or the
23763 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23764 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
23765 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
23769 Instead of the obsolete
23770 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
23771 that you use @code{'(spam spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
23772 the same way, we promise.
23775 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
23776 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23777 customizing the group parameter or the
23778 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23779 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
23780 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
23785 Instead of the obsolete
23786 @code{gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle}, it is recommended
23787 that you use @code{'(ham spam-use-spamoracle)}. Everything will work
23788 the same way, we promise.
23791 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of a group that has been
23792 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
23795 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
23796 (spam-process ((ham spam-use-spamoracle)
23797 (spam spam-use-spamoracle))))
23799 For this group the @code{spam-use-spamoracle} is installed for both
23800 ham and spam processing. If the group contains spam message
23801 (e.g. because SpamOracle has not had enough sample messages yet) and
23802 the user marks some messages as spam messages, these messages will be
23803 processed by SpamOracle. The processor sends the messages to
23804 SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
23806 @node Extending the Spam ELisp package
23807 @subsubsection Extending the Spam ELisp package
23808 @cindex spam filtering
23809 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
23810 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
23812 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
23813 incoming mail, provide the following:
23821 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
23822 "True if blackbox should be used.")
23827 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
23829 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
23833 (gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox ham spam-use-blackbox)
23834 (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox spam spam-use-blackbox)
23837 to @code{spam-list-of-processors}.
23841 (spam-use-blackbox spam-blackbox-register-routine
23843 spam-blackbox-unregister-routine
23847 to @code{spam-registration-functions}. Write the register/unregister
23848 routines using the bogofilter register/unregister routines as a
23849 start, or other restister/unregister routines more appropriate to
23855 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
23856 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}, observing the other
23857 conventions. See the existing @code{spam-check-*} functions for
23858 examples of what you can do, and stick to the template unless you
23859 fully understand the reasons why you aren't.
23861 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
23862 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
23863 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
23867 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
23874 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
23875 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
23877 Also, ham and spam processors are being phased out as single
23878 variables. Instead the form @code{'(spam spam-use-blackbox)} or
23879 @code{'(ham spam-use-blackbox)} is favored. For now, spam/ham
23880 processor variables are still around but they won't be for long.
23883 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-spam"
23884 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
23885 Only applicable to spam groups.")
23887 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox-ham"
23888 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
23889 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
23898 (const :tag "Spam: Blackbox" (spam spam-use-blackbox))
23899 (const :tag "Ham: Blackbox" (ham spam-use-blackbox))
23901 to the @code{spam-process} group parameter in @code{gnus.el}. Make
23902 sure you do it twice, once for the parameter and once for the
23903 variable customization.
23907 (variable-item spam-use-blackbox)
23909 to the @code{spam-autodetect-methods} group parameter in
23915 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23916 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23917 @cindex Paul Graham
23918 @cindex Graham, Paul
23919 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
23920 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
23921 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
23923 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
23924 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
23925 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
23926 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
23927 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
23928 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
23929 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
23930 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
23931 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
23934 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
23935 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
23936 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
23937 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
23938 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
23939 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
23940 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
23941 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
23943 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
23944 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
23945 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
23946 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
23947 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
23950 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
23951 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
23952 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
23955 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23956 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23958 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
23959 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
23960 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
23961 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
23962 need several hundred emails in both collections.
23964 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
23965 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
23966 per mail. Use the following:
23968 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
23969 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
23970 is treated as one spam mail.
23973 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
23974 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
23975 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
23978 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
23979 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
23980 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
23981 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
23982 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
23983 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
23985 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
23986 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
23987 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
23988 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
23989 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
23992 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
23993 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
23994 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
23995 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
23998 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
23999 reset the dictionary.
24001 @defun spam-stat-reset
24002 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
24005 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
24006 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
24007 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
24008 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
24009 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
24010 only non-spam mails.
24012 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
24013 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
24014 to update the dictionary incrementally.
24017 @defun spam-stat-save
24018 Save the dictionary.
24021 @defvar spam-stat-file
24022 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
24023 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
24026 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
24027 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
24029 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
24030 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24033 (require 'spam-stat)
24037 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
24040 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
24041 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
24042 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
24043 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
24045 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
24046 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
24047 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
24048 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
24051 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24052 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24056 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
24057 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
24060 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
24061 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
24062 expression are considered potential spam.
24065 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24066 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24067 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24071 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
24072 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
24073 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
24074 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
24075 mails, when creating the dictionary!
24078 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24079 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24080 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24084 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
24085 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
24086 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
24087 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
24088 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
24092 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
24093 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
24094 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
24095 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
24100 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
24101 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
24103 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
24105 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
24106 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
24107 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
24110 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
24111 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
24112 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
24115 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
24116 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
24117 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
24118 already been processed as non-spam.
24121 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
24122 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
24123 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
24124 been processed as spam.
24127 @defun spam-stat-save
24128 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
24129 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
24132 @defun spam-stat-load
24133 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
24134 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
24137 @defun spam-stat-score-word
24138 Return the spam score for a word.
24141 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
24142 Return the spam score for a buffer.
24145 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
24146 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
24147 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
24150 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
24151 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
24154 (require 'spam-stat)
24158 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
24161 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
24162 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24163 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24164 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24165 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
24166 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
24167 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24168 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24169 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
24170 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24171 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
24172 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
24173 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24174 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24177 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
24180 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
24181 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
24182 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
24183 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
24184 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
24185 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
24189 @section Interaction with other modes
24194 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} provided some useful functions for dired
24195 buffers. It is enabled with
24197 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
24202 @findex gnus-dired-attach
24203 Send dired's marked files as an attachment (@code{gnus-dired-attach}).
24204 You will be prompted for a message buffer.
24207 @findex gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap
24208 Visit a file according to the appropriate mailcap entry
24209 (@code{gnus-dired-find-file-mailcap}). With prefix, open file in a new
24213 @findex gnus-dired-print
24214 Print file according to the mailcap entry (@code{gnus-dired-print}). If
24215 there is no print command, print in a PostScript image.
