4 @settitle T-gnus 6.16 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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287 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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296 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
298 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
301 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
302 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
303 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
304 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
305 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
306 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
307 License'' in the Emacs manual.
309 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
310 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
311 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
313 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
314 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
315 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
316 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
324 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
326 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003
327 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
329 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
330 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
331 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
332 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
333 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
334 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
335 License'' in the Emacs manual.
337 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
338 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
339 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
341 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
342 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
343 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
344 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
350 @title T-gnus 6.16 Manual
352 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
355 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
356 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001,
358 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
360 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
361 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
362 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
363 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
364 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
365 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
366 License'' in the Emacs manual.
368 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
369 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
370 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
372 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
373 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
374 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
375 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
384 @top The gnus Newsreader
388 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using T-gnus. The news
389 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@acronym{NNTP}, local
390 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
393 T-gnus provides @acronym{MIME} features based on @acronym{SEMI} API. So
394 T-gnus supports your right to read strange messages including big images
395 or other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
396 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
397 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities. Oh,
398 if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
400 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.16.
411 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
412 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
414 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
415 being accused of plagiarism:
417 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
418 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
419 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
420 can even read news with it!
422 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
423 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
424 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
425 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
426 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
432 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
433 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
434 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
435 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
436 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
437 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
438 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
439 * Various:: General purpose settings.
440 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
441 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, @acronym{FAQ}, History, Internals.
442 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
443 * Key Index:: Key Index.
445 Other related manuals
447 * Message:(message). Composing messages.
448 * Emacs-MIME:(emacs-mime). Composing messages; @acronym{MIME}-specific parts.
449 * Sieve:(sieve). Managing Sieve scripts in Emacs.
450 * PGG:(pgg). @acronym{PGP/MIME} with Gnus.
453 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
457 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
458 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
459 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
460 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
461 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
462 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
463 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
464 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
465 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
466 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
467 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
471 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
472 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
473 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
477 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
478 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
479 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
480 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
481 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
482 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
483 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
484 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
485 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
486 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
487 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
488 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
489 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
490 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
491 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
492 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
493 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
497 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
498 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
499 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
503 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
504 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
505 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
506 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
507 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
511 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
512 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
513 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
514 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
515 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
519 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
520 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
521 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
522 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
523 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
524 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
525 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
526 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
527 * Threading:: How threads are made.
528 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
529 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
530 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
531 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
532 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
533 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
534 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
535 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
536 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
537 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
538 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
539 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
540 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
541 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
542 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
543 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
544 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
545 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
546 or reselecting the current group.
547 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
548 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
549 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
550 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
552 Summary Buffer Format
554 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
555 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
556 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
557 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
561 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
562 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
564 Reply, Followup and Post
566 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
567 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
568 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
569 * Canceling and Superseding::
573 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
574 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
575 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
576 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
577 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
578 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
582 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
583 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
585 Customizing Threading
587 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
588 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
589 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
590 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
594 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
595 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
596 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
597 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
598 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
599 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
603 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
604 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
605 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
609 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
610 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
611 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
612 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
613 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
614 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
615 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
616 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
617 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
618 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
619 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
621 Alternative Approaches
623 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
624 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
626 Various Summary Stuff
628 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
629 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
630 * Summary Generation Commands::
631 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
635 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
636 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
637 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
638 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
639 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
643 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
644 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
645 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
646 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
647 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
648 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
649 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
650 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
654 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
655 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
656 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
657 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
658 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
659 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
660 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
661 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
665 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
666 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
667 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
668 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
669 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
670 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
671 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
675 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
676 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
680 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
681 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
682 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
686 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
687 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
688 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
689 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
690 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
691 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
692 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
693 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
694 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
695 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
696 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
697 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
698 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
702 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
703 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
704 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
706 Choosing a Mail Back End
708 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
709 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
710 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
711 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
712 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
713 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
714 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
719 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
720 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
721 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
722 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
723 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
724 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
728 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
729 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
730 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
731 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
732 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
736 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
737 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
738 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
739 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
740 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
744 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
748 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
749 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
750 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
754 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
755 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
759 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
760 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
761 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
762 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
763 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
764 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
765 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
766 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
767 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
768 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
769 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
770 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
771 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
775 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
776 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
777 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
781 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
782 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
783 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
787 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
788 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
789 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
790 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
791 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
792 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
793 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
794 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
795 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
796 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
797 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
798 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
799 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
800 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
801 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
802 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
803 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
807 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
808 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
809 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
810 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
814 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
815 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
816 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
820 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
821 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
822 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
823 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
824 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
825 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
826 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
827 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
828 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
829 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
830 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
831 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
832 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
833 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
834 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
835 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
836 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
837 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
838 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
842 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
843 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
844 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
845 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
846 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
847 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
848 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
849 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
853 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
854 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
855 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
856 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
857 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
861 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
862 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
863 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
864 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
865 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
866 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
868 Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
870 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
872 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
873 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
875 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
877 * ifile spam filtering::
878 * spam-stat spam filtering::
880 * Extending the spam elisp package::
882 Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
884 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
885 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
886 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
890 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
891 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
892 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
893 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
894 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
895 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
896 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
897 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
898 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ.
902 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
903 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
904 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
905 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
906 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
907 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
908 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
909 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
910 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
914 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
915 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
916 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
917 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
918 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
919 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
923 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
924 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
925 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
926 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
930 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
931 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
932 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
933 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
934 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
935 * Group Info:: The group info format.
936 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
937 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
938 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
942 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
943 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
944 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
945 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
946 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
947 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
951 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
952 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
956 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
957 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
963 @chapter Starting gnus
968 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
969 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
972 @findex gnus-other-frame
973 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
974 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
975 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
977 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
978 variables in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file. This file is similar to
979 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
981 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
982 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
985 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
986 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
987 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
988 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
989 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
990 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
991 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
992 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
993 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
994 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
995 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
999 @node Finding the News
1000 @section Finding the News
1001 @cindex finding news
1003 @vindex gnus-select-method
1005 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
1006 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
1007 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
1008 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
1011 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @acronym{NNTP} server is where
1012 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
1015 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
1018 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
1021 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
1024 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
1025 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
1026 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
1028 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
1030 @cindex @acronym{NNTP} server
1031 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1032 @env{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1033 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1034 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter.
1035 If that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs
1036 as an @acronym{NNTP} server. That's a long shot, though.
1038 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1039 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1040 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1041 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1043 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1044 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1045 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1046 @acronym{NNTP} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1047 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1048 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1049 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1050 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1051 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1054 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1056 However, if you use one @acronym{NNTP} server regularly and are just
1057 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1058 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1059 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1060 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1061 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1063 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1065 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1066 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1067 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1068 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1069 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1070 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1073 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1074 you would typically set this variable to
1077 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1081 @node The First Time
1082 @section The First Time
1083 @cindex first time usage
1085 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1086 be subscribed by default.
1088 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1089 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1090 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1091 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1094 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1095 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1096 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1098 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1099 help you with most common problems.
1101 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1102 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1106 @node The Server is Down
1107 @section The Server is Down
1108 @cindex server errors
1110 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1111 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1112 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1114 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1115 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1116 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1117 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1118 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1119 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1120 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1122 @findex gnus-no-server
1123 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1125 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1126 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1127 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1128 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1129 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1130 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1131 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1135 @section Slave Gnusae
1138 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1139 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1140 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1141 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1143 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1144 @file{.newsrc} file.
1146 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1147 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1148 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1149 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1150 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1151 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1152 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1155 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1156 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1157 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1158 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1159 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1160 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1161 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1162 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1164 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1165 information in the normal (i.e., master) @file{.newsrc} file.
1167 If the @file{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1168 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1169 file. If you answer ``yes'', the unsaved changes to the master will be
1170 incorporated into the slave. If you answer ``no'', the slave may see some
1171 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1173 @node Fetching a Group
1174 @section Fetching a Group
1175 @cindex fetching a group
1177 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1178 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1179 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1180 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1181 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1182 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1188 @cindex subscription
1190 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1191 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1192 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1193 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1194 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1195 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1196 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1197 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1198 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1201 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1202 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1203 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1207 @node Checking New Groups
1208 @subsection Checking New Groups
1210 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1211 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1212 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1213 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1214 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1215 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1216 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1217 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1218 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1219 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1221 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1222 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1223 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1224 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1225 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1226 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1227 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1228 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1229 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1230 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1231 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1233 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1234 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1235 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1236 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1237 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1238 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1241 @node Subscription Methods
1242 @subsection Subscription Methods
1244 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1245 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1246 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1248 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1249 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1251 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1255 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1256 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1257 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1258 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1259 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1261 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1262 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1263 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1264 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1266 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1267 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1268 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1270 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1271 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1272 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1273 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1274 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1275 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1276 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1277 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1278 up. Or something like that.
1280 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1281 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1282 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1283 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1284 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1286 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1287 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1288 Kill all new groups.
1290 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1291 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1292 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1293 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1294 topic parameter that looks like
1300 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1303 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1308 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1309 A closely related variable is
1310 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1311 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1312 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1313 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1316 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1317 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1318 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1319 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1322 @node Filtering New Groups
1323 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1325 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1326 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1327 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1330 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1333 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1334 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1335 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1336 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1337 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1338 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1339 subscribing these groups.
1340 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1341 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1343 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1344 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1345 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1346 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1347 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1348 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1349 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1350 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1352 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1353 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1354 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1355 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1356 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1357 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1358 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1359 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1360 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1361 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1364 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1365 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1368 @node Changing Servers
1369 @section Changing Servers
1370 @cindex changing servers
1372 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another.
1373 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1374 very flaky and you want to use another.
1376 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1377 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1381 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1382 @acronym{NNTP} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1383 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1384 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1387 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1388 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1389 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1390 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1392 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1393 @findex gnus-change-server
1394 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1395 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1396 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1397 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1398 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1400 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1401 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1402 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1403 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1404 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1406 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1407 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1408 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1409 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1410 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1411 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1413 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1414 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1415 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1416 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1418 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1419 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1420 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1421 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1422 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1423 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1424 cache for all groups).
1428 @section Startup Files
1429 @cindex startup files
1434 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1435 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1437 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1438 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1439 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1440 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1441 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1442 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1443 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1445 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1446 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1447 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1448 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1449 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1450 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1452 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1453 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1454 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1455 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1456 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1457 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1458 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1459 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1460 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1461 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1463 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1464 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1465 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1466 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1467 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1468 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1469 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1470 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1471 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1472 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1473 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1474 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1476 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1477 @vindex gnus-backup-startup-file
1478 @vindex version-control
1479 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1480 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1481 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1482 If you want version control for this file, set
1483 @code{gnus-backup-startup-file}. It respects the same values as the
1484 @code{version-control} variable.
1486 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1487 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1488 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1489 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1490 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1491 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1492 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1493 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1494 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1495 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1498 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1499 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1501 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1502 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1505 @vindex gnus-init-file
1506 @vindex gnus-site-init-file
1507 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1508 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1509 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1510 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1511 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1512 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1513 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1514 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1515 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1521 @cindex dribble file
1524 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1525 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1526 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1527 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1528 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1531 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1532 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1535 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1536 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1537 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1539 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1540 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1541 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1542 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1543 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1544 file permissions as the @file{.newsrc} file.
1546 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1547 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1548 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1551 @node The Active File
1552 @section The Active File
1554 @cindex ignored groups
1556 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1557 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1558 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1560 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1561 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1562 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1563 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1564 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1565 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1566 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1569 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1570 @c if you set it to anything else.
1572 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1574 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1575 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1576 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1578 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1579 you actually subscribe to.
1581 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1582 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1583 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1584 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1586 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1587 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1588 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1589 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1590 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1591 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1593 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1594 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1595 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1598 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1599 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1600 @acronym{NNTP} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1601 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1602 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1603 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1605 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1606 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1608 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1609 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1611 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1612 secondary select methods.
1615 @node Startup Variables
1616 @section Startup Variables
1620 @item gnus-load-hook
1621 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1622 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1623 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1624 times you start gnus.
1626 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1627 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1628 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1630 @item gnus-startup-hook
1631 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1632 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1634 @item gnus-started-hook
1635 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1636 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1639 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1640 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1641 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1642 generating the group buffer.
1644 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1645 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1646 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1647 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1648 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1649 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1650 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1651 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1653 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1654 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1655 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1656 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1657 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1658 @file{~/.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @file{.emacs} instead.
1660 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1661 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1662 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1664 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1665 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1666 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1668 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1669 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1670 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1671 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1677 @chapter Group Buffer
1678 @cindex group buffer
1680 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1682 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1683 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1684 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1685 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1686 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1687 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1688 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1689 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1690 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1691 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1692 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1693 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1694 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1695 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1696 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1697 @c human rights at 9...
1700 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1701 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1702 long as gnus is active.
1706 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1707 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1708 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1709 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1710 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1711 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1712 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1713 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1719 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1720 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1721 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1722 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1723 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1724 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1725 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1726 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1727 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1728 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1729 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1730 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1731 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1732 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1733 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1734 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1735 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1739 @node Group Buffer Format
1740 @section Group Buffer Format
1743 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1744 * Group Mode Line Specification:: The group buffer mode line.
1745 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1749 @node Group Line Specification
1750 @subsection Group Line Specification
1751 @cindex group buffer format
1753 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1754 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1756 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1759 25: news.announce.newusers
1760 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1765 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1766 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1767 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1768 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1770 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1771 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1772 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1773 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1774 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1775 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1777 @samp{%M%S%5y:%B%(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1779 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1780 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1781 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1782 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1783 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1785 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1786 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1787 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1789 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1794 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1797 Whether the group is subscribed.
1800 Level of subscribedness.
1803 Number of unread articles.
1806 Number of dormant articles.
1809 Number of ticked articles.
1812 Number of read articles.
1815 Number of unseen articles.
1818 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1819 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1821 Gnus uses this estimation because the @acronym{NNTP} protocol provides
1822 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1823 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1824 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1825 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1826 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1827 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1828 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1831 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1834 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1843 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1844 comment element in the group parameters.
1847 Newsgroup description. You need to read the group descriptions
1848 before these will appear, and to do that, you either have to set
1849 @code{gnus-read-active-file} or use the group buffer @kbd{M-d}
1853 @samp{m} if moderated.
1856 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1862 If the summary buffer for the group is open or not.
1868 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1872 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1875 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1876 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1877 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1878 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1879 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1882 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1884 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1888 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1891 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1895 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1896 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1897 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1898 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1899 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1900 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1905 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1906 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1907 group, or a bogus native group.
1910 @node Group Mode Line Specification
1911 @subsection Group Mode Line Specification
1912 @cindex group mode line
1914 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1915 The mode line can be changed by setting
1916 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1917 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1921 The native news server.
1923 The native select method.
1927 @node Group Highlighting
1928 @subsection Group Highlighting
1929 @cindex highlighting
1930 @cindex group highlighting
1932 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1933 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1934 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1935 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1936 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1938 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1942 (cond (window-system
1943 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1944 (defface my-group-face-1
1945 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1946 (defface my-group-face-2
1947 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t)))
1948 "Second group face")
1949 (defface my-group-face-3
1950 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1951 (defface my-group-face-4
1952 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1953 (defface my-group-face-5
1954 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1956 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1957 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1958 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1959 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1960 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1961 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1964 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1966 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1973 The number of unread articles in the group.
1977 Whether the group is a mail group.
1979 The level of the group.
1981 The score of the group.
1983 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1985 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather,
1986 @var{max-number} minus @var{min-number} plus one.
1988 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1989 topic being inserted.
1992 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1993 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1994 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1996 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1997 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1998 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1999 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
2000 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
2003 @node Group Maneuvering
2004 @section Group Maneuvering
2005 @cindex group movement
2007 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
2008 expected, hopefully.
2014 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
2015 Go to the next group that has unread articles
2016 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
2022 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
2023 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
2024 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
2028 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2029 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2033 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2034 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2038 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
2039 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
2040 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
2044 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
2045 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
2046 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2049 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2055 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2056 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2057 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2062 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2063 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2064 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2068 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2069 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2070 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2073 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2074 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2075 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2076 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2080 @node Selecting a Group
2081 @section Selecting a Group
2082 @cindex group selection
2087 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2088 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2089 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2090 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2091 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2092 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2093 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{n}, @var{n}
2094 determines the number of articles Gnus will fetch. If @var{n} is
2095 positive, Gnus fetches the @var{n} newest articles, if @var{n} is
2096 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{n})} oldest articles.
2098 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2099 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2100 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2102 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2103 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2108 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2109 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2110 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2111 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2112 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2116 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2117 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2118 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2119 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2120 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2121 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2122 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2123 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2124 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2125 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2128 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2129 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2130 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2131 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2132 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2135 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2136 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2137 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2138 doing any processing of its contents
2139 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2140 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2141 manner will have no permanent effects.
2145 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2146 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what Gnus should
2147 consider to be a big group. If it is @code{nil}, no groups are
2148 considered big. The default value is 200. If the group has more
2149 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2150 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many
2151 articles should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a
2152 negative number (@var{-n}), the @var{n} oldest articles will be
2153 fetched. If it is positive, the @var{n} articles that have arrived
2154 most recently will be fetched.
2156 @vindex gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup
2157 @code{gnus-large-ephemeral-newsgroup} is the same as
2158 @code{gnus-large-newsgroup}, but is only used for ephemeral
2161 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2162 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2163 @vindex gnus-auto-select-subject
2164 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2165 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2166 Which article this is is controlled by the
2167 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2173 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2176 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2179 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2181 @item unseen-or-unread
2182 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2183 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2187 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2191 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2192 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2194 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2195 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2196 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2197 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2201 @node Subscription Commands
2202 @section Subscription Commands
2203 @cindex subscription
2211 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2212 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2213 Toggle subscription to the current group
2214 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2220 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2221 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2222 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2223 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2229 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2230 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2231 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2237 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2238 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2241 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2242 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2243 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2244 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2245 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2251 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2252 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2256 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2257 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2260 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2261 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2262 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2263 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2264 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2265 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2266 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2267 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2268 @file{.newsrc} file.
2272 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2282 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2283 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2284 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2285 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2286 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2287 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2292 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2293 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2294 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2298 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2299 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2300 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2302 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2303 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2304 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2305 If you have switched from one @acronym{NNTP} server to another, all your marks
2306 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2307 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2314 @section Group Levels
2318 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2319 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2320 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2321 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2322 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2324 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2330 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2331 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2332 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2333 prompted for a level.
2336 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2337 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2338 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2339 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2340 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2341 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2342 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2343 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2344 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2345 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2346 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2347 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2348 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2349 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2350 reasons of efficiency.
2352 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2353 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2355 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2356 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2357 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2358 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2359 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2360 groups are hidden, in a way.
2362 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2363 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2364 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2365 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2366 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2367 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2369 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2370 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2371 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2372 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2373 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2374 list of killed groups.)
2376 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2377 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2378 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2380 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2381 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2382 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2383 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2384 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2385 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2386 relevant valid ranges.
2388 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2389 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2390 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2391 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2392 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2393 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2396 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2397 one with the best level.
2399 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2400 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2401 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2404 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2405 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2406 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2407 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2410 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2411 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2412 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2413 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2415 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2416 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2417 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2418 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2419 to 5. The default is 6.
2423 @section Group Score
2428 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2429 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2430 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2433 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2434 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2435 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2436 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2437 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2438 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2439 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2440 least significant part.))
2442 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2443 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2444 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2445 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2446 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2447 action after each summary exit, you can add
2448 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2449 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2450 slow things down somewhat.
2453 @node Marking Groups
2454 @section Marking Groups
2455 @cindex marking groups
2457 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2458 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2459 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2460 bidding on those groups.
2462 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2463 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2464 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2472 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2473 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2479 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2480 Remove the mark from the current group
2481 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2485 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2486 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2490 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2491 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2495 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2496 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2500 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2501 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2502 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2505 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2507 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2508 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2509 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2510 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2511 the command to be executed.
2514 @node Foreign Groups
2515 @section Foreign Groups
2516 @cindex foreign groups
2518 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2519 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2520 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2521 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2528 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2529 @cindex making groups
2530 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2531 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2532 to subscribe to @acronym{NNTP} groups (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
2536 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2537 @cindex renaming groups
2538 Rename the current group to something else
2539 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2540 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2546 @findex gnus-group-customize
2547 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2551 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2552 @cindex renaming groups
2553 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2554 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2558 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2559 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2560 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2564 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2565 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2566 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2570 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2572 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2573 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2578 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2579 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2583 @cindex (ding) archive
2584 @cindex archive group
2585 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2586 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2587 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2588 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2589 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2590 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2591 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2595 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2597 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2598 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2599 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2600 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2604 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2606 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2607 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2608 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2612 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2613 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2615 Make a group based on some file or other
2616 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2617 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2618 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2619 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2620 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2621 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2622 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2623 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2624 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2628 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2629 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2630 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2631 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2635 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2639 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2640 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2641 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2642 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2643 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2644 @xref{Web Searches}.
2646 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2647 to a particular group by using a match string like
2648 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2651 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2652 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2653 This function will delete the current group
2654 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2655 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2656 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2657 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2658 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2662 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2663 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2664 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2668 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2669 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2670 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2673 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2676 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2677 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2678 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2679 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2680 groups from different @acronym{NNTP} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2681 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2685 @node Group Parameters
2686 @section Group Parameters
2687 @cindex group parameters
2689 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2690 Here's an example group parameter list:
2693 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2697 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing before
2698 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2699 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2700 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2702 Some parameters have correspondent customizable variables, each of which
2703 is an alist of regexps and values.
2705 The following group parameters can be used:
2710 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2713 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2716 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2717 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2718 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2719 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2720 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2722 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2723 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2724 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2725 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2726 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2727 list address instead.
2729 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2733 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2736 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2739 It is totally ignored
2740 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2741 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2743 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2744 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2745 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2746 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2747 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2749 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2750 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2751 sending the message.
2753 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2754 @cindex mail list groups
2755 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2756 entering summary buffer.
2758 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2763 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2764 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2765 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2766 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2767 headers for your posts to these lists. @xref{Mailing Lists, ,Mailing
2768 Lists, message, The Message Manual}, for a complete treatment of
2769 available MFT support.
2771 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2772 directly uses this group parameter.
2776 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2777 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2778 of whether it has any unread articles.
2780 @item broken-reply-to
2781 @cindex broken-reply-to
2782 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2783 headers in this group are to be ignored, and for the header to be hidden
2784 if @code{reply-to} is part of @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}. This
2785 can be useful if you're reading a mailing list group where the listserv
2786 has inserted @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv
2787 itself. That is broken behavior. So there!
2791 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2792 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2796 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2797 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2798 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2803 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2804 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2805 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2806 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2807 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2808 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2809 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2811 @strong{Caveat}: It yields an error putting @code{(gcc-self . t)} in
2812 groups of an @code{nntp} server or so, because an @code{nntp} server
2813 doesn't accept articles.
2817 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2818 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2819 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2821 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2824 @cindex total-expire
2825 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2826 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2827 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2828 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2831 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2835 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2836 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2837 @code{(expiry-wait . 10)}, this value will override any
2838 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function}
2839 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}) when expiring expirable messages. The value
2840 can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or the
2841 symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2844 @cindex expiry-target
2845 Where expired messages end up. This parameter overrides
2846 @code{nnmail-expiry-target}.