24218 @node Various Various
24219 @section Various Various
24225 @item gnus-home-directory
24226 @vindex gnus-home-directory
24227 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
24228 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
24230 @item gnus-directory
24231 @vindex gnus-directory
24232 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
24233 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
24234 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
24236 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
24237 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
24238 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
24239 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
24241 @item gnus-default-directory
24242 @vindex gnus-default-directory
24243 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
24244 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
24245 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
24246 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
24247 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
24248 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
24251 @vindex gnus-verbose
24252 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
24253 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
24254 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
24255 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
24256 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
24258 @item gnus-verbose-backends
24259 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
24260 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
24261 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
24263 @item nnheader-max-head-length
24264 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
24265 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
24266 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
24267 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
24268 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
24269 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
24270 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
24271 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
24272 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
24274 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
24275 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
24276 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
24277 read when doing the operation described above.
24279 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24280 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24282 @cindex invalid characters in file names
24283 @cindex characters in file names
24284 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
24285 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
24286 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
24290 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
24295 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
24296 Windows (phooey) systems.
24298 @item gnus-hidden-properties
24299 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
24300 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
24301 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
24302 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
24304 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
24305 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
24306 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
24307 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
24308 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
24310 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
24311 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
24312 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
24314 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
24315 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
24317 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
24318 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
24319 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
24320 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
24323 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
24331 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
24332 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
24334 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
24336 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
24342 Not because of victories @*
24345 but for the common sunshine,@*
24347 the largess of the spring.
24351 but for the day's work done@*
24352 as well as I was able;@*
24353 not for a seat upon the dais@*
24354 but at the common table.@*
24359 @chapter Appendices
24362 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
24363 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
24364 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
24365 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
24366 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
24367 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
24368 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
24369 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
24370 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
24377 @cindex installing under XEmacs
24379 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
24380 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
24381 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{mail-lib}, @samp{xemacs-base},
24382 @samp{eterm}, @samp{sh-script}, @samp{net-utils}, @samp{os-utils},
24383 @samp{dired}, @samp{mh-e}, @samp{sieve}, @samp{ps-print}, @samp{w3},
24384 @samp{pgg}, @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{ecrypto}, and @samp{sasl}.
24391 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
24392 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
24394 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
24395 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
24396 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
24397 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
24398 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
24400 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
24401 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
24402 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
24403 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
24404 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
24405 appropriate name, don't you think?)
24407 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
24408 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
24409 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
24410 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
24413 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
24414 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
24415 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
24416 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
24417 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
24418 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
24419 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
24420 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
24421 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
24425 @node Gnus Versions
24426 @subsection Gnus Versions
24428 @cindex September Gnus
24430 @cindex Quassia Gnus
24431 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
24434 @cindex Gnus versions
24436 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
24437 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
24438 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
24440 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
24441 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
24443 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
24444 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
24446 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
24447 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
24449 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
24450 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
24453 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
24455 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
24456 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
24457 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
24458 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
24459 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
24460 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
24463 @node Other Gnus Versions
24464 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
24467 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
24468 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
24469 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
24470 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
24472 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
24473 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
24474 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
24475 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
24482 What's the point of Gnus?
24484 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
24485 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
24486 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
24487 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
24488 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
24489 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
24490 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
24491 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
24492 keep track of millions of people who post?
24494 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
24495 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
24496 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
24497 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
24498 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
24499 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
24500 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
24501 every one of you to explore and invent.
24503 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
24504 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
24507 @node Compatibility
24508 @subsection Compatibility
24510 @cindex compatibility
24511 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
24512 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
24513 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
24518 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
24522 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
24525 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
24528 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
24529 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
24530 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
24531 important variables have their values copied into their global
24532 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
24533 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
24535 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
24536 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
24537 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
24538 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
24539 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
24543 @cindex highlighting
24544 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
24545 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
24546 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
24547 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
24548 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
24549 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
24552 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
24553 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
24554 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
24555 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
24557 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
24558 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
24559 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
24560 to stop doing it the old way.
24562 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
24564 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
24566 @cindex reporting bugs
24568 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
24569 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
24570 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
24572 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
24573 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
24574 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
24575 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
24580 @subsection Conformity
24582 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
24583 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
24591 There are no known breaches of this standard.
24595 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
24597 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
24598 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
24599 We do have some breaches to this one.
24605 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
24606 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
24607 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
24608 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
24609 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
24614 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
24615 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
24616 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
24617 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
24619 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
24620 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
24621 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
24623 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
24624 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
24626 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
24629 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
24630 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
24631 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
24632 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
24633 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
24636 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
24637 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
24638 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
24639 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
24641 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
24642 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
24644 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
24645 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
24646 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
24647 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
24648 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
24649 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
24650 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
24651 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
24655 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
24656 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
24661 @subsection Emacsen
24667 Gnus should work on:
24675 XEmacs 21.4 and up.
24679 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
24680 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
24681 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
24682 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
24683 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
24685 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
24686 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
24687 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
24691 @node Gnus Development
24692 @subsection Gnus Development
24694 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
24695 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
24696 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
24697 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
24698 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
24699 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
24700 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
24701 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
24703 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
24704 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
24705 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
24706 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
24707 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
24710 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
24711 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
24712 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
24713 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
24714 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
24716 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
24717 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
24718 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
24719 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
24720 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
24721 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
24722 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
24723 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
24724 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
24725 can't be assumed to do so.
24730 @subsection Contributors
24731 @cindex contributors
24733 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
24734 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
24735 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
24736 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
24737 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
24738 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
24739 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
24740 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
24741 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
24742 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
24744 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
24750 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
24753 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
24754 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
24755 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
24756 functionality and stuff.
24759 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
24760 well as numerous other things).
24763 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
24766 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
24769 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
24772 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
24775 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
24776 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
24779 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
24782 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section.
24785 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
24788 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
24791 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
24794 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
24797 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
24798 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
24801 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
24804 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
24807 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
24810 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
24814 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
24817 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
24820 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
24823 Fran@,{c}ois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
24824 well as autoconf support.
24828 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
24829 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
24831 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
24846 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
24848 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
24852 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
24862 Alexei V. Barantsev,
24877 Massimo Campostrini,
24882 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
24883 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
24887 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
24890 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
24896 Michael Welsh Duggan,
24901 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
24905 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
24913 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
24915 Michelangelo Grigni,
24919 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
24921 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
24923 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
24930 Fran@,{c}ois Felix Ingrand,
24931 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
24932 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
24934 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
24944 Peter Skov Knudsen,
24945 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
24947 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
24948 Thor Kristoffersen,
24951 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
24969 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
24970 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
24977 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
24982 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
24986 John McClary Prevost,
24992 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
24997 Christian von Roques,
25000 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
25007 Philippe Schnoebelen,
25009 Randal L. Schwartz,
25023 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
25028 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
25048 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
25049 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
25050 (550kB and counting).
25052 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
25055 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
25056 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
25060 @subsection New Features
25061 @cindex new features
25064 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
25065 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
25066 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
25067 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
25068 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
25069 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10/5.11.
25070 * No Gnus:: Lars, FIXME!
25073 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
25074 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
25075 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
25078 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
25080 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
25085 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
25086 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
25089 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
25090 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
25093 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
25096 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
25097 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
25098 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
25101 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
25102 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
25103 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
25104 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
25107 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
25108 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25111 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
25112 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
25113 (@pxref{The Active File}).
25116 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
25117 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
25120 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
25121 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
25122 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
25125 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
25126 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
25127 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
25130 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
25131 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
25134 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
25135 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
25138 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
25139 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
25142 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
25143 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25146 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
25147 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
25150 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
25151 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
25154 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
25157 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
25158 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
25161 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
25162 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
25165 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
25166 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
25169 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
25172 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
25173 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
25176 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
25180 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
25184 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
25185 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
25188 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
25194 @node September Gnus
25195 @subsubsection September Gnus
25199 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
25203 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
25208 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
25209 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
25213 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
25214 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
25218 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
25222 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
25223 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
25226 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
25230 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions.
25233 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
25236 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
25239 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
25243 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
25244 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
25247 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
25251 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
25255 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
25259 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
25263 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
25266 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
25267 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
25270 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
25274 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
25275 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
25278 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
25281 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
25282 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
25283 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
25286 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
25290 The Gnus cache is much faster.
25293 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
25297 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
25298 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
25301 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
25302 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
25305 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
25306 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
25309 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
25310 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
25311 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
25314 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
25315 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
25318 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
25321 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
25324 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
25327 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
25330 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
25331 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
25334 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
25338 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
25341 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
25346 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
25349 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
25353 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
25356 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
25360 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
25363 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
25366 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
25367 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
25370 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
25371 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
25375 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
25376 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
25379 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
25383 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
25384 buffer to allow easier treatment.
25387 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
25390 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
25394 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
25398 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
25399 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
25402 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
25406 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
25407 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
25410 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
25411 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
25414 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
25418 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
25421 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
25424 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
25430 @subsubsection Red Gnus
25432 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
25436 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
25443 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
25446 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
25447 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
25450 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
25451 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
25455 Article washing status can be displayed in the
25456 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
25459 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
25462 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
25463 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
25466 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
25470 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
25471 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
25475 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
25476 Server Internals}).
25479 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
25483 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
25486 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
25487 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
25490 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
25491 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
25492 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
25495 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
25496 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
25499 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
25500 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
25503 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
25507 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
25508 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25511 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
25512 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
25515 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
25519 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
25522 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
25526 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
25527 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
25530 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
25531 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
25534 A new command for reading collections of documents
25535 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
25536 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
25539 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
25543 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
25544 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
25547 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
25548 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
25549 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
25552 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
25553 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
25557 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
25561 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
25565 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
25570 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
25574 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
25578 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
25579 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
25582 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
25588 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
25590 New features in Gnus 5.6:
25595 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
25596 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
25597 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
25600 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
25601 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
25602 group, which is created automatically.
25605 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
25609 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
25612 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
25613 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
25616 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
25620 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
25623 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
25624 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
25627 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
25630 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
25634 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
25635 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
25638 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
25639 control over simplification.
25642 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
25645 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
25649 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
25652 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
25655 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
25656 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
25657 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
25660 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
25661 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
25664 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
25668 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
25669 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
25672 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
25673 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
25676 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
25680 A history of where mails have been split is available.
25683 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
25686 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
25687 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
25690 A new function for citing in Message has been
25691 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
25694 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
25697 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
25701 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
25702 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
25705 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
25706 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
25709 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
25712 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
25716 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
25717 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
25719 New features in Gnus 5.8:
25724 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
25725 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
25727 If you used procmail like in
25730 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
25731 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
25732 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
25733 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
25736 this now has changed to
25740 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
25744 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
25747 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
25748 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
25751 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
25752 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
25755 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
25756 called to position point.