2849 @cindex score file group parameter
2850 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2851 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2852 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2855 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2856 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2857 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2858 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2861 @cindex admin-address
2862 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2863 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2864 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2865 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2869 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2870 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2874 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2877 Display the last @var{integer} articles in the group. This is the same as
2878 entering the group with @kbd{C-u @var{integer}}.
2881 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2885 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2887 Here are some examples:
2891 Display only unread articles.
2894 Display everything except expirable articles.
2896 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2897 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2901 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2902 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2903 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2904 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2905 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2909 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2910 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2911 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2915 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2916 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2917 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2921 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2922 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2923 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2925 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2927 @item ignored-charsets
2928 @cindex ignored-charset
2929 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2930 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2931 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2933 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2936 @cindex posting-style
2937 You can store additional posting style information for this group
2938 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2939 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2940 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2941 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2943 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2944 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2945 like this in the group parameters:
2950 ("X-My-Header" "Funky Value")
2951 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2956 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2957 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2961 An item like @code{(banner . @var{regexp})} causes any part of an article
2962 that matches the regular expression @var{regexp} to be stripped. Instead of
2963 @var{regexp}, you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2964 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2965 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2969 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2970 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2971 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2972 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2974 For example, if the @samp{INBOX.list.sieve} group has the @code{(sieve
2975 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2976 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2977 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2980 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2981 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2985 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve,
2986 Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
2988 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2989 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2990 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2991 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2992 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2993 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2994 @code{eval}ed there.
2996 Note that this feature sets the variable locally to the summary buffer.
2997 But some variables are evaluated in the article buffer, or in the
2998 message buffer (of a reply or followup or otherwise newly created
2999 message). As a workaround, it might help to add the variable in
3000 question to @code{gnus-newsgroup-variables}. @xref{Various Summary
3001 Stuff}. So if you want to set @code{message-from-style} via the group
3002 parameters, then you may need the following statement elsewhere in your
3003 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3006 (add-to-list 'gnus-newsgroup-variables 'message-from-style)
3009 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
3010 A use for this feature is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
3011 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
3014 nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps
3017 has the tag @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this
3018 tag can be removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for
3019 the group by putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")}
3020 into the group parameters for the group.
3022 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
3023 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
3024 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
3025 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
3026 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
3030 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
3031 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
3032 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
3033 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
3034 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
3036 @vindex gnus-parameters
3037 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
3038 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
3042 (setq gnus-parameters
3044 (gnus-show-threads nil)
3045 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
3046 (gnus-summary-line-format
3047 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
3051 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
3055 (gnus-use-scoring t))
3059 (broken-reply-to . t))))
3062 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
3063 the @code{to-group} example shows.
3066 @node Listing Groups
3067 @section Listing Groups
3068 @cindex group listing
3070 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
3078 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
3079 List all groups that have unread articles
3080 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
3081 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
3082 only lists groups of level five (i.e.,
3083 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3090 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3091 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3092 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3093 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3094 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3095 unsubscribed groups).
3099 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3100 List all unread groups on a specific level
3101 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3102 with no unread articles.
3106 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3107 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3108 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3109 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3114 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3115 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3119 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3120 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3121 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3125 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3126 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3130 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3131 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3132 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3133 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3134 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3135 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3136 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3137 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3141 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3142 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3143 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3147 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3148 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3149 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3153 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3154 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3158 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3159 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3163 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3164 List groups limited within the current selection
3165 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3169 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3170 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3174 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3175 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3179 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3180 @cindex visible group parameter
3181 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3182 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3183 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3184 get the same effect.
3186 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3187 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3188 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3189 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3190 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3193 @node Sorting Groups
3194 @section Sorting Groups
3195 @cindex sorting groups
3197 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3198 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3199 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3200 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3201 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3202 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3207 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3208 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3209 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3211 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3212 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3213 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3215 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3216 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3217 Sort by group level.
3219 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3220 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3221 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3223 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3224 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3225 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3226 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3228 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3229 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3230 Sort by number of unread articles.
3232 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3233 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3234 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3236 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3237 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3238 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3243 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3244 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3248 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3249 some sorting criteria:
3253 @kindex G S a (Group)
3254 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3255 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3256 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3259 @kindex G S u (Group)
3260 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3261 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3262 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3265 @kindex G S l (Group)
3266 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3267 Sort the group buffer by group level
3268 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3271 @kindex G S v (Group)
3272 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3273 Sort the group buffer by group score
3274 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3277 @kindex G S r (Group)
3278 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3279 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3280 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3283 @kindex G S m (Group)
3284 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3285 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name@*
3286 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3289 @kindex G S n (Group)
3290 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name
3291 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3292 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-real-name}).
3296 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3297 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3299 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3300 commands will sort in reverse order.
3302 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3306 @kindex G P a (Group)
3307 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3308 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3309 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3312 @kindex G P u (Group)
3313 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3314 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3315 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3318 @kindex G P l (Group)
3319 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3320 Sort the groups by group level
3321 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3324 @kindex G P v (Group)
3325 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3326 Sort the groups by group score
3327 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3330 @kindex G P r (Group)
3331 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3332 Sort the groups by group rank
3333 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3336 @kindex G P m (Group)
3337 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3338 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name@*
3339 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3342 @kindex G P n (Group)
3343 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name
3344 Sort the groups alphabetically by real (unprefixed) group name
3345 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-real-name}).
3348 @kindex G P s (Group)
3349 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3350 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3354 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3358 @node Group Maintenance
3359 @section Group Maintenance
3360 @cindex bogus groups
3365 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3366 Find bogus groups and delete them
3367 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3371 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3372 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3373 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3374 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3375 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3379 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3380 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3381 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3382 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3383 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3384 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3387 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3388 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3389 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3390 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3395 @node Browse Foreign Server
3396 @section Browse Foreign Server
3397 @cindex foreign servers
3398 @cindex browsing servers
3403 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3404 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3405 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3406 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3409 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3410 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3411 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3412 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3414 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3419 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3420 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3424 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3425 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3428 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3429 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3430 Enter the current group and display the first article
3431 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3434 @kindex RET (Browse)
3435 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3436 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3440 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3441 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3442 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3448 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3449 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3453 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3454 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3458 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3459 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3460 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3465 @section Exiting gnus
3466 @cindex exiting gnus
3468 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3473 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3474 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3475 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3476 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3480 @findex gnus-group-exit
3481 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3482 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3486 @findex gnus-group-quit
3487 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3488 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3491 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3492 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3493 @vindex gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook
3494 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3495 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3496 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3502 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3503 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3504 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3510 @section Group Topics
3513 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3514 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3515 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3516 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3517 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3518 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3522 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3523 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3534 2: alt.religion.emacs
3537 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3539 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3540 13: comp.sources.unix
3543 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3545 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3546 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3547 is a toggling command.)
3549 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3550 dum@dots{} Nice tune, that@dots{} la la la@dots{} What, you're back?
3551 Yes, and now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed
3552 under @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy?
3555 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3556 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3557 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
3560 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3564 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3565 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3566 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3567 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3568 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3572 @node Topic Commands
3573 @subsection Topic Commands
3574 @cindex topic commands
3576 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3577 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3578 definitions slightly.
3580 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3581 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3582 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3583 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3584 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3585 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3587 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3594 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3595 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3596 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3600 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3602 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3603 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3604 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3605 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3608 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3609 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3610 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3611 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3615 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3616 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3617 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3618 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3624 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3625 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3626 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3630 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3631 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3632 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3635 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3636 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the ``cut'' part of cut and paste. Then,
3637 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the ``Gnus''
3638 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the ``paste'' part of cut and
3639 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3641 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3642 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3646 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3647 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3654 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3656 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3657 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3658 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3659 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3660 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3661 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3665 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3671 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3672 Move the current group to some other topic
3673 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3674 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3678 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3679 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3683 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3684 Copy the current group to some other topic
3685 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3686 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3690 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3691 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3692 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3696 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3697 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3698 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3702 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3703 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3704 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3705 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3706 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3707 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3708 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3711 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3712 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3716 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3717 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3718 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3722 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3723 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3724 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3728 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3729 Toggle hiding empty topics
3730 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3734 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3735 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3736 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3737 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3740 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3741 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3742 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3743 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}). This command works recursively on
3744 sub-topics unless given a prefix.
3747 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3748 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3749 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3750 expiry process (if any)
3751 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3755 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3756 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3759 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3760 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3761 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3765 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3766 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3767 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3770 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3771 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3772 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3775 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3776 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3777 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3781 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3782 @cindex group parameters
3783 @cindex topic parameters
3785 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3786 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3791 @node Topic Variables
3792 @subsection Topic Variables
3793 @cindex topic variables
3795 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3796 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3798 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3799 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3800 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3813 Number of groups in the topic.
3815 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3817 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3820 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3821 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3822 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3825 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3826 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3828 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3829 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3830 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3834 @subsection Topic Sorting
3835 @cindex topic sorting
3837 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3843 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3844 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3845 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3846 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3849 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3850 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3851 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3852 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3855 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3856 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3857 Sort the current topic by group level
3858 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3861 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3862 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3863 Sort the current topic by group score
3864 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3867 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3868 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3869 Sort the current topic by group rank
3870 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3873 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3874 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3875 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3876 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3879 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3880 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3881 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3882 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3886 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3887 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3888 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3889 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3893 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3894 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3898 @node Topic Topology
3899 @subsection Topic Topology
3900 @cindex topic topology
3903 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3910 2: alt.religion.emacs
3913 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3915 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3916 13: comp.sources.unix
3920 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3921 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3922 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3927 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3928 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3932 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3933 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3934 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3935 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3936 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3937 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3939 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3940 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3941 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3944 @node Topic Parameters
3945 @subsection Topic Parameters
3946 @cindex topic parameters
3948 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3949 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3950 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3952 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3957 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3958 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3959 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3962 @item subscribe-level
3963 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3964 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3965 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3969 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3970 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3971 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3972 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3978 2: alt.religion.emacs
3982 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3984 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3985 13: comp.sources.unix
3989 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3990 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3991 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3992 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3993 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3994 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3996 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3997 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3998 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3999 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
4000 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
4002 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
4003 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
4004 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
4005 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
4006 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
4007 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
4008 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
4009 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
4012 @node Misc Group Stuff
4013 @section Misc Group Stuff
4016 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
4017 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
4018 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
4019 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
4020 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
4027 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
4028 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
4029 @xref{Server Buffer}.
4033 @findex gnus-group-post-news
4034 Start composing a message (a news by default)
4035 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
4036 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
4037 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
4038 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
4039 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4043 @findex gnus-group-mail
4044 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
4045 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
4046 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
4047 @xref{Composing Messages}.
4051 @findex gnus-group-news
4052 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
4053 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
4054 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
4056 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
4057 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
4058 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
4059 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
4060 for this to work though.
4064 Variables for the group buffer:
4068 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
4069 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
4070 is called after the group buffer has been
4073 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
4074 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4075 is called after the group buffer is
4076 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
4079 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
4080 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
4081 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
4082 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
4084 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4085 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
4086 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
4087 whether they are empty or not.
4089 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4090 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4091 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
4092 non-@acronym{ASCII} group names.
4096 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4097 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4100 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4101 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4102 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4103 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4104 is used to show non-@acronym{ASCII} group names. @code{((".*"
4105 utf-8))} is the default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the
4106 default is @code{nil}.
4110 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4111 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4116 @node Scanning New Messages
4117 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4118 @cindex new messages
4119 @cindex scanning new news
4125 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4126 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4127 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4128 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4129 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4130 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4135 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4136 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4137 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4138 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4139 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4140 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4141 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4143 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4144 @cindex activating groups
4146 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4147 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4152 @findex gnus-group-restart
4153 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4154 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4155 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4159 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4160 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4162 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4163 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4167 @node Group Information
4168 @subsection Group Information
4169 @cindex group information
4170 @cindex information on groups
4177 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4178 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4181 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} for the current group
4182 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the @acronym{FAQ}
4183 from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on
4184 a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
4185 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4186 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be
4187 used for fetching the file.
4189 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4190 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4194 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4195 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4197 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4198 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Query for a group if given a
4201 Gnus will use @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of
4202 the charter. If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control
4203 messages for the group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4207 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4208 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4209 @cindex control message
4210 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4211 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}). Query for a
4212 group if given a prefix argument.
4214 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-@code{nil},
4215 Gnus will open the control messages in a browser using
4216 @code{browse-url}. Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp}
4217 and displayed in an ephemeral group.
4219 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4220 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode} (@pxref{Compressed
4221 Files, ,Compressed Files, emacs, The Emacs Manual}).
4225 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4227 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4228 @cindex describing groups
4229 @cindex group description
4230 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4231 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4232 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4236 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4237 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4238 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4245 @findex gnus-version
4246 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4250 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4251 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4254 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4257 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4258 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4262 @node Group Timestamp
4263 @subsection Group Timestamp
4265 @cindex group timestamps
4267 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4268 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4269 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4272 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4275 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4277 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4278 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4281 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4282 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4285 This will result in lines looking like:
4288 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4289 0: custom 19961002T012713
4292 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4293 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4297 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4298 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4301 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4302 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4306 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4307 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4308 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4309 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4311 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4317 @subsection File Commands
4318 @cindex file commands
4324 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4325 @vindex gnus-init-file
4326 @cindex reading init file
4327 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4328 @file{~/.gnus.el}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4332 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4333 @cindex saving .newsrc
4334 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4335 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4336 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4339 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4340 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4341 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4346 @node Sieve Commands
4347 @subsection Sieve Commands
4348 @cindex group sieve commands
4350 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4351 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4352 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4353 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4354 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4356 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4357 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4358 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4359 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4360 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4361 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4362 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4363 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4364 regenerate the Sieve script.
4366 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4367 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4368 is generated. If it is non-@code{nil} (the default) articles is
4369 placed in all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article
4370 is only placed in the group with the first matching rule. For
4371 example, the group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4372 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4373 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is @code{nil}. (When
4374 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-@code{nil}, it looks the same
4375 except that the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4378 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4379 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4384 @xref{Top, Emacs Sieve, Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4390 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4391 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4392 @cindex generating sieve script
4393 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4394 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4398 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4399 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4400 @cindex updating sieve script
4401 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4402 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4403 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4408 @node Summary Buffer
4409 @chapter Summary Buffer
4410 @cindex summary buffer
4412 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4413 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4415 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4416 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4418 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4421 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4422 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4423 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4424 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4425 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4426 * Delayed Articles:: Send articles at a later time.
4427 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4428 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4429 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4430 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4431 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4432 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4433 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4434 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4435 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4436 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4437 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4438 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4439 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4440 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4441 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4442 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4443 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4444 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4445 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4446 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4447 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4448 or reselecting the current group.
4449 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4450 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4451 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4452 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4456 @node Summary Buffer Format
4457 @section Summary Buffer Format
4458 @cindex summary buffer format
4462 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4463 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4464 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4470 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4471 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4472 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4473 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4476 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4477 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4478 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4479 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4480 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4481 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4482 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4483 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4484 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4485 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4486 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4487 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4488 other function instead:
4491 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4492 'mail-extract-address-components)
4495 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4496 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4497 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4498 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4501 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4502 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4504 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4505 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4506 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4507 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4508 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4510 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4511 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4512 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4513 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4514 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4515 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4517 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4519 The following format specification characters and extended format
4520 specification(s) are understood:
4526 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4527 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4529 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4530 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4531 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4533 Full @code{From} header.
4535 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4537 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4540 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4541 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4542 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4543 may be more thorough.
4545 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4548 Number of lines in the article.
4550 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4551 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4553 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4554 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4556 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4558 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4559 lines. A thread could be drawn like this:
4572 You can customize the appearance with the following options. Note
4573 that it is possible to make the thread display look really neat by
4574 replacing the default @acronym{ASCII} characters with graphic
4575 line-drawing glyphs.
4577 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4578 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-root
4579 Used for the root of a thread. If @code{nil}, use subject
4580 instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4582 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4583 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-false-root
4584 Used for the false root of a thread (@pxref{Loose Threads}). If
4585 @code{nil}, use subject instead. The default is @samp{> }.
4587 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4588 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-indent
4589 Used for a thread with just one message. If @code{nil}, use subject
4590 instead. The default is @samp{}.
4592 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4593 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-vertical
4594 Used for drawing a vertical line. The default is @samp{| }.
4596 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4597 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-indent
4598 Used for indenting. The default is @samp{ }.
4600 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4601 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-leaf-with-other
4602 Used for a leaf with brothers. The default is @samp{+-> }.
4604 @item gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4605 @vindex gnus-sum-thread-tree-single-leaf
4606 Used for a leaf without brothers. The default is @samp{\-> }
4611 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4612 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4614 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4615 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4617 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4618 for adopted articles.
4620 One space for each thread level.
4622 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4624 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4627 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4628 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4629 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4632 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4634 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4635 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4636 default level. If the difference between
4637 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4638 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4646 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4648 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4654 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4655 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4657 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4658 article has any children.
4664 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4665 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4667 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4668 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4669 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4670 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4671 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4672 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4675 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4676 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4677 There can only be one such area.
4679 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4680 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4681 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4682 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4683 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4684 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4686 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4687 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4689 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4692 @node To From Newsgroups
4693 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4697 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4698 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4699 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4700 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4701 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4705 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4706 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4707 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4711 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4712 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4715 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4716 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4719 @findex gnus-extra-header
4720 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4721 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4722 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4725 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4729 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4730 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4731 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4732 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4733 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4734 headers are used instead.
4738 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4739 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4740 to include extra headers when generating overview (@acronym{NOV}) files.
4741 If you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after
4742 changing this variable, by entering the server buffer using @kbd{^},
4743 and then @kbd{g} on the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause
4746 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4747 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4748 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4749 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4751 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4755 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4757 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4758 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4759 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4760 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4764 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4767 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4768 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4771 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4772 the @acronym{NOV} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4773 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4779 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4780 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4783 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4784 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4786 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4787 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4788 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4789 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4791 Here are the elements you can play with:
4797 Unprefixed group name.
4799 Current article number.
4801 Current article score.
4805 Number of unread articles in this group.
4807 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4810 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4811 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4812 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4813 and no unselected ones.
4815 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4816 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4818 Subject of the current article.
4820 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4822 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4824 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4826 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4828 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4830 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4834 @node Summary Highlighting
4835 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4839 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4840 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4841 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4842 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4843 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4845 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4846 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4847 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4848 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4850 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4851 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4852 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4853 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4855 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4856 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4857 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4858 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4859 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4860 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4863 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4864 ((> score default) . bold))
4866 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4867 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4871 @node Summary Maneuvering
4872 @section Summary Maneuvering
4873 @cindex summary movement
4875 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4876 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4878 None of these commands select articles.
4883 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4884 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4885 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4886 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4887 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4891 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4892 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4893 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4894 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4895 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4898 @kindex G g (Summary)
4899 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4900 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4901 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4904 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4905 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4906 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4907 to the group buffer.
4909 Variables related to summary movement:
4913 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4914 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4915 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4916 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4917 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4918 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4919 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4920 next group with unread articles. As a special case, if this variable
4921 is @code{quietly}, Gnus will select the next group without asking for
4922 confirmation. If this variable is @code{almost-quietly}, the same
4923 will happen only if you are located on the last article in the group.
4924 Finally, if this variable is @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n}
4925 command will go to the next group without confirmation. Also
4926 @pxref{Group Levels}.
4928 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4929 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4930 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4931 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4932 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4933 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4934 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4936 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4938 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4939 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4940 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4941 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4942 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4944 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4945 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4946 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4947 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4948 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4949 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4950 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4951 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4954 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4955 the given number of lines from the top.
4960 @node Choosing Articles
4961 @section Choosing Articles
4962 @cindex selecting articles
4965 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4966 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4970 @node Choosing Commands
4971 @subsection Choosing Commands
4973 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4974 and they all select and display an article.
4976 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4977 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4981 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4982 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4983 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4984 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4986 If you have an article window open already and you press @kbd{SPACE}
4987 again, the article will be scrolled. This lets you conveniently
4988 @kbd{SPACE} through an entire newsgroup. @xref{Paging the Article}.
4993 @kindex G n (Summary)
4994 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4995 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4996 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
5001 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
5002 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
5003 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
5008 @kindex G N (Summary)
5009 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
5010 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
5015 @kindex G P (Summary)
5016 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
5017 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
5020 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
5021 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
5022 Go to the next article with the same subject
5023 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
5026 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
5027 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
5028 Go to the previous article with the same subject
5029 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
5033 @kindex G f (Summary)
5035 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
5036 Go to the first unread article
5037 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
5041 @kindex G b (Summary)
5043 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
5044 Go to the unread article with the highest score
5045 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
5046 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
5051 @kindex G l (Summary)
5052 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
5053 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
5056 @kindex G o (Summary)
5057 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
5059 @cindex article history
5060 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
5061 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
5062 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
5063 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
5064 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
5065 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
5070 @kindex G j (Summary)
5071 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
5072 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
5073 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
5078 @node Choosing Variables
5079 @subsection Choosing Variables
5081 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
5084 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5085 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
5086 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
5087 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
5088 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
5089 the server and display it in the article buffer.
5091 @item gnus-select-article-hook
5092 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
5093 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
5094 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article. If you would
5095 like each article to be saved in the Agent as you read it, putting
5096 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} on this hook will do so.
5098 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
5099 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
5100 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
5101 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
5102 @findex gnus-unread-mark
5103 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
5104 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
5105 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
5106 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
5107 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
5108 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
5109 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
5110 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
5111 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
5116 @node Paging the Article
5117 @section Scrolling the Article
5118 @cindex article scrolling
5123 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
5124 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
5125 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
5126 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
5127 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
5129 @vindex gnus-article-boring-faces
5130 @vindex gnus-article-skip-boring
5131 If @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} is non-@code{nil} and the rest of
5132 the article consists only of citations and signature, then it will be
5133 skipped; the next article will be shown instead. You can customize
5134 what is considered uninteresting with
5135 @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}. You can manually view the article's
5136 pages, no matter how boring, using @kbd{C-M-v}.
5139 @kindex DEL (Summary)
5140 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
5141 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
5144 @kindex RET (Summary)
5145 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
5146 Scroll the current article one line forward
5147 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
5150 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
5151 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
5152 Scroll the current article one line backward
5153 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
5157 @kindex A g (Summary)
5159 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
5160 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5161 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
5162 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
5163 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
5164 the way it came from the server.
5166 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5167 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5168 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5171 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5176 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5181 @kindex A < (Summary)
5182 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5183 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5184 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5189 @kindex A > (Summary)
5190 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5191 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5195 @kindex A s (Summary)
5197 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5198 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5199 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5203 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5204 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5209 @node Reply Followup and Post
5210 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5213 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5214 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5215 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5216 * Canceling and Superseding::
5220 @node Summary Mail Commands
5221 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5223 @cindex composing mail
5225 Commands for composing a mail message:
5231 @kindex S r (Summary)
5233 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5234 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5235 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5236 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5237 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5242 @kindex S R (Summary)
5243 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5244 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5245 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5246 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5247 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5250 @kindex S w (Summary)
5251 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5252 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5253 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5254 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5255 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers. If @code{Mail-Followup-To} is
5256 present, that's used instead.
5259 @kindex S W (Summary)
5260 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5261 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5262 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5263 the process/prefix convention.
5266 @kindex S v (Summary)
5267 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5268 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5269 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5270 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5271 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5272 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5275 @kindex S V (Summary)
5276 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5277 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5278 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5279 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5282 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5283 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5284 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5285 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5286 If you need this because a mailing list incorrectly sets a
5287 @code{Reply-To} header pointing to the list, you probably want to set
5288 the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter instead, so things will work
5289 correctly. @xref{Group Parameters}.
5292 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5293 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5294 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5295 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5296 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5300 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5301 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5302 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5303 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5304 Forward the current article to some other person
5305 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5306 headers of the forwarded article.
5311 @kindex S m (Summary)
5312 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5313 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5314 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5315 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5316 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5321 @kindex S i (Summary)
5322 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5323 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5324 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5325 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5327 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5328 This is useful for ``posting'' messages to mail groups without actually
5329 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5330 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5331 for this to work though.
5334 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5335 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5336 @cindex bouncing mail
5337 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5338 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5339 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5340 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5341 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5342 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5343 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5344 very well fail, though.
5347 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5348 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5349 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5350 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5351 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5352 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5353 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5354 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5355 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5356 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5358 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5359 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5360 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5361 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5362 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5364 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5365 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5368 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5369 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5370 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5371 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5372 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5375 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5376 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5377 @cindex crossposting
5378 @cindex excessive crossposting
5379 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5380 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5382 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5383 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5384 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5385 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5386 command understands the process/prefix convention
5387 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5391 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5392 Manual}, for more information.
5395 @node Summary Post Commands
5396 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5398 @cindex composing news
5400 Commands for posting a news article:
5406 @kindex S p (Summary)
5407 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5408 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5409 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5410 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5411 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5416 @kindex S f (Summary)
5417 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5418 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5419 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5423 @kindex S F (Summary)
5425 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5426 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5427 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5428 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5429 process/prefix convention.
5432 @kindex S n (Summary)
5433 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5434 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5435 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5438 @kindex S N (Summary)
5439 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5440 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5441 message through mail and include the original message
5442 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5443 the process/prefix convention.
5446 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5447 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5448 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5449 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5450 headers of the forwarded article.
5453 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5454 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5456 @cindex making digests
5457 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5458 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5459 process/prefix convention.
5462 @kindex S u (Summary)
5463 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5464 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5465 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5466 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5469 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5470 Manual}, for more information.
5473 @node Summary Message Commands
5474 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5478 @kindex S y (Summary)
5479 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5480 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5481 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5482 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5483 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5488 @node Canceling and Superseding
5489 @subsection Canceling Articles
5490 @cindex canceling articles
5491 @cindex superseding articles
5493 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5494 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5496 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5498 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5500 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5501 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5502 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5503 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5504 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5505 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5507 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5508 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5511 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5512 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5513 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5515 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5516 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5517 your original article.
5519 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5521 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5522 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5523 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5526 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5527 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5528 have posted almost the same article twice.
5530 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5531 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5532 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5533 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5534 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5535 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5536 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5537 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5538 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5539 canceled/superseded.
5541 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5543 @node Delayed Articles
5544 @section Delayed Articles
5545 @cindex delayed sending
5546 @cindex send delayed
5548 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5549 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5550 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5551 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5554 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5557 @findex gnus-delay-article
5558 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5559 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5560 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5561 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5565 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5566 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5567 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5568 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5571 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5572 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5573 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5576 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5577 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5578 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5579 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5580 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5581 that means a time tomorrow.
5584 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5585 couple of variables:
5588 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5589 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5590 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5591 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5593 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5594 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5595 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5596 formats described above.
5598 @item gnus-delay-group
5599 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5600 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5601 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5602 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5604 @item gnus-delay-header
5605 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5606 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5607 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5608 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5611 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5612 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5613 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5614 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5615 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5617 @findex gnus-delay-send-queue
5618 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5619 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5620 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5621 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5622 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5623 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5626 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5627 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5629 By default, this function installs @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5630 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts the optional second
5631 argument @code{no-check}. If it is non-@code{nil},
5632 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed. The optional first
5633 argument is ignored.
5635 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to do nothing.
5636 Presumably, you want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles.
5637 Just don't forget to set that up :-)
5641 @node Marking Articles
5642 @section Marking Articles
5643 @cindex article marking
5644 @cindex article ticking
5647 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5649 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5650 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5651 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5653 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5656 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5657 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5658 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5662 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5666 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5667 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5668 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5672 @node Unread Articles
5673 @subsection Unread Articles
5675 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5680 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5681 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5683 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5684 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5685 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5686 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5687 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5688 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5689 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5692 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5693 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5695 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5696 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5697 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5698 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5702 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5703 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5705 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5710 @subsection Read Articles
5711 @cindex expirable mark
5713 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5718 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5719 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5720 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5723 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5724 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5727 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5728 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5729 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5732 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5733 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5736 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5737 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5740 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5741 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5744 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5745 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5748 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5749 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5752 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5753 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5756 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5757 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5761 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5762 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5763 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5767 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5768 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5770 One more special mark, though:
5774 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5775 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5777 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5778 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5779 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5780 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5786 @subsection Other Marks
5787 @cindex process mark
5790 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5796 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5797 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5798 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5799 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5800 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5803 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5804 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5805 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5806 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5809 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5810 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5811 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5814 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5815 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5816 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5819 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5820 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5821 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5822 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5825 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5826 Articles that according to the server haven't been shown to the user
5827 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5828 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all servers support this
5829 mark, in which case it simply never appears. Compare with
5830 @code{gnus-unseen-mark}.
5833 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5834 Articles that haven't been seen before in Gnus by the user are marked
5835 with a @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5836 Compare with @code{gnus-recent-mark}.
5839 @vindex gnus-downloaded-mark
5840 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), articles may be
5841 downloaded for unplugged (offline) viewing. If you are using the
5842 @samp{%O} spec, these articles get the @samp{+} mark in that spec.
5843 (The variable @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} controls which character to
5847 @vindex gnus-undownloaded-mark
5848 When using the Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}), some articles might
5849 not have been downloaded. Such articles cannot be viewed while you
5850 are unplugged (offline). If you are using the @samp{%O} spec, these
5851 articles get the @samp{-} mark in that spec. (The variable
5852 @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} controls which character to use.)
5855 @vindex gnus-downloadable-mark
5856 The Gnus agent (@pxref{Agent Basics}) downloads some articles
5857 automatically, but it is also possible to explicitly mark articles for
5858 download, even if they would not be downloaded automatically. Such
5859 explicitly-marked articles get the @samp{%} mark in the first column.
5860 (The variable @code{gnus-downloadable-mark} controls which character to
5864 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5865 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5866 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5867 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5868 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5871 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5872 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5873 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5874 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5875 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5876 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5880 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5881 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5882 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5884 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5885 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5886 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5890 @subsection Setting Marks
5891 @cindex setting marks
5893 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5898 @kindex M c (Summary)
5899 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5900 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5901 @cindex mark as unread
5902 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5903 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5909 @kindex M t (Summary)
5910 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5911 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5912 @xref{Article Caching}.
5917 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5918 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5919 Mark the current article as dormant
5920 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5924 @kindex M d (Summary)
5926 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5927 Mark the current article as read
5928 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5932 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5933 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5934 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5939 @kindex M k (Summary)
5940 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5941 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5942 and then select the next unread article
5943 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5947 @kindex M K (Summary)
5948 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5949 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5950 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5951 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5954 @kindex M C (Summary)
5955 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5956 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5957 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5960 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5961 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5962 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5963 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5966 @kindex M H (Summary)
5967 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5968 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5969 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5972 @kindex M h (Summary)
5973 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5974 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5975 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5978 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5979 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5980 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5981 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5984 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5985 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5986 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5987 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5991 @kindex M e (Summary)
5993 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5994 Mark the current article as expirable
5995 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5998 @kindex M b (Summary)
5999 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
6000 Set a bookmark in the current article
6001 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
6004 @kindex M B (Summary)
6005 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
6006 Remove the bookmark from the current article
6007 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
6010 @kindex M V c (Summary)
6011 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
6012 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
6013 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6016 @kindex M V u (Summary)
6017 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
6018 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
6019 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
6022 @kindex M V m (Summary)
6023 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
6024 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
6025 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
6026 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
6029 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
6030 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
6031 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
6032 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
6033 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
6034 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
6035 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
6036 The default is @code{t}.
6039 @node Generic Marking Commands
6040 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
6042 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
6043 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
6044 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
6045 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
6046 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
6049 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
6050 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
6053 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
6054 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
6055 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
6056 to list in this manual.
6058 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
6059 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
6060 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
6061 article, you could say something like:
6065 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
6066 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6067 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
6075 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
6076 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
6080 @node Setting Process Marks
6081 @subsection Setting Process Marks
6082 @cindex setting process marks
6084 Process marks are displayed as @code{#} in the summary buffer, and are
6085 used for marking articles in such a way that other commands will
6086 process these articles. For instance, if you process mark four
6087 articles and then use the @kbd{*} command, Gnus will enter these four
6088 commands into the cache. For more information,
6089 @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
6096 @kindex M P p (Summary)
6097 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
6098 Mark the current article with the process mark
6099 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
6100 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
6104 @kindex M P u (Summary)
6105 @kindex M-# (Summary)
6106 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
6107 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
6110 @kindex M P U (Summary)
6111 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
6112 Remove the process mark from all articles
6113 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
6116 @kindex M P i (Summary)
6117 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
6118 Invert the list of process marked articles
6119 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
6122 @kindex M P R (Summary)
6123 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
6124 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6125 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
6128 @kindex M P G (Summary)
6129 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
6130 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
6131 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
6134 @kindex M P r (Summary)
6135 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
6136 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
6140 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
6141 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
6144 @kindex M P t (Summary)
6145 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6146 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6147 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6150 @kindex M P T (Summary)
6151 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6152 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
6153 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6156 @kindex M P v (Summary)
6157 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
6158 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
6159 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
6162 @kindex M P s (Summary)
6163 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
6164 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6167 @kindex M P S (Summary)
6168 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
6169 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
6170 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
6173 @kindex M P a (Summary)
6174 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
6175 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
6178 @kindex M P b (Summary)
6179 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
6180 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
6181 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
6184 @kindex M P k (Summary)
6185 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
6186 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
6187 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
6190 @kindex M P y (Summary)
6191 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
6192 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
6193 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
6196 @kindex M P w (Summary)
6197 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
6198 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
6199 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
6203 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @ref{Searching for Articles}, for how to
6204 set process marks based on article body contents.
6211 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6212 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6213 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6216 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6217 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6218 additional articles.
6224 @kindex / / (Summary)
6225 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6226 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6227 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6231 @kindex / a (Summary)
6232 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6233 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6234 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6238 @kindex / x (Summary)
6239 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6240 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6241 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6242 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6247 @kindex / u (Summary)
6249 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6250 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6251 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6252 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6253 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6256 @kindex / m (Summary)
6257 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6258 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6259 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6262 @kindex / t (Summary)
6263 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6264 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6265 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6266 articles younger than that number of days.
6269 @kindex / n (Summary)
6270 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6271 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6272 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6273 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6276 @kindex / w (Summary)
6277 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6278 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6279 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6283 @kindex / . (Summary)
6284 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6285 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6286 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6289 @kindex / v (Summary)
6290 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6291 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6292 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6295 @kindex / p (Summary)
6296 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6297 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6298 group parameter predicate
6299 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). @xref{Group
6300 Parameters}, for more on this predicate.
6304 @kindex M S (Summary)
6305 @kindex / E (Summary)
6306 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6307 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6308 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6311 @kindex / D (Summary)
6312 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6313 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6314 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6317 @kindex / * (Summary)
6318 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6319 Include all cached articles in the limit
6320 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6323 @kindex / d (Summary)
6324 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6325 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6326 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6329 @kindex / M (Summary)
6330 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6331 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6334 @kindex / T (Summary)
6335 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6336 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6339 @kindex / c (Summary)
6340 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6341 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit@*
6342 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6345 @kindex / C (Summary)
6346 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6347 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6348 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6349 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6352 @kindex / N (Summary)
6353 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6354 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6355 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6358 @kindex / o (Summary)
6359 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6360 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6361 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6369 @cindex article threading
6371 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6372 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6373 hierarchical fashion.
6375 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6376 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6377 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6378 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6379 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6380 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6381 @ref{Customizing Threading}.
6383 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6387 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6390 A tree-like article structure.
6393 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6396 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6397 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6398 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6399 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6400 called loose threads.
6402 @item thread gathering
6403 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6405 @item sparse threads
6406 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6407 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6413 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6414 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6418 @node Customizing Threading
6419 @subsection Customizing Threading
6420 @cindex customizing threading
6423 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6424 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6425 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6426 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over@dots{} but you were wrong!
6431 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6434 @cindex loose threads
6437 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6438 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6439 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6440 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6441 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6442 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6444 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6445 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6446 There are four possible values:
6450 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6451 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6452 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6453 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6454 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6459 @cindex adopting articles
6464 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6465 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6466 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6467 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6470 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6471 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root-always
6472 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6473 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6474 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6475 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6476 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6477 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6478 If you want all threads to have a dummy root, even the non-gathered
6479 ones, set @code{gnus-summary-make-false-root-always} to @code{t}.
6482 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6483 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6484 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6488 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6489 display them after one another.
6492 Don't gather loose threads.
6495 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6496 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6497 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6498 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6499 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6500 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6501 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6502 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6503 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6504 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6505 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6507 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6508 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6509 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6512 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6513 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6514 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6515 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6516 simplification is used.
6518 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6519 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6520 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6521 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6523 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6525 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6531 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6532 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6533 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6534 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6539 (mapconcat 'identity
6540 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6542 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6545 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6548 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6549 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6550 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6551 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6552 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6553 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6555 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6558 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6559 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6560 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6562 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6563 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6566 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6567 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6568 Remove excessive whitespace.
6570 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6571 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6572 Remove all whitespace.
6575 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6578 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6579 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6580 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6581 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6582 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6583 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6584 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6585 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6587 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6588 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6589 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6590 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6591 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6592 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6593 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6594 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6595 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6599 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6600 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6601 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6602 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6604 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6605 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6606 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6609 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6613 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6614 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6620 @node Filling In Threads
6621 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6624 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6625 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6626 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6627 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6628 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6629 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6630 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6631 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6632 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6633 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6634 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6635 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6638 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6639 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6640 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6642 @item gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6643 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-ephemeral-headers
6644 Same as @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}, but only used for ephemeral
6647 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6648 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6649 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6650 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6651 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6652 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6653 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6654 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6655 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6656 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6657 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6658 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6659 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6660 @code{nil} by default.
6662 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6663 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6664 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6665 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6666 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6667 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6668 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6670 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6671 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6672 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6677 @node More Threading
6678 @subsubsection More Threading
6681 @item gnus-show-threads
6682 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6683 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6684 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6685 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6686 slower and more awkward.
6688 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6689 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6690 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6693 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6694 Available predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6695 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}.
6700 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6701 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6702 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6705 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6706 unread, but you get my drift.)
6709 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6710 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6711 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6712 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6713 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6714 threads are expunged.
6716 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6717 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6718 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6721 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6722 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6723 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6724 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6725 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6726 result in a new thread.
6728 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6729 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6730 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6733 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6734 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6735 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6736 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6737 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6738 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6739 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6740 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6741 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6742 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6743 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6748 @node Low-Level Threading
6749 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6753 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6754 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6755 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6756 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6757 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6758 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6760 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6761 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6762 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6763 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6764 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6765 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6766 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6767 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6768 meaningful. Here's one example:
6771 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6773 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6774 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6776 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6778 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6785 @node Thread Commands
6786 @subsection Thread Commands
6787 @cindex thread commands
6793 @kindex T k (Summary)
6794 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6795 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6796 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6797 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6798 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6803 @kindex T l (Summary)
6804 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6805 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6806 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6807 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6810 @kindex T i (Summary)
6811 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6812 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6813 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6816 @kindex T # (Summary)
6817 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6818 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6819 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6822 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6823 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6824 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6825 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6828 @kindex T T (Summary)
6829 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6830 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6833 @kindex T s (Summary)
6834 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6835 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any@*
6836 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6839 @kindex T h (Summary)
6840 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6841 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6844 @kindex T S (Summary)
6845 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6846 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6849 @kindex T H (Summary)
6850 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6851 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6854 @kindex T t (Summary)
6855 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6856 Re-thread the current article's thread
6857 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6858 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6861 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6862 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6863 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6864 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6868 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6869 understand the numeric prefix.
6874 @kindex T n (Summary)
6876 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6878 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6879 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6880 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6883 @kindex T p (Summary)
6885 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6887 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6888 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6889 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6892 @kindex T d (Summary)
6893 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6894 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6897 @kindex T u (Summary)
6898 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6899 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6902 @kindex T o (Summary)
6903 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6904 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6907 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6908 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6909 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6910 a command like @kbd{T k} (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6911 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6912 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6913 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6914 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6915 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6916 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6917 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6918 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6922 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6923 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6925 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6926 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6927 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6928 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6929 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6930 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6931 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6932 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6933 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number
6934 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date
6935 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6936 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6937 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6938 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6940 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6941 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6942 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6943 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6944 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6945 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6946 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6947 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6949 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6950 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6951 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6953 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6954 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6955 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6956 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6957 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6958 ascending article order.
6960 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6961 by number, you could do something like:
6964 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6965 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6966 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6967 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6970 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6971 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6972 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6973 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6974 which the articles arrived.
6976 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6980 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6982 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6983 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6986 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6987 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6988 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6989 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6992 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6993 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6994 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6995 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6996 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6997 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6998 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6999 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
7000 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
7001 variable. It is very similar to the
7002 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
7003 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
7004 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
7005 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
7006 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
7007 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
7008 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
7010 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
7014 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
7015 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
7016 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
7021 @node Asynchronous Fetching
7022 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
7023 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
7024 @cindex article pre-fetch
7027 If you read your news from an @acronym{NNTP} server that's far away, the
7028 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
7029 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
7030 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
7031 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
7033 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
7034 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
7036 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
7037 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
7038 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
7039 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
7040 connection is blocked.
7042 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
7043 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
7044 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
7045 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
7047 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
7048 the link between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server will become more
7049 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
7050 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
7053 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing@dots{} unless
7056 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
7057 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
7058 happen automatically.
7060 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
7061 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
7062 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
7063 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
7064 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
7065 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
7066 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
7068 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
7069 @findex gnus-async-read-p
7070 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
7071 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p}
7072 variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This
7073 function should return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is
7074 to be pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which
7075 returns @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an
7076 article data structure as the only parameter.
7078 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
7079 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
7082 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
7083 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
7084 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
7085 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
7088 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
7091 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
7092 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
7093 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
7095 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
7096 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
7097 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
7098 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
7102 Remove articles when they are read.
7105 Remove articles when exiting the group.
7108 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
7110 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
7111 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
7112 @c from the next group.
7115 @node Article Caching
7116 @section Article Caching
7117 @cindex article caching
7120 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @acronym{NNTP} connection, you may
7121 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
7122 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
7123 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
7124 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
7126 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
7128 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7129 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
7130 @vindex gnus-use-cache
7131 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
7132 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
7133 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
7134 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
7135 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
7137 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
7138 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
7139 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
7140 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
7141 as dormant, and don't worry.
7143 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
7145 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
7146 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
7147 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
7148 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
7149 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
7150 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
7151 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
7152 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
7153 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
7154 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
7156 @findex gnus-jog-cache
7157 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
7158 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
7159 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
7160 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
7161 command if 1) your connection to the @acronym{NNTP} server is really, really,
7162 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
7163 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
7164 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
7165 not then be downloaded by this command.
7167 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
7168 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
7169 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
7170 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
7171 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
7172 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
7174 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
7175 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
7176 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
7177 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
7178 variables, the group is not cached.
7180 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
7181 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
7182 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
7183 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
7184 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
7185 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
7186 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
7187 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @acronym{NOV}
7188 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
7191 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
7192 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
7193 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
7194 where, isn't that cool?
7196 @node Persistent Articles
7197 @section Persistent Articles
7198 @cindex persistent articles
7200 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
7201 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
7202 useful in my opinion.
7204 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
7205 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
7206 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
7207 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
7208 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
7209 the expiry going on at the news server.
7211 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
7212 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
7213 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7219 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7220 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7223 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7224 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7225 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7226 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7230 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7232 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7233 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7234 interested in persistent articles:
7237 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7241 @node Article Backlog
7242 @section Article Backlog
7244 @cindex article backlog
7246 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7247 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7248 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7249 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7250 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7251 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7252 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7253 increase memory usage some.
7255 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7256 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7257 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7258 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7259 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7260 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7261 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7263 The default value is 20.
7266 @node Saving Articles
7267 @section Saving Articles
7268 @cindex saving articles
7270 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7271 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7272 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7273 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7274 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7276 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7277 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7278 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7280 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7281 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7282 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7284 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7285 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7286 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7287 deleted before saving.
7293 @kindex O o (Summary)
7295 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7296 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7297 Save the current article using the default article saver
7298 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7301 @kindex O m (Summary)
7302 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7303 Save the current article in mail format
7304 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7307 @kindex O r (Summary)
7308 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7309 Save the current article in Rmail format
7310 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7313 @kindex O f (Summary)
7314 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7315 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7316 Save the current article in plain file format
7317 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7320 @kindex O F (Summary)
7321 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7322 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7323 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7326 @kindex O b (Summary)
7327 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7328 Save the current article body in plain file format
7329 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7332 @kindex O h (Summary)
7333 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7334 Save the current article in mh folder format
7335 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7338 @kindex O v (Summary)
7339 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7340 Save the current article in a VM folder
7341 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7345 @kindex O p (Summary)
7347 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7348 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7349 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7350 If given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), include the
7351 complete headers in the piped output.
7354 @kindex O P (Summary)
7355 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7356 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7357 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7358 external program @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/,
7359 Muttprint}. The program name and options to use is controlled by the
7360 variable @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}.
7361 (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7365 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7366 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7367 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7368 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7369 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7370 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7371 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7372 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7373 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7374 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7375 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7376 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7380 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7381 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7382 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7383 functions below, or you can create your own.
7387 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7388 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7389 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7390 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7391 This is the default format, @dfn{Babyl}. Uses the function in the
7392 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7393 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7395 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7396 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7397 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7398 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7399 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7400 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7402 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7403 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7404 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7405 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7406 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7407 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7408 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7410 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7411 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7412 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7413 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7414 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7415 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7417 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7418 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7419 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7420 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7421 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7423 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7424 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7425 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7426 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7427 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7430 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7431 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7432 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7433 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7434 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7436 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7437 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7438 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7439 reader to use this setting.