25759 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
25760 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
25763 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
25764 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
25767 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
25768 subtly different manner.
25771 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
25772 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
25773 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
25776 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
25781 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
25784 New features in Gnus 5.10:
25789 @kbd{F} (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}) and @kbd{R}
25790 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}) only yank the text in the
25791 region if the region is active.
25794 @code{gnus-group-read-ephemeral-group} can be called interactively,
25798 In draft groups, @kbd{e} is now bound to @code{gnus-draft-edit-message}.
25799 Use @kbd{B w} for @code{gnus-summary-edit-article} instead.
25802 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
25803 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
25806 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
25808 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
25809 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
25810 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
25811 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
25812 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
25813 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
25814 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
25815 isn't save in general.
25820 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
25821 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
25822 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
25823 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
25828 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} (see @ref{Other modes}) installs key
25829 bindings in dired buffers to send a file as an attachment, open a file
25830 using the appropriate mailcap entry, and print a file using the mailcap
25834 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
25837 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
25842 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
25843 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
25845 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
25846 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
25850 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
25851 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
25854 Retrieval of charters and control messages
25856 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
25857 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
25862 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
25863 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
25864 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
25867 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
25868 decompressed when activated.
25871 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
25872 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
25875 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
25878 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
25879 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
25882 Warn about email replies to news
25884 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
25885 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
25889 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
25890 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
25894 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
25895 opposed to old but unread messages).
25898 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
25899 Gcc articles as read.
25902 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
25905 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
25906 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
25909 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
25910 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
25913 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
25914 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
25917 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
25918 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
25921 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
25923 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
25924 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
25925 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
25926 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
25929 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
25931 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
25932 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
25933 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
25934 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
25935 the second parameter.
25937 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
25938 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
25939 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
25940 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
25941 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
25942 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
25943 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
25944 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
25945 cycle used under Unix systems.
25947 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
25951 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
25953 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
25954 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
25955 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
25956 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
25957 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
25961 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
25963 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
25964 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
25965 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
25966 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
25970 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
25972 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
25973 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
25974 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
25975 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
25977 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
25978 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
25979 message cited below.
25982 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
25985 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
25987 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
25988 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
25989 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
25990 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
25991 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
25994 (setq gnus-parameters
25996 (gnus-show-threads nil)
25997 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
25998 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
25999 (to-group . "\\1"))))
26003 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
26005 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
26009 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
26011 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
26012 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
26013 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
26014 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
26015 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
26016 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
26017 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
26018 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
26019 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
26022 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
26024 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
26025 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
26026 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
26027 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
26028 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
26029 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
26032 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
26033 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
26037 Improved anti-spam features.
26039 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
26040 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
26041 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
26042 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
26043 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
26046 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
26049 Face headers handling.
26052 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
26053 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
26056 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
26059 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
26061 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
26062 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
26063 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
26064 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
26065 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
26066 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
26067 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
26068 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
26069 when getting new mail, remove the function.
26072 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
26074 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
26075 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
26076 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
26077 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
26078 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
26079 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
26080 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
26081 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
26082 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
26083 was inserted directly.
26086 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
26088 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
26089 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
26095 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
26096 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
26097 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
26098 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
26099 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
26100 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
26101 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
26102 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
26103 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
26104 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
26105 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
26106 behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
26107 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
26108 is not needed any more.
26111 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
26113 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
26114 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
26115 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
26116 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
26117 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
26121 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
26123 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
26124 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
26127 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
26129 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
26130 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
26131 lisp directory into load-path.
26133 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
26134 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
26137 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
26139 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
26142 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
26144 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
26145 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
26146 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
26147 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
26150 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
26152 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
26154 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
26155 'bbdb-complete-name)
26159 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
26161 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
26162 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
26163 local files as external parts.
26165 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
26166 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
26167 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
26168 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
26169 that support editing.
26172 @code{gnus-default-charset}
26174 The default value is determined from the
26175 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
26176 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
26177 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
26180 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
26182 Add a new format of match like
26184 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
26185 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
26187 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
26189 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
26190 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
26194 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
26196 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
26197 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
26198 need add those two headers too.
26201 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
26203 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
26204 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
26205 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
26208 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
26209 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
26210 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
26214 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
26216 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
26219 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
26221 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
26224 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
26226 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
26227 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
26228 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
26231 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
26233 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
26237 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
26239 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
26240 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for canceling and
26241 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
26242 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
26243 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
26244 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
26245 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
26246 The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
26249 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
26251 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
26252 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
26253 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
26254 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
26255 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
26258 Extended format specs.
26260 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
26261 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
26262 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
26263 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
26264 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
26265 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
26268 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
26270 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
26271 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
26272 out other articles.
26274 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
26276 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
26277 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
26278 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
26279 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
26282 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
26284 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
26285 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
26286 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
26289 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
26291 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
26292 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
26293 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
26294 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
26295 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
26296 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
26297 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
26298 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
26299 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
26300 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
26301 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
26304 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
26305 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
26308 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
26309 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
26310 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
26311 message, Message Manual}).
26314 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
26315 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
26317 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
26318 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
26319 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
26321 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
26325 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
26326 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
26328 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
26329 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
26330 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
26331 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
26334 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
26337 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
26340 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
26341 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
26344 The default for @code{message-forward-show-mml} changed to symbol @code{best}.
26346 The behaviour for the @code{best} value is to show @acronym{MML} (i.e.,
26347 convert to @acronym{MIME}) when appropriate. @acronym{MML} will not be
26348 used when forwarding signed or encrypted messages, as the conversion
26349 invalidate the digital signature.