7442 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7443 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7444 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7445 @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7448 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7449 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7450 available functions that generate names:
7454 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7455 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7456 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7458 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7459 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7460 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7462 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7463 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7464 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7466 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7467 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7468 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7470 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7471 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7472 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7475 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7476 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7477 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7478 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7479 related to VM in @file{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7483 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7484 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7485 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7486 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7489 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7490 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7491 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7492 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7493 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7494 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7495 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7496 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7497 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7499 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7500 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7501 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7502 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7504 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7505 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7506 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7509 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7510 lots of mail groups called things like
7511 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7512 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7513 following will do just that:
7516 (defun my-save-name (group)
7517 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7518 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7520 (setq gnus-split-methods
7521 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7526 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7527 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7528 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7529 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7530 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7531 all the files in the top level directory
7532 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7533 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7534 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7535 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7537 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7538 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7539 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7540 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7541 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7544 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7548 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; @r{to get a hierarchy}
7549 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7550 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; @r{no encoding}
7553 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7554 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7555 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7556 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7559 @node Decoding Articles
7560 @section Decoding Articles
7561 @cindex decoding articles
7563 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7564 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7567 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7568 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7569 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7570 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7571 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7572 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7576 @cindex article series
7577 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7578 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7579 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7580 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7581 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7583 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7584 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7585 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7587 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7588 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7589 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7591 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7592 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7593 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7596 @node Uuencoded Articles
7597 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7599 @cindex uuencoded articles
7604 @kindex X u (Summary)
7605 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7606 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7607 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7610 @kindex X U (Summary)
7611 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7612 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7613 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7616 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7617 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7618 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7621 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7622 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7623 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7624 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7628 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7629 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7630 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7631 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7632 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7634 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7635 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7636 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7637 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7640 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7641 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7642 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7643 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7644 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7645 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7649 @node Shell Archives
7650 @subsection Shell Archives
7652 @cindex shell archives
7653 @cindex shared articles
7655 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7656 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7657 some commands to deal with these:
7662 @kindex X s (Summary)
7663 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7664 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7667 @kindex X S (Summary)
7668 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7669 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7672 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7673 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7674 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7677 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7678 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7679 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7680 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7684 @node PostScript Files
7685 @subsection PostScript Files
7691 @kindex X p (Summary)
7692 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7693 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7696 @kindex X P (Summary)
7697 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7698 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7699 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7702 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7703 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7704 View the current PostScript series
7705 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7708 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7709 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7710 View and save the current PostScript series
7711 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7716 @subsection Other Files
7720 @kindex X o (Summary)
7721 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7722 Save the current series
7723 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7726 @kindex X b (Summary)
7727 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7728 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7729 doesn't really work yet.
7733 @node Decoding Variables
7734 @subsection Decoding Variables
7736 Adjective, not verb.
7739 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7740 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7741 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7745 @node Rule Variables
7746 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7747 @cindex rule variables
7749 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7750 variables are of the form
7753 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7760 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7761 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7763 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7764 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @file{.au} sound file, you could
7767 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7768 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7771 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7772 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7773 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7774 user and default view rules.
7776 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7777 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7778 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7783 @node Other Decode Variables
7784 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7787 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7789 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7790 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7791 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7792 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7793 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7797 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7798 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7801 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7802 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7803 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7806 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7807 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7808 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7809 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7810 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7813 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7814 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7815 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7817 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7818 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7819 Files with a @acronym{MIME} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7820 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7821 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @acronym{MIME} package (yet), so this is slightly
7824 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7825 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7826 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7828 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7829 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7830 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7831 looking for files to display.
7833 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7834 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7835 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7838 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7839 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7840 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7843 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7844 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7845 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7848 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7849 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7850 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7853 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7854 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7855 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7856 decoded articles as unread.
7858 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7859 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7860 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7861 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7863 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7864 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7865 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7867 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7868 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7870 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7871 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @acronym{MIME}
7872 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7873 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7875 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7876 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7877 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7878 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7879 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7880 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7881 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7882 simply dropped them.
7887 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7888 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7892 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7893 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7894 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7895 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7896 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7897 for you when you post the article.
7899 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7900 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7901 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7902 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7904 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7905 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7906 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7907 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7908 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7909 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7910 think that counts@dots{}) Default is @code{nil}.
7912 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7913 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7914 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7915 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7916 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7917 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7918 Default is @code{t}.
7924 @subsection Viewing Files
7925 @cindex viewing files
7926 @cindex pseudo-articles
7928 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7929 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7930 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7931 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7932 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7933 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7934 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7936 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7937 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7938 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7939 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7941 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7942 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7943 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7945 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7946 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7947 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7948 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7949 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7951 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7952 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7953 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7954 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7955 a list of parameters to that command.
7957 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7958 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7959 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7961 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7962 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7963 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7966 @node Article Treatment
7967 @section Article Treatment
7969 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7970 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7971 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7972 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7973 these articles easier.
7976 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7977 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7978 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7979 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7980 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7981 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7982 * Article Button Levels:: Controlling appearance of buttons.
7983 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7984 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7985 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7986 * Article Miscellanea:: Various other stuff.
7990 @node Article Highlighting
7991 @subsection Article Highlighting
7992 @cindex highlighting
7994 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7995 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
8000 @kindex W H a (Summary)
8001 @findex gnus-article-highlight
8002 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
8003 Do much highlighting of the current article
8004 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
8005 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
8008 @kindex W H h (Summary)
8009 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
8010 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
8011 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
8012 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
8013 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
8014 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
8015 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
8016 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
8017 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
8018 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
8019 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
8022 @kindex W H c (Summary)
8023 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
8024 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
8026 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
8029 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8031 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
8032 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
8033 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
8035 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
8036 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
8037 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
8039 @item gnus-cite-face-list
8040 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
8041 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
8042 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
8043 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
8044 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
8046 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
8047 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
8048 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
8050 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8051 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
8052 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
8054 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8055 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
8056 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
8057 that it's a citation.
8059 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8060 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
8061 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
8063 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8064 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
8065 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
8067 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
8068 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
8069 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
8070 cited text belonging to the attribution.
8076 @kindex W H s (Summary)
8077 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8078 @vindex gnus-signature-face
8079 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
8080 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
8081 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
8082 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
8083 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
8088 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
8091 @node Article Fontisizing
8092 @subsection Article Fontisizing
8094 @cindex article emphasis
8096 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
8097 @kindex W e (Summary)
8098 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
8099 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
8100 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
8101 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
8103 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
8104 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
8105 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
8106 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
8107 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
8108 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
8109 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
8110 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
8114 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
8115 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
8116 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
8125 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
8126 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
8127 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
8128 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
8129 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
8130 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
8131 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
8132 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
8133 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
8134 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
8135 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
8136 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
8137 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
8139 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
8140 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
8141 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
8145 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
8148 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
8150 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
8151 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
8152 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
8153 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
8155 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
8158 @node Article Hiding
8159 @subsection Article Hiding
8160 @cindex article hiding
8162 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
8163 too much cruft in most articles.
8168 @kindex W W a (Summary)
8169 @findex gnus-article-hide
8170 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
8171 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
8172 headers, @acronym{PGP}, cited text and the signature.
8175 @kindex W W h (Summary)
8176 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
8177 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
8181 @kindex W W b (Summary)
8182 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
8183 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
8184 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
8187 @kindex W W s (Summary)
8188 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
8189 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
8193 @kindex W W l (Summary)
8194 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
8195 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8196 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
8197 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
8198 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
8199 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
8200 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
8204 @item gnus-list-identifiers
8205 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
8206 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
8207 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
8212 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8213 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8214 Hide @acronym{PEM} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8215 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8218 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8219 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8220 @vindex gnus-article-banner-alist
8221 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8224 @cindex stripping advertisements
8225 @cindex advertisements
8226 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8227 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8228 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8229 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8230 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8231 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8232 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8233 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8234 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8235 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8238 Regardless of a group, you can hide things like advertisements only when
8239 the sender of an article has a certain mail address specified in
8240 @code{gnus-article-address-banner-alist}.
8244 @item gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8245 @vindex gnus-article-address-banner-alist
8246 Alist of mail addresses and banners. Each element has the form
8247 @code{(@var{address} . @var{banner})}, where @var{address} is a regexp
8248 matching a mail address in the From header, @var{banner} is one of a
8249 symbol @code{signature}, an item in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist},
8250 a regexp and @code{nil}. If @var{address} matches author's mail
8251 address, it will remove things like advertisements. For example, if a
8252 sender has the mail address @samp{hail@@yoo-hoo.co.jp} and there is a
8253 banner something like @samp{Do You Yoo-hoo!?} in all articles he
8254 sends, you can use the following element to remove them:
8257 ("@@yoo-hoo\\.co\\.jp\\'" .
8258 "\n_+\nDo You Yoo-hoo!\\?\n.*\n.*\n")
8264 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8265 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8266 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8267 customizing the hiding:
8271 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8272 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8273 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8274 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8275 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8276 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8277 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8282 Starting point of the hidden text.
8284 Ending point of the hidden text.
8286 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8288 Number of lines of hidden text.
8291 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8292 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8293 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8294 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8295 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8300 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8301 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8303 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8304 following two variables:
8307 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8308 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8309 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8310 50), hide the cited text.
8312 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8313 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8314 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8319 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8320 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8321 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8322 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8323 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8324 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8328 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8329 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8330 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8332 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8333 citation customization.
8335 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8339 @node Article Washing
8340 @subsection Article Washing
8342 @cindex article washing
8344 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8345 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8347 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8348 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8351 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8352 articles by default.
8357 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8358 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8362 Force redisplaying of the current article
8363 (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). This is also not really washing.
8364 If you type this, you see the article without any previously applied
8365 interactive Washing functions but with all default treatments
8366 (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8369 @kindex W l (Summary)
8370 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8371 Remove page breaks from the current article
8372 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8376 @kindex W r (Summary)
8377 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8378 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8379 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8380 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8381 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8382 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8384 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8385 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8386 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8387 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8390 @kindex W m (Summary)
8391 @findex gnus-summary-morse-message
8392 Morse decode the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-morse-message}).
8396 @kindex W t (Summary)
8398 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8399 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8400 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8403 @kindex W v (Summary)
8404 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8405 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8406 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8409 @kindex W m (Summary)
8410 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8411 Toggle whether to run the article through @acronym{MIME} before
8412 displaying (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8415 @kindex W o (Summary)
8416 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8417 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8420 @kindex W d (Summary)
8421 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8422 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8424 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8426 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8427 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8428 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8429 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8432 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8433 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8434 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8435 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8438 @kindex W Y f (Summary)
8439 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8440 @cindex Outlook Express
8441 Full deuglify of broken Outlook (Express) articles: Treat dumbquotes,
8442 unwrap lines, repair attribution and rearrange citation.
8443 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8446 @kindex W Y u (Summary)
8447 @findex gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines
8448 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min
8449 @vindex gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max
8450 Unwrap lines that appear to be wrapped citation lines. You can control
8451 what lines will be unwrapped by frobbing
8452 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-min} and
8453 @code{gnus-outlook-deuglify-unwrap-max}, indicating the minimum and
8454 maximum length of an unwrapped citation line.
8455 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-unwrap-lines}).
8458 @kindex W Y a (Summary)
8459 @findex gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution
8460 Repair a broken attribution line.@*
8461 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-repair-attribution}).
8464 @kindex W Y c (Summary)
8465 @findex gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation
8466 Repair broken citations by rearranging the text.
8467 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-rearrange-citation}).
8470 @kindex W w (Summary)
8471 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8472 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8474 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8478 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8479 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8480 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8483 @kindex W C (Summary)
8484 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8485 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8486 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8489 @kindex W c (Summary)
8490 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8491 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8492 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8493 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8494 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8496 @kindex W q (Summary)
8497 @findex gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable
8498 Treat quoted-printable (@code{gnus-article-de-quoted-unreadable}).
8499 Quoted-Printable is one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when
8500 sending non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. It typically
8501 makes strings like @samp{déjà vu} look like @samp{d=E9j=E0 vu}, which
8502 doesn't look very readable to me. Note that this is usually done
8503 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8504 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8505 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8508 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8509 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8510 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}). Base64 is
8511 one common @acronym{MIME} encoding employed when sending
8512 non-@acronym{ASCII} (i.e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is
8513 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8514 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding
8515 has been done. If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8518 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8519 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8520 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8521 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8522 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8525 @kindex W u (Summary)
8526 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8527 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8528 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8529 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8530 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8533 @kindex W h (Summary)
8534 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8535 Treat @acronym{HTML} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8536 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8537 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @acronym{HTML}.
8539 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8541 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8542 The default is to use the function specified by
8543 @code{mm-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Display Customization, ,Display
8544 Customization, emacs-mime, The Emacs MIME Manual}) to convert the
8545 @acronym{HTML}, but this is controlled by the
8546 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8554 Use @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/, emacs-w3m}.
8557 Use @uref{http://links.sf.net/, Links}.
8560 Use @uref{http://lynx.isc.org/, Lynx}.
8563 Use html2text---a simple @acronym{HTML} converter included with Gnus.
8568 @kindex W b (Summary)
8569 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8570 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8571 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8574 @kindex W B (Summary)
8575 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8576 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8577 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8580 @kindex W p (Summary)
8581 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8582 Verify a signed control message
8583 (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}). Control messages such as
8584 @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are usually signed by the
8585 hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the @acronym{PGP} public key of
8586 the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8587 message.@footnote{@acronym{PGP} keys for many hierarchies are
8588 available at @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8591 @kindex W s (Summary)
8592 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8593 Verify a signed (@acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME} or
8594 @acronym{S/MIME}) message
8595 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8598 @kindex W a (Summary)
8599 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8600 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8601 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8604 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8605 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8606 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8607 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8610 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8611 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8612 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8613 lines with a single empty line.
8614 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8617 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8618 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8619 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8620 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8623 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8624 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8625 Do all the three commands above
8626 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8629 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8630 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8631 Remove all blank lines
8632 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8635 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8636 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8637 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8638 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8641 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8642 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8643 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8644 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8648 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8651 @node Article Header
8652 @subsection Article Header
8654 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8659 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8660 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8661 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8664 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8665 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8666 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8667 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8670 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8671 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8672 Fold all the message headers
8673 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8677 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8678 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8679 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8684 @node Article Buttons
8685 @subsection Article Buttons
8688 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8689 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8690 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8691 button on these references.
8693 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8694 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8695 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man pages and
8696 Emacs or Gnus related references. This is controlled by two variables,
8697 one that handles article bodies and one that handles article heads:
8701 @item gnus-button-alist
8702 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8703 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8706 (@var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8712 All text that match this regular expression (case insensitive) will be
8713 considered an external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches
8714 embedded URLs: @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a
8715 variable containing a regexp, useful variables to use include
8716 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp} and @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp}.
8719 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8720 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8721 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8724 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8725 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8726 avoid false matches. Often variables named
8727 @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} are used here, @xref{Article Button
8728 Levels}, but any other form may be used too.
8730 @c @code{use-p} is @code{eval}ed only if @code{regexp} matches.
8733 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8736 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8737 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8741 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8744 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8747 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8748 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8749 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8750 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8751 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8754 (@var{header} @var{regexp} @var{button-par} @var{use-p} @var{function} @var{data-par})
8757 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8760 @subsubsection Related variables and functions
8763 @item gnus-button-@var{*}-level
8764 @xref{Article Button Levels}.
8766 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-browse-level
8768 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8769 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8770 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8771 default values of the variables above.
8773 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-man-level
8775 @item gnus-button-man-handler
8776 @vindex gnus-button-man-handler
8777 The function to use for displaying man pages. It must take at least one
8778 argument with a string naming the man page.
8780 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-message-level
8782 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8783 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp
8784 Regular expression that matches a message ID or a mail address.
8786 @item gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8787 @vindex gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail
8788 This variable determines what to do when the button on a string as
8789 @samp{foo123@@bar.invalid} is pushed. Strings like this can be either a
8790 message ID or a mail address. If it is one of the symbols @code{mid} or
8791 @code{mail}, Gnus will always assume that the string is a message ID or
8792 a mail address, respectively. If this variable is set to the symbol
8793 @code{ask}, always query the user what do do. If it is a function, this
8794 function will be called with the string as its only argument. The
8795 function must return @code{mid}, @code{mail}, @code{invalid} or
8796 @code{ask}. The default value is the function
8797 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8799 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8800 @findex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic
8801 Function that guesses whether its argument is a message ID or a mail
8802 address. Returns @code{mid} if it's a message IDs, @code{mail} if
8803 it's a mail address, @code{ask} if unsure and @code{invalid} if the
8806 @item gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8807 @vindex gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist
8808 An alist of @code{(RATE . REGEXP)} pairs used by the function
8809 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}.
8811 @c Stuff related to gnus-button-tex-level
8813 @item gnus-button-ctan-handler
8814 @findex gnus-button-ctan-handler
8815 The function to use for displaying CTAN links. It must take one
8816 argument, the string naming the URL.
8819 @vindex gnus-ctan-url
8820 Top directory of a CTAN (Comprehensive TeX Archive Network) archive used
8821 by @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler}.
8825 @item gnus-article-button-face
8826 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8827 Face used on buttons.
8829 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8830 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8831 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8835 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8838 @node Article Button Levels
8839 @subsection Article button levels
8840 @cindex button levels
8841 The higher the value of the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level},
8842 the more buttons will appear. If the level is zero, no corresponding
8843 buttons are displayed. With the default value (which is 5) you should
8844 already see quite a lot of buttons. With higher levels, you will see
8845 more buttons, but you may also get more false positives. To avoid them,
8846 you can set the variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} local to
8847 specific groups (@pxref{Group Parameters}). Here's an example for the
8848 variable @code{gnus-parameters}:
8851 ;; @r{increase @code{gnus-button-*-level} in some groups:}
8852 (setq gnus-parameters
8853 '(("\\<\\(emacs\\|gnus\\)\\>" (gnus-button-emacs-level 10))
8854 ("\\<unix\\>" (gnus-button-man-level 10))
8855 ("\\<tex\\>" (gnus-button-tex-level 10))))
8860 @item gnus-button-browse-level
8861 @vindex gnus-button-browse-level
8862 Controls the display of references to message IDs, mail addresses and
8863 news URLs. Related variables and functions include
8864 @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}, @code{browse-url}, and
8865 @code{browse-url-browser-function}.
8867 @item gnus-button-emacs-level
8868 @vindex gnus-button-emacs-level
8869 Controls the display of Emacs or Gnus references. Related functions are
8870 @code{gnus-button-handle-custom},
8871 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-function},
8872 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-variable},
8873 @code{gnus-button-handle-symbol},
8874 @code{gnus-button-handle-describe-key},
8875 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos},
8876 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-command},
8877 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-variable},
8878 @code{gnus-button-handle-apropos-documentation}, and
8879 @code{gnus-button-handle-library}.
8881 @item gnus-button-man-level
8882 @vindex gnus-button-man-level
8883 Controls the display of references to (Unix) man pages.
8884 See @code{gnus-button-man-handler}.
8886 @item gnus-button-message-level
8887 @vindex gnus-button-message-level
8888 Controls the display of message IDs, mail addresses and news URLs.
8889 Related variables and functions include
8890 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-regexp},
8891 @code{gnus-button-prefer-mid-or-mail},
8892 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic}, and
8893 @code{gnus-button-mid-or-mail-heuristic-alist}.
8895 @item gnus-button-tex-level
8896 @vindex gnus-button-tex-level
8897 Controls the display of references to @TeX{} or LaTeX stuff, e.g. for CTAN
8898 URLs. See the variables @code{gnus-ctan-url},
8899 @code{gnus-button-ctan-handler},
8900 @code{gnus-button-ctan-directory-regexp}, and
8901 @code{gnus-button-handle-ctan-bogus-regexp}.
8907 @subsection Article Date
8909 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8910 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8911 when the article was sent.
8916 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8917 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8918 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8919 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8922 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8923 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8925 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8926 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8929 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8930 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8931 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8934 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8935 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8936 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8937 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8940 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8941 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8942 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8943 @findex format-time-string
8944 Display the date using a user-defined format
8945 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8946 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8947 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8948 for a list of possible format specs.
8951 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8952 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8953 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8954 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8955 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8956 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8959 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8962 @vindex gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header
8963 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8964 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8967 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8968 into wonderful absurdities.
8970 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8973 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8976 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8977 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8981 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8982 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8983 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8984 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8985 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8986 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8987 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8991 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8992 preferred format automatically.
8995 @node Article Display
8996 @subsection Article Display
9001 These commands add various frivolous display gimmicks to the article
9002 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
9004 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
9005 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
9007 @code{Face} headers are small colored images supplied by the message
9008 headers (@pxref{Face}).
9010 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
9011 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
9013 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
9014 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
9016 All these functions are toggles---if the elements already exist,
9021 @kindex W D x (Summary)
9022 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
9023 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
9024 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
9027 @kindex W D d (Summary)
9028 @findex gnus-article-display-face
9029 Display a @code{Face} in the @code{From} header.
9030 (@code{gnus-article-display-face}).
9033 @kindex W D s (Summary)
9034 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
9035 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
9038 @kindex W D f (Summary)
9039 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
9040 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
9043 @kindex W D m (Summary)
9044 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
9045 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
9046 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
9049 @kindex W D n (Summary)
9050 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
9051 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
9052 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
9055 @kindex W D D (Summary)
9056 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
9057 Remove all images from the article buffer
9058 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
9064 @node Article Signature
9065 @subsection Article Signature
9067 @cindex article signature
9069 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
9070 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
9071 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
9072 that says what is to be considered a signature is
9073 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
9074 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
9075 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
9076 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
9077 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
9080 (setq gnus-signature-separator
9081 '("^-- $" ; @r{The standard}
9082 "^-- *$" ; @r{A common mangling}
9083 "^-------*$" ; @r{Many people just use a looong}
9084 ; @r{line of dashes. Shame!}
9085 "^ *--------*$" ; @r{Double-shame!}
9086 "^________*$" ; @r{Underscores are also popular}
9087 "^========*$")) ; @r{Pervert!}
9090 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
9093 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
9094 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
9095 signature when displaying articles.
9099 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
9102 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
9105 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
9106 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
9108 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
9109 in question is not a signature.
9112 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
9113 listed above. Here's an example:
9116 (setq gnus-signature-limit
9117 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
9120 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
9121 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
9122 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
9123 signature after all.
9126 @node Article Miscellanea
9127 @subsection Article Miscellanea
9131 @kindex A t (Summary)
9132 @findex gnus-article-babel
9133 Translate the article from one language to another
9134 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
9140 @section MIME Commands
9141 @cindex MIME decoding
9143 @cindex viewing attachments
9145 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
9146 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @acronym{MIME} part''.
9152 @kindex K v (Summary)
9153 View the @acronym{MIME} part.
9156 @kindex K o (Summary)
9157 Save the @acronym{MIME} part.
9160 @kindex K c (Summary)
9161 Copy the @acronym{MIME} part.
9164 @kindex K e (Summary)
9165 View the @acronym{MIME} part externally.
9168 @kindex K i (Summary)
9169 View the @acronym{MIME} part internally.
9172 @kindex K | (Summary)
9173 Pipe the @acronym{MIME} part to an external command.
9176 The rest of these @acronym{MIME} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
9181 @kindex K b (Summary)
9182 Make all the @acronym{MIME} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
9183 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
9187 @kindex K m (Summary)
9188 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
9189 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
9190 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
9191 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
9192 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
9195 @kindex X m (Summary)
9196 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
9197 Save all parts matching a @acronym{MIME} type to a directory
9198 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
9199 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9202 @kindex M-t (Summary)
9203 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
9204 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
9205 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
9208 @kindex W M w (Summary)
9209 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
9210 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
9211 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
9214 @kindex W M c (Summary)
9215 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
9216 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
9217 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
9219 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
9220 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
9221 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
9222 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
9223 include @acronym{MIME} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
9224 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
9227 @kindex W M v (Summary)
9228 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
9229 View all the @acronym{MIME} parts in the current article
9230 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
9237 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
9238 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
9239 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9240 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
9243 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
9246 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
9250 @item gnus-article-loose-mime
9251 @vindex gnus-article-loose-mime
9252 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus won't require the @samp{MIME-Version} header
9253 before interpreting the message as a @acronym{MIME} message. This helps
9254 when reading messages from certain broken mail user agents. The
9255 default is @code{nil}.