26353 @subsubsection No Gnus
26356 New features in No Gnus:
26357 @c FIXME: Gnus 5.12?
26359 @include gnus-news.texi
26365 @section The Manual
26369 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
26370 either @code{texi2dvi}
26372 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
26373 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
26375 to get what you hold in your hands now.
26377 The following conventions have been used:
26382 This is a @samp{string}
26385 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
26388 This is a @file{file}
26391 This is a @code{symbol}
26395 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
26399 (setq flargnoze "yes")
26402 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
26405 (setq flumphel 'yes)
26408 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
26409 ever get them confused.
26413 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
26414 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
26415 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
26416 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
26417 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
26418 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
26419 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
26425 @node On Writing Manuals
26426 @section On Writing Manuals
26428 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
26429 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
26430 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
26431 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
26432 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
26433 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
26436 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
26437 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
26438 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
26441 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
26442 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
26447 @section Terminology
26449 @cindex terminology
26454 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
26455 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
26456 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
26457 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
26458 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
26462 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
26463 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
26464 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
26465 not posting, and replying is not following up.
26469 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
26473 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
26478 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
26479 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
26480 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
26481 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
26482 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
26483 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
26484 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
26485 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
26486 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
26489 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
26490 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
26491 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
26492 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
26493 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
26494 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
26496 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
26497 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
26498 access the articles.
26500 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
26501 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
26502 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
26507 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
26508 default, way of getting news.
26512 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
26513 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
26518 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
26519 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
26523 A message that has been posted as news.
26526 @cindex mail message
26527 A message that has been mailed.
26531 A mail message or news article
26535 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
26540 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
26545 A line from the head of an article.
26549 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
26550 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
26552 @item @acronym{NOV}
26553 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
26554 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
26555 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
26556 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
26557 normal @sc{head} format.
26561 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
26562 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
26563 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
26564 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
26565 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
26566 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
26568 @item killed groups
26569 @cindex killed groups
26570 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
26571 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
26573 @item zombie groups
26574 @cindex zombie groups
26575 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
26578 @cindex active file
26579 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
26580 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
26581 is rather large, as you might surmise.
26584 @cindex bogus groups
26585 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
26586 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
26587 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
26590 @cindex activating groups
26591 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
26592 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
26593 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
26597 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
26599 @item select method
26600 @cindex select method
26601 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
26604 @item virtual server
26605 @cindex virtual server
26606 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
26607 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
26608 whole is a virtual server.
26612 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
26613 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
26616 @item ephemeral groups
26617 @cindex ephemeral groups
26618 @cindex temporary groups
26619 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
26620 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
26621 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
26624 @cindex solid groups
26625 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
26626 group buffer are solid groups.
26628 @item sparse articles
26629 @cindex sparse articles
26630 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
26631 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
26635 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
26636 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
26640 @cindex thread root
26641 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
26642 articles in the thread.
26646 An article that has responses.
26650 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
26654 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
26655 specified by RFC 1153.
26658 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
26659 @cindex mail sorting
26660 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
26661 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
26662 incorrectly called mail filtering.
26668 @node Customization
26669 @section Customization
26670 @cindex general customization
26672 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
26673 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
26674 for some quite common situations.
26677 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
26678 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
26679 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
26680 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
26684 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
26685 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
26687 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
26688 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
26689 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
26693 @item gnus-read-active-file
26694 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
26695 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
26696 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26697 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
26698 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
26700 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
26701 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
26702 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
26703 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
26707 @node Slow Terminal Connection
26708 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
26710 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
26711 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
26712 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
26716 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
26717 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
26718 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
26719 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
26720 horizontal and vertical recentering.
26722 @item gnus-visible-headers
26723 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
26724 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
26725 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
26726 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
26728 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
26730 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
26731 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
26732 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
26735 @item gnus-use-full-window
26736 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
26737 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
26738 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
26739 want to read them anyway.
26741 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
26742 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
26746 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
26747 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
26748 lines, which might save some time.
26752 @node Little Disk Space
26753 @subsection Little Disk Space
26756 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
26757 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
26761 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
26762 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
26763 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26764 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26767 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
26768 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
26769 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
26770 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
26773 @item gnus-save-killed-list
26774 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
26775 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
26776 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
26777 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
26783 @subsection Slow Machine
26784 @cindex slow machine
26786 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
26787 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
26789 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
26790 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
26792 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
26793 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
26794 summary buffer faster.
26798 @node Troubleshooting
26799 @section Troubleshooting
26800 @cindex troubleshooting
26802 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
26810 Make sure your computer is switched on.
26813 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
26814 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
26818 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
26819 like @samp{T-gnus 6.17.* (based on Gnus v5.10.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
26820 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. Otherwise you have some old
26821 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
26824 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
26825 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
26828 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
26829 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
26830 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
26831 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
26832 something like that.
26835 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
26838 @cindex reporting bugs
26840 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26842 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
26843 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
26844 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
26845 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
26847 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
26848 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
26849 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
26850 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
26853 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
26854 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
26855 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
26856 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
26857 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
26858 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
26860 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
26861 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
26862 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
26866 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
26867 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
26870 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
26871 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
26872 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
26873 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
26874 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
26875 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
26876 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
26877 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
26878 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
26879 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
26880 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
26881 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
26882 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
26883 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
26888 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
26889 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
26890 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
26891 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
26892 helps isolating the real problem areas).
26894 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
26895 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
26896 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
26897 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
26898 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
26899 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
26900 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
26901 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
26902 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
26903 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
26904 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
26905 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
26906 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
26909 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
26910 @cindex ding mailing list
26911 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
26912 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
26913 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
26914 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
26918 @node Gnus Reference Guide
26919 @section Gnus Reference Guide
26921 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
26922 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
26923 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
26924 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
26927 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
26928 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
26929 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
26930 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
26931 and general methods of operation.
26934 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
26935 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
26936 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
26937 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
26938 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
26939 * Group Info:: The group info format.
26940 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
26941 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
26942 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
26946 @node Gnus Utility Functions
26947 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
26948 @cindex Gnus utility functions
26949 @cindex utility functions
26951 @cindex internal variables
26953 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
26954 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
26955 Below is a list of the most common ones.
26959 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
26960 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
26961 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
26963 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
26964 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
26965 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
26967 @item gnus-group-real-name
26968 @findex gnus-group-real-name
26969 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
26972 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
26973 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
26974 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
26975 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
26977 @item gnus-get-info
26978 @findex gnus-get-info
26979 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
26981 @item gnus-group-unread
26982 @findex gnus-group-unread
26983 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
26987 @findex gnus-active
26988 The active entry for @var{group}.
26990 @item gnus-set-active
26991 @findex gnus-set-active
26992 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
26994 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26995 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26996 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
26999 @item gnus-continuum-version
27000 @findex gnus-continuum-version
27001 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
27002 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
27005 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
27006 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
27007 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
27009 @item gnus-news-group-p
27010 @findex gnus-news-group-p
27011 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
27013 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
27014 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
27015 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
27017 @item gnus-server-to-method
27018 @findex gnus-server-to-method
27019 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
27021 @item gnus-server-equal
27022 @findex gnus-server-equal
27023 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
27025 @item gnus-group-native-p
27026 @findex gnus-group-native-p
27027 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
27029 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
27030 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
27031 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
27033 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
27034 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
27035 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
27037 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
27038 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
27039 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
27040 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
27042 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
27043 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
27044 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
27046 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
27047 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
27048 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
27050 @item gnus-check-backend-function
27051 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
27052 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
27053 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
27056 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
27060 @item gnus-read-method
27061 @findex gnus-read-method
27062 Prompts the user for a select method.
27067 @node Back End Interface
27068 @subsection Back End Interface
27070 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
27071 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
27072 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
27073 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
27074 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
27075 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
27077 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
27078 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
27079 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
27080 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
27081 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
27082 been opened, the function should fail.
27084 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
27085 name. Take this example:
27089 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
27090 (nntp-port-number 4324))
27093 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
27094 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
27096 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
27097 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
27098 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
27100 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
27101 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
27102 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
27104 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
27105 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
27106 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
27107 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
27108 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
27109 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
27112 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
27113 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
27114 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
27115 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
27118 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
27119 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
27120 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
27121 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
27122 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
27123 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
27124 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
27125 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
27126 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
27127 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
27129 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
27130 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
27131 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
27132 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
27133 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
27134 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
27135 of numbers as long as possible.
27137 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
27138 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
27139 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
27141 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
27144 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
27147 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
27148 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
27149 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
27150 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
27151 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
27152 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
27156 @node Required Back End Functions
27157 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
27161 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
27163 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
27164 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
27165 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
27166 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
27168 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
27169 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
27170 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
27171 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
27173 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
27174 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
27175 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
27176 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
27177 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
27178 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
27179 number, do maximum fetches.
27181 Here's an example HEAD:
27184 221 1056 Article retrieved.
27185 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
27186 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
27187 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
27188 Subject: Re: Something very droll
27189 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
27190 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
27192 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
27193 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
27194 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
27198 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
27199 these in the data buffer.
27201 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
27205 head = error / valid-head
27206 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
27207 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
27208 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
27209 header = <text> eol
27213 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
27215 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
27216 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
27220 nov-buffer = *nov-line
27221 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
27222 field = <text except TAB>
27225 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
27229 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
27231 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
27232 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
27234 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
27235 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
27236 server. In fact, it should do so.
27238 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
27239 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
27242 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
27244 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
27245 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
27248 There should be no data returned.
27251 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
27253 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
27254 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
27255 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
27256 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
27258 There should be no data returned.
27261 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
27263 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
27264 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
27265 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
27266 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
27268 There should be no data returned.
27271 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
27273 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
27275 There should be no data returned.
27278 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
27280 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
27281 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
27282 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
27283 it would be nice if that were possible.
27285 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
27286 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
27287 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
27288 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
27289 into its article buffer.
27291 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
27292 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
27293 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
27294 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
27295 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
27296 on successful article retrieval.
27299 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
27301 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
27302 making @var{group} the current group.
27304 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
27307 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
27310 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
27313 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
27314 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
27315 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
27316 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
27317 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
27318 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
27319 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
27320 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
27321 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
27325 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
27326 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
27327 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
27331 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
27333 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
27334 a no-op on most back ends.
27336 There should be no data returned.
27339 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
27341 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
27344 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
27347 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
27348 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
27351 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
27352 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
27353 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
27354 and the highest as 0.
27357 active-file = *active-line
27358 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
27360 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
27363 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
27364 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
27365 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
27368 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
27370 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
27371 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
27372 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
27373 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
27374 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
27375 clear if the posting could not be completed.