9257 @item gnus-article-emulate-mime
9258 @vindex gnus-article-emulate-mime
9259 There are other, non-@acronym{MIME} encoding methods used. The most common
9260 is @samp{uuencode}, but yEncode is also getting to be popular. If
9261 this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will look in message bodies to
9262 see if it finds these encodings, and if so, it'll run them through the
9263 Gnus @acronym{MIME} machinery. The default is @code{t}.
9265 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9266 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
9267 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9268 this list won't have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9269 displayed or this variable is overridden by
9270 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
9271 @code{(".*/.*")}. This variable is only used when
9272 @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing} is @code{nil}.
9274 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9275 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
9276 This is a list of regexps. @acronym{MIME} types that match a regexp from
9277 this list will have @acronym{MIME} buttons inserted unless they aren't
9278 displayed. This variable overrides
9279 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
9280 This variable is only used when @code{gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing}
9283 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
9284 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
9285 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} at the default value.
9287 @item gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9288 @vindex gnus-inhibit-mime-unbuttonizing
9289 If this is non-@code{nil}, then all @acronym{MIME} parts get buttons. The
9290 default value is @code{nil}.
9292 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
9293 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
9294 For each @acronym{MIME} part, this function will be called with the @acronym{MIME}
9295 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
9296 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
9297 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
9298 save all jpegs into some directory).
9300 Here's an example function the does the latter:
9303 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
9304 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
9306 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
9307 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
9308 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
9309 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
9310 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
9313 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9314 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
9315 Alist of @acronym{MIME} multipart types and functions to handle them.
9317 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9318 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9319 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @acronym{MIME} parts.
9320 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
9322 Ready-made functions include@*
9323 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
9324 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
9325 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
9326 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
9327 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
9328 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
9329 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
9330 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
9331 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9332 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9333 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9334 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
9336 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
9337 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
9339 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
9340 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
9341 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
9344 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
9345 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
9346 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
9347 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
9351 to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
9360 People use different charsets, and we have @acronym{MIME} to let us know what
9361 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
9362 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @acronym{MIME}, and
9363 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
9364 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
9365 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
9366 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
9368 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
9369 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
9370 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
9371 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
9373 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets
9374 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @acronym{MIME}-aware agents that
9375 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
9376 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
9377 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
9378 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
9379 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
9380 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
9381 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
9383 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
9384 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
9385 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @acronym{MIME}
9386 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
9387 quoted-printable header encoding.
9389 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
9390 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
9391 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
9395 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
9398 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
9399 means encode all charsets),
9401 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
9402 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
9403 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
9410 @cindex coding system aliases
9411 @cindex preferred charset
9413 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
9415 If there are several @acronym{MIME} charsets that encode the same Emacs
9416 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
9419 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
9420 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
9423 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
9424 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @acronym{MIME} charset.
9426 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
9429 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
9432 This will almost do the right thing.
9434 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
9438 (codepage-setup 1251)
9439 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9443 @node Article Commands
9444 @section Article Commands
9451 @kindex A P (Summary)
9452 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9453 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9454 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9455 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9456 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9457 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9462 @node Summary Sorting
9463 @section Summary Sorting
9464 @cindex summary sorting
9466 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9467 can't really see why you'd want that.
9472 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9473 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9474 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9477 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9478 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9479 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9482 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9483 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9484 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9487 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9488 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9489 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9492 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9493 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9494 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9497 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9498 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9499 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9502 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9503 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9504 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9507 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9508 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9509 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9512 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9513 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9514 Sort using the default sorting method
9515 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9518 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9519 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9520 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9521 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9522 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9526 @node Finding the Parent
9527 @section Finding the Parent
9528 @cindex parent articles
9529 @cindex referring articles
9534 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9535 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9536 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9537 if the current group is fetched by @acronym{NNTP}, the parent hasn't expired
9538 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9539 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9540 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9541 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9542 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9544 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9545 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9546 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9547 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9548 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9552 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9553 @kindex A R (Summary)
9554 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9555 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9558 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9559 @kindex A T (Summary)
9560 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9561 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9562 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9563 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9564 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9565 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9566 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9568 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9569 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9570 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9571 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9572 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9573 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9576 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9577 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9579 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9580 You can also ask the @acronym{NNTP} server for an arbitrary article, no
9581 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9582 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9583 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9584 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9585 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9588 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9589 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9590 by giving this command a prefix.
9592 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9593 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9594 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9595 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @acronym{NNTP} method. It
9596 would, perhaps, be best if the @acronym{NNTP} server you consult is the one
9597 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9600 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9601 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9602 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9605 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9606 then ask Google if that fails:
9609 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9611 (nnweb "google" (nnweb-type google))))
9614 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9615 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9616 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9617 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9618 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9619 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9620 support this at all.
9623 @node Alternative Approaches
9624 @section Alternative Approaches
9626 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9627 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9630 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9631 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9636 @subsection Pick and Read
9637 @cindex pick and read
9639 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9640 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9641 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9642 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9644 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9645 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9646 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9647 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9648 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9649 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9651 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9656 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9657 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9658 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9659 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9660 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9661 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9662 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9663 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9666 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9667 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9668 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9669 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9673 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9674 Unpick the thread or article
9675 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9676 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9677 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9678 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9679 the thread or article at that line.
9683 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9684 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9685 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9686 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9687 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9688 will still be visible when you are reading.
9692 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9693 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9694 which is mapped to the same function
9695 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9697 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9700 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9703 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9704 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9706 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9707 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9708 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9710 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9711 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9712 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9713 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9714 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9715 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9716 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9720 @subsection Binary Groups
9721 @cindex binary groups
9723 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9724 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9725 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9726 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9727 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9728 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9729 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9732 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9733 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9734 command, when you have turned on this mode
9735 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9737 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9738 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9742 @section Tree Display
9745 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9746 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9747 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9748 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9751 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9754 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9755 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9756 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9758 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9759 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9760 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9761 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9762 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9764 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9765 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9766 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9767 default is @code{modeline}.
9769 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9770 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9771 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9772 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9773 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9774 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9775 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9781 The name of the poster.
9783 The @code{From} header.
9785 The number of the article.
9787 The opening bracket.
9789 The closing bracket.
9794 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9796 Variables related to the display are:
9799 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9800 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9801 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9802 ``sparse'' articles. The format is
9804 ((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9805 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close})
9806 (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))
9808 and the default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9810 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9811 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9812 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9813 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9817 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9818 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9819 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9820 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9821 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9822 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9823 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9824 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9825 other windows displayed next to it.
9827 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9831 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9832 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9835 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9836 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9837 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9838 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9839 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9840 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9841 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9845 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9848 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9858 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9863 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9864 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9866 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9868 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9874 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9875 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9876 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
9879 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9880 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9881 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9882 (gnus-add-configuration
9886 (summary 0.75 point)
9891 @xref{Window Layout}.
9894 @node Mail Group Commands
9895 @section Mail Group Commands
9896 @cindex mail group commands
9898 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9899 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9901 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9902 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9907 @kindex B e (Summary)
9908 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9909 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9910 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9911 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9912 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9915 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9916 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9917 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9918 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9919 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9920 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9923 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9924 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9925 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9926 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9927 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9928 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9931 @kindex B m (Summary)
9933 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9934 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9935 Move the article from one mail group to another
9936 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9937 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9940 @kindex B c (Summary)
9942 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9943 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9944 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9945 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9946 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9949 @kindex B B (Summary)
9950 @cindex crosspost mail
9951 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9952 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9953 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9954 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9955 be properly updated.
9958 @kindex B i (Summary)
9959 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9960 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9961 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9962 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9965 @kindex B I (Summary)
9966 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9967 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9968 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9969 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9972 @kindex B r (Summary)
9973 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9974 @vindex gnus-summary-respool-default-method
9975 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9976 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9977 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9978 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9979 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9980 (which is the default).
9984 @kindex B w (Summary)
9986 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9987 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9988 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9989 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9990 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9991 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9992 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9995 @kindex B q (Summary)
9996 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9997 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9998 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9999 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
10002 @kindex B t (Summary)
10003 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
10004 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
10005 when respooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
10008 @kindex B p (Summary)
10009 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
10010 Some people have a tendency to send you ``courtesy'' copies when they
10011 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
10012 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
10013 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
10014 article from your news server (or rather, from
10015 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
10016 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
10017 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
10018 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
10019 just not have arrived yet.
10022 @kindex K E (Summary)
10023 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
10024 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
10025 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
10026 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
10027 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
10031 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
10032 @cindex moving articles
10033 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
10034 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
10035 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
10036 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
10037 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
10038 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
10039 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
10042 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
10043 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
10044 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
10045 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
10049 @node Various Summary Stuff
10050 @section Various Summary Stuff
10053 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
10054 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
10055 * Summary Generation Commands::
10056 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
10060 @vindex gnus-summary-display-while-building
10061 @item gnus-summary-display-while-building
10062 If non-@code{nil}, show and update the summary buffer as it's being
10063 built. If @code{t}, update the buffer after every line is inserted.
10064 If the value is an integer, @var{n}, update the display every @var{n}
10065 lines. The default is @code{nil}.
10067 @vindex gnus-summary-display-arrow
10068 @item gnus-summary-display-arrow
10069 If non-@code{nil}, display an arrow in the fringe to indicate the
10072 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
10073 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
10074 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
10076 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
10077 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
10078 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
10079 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
10080 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
10081 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
10084 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10085 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
10086 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
10087 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
10088 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
10090 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10091 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
10092 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
10095 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10096 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
10097 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
10098 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
10099 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
10100 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
10101 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
10102 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
10103 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
10104 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
10106 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10107 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
10108 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
10109 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
10110 list of articles to be selected.
10112 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
10113 the list in one particular group:
10116 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
10117 (if (string= group "some.group")
10118 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
10122 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
10123 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
10124 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
10125 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
10126 @code{nil}), that should be made global while the summary buffer is
10127 active. These variables can be used to set variables in the group
10128 parameters while still allowing them to affect operations done in
10129 other buffers. For example:
10132 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
10133 '(message-use-followup-to
10134 (gnus-visible-headers .
10135 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
10141 @node Summary Group Information
10142 @subsection Summary Group Information
10147 @kindex H f (Summary)
10148 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
10149 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
10150 Try to fetch the @acronym{FAQ} (list of frequently asked questions)
10151 for the current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try
10152 to get the @acronym{FAQ} from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which
10153 is usually a directory on a remote machine. This variable can also be
10154 a list of directories. In that case, giving a prefix to this command
10155 will allow you to choose between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp}
10156 or @code{efs} will probably be used for fetching the file.
10159 @kindex H d (Summary)
10160 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
10161 Give a brief description of the current group
10162 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
10163 rereading the description from the server.
10166 @kindex H h (Summary)
10167 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
10168 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
10169 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
10172 @kindex H i (Summary)
10173 @findex gnus-info-find-node
10174 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
10178 @node Searching for Articles
10179 @subsection Searching for Articles
10184 @kindex M-s (Summary)
10185 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
10186 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
10187 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
10190 @kindex M-r (Summary)
10191 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
10192 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
10193 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
10196 @kindex & (Summary)
10197 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
10198 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
10199 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
10200 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
10201 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
10202 search backward instead.
10204 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
10205 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
10208 @kindex M-& (Summary)
10209 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
10210 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
10211 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
10214 @node Summary Generation Commands
10215 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
10220 @kindex Y g (Summary)
10221 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
10222 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
10225 @kindex Y c (Summary)
10226 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
10227 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10228 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
10231 @kindex Y d (Summary)
10232 @findex gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles
10233 Pull all dormant articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
10234 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-dormant-articles}).
10239 @node Really Various Summary Commands
10240 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
10246 @kindex C-d (Summary)
10247 @kindex A D (Summary)
10248 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
10249 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
10250 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
10251 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
10252 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
10253 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
10254 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
10255 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
10259 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
10260 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
10261 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
10262 several documents into one biiig group
10263 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
10264 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
10265 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
10266 command understands the process/prefix convention
10267 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10270 @kindex C-t (Summary)
10271 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
10272 Toggle truncation of summary lines
10273 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
10274 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
10275 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
10278 @kindex = (Summary)
10279 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
10280 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
10281 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
10284 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
10285 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
10286 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10287 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
10290 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
10291 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
10292 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
10293 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
10298 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
10299 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
10300 @cindex summary exit
10301 @cindex exiting groups
10303 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
10304 group and return you to the group buffer.
10310 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
10311 @kindex q (Summary)
10312 @findex gnus-summary-exit
10313 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
10314 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
10315 @vindex gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook
10316 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
10317 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
10318 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
10319 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
10320 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
10321 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
10322 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
10323 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
10327 @kindex Z E (Summary)
10328 @kindex Q (Summary)
10329 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
10330 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
10331 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
10335 @kindex Z c (Summary)
10336 @kindex c (Summary)
10337 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
10338 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
10339 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
10340 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
10343 @kindex Z C (Summary)
10344 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
10345 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
10346 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
10349 @kindex Z n (Summary)
10350 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
10351 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
10352 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
10355 @kindex Z R (Summary)
10356 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
10357 Exit this group, and then enter it again
10358 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
10359 all articles, both read and unread.
10363 @kindex Z G (Summary)
10364 @kindex M-g (Summary)
10365 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
10366 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
10367 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
10368 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
10369 articles, both read and unread.
10372 @kindex Z N (Summary)
10373 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
10374 Exit the group and go to the next group
10375 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
10378 @kindex Z P (Summary)
10379 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
10380 Exit the group and go to the previous group
10381 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
10384 @kindex Z s (Summary)
10385 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
10386 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
10387 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
10388 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
10389 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
10392 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
10393 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
10394 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
10395 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
10397 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
10398 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
10399 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
10400 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
10401 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
10402 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
10403 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
10404 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
10405 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
10406 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
10407 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
10408 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
10410 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
10412 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
10413 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
10414 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
10415 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
10416 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
10417 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
10418 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
10419 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
10420 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
10423 @node Crosspost Handling
10424 @section Crosspost Handling
10428 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
10429 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
10430 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
10431 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
10432 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
10433 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
10436 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
10437 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
10438 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
10439 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
10440 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
10442 @cindex cross-posting
10444 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
10445 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
10446 correctly is if you use an @acronym{NNTP} server that supports @sc{xover}
10447 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
10448 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @acronym{NOV} lines. This is
10449 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
10450 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
10451 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
10452 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
10453 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
10454 the cross reference mechanism.
10456 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
10457 @cindex overview.fmt
10458 To check whether your @acronym{NNTP} server includes the @code{Xref} header
10459 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
10460 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
10461 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
10462 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
10463 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
10466 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
10467 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
10468 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10473 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10476 @node Duplicate Suppression
10477 @section Duplicate Suppression
10479 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10480 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10481 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10482 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10487 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10488 is evil and not very common.
10491 The @acronym{NNTP} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10492 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10495 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10496 different @acronym{NNTP} servers.
10499 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10502 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10503 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10505 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10506 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10507 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10508 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10509 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10510 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10511 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10514 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10515 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10516 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10517 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10518 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10519 saw the article in.
10522 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10523 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10524 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10526 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10527 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10528 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10529 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10530 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10531 session are suppressed.
10533 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10534 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10535 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10536 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10538 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10539 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10540 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10541 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10544 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10545 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10546 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10547 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10548 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10549 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10550 to you to figure out, I think.
10555 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10556 The formats that are supported are @acronym{PGP}, @acronym{PGP/MIME}
10557 and @acronym{S/MIME}, however you need some external programs to get
10562 To handle @acronym{PGP} and @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages, you have to
10563 install an OpenPGP implementation such as GnuPG. The Lisp interface
10564 to GnuPG included with Gnus is called PGG (@pxref{Top, ,PGG, pgg, PGG
10565 Manual}), but Mailcrypt and gpg.el are also supported.
10568 To handle @acronym{S/MIME} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10569 or newer is recommended.
10573 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10574 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10577 @item mm-verify-option
10578 @vindex mm-verify-option
10579 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10580 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10581 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10583 @item mm-decrypt-option
10584 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10585 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10586 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10587 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10590 @vindex mml1991-use
10591 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10592 @acronym{PGP} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10593 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10597 @vindex mml2015-use
10598 Symbol indicating elisp interface to OpenPGP implementation for
10599 @acronym{PGP/MIME} messages. The default is @code{pgg}, but
10600 @code{mailcrypt} and @code{gpg} are also supported although
10605 @cindex snarfing keys
10606 @cindex importing PGP keys
10607 @cindex PGP key ring import
10608 Snarfing OpenPGP keys (i.e., importing keys from articles into your
10609 key ring) is not supported explicitly through a menu item or command,
10610 rather Gnus do detect and label keys as @samp{application/pgp-keys},
10611 allowing you to specify whatever action you think is appropriate
10612 through the usual @acronym{MIME} infrastructure. You can use a
10613 @file{~/.mailcap} entry (@pxref{mailcap, , mailcap, emacs-mime, The
10614 Emacs MIME Manual}) such as the following to import keys using GNU
10615 Privacy Guard when you click on the @acronym{MIME} button
10616 (@pxref{Using MIME}).
10619 application/pgp-keys; gpg --import --interactive --verbose; needsterminal
10622 This happens to also be the default action defined in
10623 @code{mailcap-mime-data}.
10626 @section Mailing List
10627 @cindex mailing list
10630 @kindex A M (summary)
10631 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10632 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10633 add a @code{to-list} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10634 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10637 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10642 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10643 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10644 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10647 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10648 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10649 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10652 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10653 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10654 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10658 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10659 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10660 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10663 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10664 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10665 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10668 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10669 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10670 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10675 @node Article Buffer
10676 @chapter Article Buffer
10677 @cindex article buffer
10679 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10680 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10681 tell gnus otherwise.
10684 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10685 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @acronym{MIME} before reading them.
10686 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10687 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10688 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10692 @node Hiding Headers
10693 @section Hiding Headers
10694 @cindex hiding headers
10695 @cindex deleting headers
10697 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10698 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10700 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10701 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10702 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10703 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10704 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10705 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10706 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseam---and you'll probably want to get rid
10707 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10708 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10710 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10714 @item gnus-visible-headers
10715 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10716 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10717 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10718 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10720 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10721 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10724 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10727 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10730 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10731 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10732 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10733 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10734 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10735 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10737 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10738 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10741 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10744 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10747 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10748 variable will have no effect.
10752 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10753 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10754 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10755 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10756 the headers are to be displayed.
10758 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10759 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10762 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10765 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10766 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10768 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10769 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10770 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10771 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10772 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10773 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10774 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10777 These conditions are:
10780 Remove all empty headers.
10782 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10783 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10785 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10786 @code{From} header, or if the @code{broken-reply-to} group parameter is
10789 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10792 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10793 the current group's @code{to-address} parameter.
10795 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10796 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10798 Remove the @code{CC} header if it only contains the address identical to
10799 the current group's @code{to-list} parameter.
10801 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10804 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10806 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10809 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10812 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10813 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10816 This is also the default value for this variable.
10820 @section Using MIME
10821 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
10823 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10824 while people stand around yawning.
10826 @acronym{MIME}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10827 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10829 @acronym{MIME} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10830 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10831 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10833 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10834 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10835 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10836 gnus handles @acronym{MIME} by pushing the articles through
10837 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10838 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10839 calls the @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For
10840 more information on @acronym{SEMI} MIME-View, see its manual page
10841 (however it is not existed yet, sorry).
10843 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10844 @acronym{MIME} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set,
10845 then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10846 These can't be avoided.
10848 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10849 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10850 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10851 @acronym{MIME} has decoded the sound file in the article and some
10852 horrible sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you
10853 can't find the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are
10854 starting to look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't,
10855 and you can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else
10856 in the room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll
10857 feel rather stupid.)
10859 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10861 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10862 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10863 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10864 buffer when there are nobody else.
10866 Also @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10869 @node Customizing Articles
10870 @section Customizing Articles
10871 @cindex article customization
10873 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10874 exist. You can call these functions interactively
10875 (@pxref{Article Washing}), or you can have them
10876 called automatically when you select the articles.
10878 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10879 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10880 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10881 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10883 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10884 for sensible values.
10888 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10891 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10894 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10897 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10900 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10904 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10905 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10906 regexps in the list.
10909 A list where the first element is not a string:
10911 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10912 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10913 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10917 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10921 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10926 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10927 to the fact that some messages are @acronym{MIME} multipart articles that may
10928 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10929 considered to contain just a single part.
10931 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10932 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10933 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10934 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10935 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10936 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10937 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10939 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10940 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10941 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10942 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10945 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10946 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10948 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10950 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10951 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10952 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10953 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10954 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10955 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10956 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10957 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10958 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10959 @item gnus-treat-wash-html (t, integer)
10960 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10962 @xref{Article Washing}.
10964 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10965 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10966 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10967 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10968 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10969 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10970 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10972 @xref{Article Date}.
10974 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10975 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10976 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10980 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10982 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10984 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10985 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10986 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10990 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10994 @item gnus-treat-display-face (head)
10998 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10999 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
11000 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
11001 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
11002 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
11003 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
11004 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
11005 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
11006 @item gnus-treat-strip-banner (t, last)
11007 @item gnus-treat-strip-list-identifiers (head)
11009 @xref{Article Hiding}.
11011 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
11012 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
11013 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
11015 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
11017 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
11018 @item gnus-treat-translate
11019 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
11021 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
11022 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
11023 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
11024 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
11026 @xref{Article Header}.
11031 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
11032 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
11033 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
11034 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
11035 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
11039 @node Article Keymap
11040 @section Article Keymap
11042 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
11043 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
11044 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
11045 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
11048 A few additional keystrokes are available:
11053 @kindex SPACE (Article)
11054 @findex gnus-article-next-page
11055 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
11056 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h SPACE h}.
11059 @kindex DEL (Article)
11060 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
11061 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
11062 This is exactly the same as @kbd{h DEL h}.
11065 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
11066 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
11067 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
11068 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
11069 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
11072 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
11073 @findex gnus-article-mail
11074 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
11075 given a prefix, include the mail.
11078 @kindex s (Article)
11079 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
11080 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
11081 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
11084 @kindex ? (Article)
11085 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
11086 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
11087 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
11090 @kindex TAB (Article)
11091 @findex gnus-article-next-button
11092 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
11093 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
11096 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
11097 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
11098 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
11101 @kindex R (Article)
11102 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
11103 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
11104 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
11105 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11109 @kindex F (Article)
11110 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
11111 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
11112 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
11113 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
11121 @section Misc Article
11125 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
11126 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
11127 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
11128 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
11131 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
11132 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
11133 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
11134 Hook used to decode @acronym{MIME} articles. The default value is
11135 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
11137 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
11138 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
11139 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
11140 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
11141 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
11142 the contents of the article buffer.
11144 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
11145 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
11146 Hook called in article mode buffers.
11148 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11149 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
11150 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
11151 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
11153 @vindex gnus-article-over-scroll
11154 @item gnus-article-over-scroll
11155 If non-@code{nil}, allow scrolling the article buffer even when there
11156 no more new text to scroll in. The default is @code{nil}.
11158 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
11159 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
11160 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
11161 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
11162 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
11168 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
11169 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
11170 performed. The characters and their meaning:
11175 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
11178 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
11181 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
11182 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
11183 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
11186 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
11189 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
11192 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
11197 The number of @acronym{MIME} parts in the article.
11201 @vindex gnus-break-pages
11203 @item gnus-break-pages
11204 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
11205 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
11206 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
11207 paging will not be done.
11209 @item gnus-page-delimiter
11210 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
11211 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
11215 @cindex internationalized domain names
11216 @vindex gnus-use-idna
11217 @item gnus-use-idna
11218 This variable controls whether Gnus performs IDNA decoding of
11219 internationalized domain names inside @samp{From}, @samp{To} and
11220 @samp{Cc} headers. This requires
11221 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/libidn/, GNU Libidn}, and this
11222 variable is only enabled if you have installed it.
11227 @node Composing Messages
11228 @chapter Composing Messages
11229 @cindex composing messages
11232 @cindex sending mail
11237 @cindex using s/mime
11238 @cindex using smime
11240 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
11241 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
11242 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
11243 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
11244 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
11245 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
11248 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
11249 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
11250 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
11251 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
11252 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
11253 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
11254 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
11255 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
11258 Also @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
11259 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
11265 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
11268 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
11269 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
11270 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
11271 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched. If
11272 @code{nil} include all headers.
11274 @item gnus-add-to-list
11275 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
11276 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
11277 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
11279 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11280 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
11281 This can also be a function receiving the group name as the only
11282 parameter which should return non-@code{nil} if a confirmation is
11283 needed, or a regular expression matching group names, where
11284 confirmation is should be asked for.
11286 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
11287 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
11289 @item gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11290 @vindex gnus-confirm-treat-mail-like-news
11291 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus also requests confirmation according to
11292 @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} when replying to mail. This is
11293 useful for treating mailing lists like newsgroups.
11298 @node Posting Server
11299 @section Posting Server
11301 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
11302 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
11304 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
11306 It can be quite complicated.
11308 @vindex gnus-post-method
11309 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
11310 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
11311 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
11312 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
11313 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
11314 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
11315 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
11316 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
11317 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
11320 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
11323 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
11324 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
11325 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
11326 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
11328 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
11329 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
11331 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
11332 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
11335 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
11336 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
11338 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
11339 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
11340 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
11341 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
11342 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @acronym{SMTP}
11343 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
11344 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
11345 package correctly. An example:
11348 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
11349 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11350 ;; The following variable needs to be set because of the FLIM version of
11351 ;; smtpmail.el. Which smtpmail.el is used depends on the `load-path'.
11352 (setq smtp-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
11355 To the thing similar to this, there is
11356 @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}. It is useful if your ISP requires
11357 the @acronym{POP}-before-@acronym{SMTP} authentication. See the
11358 documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
11360 Other possible choices for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
11361 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
11362 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
11364 @node Mail and Post
11365 @section Mail and Post
11367 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
11371 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
11372 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
11373 @cindex mailing lists
11375 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
11376 gatewayed to the @acronym{NNTP} server, you can read those groups without
11377 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
11378 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
11379 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
11380 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
11381 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
11382 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
11383 still a pain, though.
11385 @item gnus-user-agent
11386 @vindex gnus-user-agent
11389 This variable controls which information should be exposed in the
11390 User-Agent header. It can be one of the symbols @code{gnus} (show only
11391 Gnus version), @code{emacs-gnus} (show only Emacs and Gnus versions),
11392 @code{emacs-gnus-config} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus system
11393 configuration), @code{emacs-gnus-type} (same as @code{emacs-gnus} plus
11394 system type) or a custom string. If you set it to a string, be sure to
11395 use a valid format, see RFC 2616.
11399 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
11400 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
11401 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
11404 @findex ispell-message
11406 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
11409 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
11410 you're in, you could say something like the following:
11413 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
11417 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
11418 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
11420 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
11423 Modify to suit your needs.
11426 @node Archived Messages
11427 @section Archived Messages
11428 @cindex archived messages
11429 @cindex sent messages
11431 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
11432 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
11433 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
11434 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
11437 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
11438 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
11441 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
11442 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
11443 use to store sent messages. The default is:
11446 (nnfolder "archive"
11447 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
11448 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
11449 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
11450 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
11453 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
11454 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
11455 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
11456 directory chosen, you could say something like:
11459 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
11460 '(nnfolder "archive"
11461 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
11462 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
11463 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
11466 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
11468 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
11469 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
11470 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
11472 This variable can be used to do the following:
11476 Messages will be saved in that group.
11478 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
11479 message will not be stored in the select method given by
11480 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
11481 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
11482 has the default value shown above. Then setting
11483 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
11484 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
11485 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
11488 @item a list of strings
11489 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
11491 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
11492 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
11495 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
11500 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
11502 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
11505 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
11507 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
11510 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
11512 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11513 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
11514 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
11515 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
11518 More complex stuff:
11520 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11521 '((if (message-news-p)
11526 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
11527 messages in one file per month:
11530 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
11531 '((if (message-news-p)
11533 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
11536 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
11537 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
11539 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
11540 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
11541 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
11542 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
11543 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
11544 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
11545 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
11546 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
11547 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
11548 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
11550 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
11551 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
11552 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
11553 this will disable archiving.
11556 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
11557 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
11558 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
11559 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
11560 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11563 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11564 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11565 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11568 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11569 but the latter is the preferred method.
11571 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11572 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11573 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11575 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11576 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11577 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11578 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11579 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11580 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11581 changed in the future.
11586 @node Posting Styles
11587 @section Posting Styles
11588 @cindex posting styles
11591 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11593 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11594 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11595 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11598 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11599 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11600 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11601 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11602 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11607 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11608 (organization "What me?"))
11610 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11611 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11612 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11615 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11616 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11617 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11618 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11619 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11620 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11621 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11622 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11624 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11625 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11626 If it is the form @code{(header @var{match} @var{regexp})}, then Gnus
11627 will look in the original article for a header whose name is
11628 @var{match} and compare that @var{regexp}. @var{match} and
11629 @var{regexp} are strings. (There original article is the one you are
11630 replying or following up to. If you are not composing a reply or a
11631 followup, then there is nothing to match against.) If the
11632 @code{match} is a function symbol, that function will be called with
11633 no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
11634 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
11635 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is
11636 said to @dfn{match}.
11638 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11639 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11640 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11641 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11642 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11643 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11644 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11645 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11646 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11647 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11650 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11651 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11652 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11653 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11654 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11655 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11656 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11657 references chars lines xref extra.
11659 @vindex message-reply-headers
11661 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11662 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11663 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11665 @findex message-mail-p
11666 @findex message-news-p
11668 So here's a new example:
11671 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11673 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11675 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11676 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11678 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11679 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; @r{A form}
11680 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11681 (message-news-p ;; @r{A function symbol}
11682 (signature my-news-signature))
11683 (window-system ;; @r{A value symbol}
11684 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11685 ;; @r{If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.}
11686 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11687 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11688 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; @r{A user defined function}
11689 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11690 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11691 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11692 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11694 (From (save-excursion
11695 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11696 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11698 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11701 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11702 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11703 if you fill many roles.
11705 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11706 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names. You can specify an
11707 arbitrary posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the
11708 summary buffer. @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps
11709 the names to styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can
11710 import it from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name
11711 is @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11712 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11717 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11719 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11721 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11722 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11725 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11728 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11729 "Default" except @code{organization}.
11736 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11737 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11738 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11739 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11740 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11742 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11743 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11744 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11745 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11746 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11750 @vindex nndraft-directory
11751 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11752 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11753 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11754 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11755 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11756 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11758 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11759 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11760 unsubscribe it. The special properties of the draft group comes from
11761 a group property (@pxref{Group Parameters}), and if lost the group
11762 behaves like any other group. This means the commands below will not
11763 be available. To restore the special properties of the group, the
11764 simplest way is to kill the group, using @kbd{C-k}, and restart
11765 Gnus. The group is automatically created again with the
11766 correct parameters. The content of the group is not lost.
11768 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11769 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11770 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11771 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11772 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11773 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11774 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11775 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11776 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11777 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11778 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11779 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11780 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11781 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11783 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11784 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11785 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11787 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11788 @kindex D e (Draft)
11789 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11790 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11791 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11793 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11796 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11797 @kindex D s (Draft)
11798 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11799 @kindex D S (Draft)
11800 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11801 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11802 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11803 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11804 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11807 @findex gnus-draft-toggle-sending
11808 @kindex D t (Draft)
11809 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11810 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11811 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11814 @node Rejected Articles
11815 @section Rejected Articles
11816 @cindex rejected articles
11818 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11819 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11820 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11821 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11823 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11824 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11825 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11826 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11827 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11829 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11830 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11831 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11833 @node Signing and encrypting
11834 @section Signing and encrypting
11836 @cindex using s/mime
11837 @cindex using smime
11839 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla
11840 @acronym{PGP} format or @acronym{PGP/MIME} or @acronym{S/MIME}. For
11841 decoding such messages, see the @code{mm-verify-option} and
11842 @code{mm-decrypt-option} options (@pxref{Security}).
11844 @vindex gnus-message-replysign
11845 @vindex gnus-message-replyencrypt
11846 @vindex gnus-message-replysignencrypted
11847 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11848 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11849 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11850 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11851 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11852 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11853 automatically encrypted messages.
11855 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @acronym{MIME} part is
11856 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11857 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11862 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11863 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11865 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11868 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11869 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11871 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11874 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11875 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11877 Digitally sign current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11880 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11881 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11883 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{S/MIME}.
11886 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11887 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11889 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP}.
11892 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11893 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11895 Digitally encrypt current message using @acronym{PGP/MIME}.
11898 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11899 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11900 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11904 @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}, for more information.
11906 @node Select Methods
11907 @chapter Select Methods
11908 @cindex foreign groups
11909 @cindex select methods
11911 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11912 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11913 @acronym{NNTP} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11914 personal mail group.
11916 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11917 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11918 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11919 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11920 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11921 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11923 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11924 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11926 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11929 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @acronym{NNTP} server
11930 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11931 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11932 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11933 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11935 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11938 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11939 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11940 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11941 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11942 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @acronym{IMAP} client.
11943 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11944 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11945 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11949 @node Server Buffer
11950 @section Server Buffer
11952 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11953 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11954 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11955 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11956 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11957 back end represents a virtual server.
11959 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11960 different actual @acronym{NNTP} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11961 on the same actual @acronym{NNTP} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11962 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11964 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11965 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11966 @acronym{NNTP} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11967 hangs if queried for @acronym{NOV} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11968 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11969 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11970 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11972 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11973 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11976 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11977 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11978 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11979 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11980 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11981 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11982 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11985 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11986 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11989 @node Server Buffer Format
11990 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11991 @cindex server buffer format
11993 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11994 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11995 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11996 variable, with some simple extensions:
12001 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
12004 The name of this server.
12007 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
12010 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
12013 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
12014 The mode line can also be customized by using the
12015 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
12016 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
12026 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
12029 @node Server Commands
12030 @subsection Server Commands
12031 @cindex server commands
12037 @findex gnus-server-add-server
12038 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
12042 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
12043 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
12046 @kindex SPACE (Server)
12047 @findex gnus-server-read-server
12048 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
12052 @findex gnus-server-exit
12053 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
12057 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
12058 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
12062 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
12063 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
12067 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
12068 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
12072 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
12073 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
12077 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
12078 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
12079 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
12084 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
12085 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
12086 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
12087 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
12092 @node Example Methods
12093 @subsection Example Methods
12095 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
12098 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
12101 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
12107 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
12108 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
12111 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
12112 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
12114 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
12115 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
12119 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
12122 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
12123 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
12125 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
12126 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
12127 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
12131 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
12134 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
12137 Here's the method for a public spool:
12141 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
12142 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
12148 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @acronym{NNTP}
12149 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
12150 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12151 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
12152 should probably look something like this:
12156 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
12157 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
12158 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
12159 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12162 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
12163 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
12164 configuration to the example above:
12167 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
12170 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
12172 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
12173 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
12174 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
12178 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12179 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
12180 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
12181 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
12184 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
12185 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
12186 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
12187 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
12190 @node Creating a Virtual Server
12191 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
12193 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
12194 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
12196 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
12197 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
12198 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
12200 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
12202 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
12203 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
12204 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
12205 will contain the following:
12215 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
12216 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
12217 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
12220 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
12221 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
12222 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
12225 @node Server Variables
12226 @subsection Server Variables
12227 @cindex server variables
12228 @cindex server parameters
12230 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
12231 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
12232 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
12233 change the ``base'' variable after the variables have been loaded, you
12234 won't change the ``derived'' variables.
12236 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
12237 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
12238 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
12239 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
12240 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
12241 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
12242 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
12243 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
12244 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
12248 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
12249 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
12250 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
12253 Server variables are often called @dfn{server parameters}.
12255 @node Servers and Methods
12256 @subsection Servers and Methods
12258 Wherever you would normally use a select method
12259 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
12260 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
12261 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
12265 @node Unavailable Servers
12266 @subsection Unavailable Servers
12268 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
12269 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
12270 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
12271 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
12272 actually the case or not.
12274 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
12275 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
12276 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
12277 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
12278 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
12279 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
12280 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
12281 it will regard that server as ``down''.
12283 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
12284 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
12286 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
12287 with the following commands:
12293 @findex gnus-server-open-server
12294 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
12295 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
12299 @findex gnus-server-close-server
12300 Close the connection (if any) to the server
12301 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
12305 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
12306 Mark the current server as unreachable
12307 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
12310 @kindex M-o (Server)
12311 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
12312 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
12313 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
12316 @kindex M-c (Server)
12317 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
12318 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
12319 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
12323 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
12324 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
12325 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
12329 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
12330 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
12336 @section Getting News
12337 @cindex reading news
12338 @cindex news back ends
12340 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
12341 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @acronym{NNTP} server,
12342 or it can read from a local spool.
12345 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12346 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
12354 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @acronym{NNTP} server is rather easy.
12355 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @acronym{NNTP}
12356 server as the, uhm, address.
12358 If the @acronym{NNTP} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
12359 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
12360 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
12361 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12363 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
12364 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
12365 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
12367 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
12372 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
12373 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
12374 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
12376 @cindex authentification
12377 @cindex nntp authentification
12378 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12379 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
12380 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
12381 commands to the @acronym{NNTP} server after it has been contacted. By
12382 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
12383 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
12384 present in this hook.
12386 @item nntp-authinfo-function
12387 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
12388 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
12389 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
12390 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @acronym{NNTP}
12391 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
12392 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
12393 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
12394 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
12395 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
12396 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
12397 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
12401 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
12404 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
12406 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
12407 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
12408 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
12409 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
12410 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
12411 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
12412 @samp{force} is explained below.
12416 Here's an example file:
12419 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
12420 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
12423 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
12424 have to be first, for instance.
12426 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
12427 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
12428 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
12429 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
12430 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
12431 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
12432 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
12434 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
12435 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
12441 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
12442 previously mentioned.
12444 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
12446 @item nntp-server-action-alist
12447 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
12448 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
12449 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
12450 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
12453 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
12454 '(("innd" (ding))))
12457 You probably don't want to do that, though.
12459 The default value is
12462 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
12463 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
12464 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
12467 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
12468 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
12470 @item nntp-maximum-request
12471 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
12472 If the @acronym{NNTP} server doesn't support @acronym{NOV} headers, this back end
12473 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
12474 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
12475 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
12476 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
12477 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
12479 @item nntp-connection-timeout
12480 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
12481 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
12482 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @acronym{NNTP} servers not
12483 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
12484 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
12485 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
12486 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
12487 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
12488 no timeouts are done.
12490 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
12491 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
12492 @c @cindex PPP connections
12493 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
12494 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
12495 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
12496 @c changes after connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server, Gnus will simply sit
12497 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
12498 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
12499 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
12500 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
12501 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
12502 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
12504 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
12505 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
12506 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
12507 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
12508 @c described above.
12510 @item nntp-server-hook
12511 @vindex nntp-server-hook
12512 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @acronym{NNTP}
12515 @item nntp-buggy-select
12516 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
12517 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
12519 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
12520 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
12521 If the @acronym{NNTP} server does not support @acronym{NOV}, you could set this
12522 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @acronym{NOV}
12525 @item nntp-xover-commands
12526 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
12527 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
12529 List of strings used as commands to fetch @acronym{NOV} lines from a
12530 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
12534 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
12535 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @acronym{NOV} lines to
12536 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
12537 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
12538 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @acronym{NOV}
12539 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
12540 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
12541 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
12542 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
12543 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
12544 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
12546 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
12547 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
12548 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @acronym{NNTP} server.
12550 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12551 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
12552 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
12553 server closes connection.
12555 @item nntp-record-commands
12556 @vindex nntp-record-commands
12557 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
12558 @acronym{NNTP} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
12559 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@acronym{NNTP} connection
12560 that doesn't seem to work.
12562 @item nntp-open-connection-function
12563 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
12564 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
12565 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
12566 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
12567 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
12568 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
12569 indirect ones (two pre-made).
12571 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
12572 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
12573 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
12574 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
12575 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
12576 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
12577 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12580 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12583 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12584 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12586 @item nntp-read-timeout
12587 @vindex nntp-read-timeout
12588 How long nntp should wait between checking for the end of output.
12589 Shorter values mean quicker response, but is more CPU intensive. The
12590 default is 0.1 seconds. If you have a slow line to the server (and
12591 don't like to see Emacs eat your available CPU power), you might set
12594 @item nntp-list-options
12595 @vindex nntp-list-options
12596 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12597 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12598 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12599 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12600 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12604 (setq gnus-select-method
12605 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12606 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12609 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12610 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12611 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12612 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12613 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12614 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12615 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12618 (setq gnus-select-method
12619 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12620 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12623 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12624 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12625 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12626 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12627 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12628 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12629 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12632 (setq gnus-select-method
12633 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12634 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12639 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12640 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12641 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12645 @node Direct Functions
12646 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12647 @cindex direct connection functions
12649 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12650 between your machine and the @acronym{NNTP} server. The behavior of these
12651 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12652 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12655 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12656 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12657 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12660 @findex nntp-open-tls-stream
12661 @item nntp-open-tls-stream
12662 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12663 this you must have @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/, GNUTLS}
12664 installed. You then define a server as follows:
12667 ;; @r{"nntps" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12668 ;; @r{however, @samp{gnutls-cli -p} doesn't like named ports.}
12670 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12671 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-tls-stream)
12672 (nntp-port-number )
12673 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12676 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12677 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12678 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12679 this you must have @uref{http://www.openssl.org, OpenSSL} or
12680 @uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL, SSLeay} installed. You
12681 then define a server as follows:
12684 ;; @r{"snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our @file{/etc/services}}
12685 ;; @r{however, @samp{openssl s_client -port} doesn't like named ports.}
12687 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12688 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12689 (nntp-port-number 563)
12690 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12693 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12694 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12695 Opens a connection to an @acronym{NNTP} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12696 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12697 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12698 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12699 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12700 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12704 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12705 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12706 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12709 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12710 session, which is not a good idea.
12714 @node Indirect Functions
12715 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12716 @cindex indirect connection functions
12718 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12719 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12720 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12721 the ``via'' family of connection: they're all prefixed with ``via'' to make
12722 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12723 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12726 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12727 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12728 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12729 to the real @acronym{NNTP} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12730 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12732 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12735 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12736 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12737 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12738 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12740 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12741 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12742 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12743 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12744 @samp{ssh} for @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}, you may set this to
12745 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12746 this to @samp{("-t" "-e" "none")} or @samp{("-C" "-t" "-e" "none")} if
12747 the telnet command requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate
12751 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12752 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12753 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12754 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12756 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12759 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12760 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12761 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12764 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12765 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12766 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12767 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12769 @item nntp-via-user-password
12770 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12771 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12773 @item nntp-via-envuser
12774 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12775 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12776 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12777 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12779 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12780 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12781 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12782 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12789 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12794 @item nntp-via-user-name
12795 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12796 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12798 @item nntp-via-address
12799 @vindex nntp-via-address
12800 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12805 @node Common Variables
12806 @subsubsection Common Variables
12808 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12809 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12814 @item nntp-pre-command
12815 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12816 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native
12817 connection function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream},
12818 @code{nntp-open-tls-stream}, and @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is
12819 where you would put a @samp{SOCKS} wrapper for instance.
12822 @vindex nntp-address
12823 The address of the @acronym{NNTP} server.
12825 @item nntp-port-number
12826 @vindex nntp-port-number
12827 Port number to connect to the @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12828 @samp{nntp}. If you use @acronym{NNTP} over
12829 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12830 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews} or
12831 @samp{nntps}), because external @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} tools may
12832 not work with named ports.
12834 @item nntp-end-of-line
12835 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12836 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @acronym{NNTP}
12837 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12838 using a non native connection function.
12840 @item nntp-telnet-command
12841 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12842 Command to use when connecting to the @acronym{NNTP} server through
12843 @samp{telnet}. This is @emph{not} for an intermediate host. This is
12844 just for the real @acronym{NNTP} server. The default is
12847 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12848 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12849 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12856 @subsection News Spool
12860 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12861 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12862 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12865 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12866 anything else) as the address.
12868 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12869 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12870 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12871 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12875 @item nnspool-inews-program
12876 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12877 Program used to post an article.
12879 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12880 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12881 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12883 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12884 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12885 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12886 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12888 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12889 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12890 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @acronym{NOV} files. This is normally@*
12891 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12893 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12894 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12895 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12897 @item nnspool-active-file
12898 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12899 The name of the active file.
12901 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12902 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12903 The name of the group descriptions file.
12905 @item nnspool-history-file
12906 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12907 The name of the news history file.
12909 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12910 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12911 The name of the active date file.
12913 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12914 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12915 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @acronym{NOV} files
12918 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12919 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12921 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12922 relevant portion from the overview file. If @code{nil},
12923 @code{nnspool} will load the entire file into a buffer and process it
12930 @section Getting Mail
12931 @cindex reading mail
12934 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12938 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12939 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12940 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12941 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12942 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12943 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12944 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12945 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12946 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12947 * Washing Mail:: Removing cruft from the mail you get.
12948 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12949 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12950 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12954 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12955 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12957 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12958 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12959 of a culture shock.
12961 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12962 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12964 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12965 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12966 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12967 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12969 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12971 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12972 deleted? How awful!
12974 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12975 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12976 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12977 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @ref{Expiring
12980 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12981 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12982 they want to treat a message.
12984 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12985 via @acronym{SMTP}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12986 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12987 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12988 archived somewhere else.
12990 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12991 These are transported via @acronym{NNTP}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12992 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12993 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12994 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12996 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12997 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12998 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
13000 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
13001 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
13004 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
13005 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
13006 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
13007 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
13008 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
13010 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
13011 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
13012 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
13013 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
13014 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
13015 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
13019 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
13020 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
13022 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
13023 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
13024 and things will happen automatically.