27377 There should be no result data from this function.
27382 @node Optional Back End Functions
27383 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
27387 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
27389 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
27390 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
27391 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
27393 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
27394 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
27395 former is in the same format as the data from
27396 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
27397 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
27400 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
27404 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
27406 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
27407 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
27408 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
27409 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
27410 should return a non-@code{nil} value.
27412 There should be no result data from this function.
27415 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
27417 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
27418 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
27419 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
27420 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
27421 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
27422 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
27423 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
27424 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
27426 There should be no result data from this function.
27429 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
27431 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
27432 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
27433 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
27434 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
27435 propagate the mark information to the server.
27437 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
27440 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
27443 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
27444 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
27445 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
27446 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
27447 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
27448 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
27449 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
27450 possible, not limit itself to these.
27452 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
27453 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
27454 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
27455 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
27457 An example action list:
27460 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
27461 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
27462 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
27465 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
27466 mark on (currently not used for anything).
27468 There should be no result data from this function.
27470 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
27472 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
27473 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
27474 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
27475 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
27476 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
27478 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
27479 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
27480 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
27483 There should be no result data from this function.
27486 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
27488 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
27489 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
27490 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
27491 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
27492 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
27493 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
27494 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
27495 local if that's practical.
27497 There should be no result data from this function.
27500 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
27502 The result data from this function should be a description of
27506 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
27508 description = <text>
27511 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
27513 The result data from this function should be the description of all
27514 groups available on the server.
27517 description-buffer = *description-line
27521 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
27523 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
27524 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
27525 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
27526 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
27527 in the active buffer format.
27529 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
27530 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
27531 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
27532 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
27533 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
27534 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
27535 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
27538 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
27540 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
27542 There should be no return data.
27545 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
27547 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
27548 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
27549 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
27550 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
27551 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
27554 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
27557 There should be no result data returned.
27560 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
27562 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
27563 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
27565 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
27566 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
27567 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
27568 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
27569 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
27570 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
27572 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
27573 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
27576 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
27577 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
27579 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
27580 article for that group.
27582 There should be no data returned.
27585 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
27587 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
27588 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
27589 this function in short order.
27591 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
27592 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
27594 There should be no data returned.
27597 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
27599 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
27600 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
27602 There should be no data returned.
27605 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
27607 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
27608 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
27609 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
27611 There should be no data returned.
27614 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
27616 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
27617 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
27619 There should be no data returned.
27624 @node Error Messaging
27625 @subsubsection Error Messaging
27627 @findex nnheader-report
27628 @findex nnheader-get-report
27629 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
27630 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
27631 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
27632 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
27633 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
27634 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
27637 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
27639 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
27642 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
27643 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
27644 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
27645 takes one argument---the server symbol.
27647 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
27648 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
27649 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
27652 @node Writing New Back Ends
27653 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
27655 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
27656 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
27657 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
27658 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
27659 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
27662 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
27663 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
27664 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
27666 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
27667 package called @code{nnoo}.
27669 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
27670 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
27676 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
27677 parameters. For instance:
27680 (nnoo-declare nndir
27684 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
27685 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
27688 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
27689 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
27690 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
27692 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
27693 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
27694 a function in those back ends.
27697 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27698 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27699 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27702 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
27703 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
27704 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
27706 @item nnoo-define-basics
27707 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
27711 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27715 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
27716 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
27717 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
27719 @item nnoo-map-functions
27720 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
27721 functions from the parent back ends.
27724 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27725 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27726 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
27729 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
27730 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
27731 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
27732 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
27735 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
27736 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
27737 haven't already been defined.
27743 nnmh-request-newgroups)
27747 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
27748 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
27749 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
27754 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
27757 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
27758 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
27762 (require 'nnheader)
27766 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
27768 (nnoo-declare nndir
27771 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
27772 "Where nndir will look for groups."
27773 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
27775 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
27776 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
27779 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
27781 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
27782 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
27783 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
27785 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
27786 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
27788 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
27790 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
27792 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
27793 (setq nndir-directory
27794 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
27796 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
27797 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
27798 (push `(nndir-current-group
27799 ,(file-name-nondirectory
27800 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27802 (push `(nndir-top-directory
27803 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
27805 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
27807 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
27808 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27809 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
27810 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
27811 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
27815 nnmh-status-message
27817 nnmh-request-newgroups))
27823 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27824 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27826 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
27827 @findex gnus-declare-backend
27828 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
27829 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
27830 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
27832 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
27833 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
27838 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
27841 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
27843 The abilities can be:
27847 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
27849 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
27851 This back end supports both mail and news.
27853 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
27856 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
27857 articles and groups.
27859 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
27860 true for almost all back ends.
27861 @item prompt-address
27862 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
27863 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
27864 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
27868 @node Mail-like Back Ends
27869 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
27871 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
27872 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
27873 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
27874 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
27877 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
27878 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
27879 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
27882 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
27883 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
27886 This function takes four parameters.
27890 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
27893 @item exit-function
27894 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
27896 @item temp-directory
27897 Where the temporary files should be stored.
27900 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
27901 performed for one group only.
27904 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
27905 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
27906 find the article number assigned to this article.
27908 The function also uses the following variables:
27909 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
27910 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
27911 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
27912 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
27916 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
27917 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
27921 @node Score File Syntax
27922 @subsection Score File Syntax
27924 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
27925 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
27926 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
27928 Here's a typical score file:
27932 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
27939 BNF definition of a score file:
27942 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
27943 element = rule / atom
27944 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
27945 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
27946 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
27947 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
27949 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
27950 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
27951 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
27952 date-header = "date"
27953 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27954 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27955 score = "nil" / <integer>
27956 date = "nil" / <natural number>
27957 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
27958 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
27959 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
27960 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
27961 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27962 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27963 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
27964 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27965 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
27966 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
27967 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
27968 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
27969 exclude-files / read-only / touched
27970 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
27971 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
27972 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
27973 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
27974 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
27975 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
27976 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
27977 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
27978 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
27979 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
27980 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
27981 eval = "eval" space <form>
27982 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
27985 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
27988 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
27989 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
27990 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
27991 one looong line, then that's ok.