13026 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a ``one file per
13027 mail'' back end), you could put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
13030 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
13033 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
13034 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
13035 directory, which is @file{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
13036 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
13037 like any other group.
13039 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
13042 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13043 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13044 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13048 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
13049 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
13050 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
13053 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
13054 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
13055 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
13058 @node Splitting Mail
13059 @subsection Splitting Mail
13060 @cindex splitting mail
13061 @cindex mail splitting
13062 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
13064 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
13065 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
13066 to be split into groups.
13069 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13070 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13071 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
13072 ("mail.other" "")))
13075 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
13076 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
13077 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
13078 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
13079 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
13080 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
13081 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
13084 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
13087 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13088 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
13089 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
13090 mail belongs in that group.
13092 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
13093 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{*} so that it matches any mails
13094 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
13095 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
13096 rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have crossposting enabled.
13097 In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.)
13099 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
13100 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
13101 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
13102 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
13103 thinks should carry this mail message.
13105 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
13106 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
13107 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
13108 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
13110 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
13111 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
13112 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
13113 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
13114 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{*}) group.
13116 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
13119 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
13120 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
13121 links. If that's the case for you, set
13122 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
13123 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
13125 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
13126 @findex nnmail-split-history
13127 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
13128 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
13129 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
13130 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
13133 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
13134 Header lines longer than the value of
13135 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
13138 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
13139 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
13140 By default the splitting codes @acronym{MIME} decodes headers so you
13141 can match on non-@acronym{ASCII} strings. The
13142 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset} variable specifies the default
13143 charset for decoding. The behaviour can be turned off completely by
13144 binding @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to @code{nil}, which is
13145 useful if you want to match articles based on the raw header data.
13147 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13148 By default, splitting is performed on all incoming messages. If you
13149 specify a @code{directory} entry for the variable @code{mail-sources}
13150 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}), however, then splitting does
13151 @emph{not} happen by default. You can set the variable
13152 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to a non-@code{nil} value to make
13153 splitting happen even in this case. (This variable has no effect on
13154 other kinds of entries.)
13156 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
13157 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
13158 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
13159 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
13160 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
13161 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
13162 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
13163 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
13164 month's rent money.
13168 @subsection Mail Sources
13170 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from
13171 a @acronym{POP} mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a
13172 maildir, for instance.
13175 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
13176 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
13177 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
13181 @node Mail Source Specifiers
13182 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
13184 @cindex mail server
13187 @cindex mail source
13189 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
13190 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
13195 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
13198 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
13199 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
13200 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
13203 The following mail source types are available:
13207 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
13213 The file name. Defaults to the value of the @env{MAIL}
13214 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
13215 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
13219 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13222 An example file mail source:
13225 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
13228 Or using the default file name:
13234 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best
13235 to use @acronym{POP} or @acronym{IMAP} or the like to fetch the mail.
13236 You can not use ange-ftp file names here---it has no way to lock the
13237 mail spool while moving the mail.
13239 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
13243 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
13246 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
13250 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
13253 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
13255 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
13258 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
13262 @vindex nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once
13263 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
13264 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
13265 That is, there is a one-to-one correspondence between files in that
13266 directory and groups, so that mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool}
13267 will be put in the group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix
13268 to be used instead of @code{.spool}.) Setting
13269 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-@code{nil} forces
13270 Gnus to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful
13271 if you want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
13273 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
13274 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
13275 that to a non-@code{nil} value, then the normal splitting process is
13276 applied to all the files from the directory, @ref{Splitting Mail}.
13282 The name of the directory where the files are. There is no default
13286 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
13290 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
13291 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
13292 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
13293 predicate are considered.
13297 Script run before/after fetching mail.
13301 An example directory mail source:
13304 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
13309 Get mail from a @acronym{POP} server.
13315 The name of the @acronym{POP} server. The default is taken from the
13316 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13319 The port number of the @acronym{POP} server. This can be a number (eg,
13320 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
13321 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
13322 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
13323 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
13326 The user name to give to the @acronym{POP} server. The default is the login
13330 The password to give to the @acronym{POP} server. If not specified,
13331 the user is prompted.
13334 The program to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. This
13335 should be a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
13338 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
13341 The valid format specifier characters are:
13345 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
13346 included in this string.
13349 The name of the server.
13352 The port number of the server.
13355 The user name to use.
13358 The password to use.
13361 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13362 corresponding keywords.
13365 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13366 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13369 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
13370 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
13373 The function to use to fetch mail from the @acronym{POP} server. The
13374 function is called with one parameter---the name of the file where the
13375 mail should be moved to.
13377 @item :authentication
13378 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
13379 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
13383 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
13384 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
13385 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
13386 programs and libraries:
13390 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
13391 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
13392 library @samp{ssl.el}.
13394 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
13395 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13400 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
13401 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
13405 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
13406 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
13408 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default @acronym{POP} server,
13409 using the default user name, and default fetcher:
13415 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
13418 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
13419 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
13422 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
13425 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
13429 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
13430 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
13431 contains exactly one mail.
13437 The name of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
13438 taken from the @env{MAILDIR} environment variable or
13441 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
13442 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
13444 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
13445 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
13446 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
13449 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
13450 from locking problems).
13454 Two example maildir mail sources:
13457 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
13458 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
13462 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
13467 Get mail from a @acronym{IMAP} server. If you don't want to use
13468 @acronym{IMAP} as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie
13469 with nnimap), for some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar
13470 to a @acronym{POP} server and fetches articles from a given
13471 @acronym{IMAP} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for more information.
13473 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} and STARTTLS support you
13474 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
13480 The name of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is taken from the
13481 @env{MAILHOST} environment variable.
13484 The port number of the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
13485 @samp{993} for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} connections.
13488 The user name to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. The default is the login
13492 The password to give to the @acronym{IMAP} server. If not specified, the user is
13496 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
13497 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
13498 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{tls},
13499 @samp{ssl}, @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
13501 @item :authentication
13502 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
13503 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
13504 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
13505 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
13508 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
13509 mapped into the @code{imap-shell-program} variable. This should be a
13510 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
13516 The valid format specifier characters are:
13520 The name of the server.
13523 User name from @code{imap-default-user}.
13526 The port number of the server.
13529 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
13530 corresponding keywords.
13533 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
13534 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
13537 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
13538 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
13539 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @acronym{IMAP} client and mark some
13540 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
13541 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
13542 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
13545 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
13546 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
13547 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
13548 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
13551 If non-@code{nil}, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the
13552 mailbox after finishing the fetch.
13556 An example @acronym{IMAP} mail source:
13559 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
13561 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
13565 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
13566 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
13567 @uref{mail.yahoo.com}.
13569 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
13570 required for url "4.0pre.46".
13572 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
13578 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
13579 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
13582 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
13586 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
13590 If non-@code{nil}, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to
13591 trash folder after finishing the fetch.
13595 An example webmail source:
13598 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
13600 :password "secret")
13605 @item Common Keywords
13606 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
13612 If non-@code{nil}, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you
13613 use directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this
13618 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13623 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13624 useful when you use local mail and news.
13629 @subsubsection Function Interface
13631 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13632 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13633 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13634 consider the following mail-source setting:
13637 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13638 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13641 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13642 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13643 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13644 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13645 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13647 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13650 @node Mail Source Customization
13651 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13653 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13654 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13658 @item mail-source-crash-box
13659 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13660 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is@*
13661 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13663 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13664 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13665 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them. If
13666 @code{t}, delete the files immediately, if @code{nil}, never delete any
13667 files. If a positive number, delete files older than number of days
13668 (This will only happen, when receiving new mail). You may also set
13669 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} to @code{nil} and call
13670 @code{mail-source-delete-old-incoming} from a hook or interactively.
13672 @item mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13673 @vindex mail-source-delete-old-incoming-confirm
13674 If non-@code{nil}, ask for for confirmation before deleting old incoming
13675 files. This variable only applies when
13676 @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is a positive number.
13678 @item mail-source-ignore-errors
13679 @vindex mail-source-ignore-errors
13680 If non-@code{nil}, ignore errors when reading mail from a mail source.
13682 @item mail-source-directory
13683 @vindex mail-source-directory
13684 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13685 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13686 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13689 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13690 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13691 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13692 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13693 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13694 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13696 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13697 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13698 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13700 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13701 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13702 If non-@code{nil}, name of program for fetching new mail. If
13703 @code{nil}, @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13708 @node Fetching Mail
13709 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13711 @vindex mail-sources
13712 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13713 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13714 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13715 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13717 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13718 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13721 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a
13722 @acronym{POP} mail server, you'd say something like:
13727 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13728 :password "secret")))
13731 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13735 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13736 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13739 :password "secret")))
13743 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13744 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13745 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13746 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13747 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13748 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13752 @node Mail Back End Variables
13753 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13755 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13759 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13760 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13761 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13762 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13764 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13765 @item nnmail-split-hook
13766 @findex gnus-article-decode-encoded-words
13767 @cindex RFC 1522 decoding
13768 @cindex RFC 2047 decoding
13769 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13770 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13771 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13772 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13773 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13774 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13777 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13778 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13779 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13780 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13781 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13782 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13783 starting to handle the new mail) and
13784 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13785 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13786 default file modes the new mail files get:
13789 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13790 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13792 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13793 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13796 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13797 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13798 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13799 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13800 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13801 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13802 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13804 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13805 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13806 @findex delete-file
13807 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13809 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13810 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13811 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13812 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13813 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13815 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13816 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13817 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13818 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13819 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13821 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13822 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13823 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13828 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13829 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13830 @cindex mail splitting
13831 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13833 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13834 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13835 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13836 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13837 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13838 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13840 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13843 ;; @r{Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of}
13844 ;; @r{the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group}
13845 ;; @r{from real errors.}
13846 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13848 ;; @r{Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant}
13849 ;; @r{groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the}
13850 ;; @r{(ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.}
13851 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13852 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13853 ;; @r{Other mailing lists@dots{}}
13854 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13855 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13856 ;; @r{Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent}
13857 ;; @r{cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to}
13858 ;; @r{the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the}
13859 ;; @r{message was really cross-posted.}
13860 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13861 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13862 ;; @r{People@dots{}}
13863 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13864 ;; @r{Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.}
13868 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13869 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13870 the five possible split syntaxes:
13875 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13876 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13880 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13881 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13882 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13883 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13884 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13885 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13886 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13887 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13890 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13891 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13892 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13893 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13896 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13897 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13900 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13901 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13904 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13905 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13906 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13907 function should return a @var{split}.
13910 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13911 body of the messages:
13914 (defun split-on-body ()
13916 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13917 (goto-char (point-min))
13918 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13922 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13923 when the @code{:} function is run.
13926 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the
13927 first element is @code{!}, then @var{split} will be processed, and
13928 @var{func} will be called as a function with the result of @var{split}
13929 as argument. @var{func} should return a split.
13932 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13936 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13937 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13938 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13939 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13940 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13942 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13943 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be Lisp symbols, in that case
13944 they are expanded as specified by the variable
13945 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells,
13946 where the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr}
13947 contains the associated value. Predefined entries in
13948 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist} include:
13952 Matches the @samp{From}, @samp{Sender} and @samp{Resent-From} fields.
13954 Matches the @samp{To}, @samp{Cc}, @samp{Apparently-To},
13955 @samp{Resent-To} and @samp{Resent-Cc} fields.
13957 Is the union of the @code{from} and @code{to} entries.
13960 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13961 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13962 when all this splitting is performed.
13964 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13965 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13966 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13969 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13972 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13973 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13975 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13976 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13977 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13978 groupings 1 through 9.
13980 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13981 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13982 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13983 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13984 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13985 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13986 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13987 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13988 it once per thread.
13990 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates}
13991 and @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-@code{nil}
13992 value. And then you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}
13993 using the colon feature, like so:
13995 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; @r{or @code{delete}}
13996 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13998 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13999 ;; @r{other splits go here}
14003 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
14004 non-@code{nil}, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees
14005 in the file specified by the variable
14006 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, together with the group it is in
14007 (the group is omitted for non-mail messages). When mail splitting is
14008 invoked, the function @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks
14009 at the References (and In-Reply-To) header of each message to split
14010 and searches the file specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}
14011 for the message ids. When it has found a parent, it returns the
14012 corresponding group name unless the group name matches the regexp
14013 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is
14014 recommended that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a
14015 somewhat higher number than the default so that the message ids are
14016 still in the cache. (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some
14017 300 kBytes in size.)
14018 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
14019 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
14020 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
14021 messages goes into the new group.
14023 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
14024 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
14025 outgoing messages are written to an ``outgoing'' group, you could set
14026 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
14027 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
14028 ``outgoing'' group.
14031 @node Group Mail Splitting
14032 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
14033 @cindex mail splitting
14034 @cindex group mail splitting
14036 @findex gnus-group-split
14037 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
14038 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
14039 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
14040 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
14041 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
14042 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
14043 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
14044 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
14046 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
14047 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
14048 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
14049 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
14051 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
14052 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
14053 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
14054 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
14055 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
14056 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
14057 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
14059 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
14060 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
14061 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
14062 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
14063 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
14064 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
14065 @code{gnus-group-split}.
14067 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
14068 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
14069 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
14070 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
14071 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
14072 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
14073 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
14074 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
14075 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
14076 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
14077 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
14078 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
14079 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
14081 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
14086 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
14087 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
14089 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
14090 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
14091 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
14092 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
14094 ((split-spec . catch-all))
14097 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
14098 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
14099 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
14102 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
14103 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
14104 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
14108 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
14109 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
14110 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
14114 (: gnus-group-split-fancy @var{groups} @var{no-crosspost} @var{catch-all})
14117 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
14118 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
14119 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
14120 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fall back
14121 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
14122 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
14123 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
14124 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
14125 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
14127 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
14128 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
14129 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
14130 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
14131 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
14132 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
14133 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
14134 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
14135 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
14137 @findex gnus-group-split-update
14138 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
14139 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
14140 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
14141 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
14142 you. For example, add to your @file{~/.gnus.el}:
14145 (gnus-group-split-setup @var{auto-update} @var{catch-all})
14148 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
14149 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
14150 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
14151 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
14152 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
14155 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
14156 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
14157 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
14158 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
14160 @node Incorporating Old Mail
14161 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
14162 @cindex incorporating old mail
14163 @cindex import old mail
14165 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
14166 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
14167 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
14170 Doing so can be quite easy.
14172 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
14173 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
14174 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
14175 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
14176 your @code{nnml} groups.
14182 Go to the group buffer.
14185 Type @kbd{G f} and give the file name to the mbox file when prompted to create an
14186 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14189 Type @kbd{SPACE} to enter the newly created group.
14192 Type @kbd{M P b} to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
14193 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
14196 Type @kbd{B r} to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
14197 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
14200 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
14201 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
14202 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
14203 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
14204 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
14206 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
14207 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
14208 using the new mail back end.
14211 @node Expiring Mail
14212 @subsection Expiring Mail
14213 @cindex article expiry
14215 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
14216 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
14217 different approach to mail reading.
14219 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
14220 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
14221 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
14222 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
14223 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
14224 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
14227 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
14228 articles as @dfn{expirable}. (With the default key bindings, this means
14229 that you have to type @kbd{E}.) This does not mean that the articles
14230 will disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
14231 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
14232 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
14233 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
14234 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
14235 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
14237 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Gnus provides
14238 two features, called ``auto-expire'' and ``total-expire'', that can help you
14239 with this. In a nutshell, ``auto-expire'' means that Gnus hits @kbd{E}
14240 for you when you select an article. And ``total-expire'' means that Gnus
14241 considers all articles as expirable that are read. So, in addition to
14242 the articles marked @samp{E}, also the articles marked @samp{r},
14243 @samp{R}, @samp{O}, @samp{K}, @samp{Y} and so on are considered
14246 When should either auto-expire or total-expire be used? Most people
14247 who are subscribed to mailing lists split each list into its own group
14248 and then turn on auto-expire or total-expire for those groups.
14249 (@xref{Splitting Mail}, for more information on splitting each list
14250 into its own group.)
14252 Which one is better, auto-expire or total-expire? It's not easy to
14253 answer. Generally speaking, auto-expire is probably faster. Another
14254 advantage of auto-expire is that you get more marks to work with: for
14255 the articles that are supposed to stick around, you can still choose
14256 between tick and dormant and read marks. But with total-expire, you
14257 only have dormant and ticked to choose from. The advantage of
14258 total-expire is that it works well with adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive
14259 Scoring}). Auto-expire works with normal scoring but not with adaptive
14262 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14263 Groups that match the regular expression
14264 @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will have all articles that you
14265 read marked as expirable automatically. All articles marked as
14266 expirable have an @samp{E} in the first column in the summary buffer.
14268 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
14269 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
14270 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
14271 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
14272 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
14274 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
14276 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
14277 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
14278 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
14281 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
14282 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
14283 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
14284 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
14285 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
14287 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
14288 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
14291 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
14292 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
14295 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
14296 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
14298 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
14299 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
14300 don't really mix very well.
14302 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
14303 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
14304 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
14305 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
14308 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
14309 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
14310 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
14311 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
14314 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14316 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
14318 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
14320 ((string= group "mail.junk")
14322 ((string= group "important")
14328 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
14329 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
14331 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
14332 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
14333 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
14336 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
14337 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
14339 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
14340 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
14341 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
14342 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
14343 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
14344 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
14345 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
14346 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
14347 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
14348 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
14349 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
14350 from as its parameter) which should return a target---either a group
14351 name or @code{delete}.
14353 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
14355 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
14358 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14359 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14360 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
14361 expire mail to groups according to the variable
14362 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
14365 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
14366 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
14367 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
14368 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
14369 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
14372 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
14373 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
14374 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
14375 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
14376 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
14377 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
14379 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
14380 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
14381 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
14382 easier for procmail users.
14384 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
14385 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
14386 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
14387 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
14388 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
14389 caution. Even more dangerous is the
14390 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
14391 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
14392 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
14393 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
14394 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
14395 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
14396 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
14399 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
14401 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
14402 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
14403 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
14404 auto-expire turned on.
14408 @subsection Washing Mail
14409 @cindex mail washing
14410 @cindex list server brain damage
14411 @cindex incoming mail treatment
14413 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
14414 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
14415 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
14416 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
14417 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
14418 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
14420 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
14421 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
14422 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
14425 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
14426 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
14427 storing the mail to disk. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
14428 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
14431 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14432 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
14433 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
14434 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
14435 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
14438 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14439 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
14440 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
14441 Emacs running on MS machines.
14445 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14446 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
14447 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
14448 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
14451 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14452 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
14453 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
14454 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
14456 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
14457 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
14458 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
14459 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
14460 into a feature by documenting it.)
14462 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14463 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
14464 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
14465 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
14466 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
14467 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
14468 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
14471 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
14472 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
14475 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
14476 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
14479 This can also be done non-destructively with
14480 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
14482 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
14483 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
14484 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
14486 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14487 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
14489 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
14490 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
14491 @code{References} headers.
14495 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14496 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
14497 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
14501 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
14502 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
14503 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
14510 @subsection Duplicates
14512 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
14513 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
14514 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
14515 @cindex duplicate mails
14516 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
14517 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
14518 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
14519 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
14520 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
14521 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
14522 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
14523 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
14524 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
14525 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
14526 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
14527 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
14528 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
14530 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
14531 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
14532 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
14533 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
14535 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
14538 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
14539 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
14543 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
14544 '(| ;; @r{Messages duplicates go to a separate group.}
14545 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
14546 ;; @r{Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.}
14547 (any mail "mail.misc")
14548 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14554 (setq nnmail-split-methods
14555 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
14556 ;; @r{Other rules.}
14560 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
14561 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
14562 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
14563 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
14564 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
14567 @node Not Reading Mail
14568 @subsection Not Reading Mail
14570 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
14571 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
14572 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
14574 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
14575 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
14576 mail, which should help.
14578 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14579 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14580 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14581 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14582 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14583 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
14584 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old Rmail
14585 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
14586 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
14587 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
14588 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
14590 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
14591 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
14595 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
14596 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
14598 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
14599 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
14600 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
14602 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
14603 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
14604 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
14608 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
14609 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the Rmail Babyl format.
14610 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
14611 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
14612 * Maildir:: Another one-file-per-message format.
14613 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
14614 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
14618 @node Unix Mail Box
14619 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
14621 @cindex unix mail box
14623 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14624 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14625 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
14626 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
14627 which group it belongs in.
14629 Virtual server settings:
14632 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
14633 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
14634 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
14637 @item nnmbox-active-file
14638 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
14639 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
14640 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
14642 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
14643 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
14644 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
14645 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
14650 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
14654 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14655 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14656 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a Babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{Rmail
14657 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
14658 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
14660 Virtual server settings:
14663 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
14664 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
14665 The name of the Rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
14667 @item nnbabyl-active-file
14668 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
14669 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
14670 @file{~/.rmail-active}
14672 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14673 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14674 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14680 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14682 @cindex mail @acronym{NOV} spool
14684 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14685 format. It should be used with some caution.
14687 @vindex nnml-directory
14688 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14689 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14690 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14691 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14693 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14696 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14697 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14698 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14699 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14700 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14701 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14702 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14703 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14705 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14706 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14707 @acronym{NOV} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14708 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14710 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14712 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14713 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14714 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14715 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14716 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14717 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14718 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14719 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14722 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14723 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14724 them next time it starts.
14726 Virtual server settings:
14729 @item nnml-directory
14730 @vindex nnml-directory
14731 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory. The
14732 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default value
14735 @item nnml-active-file
14736 @vindex nnml-active-file
14737 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14738 @file{~/Mail/active}.
14740 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14741 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14742 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14743 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}.
14745 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14746 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14747 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14750 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14751 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14752 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
14753 default is @code{nil}.
14755 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14756 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14757 The name of the @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14759 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14760 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14761 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14763 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14764 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14765 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14766 default is @code{nil}.
14768 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14769 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14770 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14772 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14773 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14774 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14779 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14780 If your @code{nnml} groups and @acronym{NOV} files get totally out of whack,
14781 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14782 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14783 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14784 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14785 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14790 @subsubsection MH Spool
14792 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14794 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14795 @acronym{NOV} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14796 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14797 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14799 Virtual server settings:
14802 @item nnmh-directory
14803 @vindex nnmh-directory
14804 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14805 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14808 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14809 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14810 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14814 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14815 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14816 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14817 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14818 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14819 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14820 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14825 @subsubsection Maildir
14829 @code{nnmaildir} stores mail in the maildir format, with each maildir
14830 corresponding to a group in Gnus. This format is documented here:
14831 @uref{http://cr.yp.to/proto/maildir.html} and here:
14832 @uref{http://www.qmail.org/man/man5/maildir.html}. nnmaildir also
14833 stores extra information in the @file{.nnmaildir/} directory within a
14836 Maildir format was designed to allow concurrent deliveries and
14837 reading, without needing locks. With other back ends, you would have
14838 your mail delivered to a spool of some kind, and then you would
14839 configure Gnus to split mail from that spool into your groups. You
14840 can still do that with nnmaildir, but the more common configuration is
14841 to have your mail delivered directly to the maildirs that appear as
14844 nnmaildir is designed to be perfectly reliable: @kbd{C-g} will never
14845 corrupt its data in memory, and @code{SIGKILL} will never corrupt its
14846 data in the filesystem.