27993 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
27994 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27998 @subsection Headers
28000 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
28001 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
28002 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
28003 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
28005 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
28006 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
28007 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
28008 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
28009 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
28010 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
28011 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
28013 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
28014 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
28015 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
28016 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
28017 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
28019 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
28020 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
28026 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
28027 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
28029 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
28030 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
28031 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
28032 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
28034 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
28038 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
28041 is transformed into
28044 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
28047 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
28048 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
28051 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
28054 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
28055 is slightly tricky:
28058 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
28064 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
28067 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
28073 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
28080 and is equal to the previous range.
28082 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
28083 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
28084 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
28088 range = simple-range / normal-range
28089 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
28090 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
28091 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
28092 number *[ " " contents ]
28095 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
28096 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
28097 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
28098 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
28099 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
28104 @subsection Group Info
28106 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
28107 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
28108 describes the group.
28110 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
28111 second is a more complex one:
28114 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
28116 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
28117 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
28119 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
28122 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
28123 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
28124 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
28125 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
28126 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
28127 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
28128 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
28129 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
28130 this section is about.
28132 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
28133 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
28134 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
28136 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
28139 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
28140 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
28141 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
28142 group = quote <string> quote
28143 ralevel = rank / level
28144 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
28145 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
28146 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
28148 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
28149 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
28150 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
28151 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
28154 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
28155 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
28158 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
28159 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
28162 @item gnus-info-group
28163 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
28164 @findex gnus-info-group
28165 @findex gnus-info-set-group
28166 Get/set the group name.
28168 @item gnus-info-rank
28169 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
28170 @findex gnus-info-rank
28171 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
28172 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
28174 @item gnus-info-level
28175 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
28176 @findex gnus-info-level
28177 @findex gnus-info-set-level
28178 Get/set the group level.
28180 @item gnus-info-score
28181 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
28182 @findex gnus-info-score
28183 @findex gnus-info-set-score
28184 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
28186 @item gnus-info-read
28187 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
28188 @findex gnus-info-read
28189 @findex gnus-info-set-read
28190 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
28192 @item gnus-info-marks
28193 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
28194 @findex gnus-info-marks
28195 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
28196 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
28198 @item gnus-info-method
28199 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
28200 @findex gnus-info-method
28201 @findex gnus-info-set-method
28202 Get/set the group select method.
28204 @item gnus-info-params
28205 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
28206 @findex gnus-info-params
28207 @findex gnus-info-set-params
28208 Get/set the group parameters.
28211 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
28212 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
28214 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
28215 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
28216 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
28217 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
28220 @node Extended Interactive
28221 @subsection Extended Interactive
28222 @cindex interactive
28223 @findex gnus-interactive
28225 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
28226 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
28227 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
28230 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
28231 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
28236 The best thing to do would have been to implement
28237 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
28238 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
28239 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
28240 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
28241 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
28242 @code{interactive}.
28244 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
28249 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
28250 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
28254 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
28255 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
28256 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
28259 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
28263 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
28267 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
28273 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
28274 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
28278 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
28279 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
28280 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
28282 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
28283 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
28284 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
28285 Gnus, that's very useful.
28287 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
28288 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
28289 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
28290 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
28291 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
28292 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
28293 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
28294 following function:
28297 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
28301 (,function ,@@args))
28305 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
28306 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
28307 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
28310 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
28311 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
28312 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
28314 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
28315 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
28316 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
28319 @node Various File Formats
28320 @subsection Various File Formats
28323 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
28324 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
28328 @node Active File Format
28329 @subsubsection Active File Format
28331 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
28332 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
28335 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
28338 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
28339 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
28340 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
28341 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
28342 no.general 1000 900 y
28345 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
28348 active = *group-line
28349 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
28350 group = <non-white-space string>
28352 high-number = <non-negative integer>
28353 low-number = <positive integer>
28354 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
28357 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
28358 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
28361 @node Newsgroups File Format
28362 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
28364 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
28365 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
28366 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
28369 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
28370 Here's the definition:
28374 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
28375 group = <non-white-space string>
28377 description = <string>
28382 @node Emacs for Heathens
28383 @section Emacs for Heathens
28385 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
28386 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
28387 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
28388 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
28389 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
28390 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
28391 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
28395 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
28396 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
28401 @subsection Keystrokes
28405 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
28408 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
28411 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
28412 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
28413 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
28414 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
28415 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
28416 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
28418 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
28419 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
28420 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
28421 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
28422 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
28423 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
28424 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
28426 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
28427 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
28428 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
28429 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
28430 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
28431 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
28432 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
28434 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
28435 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
28436 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
28437 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
28438 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
28444 @subsection Emacs Lisp
28446 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
28447 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
28448 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
28449 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
28451 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
28452 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
28453 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
28454 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
28455 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
28456 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
28457 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
28460 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
28461 write the following:
28464 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
28467 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
28468 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
28469 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
28472 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
28473 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
28474 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
28475 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
28476 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
28478 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
28479 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
28480 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
28484 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
28488 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
28491 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
28492 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
28495 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
28498 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
28499 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
28502 @include gnus-faq.texi
28522 @c Local Variables:
28524 @c coding: iso-8859-1