14848 nnmaildir stores article marks and @acronym{NOV} data in each maildir. So you
14849 can copy a whole maildir from one Gnus setup to another, and you will
14852 Virtual server settings:
14856 For each of your nnmaildir servers (it's very unlikely that you'd need
14857 more than one), you need to create a directory and populate it with
14858 maildirs or symlinks to maildirs (and nothing else; do not choose a
14859 directory already used for other purposes). Each maildir will be
14860 represented in Gnus as a newsgroup on that server; the filename of the
14861 symlink will be the name of the group. Any filenames in the directory
14862 starting with @samp{.} are ignored. The directory is scanned when you
14863 first start Gnus, and each time you type @kbd{g} in the group buffer;
14864 if any maildirs have been removed or added, nnmaildir notices at these
14867 The value of the @code{directory} parameter should be a Lisp form
14868 which is processed by @code{eval} and @code{expand-file-name} to get
14869 the path of the directory for this server. The form is @code{eval}ed
14870 only when the server is opened; the resulting string is used until the
14871 server is closed. (If you don't know about forms and @code{eval},
14872 don't worry---a simple string will work.) This parameter is not
14873 optional; you must specify it. I don't recommend using
14874 @code{"~/Mail"} or a subdirectory of it; several other parts of Gnus
14875 use that directory by default for various things, and may get confused
14876 if nnmaildir uses it too. @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} is a typical value.
14878 @item target-prefix
14879 This should be a Lisp form which is processed by @code{eval} and
14880 @code{expand-file-name}. The form is @code{eval}ed only when the
14881 server is opened; the resulting string is used until the server is
14884 When you create a group on an nnmaildir server, the maildir is created
14885 with @code{target-prefix} prepended to its name, and a symlink
14886 pointing to that maildir is created, named with the plain group name.
14887 So if @code{directory} is @code{"~/.nnmaildir"} and
14888 @code{target-prefix} is @code{"../maildirs/"}, then when you create
14889 the group @code{foo}, nnmaildir will create
14890 @file{~/.nnmaildir/../maildirs/foo} as a maildir, and will create
14891 @file{~/.nnmaildir/foo} as a symlink pointing to
14892 @file{../maildirs/foo}.
14894 You can set @code{target-prefix} to a string without any slashes to
14895 create both maildirs and symlinks in the same @code{directory}; in
14896 this case, any maildirs found in @code{directory} whose names start
14897 with @code{target-prefix} will not be listed as groups (but the
14898 symlinks pointing to them will be).
14900 As a special case, if @code{target-prefix} is @code{""} (the default),
14901 then when you create a group, the maildir will be created in
14902 @code{directory} without a corresponding symlink. Beware that you
14903 cannot use @code{gnus-group-delete-group} on such groups without the
14904 @code{force} argument.
14906 @item directory-files
14907 This should be a function with the same interface as
14908 @code{directory-files} (such as @code{directory-files} itself). It is
14909 used to scan the server's @code{directory} for maildirs. This
14910 parameter is optional; the default is
14911 @code{nnheader-directory-files-safe} if
14912 @code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is @code{nil}, and
14913 @code{directory-files} otherwise.
14914 (@code{nnheader-directory-files-is-safe} is checked only once when the
14915 server is opened; if you want to check it each time the directory is
14916 scanned, you'll have to provide your own function that does that.)
14919 If non-@code{nil}, then after scanning for new mail in the group
14920 maildirs themselves as usual, this server will also incorporate mail
14921 the conventional Gnus way, from @code{mail-sources} according to
14922 @code{nnmail-split-methods} or @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. The default
14923 value is @code{nil}.
14925 Do @emph{not} use the same maildir both in @code{mail-sources} and as
14926 an nnmaildir group. The results might happen to be useful, but that
14927 would be by chance, not by design, and the results might be different
14928 in the future. If your split rules create new groups, remember to
14929 supply a @code{create-directory} server parameter.
14932 @subsubsection Group parameters
14934 nnmaildir uses several group parameters. It's safe to ignore all
14935 this; the default behavior for nnmaildir is the same as the default
14936 behavior for other mail back ends: articles are deleted after one week,
14937 etc. Except for the expiry parameters, all this functionality is
14938 unique to nnmaildir, so you can ignore it if you're just trying to
14939 duplicate the behavior you already have with another back end.
14941 If the value of any of these parameters is a vector, the first element
14942 is evaluated as a Lisp form and the result is used, rather than the
14943 original value. If the value is not a vector, the value itself is
14944 evaluated as a Lisp form. (This is why these parameters use names
14945 different from those of other, similar parameters supported by other
14946 back ends: they have different, though similar, meanings.) (For
14947 numbers, strings, @code{nil}, and @code{t}, you can ignore the
14948 @code{eval} business again; for other values, remember to use an extra
14949 quote and wrap the value in a vector when appropriate.)
14953 An integer specifying the minimum age, in seconds, of an article before
14954 it will be expired, or the symbol @code{never} to specify that
14955 articles should never be expired. If this parameter is not set,
14956 nnmaildir falls back to the usual
14957 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) variables (overrideable by
14958 the @code{expiry-wait}(@code{-function}) group parameters. If you
14959 wanted a value of 3 days, you could use something like @code{[(* 3 24
14960 60 60)]}; nnmaildir will evaluate the form and use the result. An
14961 article's age is measured starting from the article file's
14962 modification time. Normally, this is the same as the article's
14963 delivery time, but editing an article makes it younger. Moving an
14964 article (other than via expiry) may also make an article younger.
14967 If this is set to a string such as a full Gnus group name, like
14969 "backend+server.address.string:group.name"
14971 and if it is not the name of the same group that the parameter belongs
14972 to, then articles will be moved to the specified group during expiry
14973 before being deleted. @emph{If this is set to an nnmaildir group, the
14974 article will be just as old in the destination group as it was in the
14975 source group.} So be careful with @code{expire-age} in the
14976 destination group. If this is set to the name of the same group that
14977 the parameter belongs to, then the article is not expired at all. If
14978 you use the vector form, the first element is evaluated once for each
14979 article. So that form can refer to
14980 @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name}, etc., to decide where to put the
14981 article. @emph{If this parameter is not set, nnmaildir does not fall
14982 back to the @code{expiry-target} group parameter or the
14983 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} variable.}
14986 If this is set to @code{t}, nnmaildir will treat the articles in this
14987 maildir as read-only. This means: articles are not renamed from
14988 @file{new/} into @file{cur/}; articles are only found in @file{new/},
14989 not @file{cur/}; articles are never deleted; articles cannot be
14990 edited. @file{new/} is expected to be a symlink to the @file{new/}
14991 directory of another maildir---e.g., a system-wide mailbox containing
14992 a mailing list of common interest. Everything in the maildir outside
14993 @file{new/} is @emph{not} treated as read-only, so for a shared
14994 mailbox, you do still need to set up your own maildir (or have write
14995 permission to the shared mailbox); your maildir just won't contain
14996 extra copies of the articles.
14998 @item directory-files
14999 A function with the same interface as @code{directory-files}. It is
15000 used to scan the directories in the maildir corresponding to this
15001 group to find articles. The default is the function specified by the
15002 server's @code{directory-files} parameter.
15004 @item distrust-Lines:
15005 If non-@code{nil}, nnmaildir will always count the lines of an
15006 article, rather than use the @code{Lines:} header field. If
15007 @code{nil}, the header field will be used if present.
15010 A list of mark symbols, such as
15011 @code{['(read expire)]}. Whenever Gnus asks nnmaildir for
15012 article marks, nnmaildir will say that all articles have these
15013 marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in the filesystem
15014 say so. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will probably be
15015 removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15016 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15019 A list of mark symbols, such as @code{['(tick expire)]}. Whenever
15020 Gnus asks nnmaildir for article marks, nnmaildir will say that no
15021 articles have these marks, regardless of whether the marks stored in
15022 the filesystem say so. @code{never-marks} overrides
15023 @code{always-marks}. This is a proof-of-concept feature that will
15024 probably be removed eventually; it ought to be done in Gnus proper, or
15025 abandoned if it's not worthwhile.
15027 @item nov-cache-size
15028 An integer specifying the size of the @acronym{NOV} memory cache. To speed
15029 things up, nnmaildir keeps @acronym{NOV} data in memory for a limited number of
15030 articles in each group. (This is probably not worthwhile, and will
15031 probably be removed in the future.) This parameter's value is noticed
15032 only the first time a group is seen after the server is opened---i.e.,
15033 when you first start Gnus, typically. The @acronym{NOV} cache is never resized
15034 until the server is closed and reopened. The default is an estimate
15035 of the number of articles that would be displayed in the summary
15036 buffer: a count of articles that are either marked with @code{tick} or
15037 not marked with @code{read}, plus a little extra.
15040 @subsubsection Article identification
15041 Articles are stored in the @file{cur/} subdirectory of each maildir.
15042 Each article file is named like @code{uniq:info}, where @code{uniq}
15043 contains no colons. nnmaildir ignores, but preserves, the
15044 @code{:info} part. (Other maildir readers typically use this part of
15045 the filename to store marks.) The @code{uniq} part uniquely
15046 identifies the article, and is used in various places in the
15047 @file{.nnmaildir/} subdirectory of the maildir to store information
15048 about the corresponding article. The full pathname of an article is
15049 available in the variable @code{nnmaildir-article-file-name} after you
15050 request the article in the summary buffer.
15052 @subsubsection NOV data
15053 An article identified by @code{uniq} has its @acronym{NOV} data (used to
15054 generate lines in the summary buffer) stored in
15055 @code{.nnmaildir/nov/uniq}. There is no
15056 @code{nnmaildir-generate-nov-databases} function. (There isn't much
15057 need for it---an article's @acronym{NOV} data is updated automatically when the
15058 article or @code{nnmail-extra-headers} has changed.) You can force
15059 nnmaildir to regenerate the @acronym{NOV} data for a single article simply by
15060 deleting the corresponding @acronym{NOV} file, but @emph{beware}: this will also
15061 cause nnmaildir to assign a new article number for this article, which
15062 may cause trouble with @code{seen} marks, the Agent, and the cache.
15064 @subsubsection Article marks
15065 An article identified by @code{uniq} is considered to have the mark
15066 @code{flag} when the file @file{.nnmaildir/marks/flag/uniq} exists.
15067 When Gnus asks nnmaildir for a group's marks, nnmaildir looks for such
15068 files and reports the set of marks it finds. When Gnus asks nnmaildir
15069 to store a new set of marks, nnmaildir creates and deletes the
15070 corresponding files as needed. (Actually, rather than create a new
15071 file for each mark, it just creates hard links to
15072 @file{.nnmaildir/markfile}, to save inodes.)
15074 You can invent new marks by creating a new directory in
15075 @file{.nnmaildir/marks/}. You can tar up a maildir and remove it from
15076 your server, untar it later, and keep your marks. You can add and
15077 remove marks yourself by creating and deleting mark files. If you do
15078 this while Gnus is running and your nnmaildir server is open, it's
15079 best to exit all summary buffers for nnmaildir groups and type @kbd{s}
15080 in the group buffer first, and to type @kbd{g} or @kbd{M-g} in the
15081 group buffer afterwards. Otherwise, Gnus might not pick up the
15082 changes, and might undo them.
15086 @subsubsection Mail Folders
15088 @cindex mbox folders
15089 @cindex mail folders
15091 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
15092 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
15093 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
15096 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
15098 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
15099 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
15100 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
15101 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
15102 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
15103 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
15104 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
15105 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
15106 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
15107 @code{nnfolder} directory).
15109 Virtual server settings:
15112 @item nnfolder-directory
15113 @vindex nnfolder-directory
15114 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
15115 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
15118 @item nnfolder-active-file
15119 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
15120 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
15122 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15123 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
15124 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
15125 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups}
15127 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
15128 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
15129 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
15132 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15133 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
15134 @cindex backup files
15135 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
15136 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
15137 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
15138 your @file{.emacs} file:
15141 (defun turn-off-backup ()
15142 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
15144 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
15147 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15148 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
15149 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
15150 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
15151 extract some information from it before removing it.
15153 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15154 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
15155 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @acronym{NOV} files. The
15156 default is @code{nil}.
15158 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15159 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
15160 The extension for @acronym{NOV} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
15162 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
15163 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
15164 The directory where the @acronym{NOV} files should be stored. If
15165 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15167 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15168 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
15169 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
15170 default is @code{nil}.
15172 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15173 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
15174 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
15176 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
15177 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
15178 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If
15179 @code{nil}, @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
15184 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
15185 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
15186 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
15187 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
15188 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
15189 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
15192 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
15193 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
15195 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
15196 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
15197 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
15198 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
15199 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
15201 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
15202 typically done by @acronym{NNTP} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
15203 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
15204 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @acronym{NNTP} server), and
15205 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
15206 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
15207 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
15208 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
15211 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
15212 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
15213 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
15214 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
15219 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
15220 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
15221 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
15222 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
15223 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
15224 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
15225 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
15226 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
15227 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
15228 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
15229 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
15230 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
15231 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
15236 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
15237 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
15238 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
15239 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
15240 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
15241 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
15242 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
15243 Rmail was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
15244 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote Rmail
15245 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
15246 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
15247 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
15248 headers/status bits stuff. Rmail itself still exists as well, of
15249 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
15251 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
15252 file system, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
15257 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
15258 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
15259 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
15260 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
15261 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
15262 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
15263 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
15264 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
15265 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
15266 @acronym{NNTP} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
15267 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
15268 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
15269 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
15270 provided by the active file and overviews.
15272 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
15273 resource which defines available places in the file system to put new
15274 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
15275 tight, shared file systems. But if you live on a personal machine where
15276 the file system is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
15279 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
15280 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
15285 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
15286 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
15287 individual files, but with little or no indexing support---@code{nnmh}
15288 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
15289 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
15290 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
15291 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
15295 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
15296 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
15297 itself puts @emph{all} one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
15298 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
15299 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
15300 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
15301 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
15302 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
15303 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
15305 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
15306 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
15307 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
15308 friendly mail back end all over.
15312 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses
15313 incompatible group parameters, slightly different from those of other
15316 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
15317 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
15318 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
15319 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
15320 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
15321 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
15322 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to
15323 @uref{http://www.namesys.com/, ReiserFS} or another non-block-structured
15326 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
15327 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
15328 This means you can skip Gnus' mail splitting if your mail is already
15329 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
15330 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
15331 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
15332 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
15333 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
15334 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
15335 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will not
15336 undergo treatment such as duplicate checking.
15338 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
15339 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
15340 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
15341 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
15342 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
15345 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
15346 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
15347 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
15348 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
15349 parameter to something small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
15350 would) to make it use less memory. This caching will probably be
15351 removed in the future.
15353 Startup is likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than with other
15354 back ends. Everything else is likely to be faster, depending in part
15355 on your file system.
15357 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
15358 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived back end.
15363 @node Browsing the Web
15364 @section Browsing the Web
15366 @cindex browsing the web
15370 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
15371 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
15372 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
15373 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
15374 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
15375 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
15376 even know what a news group is.
15378 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
15379 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
15380 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
15381 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
15382 you mad in the end.
15384 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
15387 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
15388 interfaces to these sources.
15392 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
15393 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
15394 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
15395 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
15396 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
15397 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
15400 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
15402 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
15403 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @acronym{HTML} data
15404 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
15405 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
15406 though, you should be ok.
15408 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
15409 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
15410 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
15411 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
15412 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
15414 @node Archiving Mail
15415 @subsection Archiving Mail
15416 @cindex archiving mail
15417 @cindex backup of mail
15419 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
15420 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
15421 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
15422 marks is fairly simple.
15424 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
15425 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
15428 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
15429 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
15430 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
15431 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
15432 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
15433 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
15434 might interfere with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
15435 before you restore the data.
15437 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
15438 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
15439 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
15440 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
15441 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
15442 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
15443 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
15444 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
15445 is unnecessary in that case.
15448 @subsection Web Searches
15453 @cindex Usenet searches
15454 @cindex searching the Usenet
15456 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
15457 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
15458 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
15459 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
15460 searches without having to use a browser.
15462 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
15463 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
15464 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
15465 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
15466 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
15468 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
15469 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
15470 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
15471 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
15472 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
15473 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
15474 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
15475 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
15476 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
15477 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
15480 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
15481 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
15482 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
15483 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
15484 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
15485 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
15487 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
15488 to use @code{nnweb}.
15490 Virtual server variables:
15495 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
15496 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
15497 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
15500 @vindex nnweb-search
15501 The search string to feed to the search engine.
15503 @item nnweb-max-hits
15504 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
15505 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
15508 @item nnweb-type-definition
15509 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
15510 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
15511 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
15516 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
15520 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
15523 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
15526 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
15530 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
15537 @subsection Slashdot
15541 @uref{http://slashdot.org/, Slashdot} is a popular news site, with
15542 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
15543 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
15545 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
15546 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
15549 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15550 '((nnslashdot "")))
15553 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
15554 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
15555 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
15556 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
15557 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
15560 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
15561 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
15563 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
15564 comments), some light @acronym{HTML}izations will be performed. In
15565 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
15566 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
15567 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @acronym{HTML}
15568 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
15569 @acronym{HTML} forms.
15571 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
15574 @item nnslashdot-threaded
15575 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
15576 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
15577 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
15578 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
15579 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
15580 but much, much slower than unthreaded.
15582 @item nnslashdot-login-name
15583 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
15584 The login name to use when posting.
15586 @item nnslashdot-password
15587 @vindex nnslashdot-password
15588 The password to use when posting.
15590 @item nnslashdot-directory
15591 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
15592 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
15593 @file{~/News/slashdot/}.
15595 @item nnslashdot-active-url
15596 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
15597 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
15598 news articles and comments. The default is@*
15599 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
15601 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
15602 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
15603 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
15605 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
15607 @item nnslashdot-article-url
15608 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
15609 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
15611 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
15613 @item nnslashdot-threshold
15614 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
15615 The score threshold. The default is -1.
15617 @item nnslashdot-group-number
15618 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
15619 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
15620 updated. The default is 0.
15627 @subsection Ultimate
15629 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
15631 @uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/, The Ultimate Bulletin Board} is
15632 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
15633 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
15634 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
15636 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
15637 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
15638 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
15639 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
15640 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
15641 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
15642 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
15644 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
15647 @item nnultimate-directory
15648 @vindex nnultimate-directory
15649 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is@*
15650 @file{~/News/ultimate/}.
15655 @subsection Web Archive
15657 @cindex Web Archive
15659 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
15660 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
15661 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
15662 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15665 @findex gnus-group-make-warchive-group
15666 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
15667 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
15668 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET @var{an_egroup} RET egroups RET
15669 www.egroups.com RET @var{your@@email.address} RET}. (Substitute the
15670 @var{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
15671 @var{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
15672 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
15674 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
15677 @item nnwarchive-directory
15678 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
15679 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is@*
15680 @file{~/News/warchive/}.
15682 @item nnwarchive-login
15683 @vindex nnwarchive-login
15684 The account name on the web server.
15686 @item nnwarchive-passwd
15687 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
15688 The password for your account on the web server.
15696 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
15697 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
15698 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
15701 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
15702 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
15705 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
15708 @item nnrss-directory
15709 @vindex nnrss-directory
15710 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
15711 @file{~/News/rss/}.
15715 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
15716 the summary buffer.
15719 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
15720 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
15722 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
15724 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
15725 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
15728 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
15731 (require 'browse-url)
15733 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
15735 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
15738 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
15739 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
15742 (browse-url (cdr url))
15743 (gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward 1))
15744 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
15746 (eval-after-load "gnus"
15747 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
15748 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
15749 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
15752 @node Customizing w3
15753 @subsection Customizing w3
15759 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
15760 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
15761 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
15763 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
15764 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
15765 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
15768 (eval-after-load "w3"
15770 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
15771 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
15772 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
15773 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
15775 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
15778 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
15779 @acronym{HTML} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
15786 @cindex @acronym{IMAP}
15788 @acronym{IMAP} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or @dots{}),
15789 think of it as a modernized @acronym{NNTP}. Connecting to a @acronym{IMAP}
15790 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
15791 specify the network address of the server.
15793 @acronym{IMAP} has two properties. First, @acronym{IMAP} can do
15794 everything that @acronym{POP} can, it can hence be viewed as a
15795 @acronym{POP++}. Secondly, @acronym{IMAP} is a mail storage protocol,
15796 similar to @acronym{NNTP} being a news storage protocol---however,
15797 @acronym{IMAP} offers more features than @acronym{NNTP} because news
15798 is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
15800 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a @acronym{POP++}, use an imap
15801 entry in @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from
15802 the @acronym{IMAP} server and store them on the local disk. This is
15803 not the usage described in this section---@xref{Mail Sources}.
15805 If you want to use @acronym{IMAP} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
15806 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
15807 manipulate mails stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server. This is the kind of
15808 usage explained in this section.
15810 A server configuration in @file{~/.gnus.el} with a few @acronym{IMAP}
15811 servers might look something like the following. (Note that for
15812 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}, you need external programs and libraries,
15816 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
15817 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; @r{no special configuration}
15818 ; @r{perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:}
15820 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15821 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
15822 ; @r{a UW server running on localhost}
15824 (nnimap-server-port 143)
15825 (nnimap-address "localhost")
15826 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
15827 ; @r{anonymous public cyrus server:}
15828 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
15829 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
15830 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
15831 (nnimap-stream network))
15832 ; @r{a ssl server on a non-standard port:}
15834 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
15835 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
15836 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
15839 After defining the new server, you can subscribe to groups on the
15840 server using normal Gnus commands such as @kbd{U} in the Group Buffer
15841 (@pxref{Subscription Commands}) or via the Server Buffer
15842 (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
15844 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
15849 @item nnimap-address
15850 @vindex nnimap-address
15852 The address of the remote @acronym{IMAP} server. Defaults to the virtual
15853 server name if not specified.
15855 @item nnimap-server-port
15856 @vindex nnimap-server-port
15857 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}.
15859 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
15862 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15863 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
15866 @item nnimap-list-pattern
15867 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
15868 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
15869 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
15870 interested in a few---some servers export your home directory via
15871 @acronym{IMAP}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
15872 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
15874 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
15875 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
15876 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
15879 Example server specification:
15882 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15883 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
15884 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
15887 @item nnimap-stream
15888 @vindex nnimap-stream
15889 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
15890 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
15891 of @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}. (@acronym{IMAP} over
15892 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can
15893 be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
15895 Example server specification:
15898 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15899 (nnimap-stream ssl))
15902 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
15906 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
15907 @samp{gsasl} or @samp{imtest} program.
15909 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
15911 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
15912 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL}). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
15915 @dfn{tls:} Connect through @acronym{TLS}. Requires GNUTLS (the program
15916 @samp{gnutls-cli}).
15918 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through @acronym{SSL}. Requires OpenSSL (the program
15919 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
15921 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @acronym{IMAP} connection.
15923 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
15926 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
15927 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
15928 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
15929 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
15930 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
15931 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
15932 restrictions on @acronym{IMAP} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
15933 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
15934 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
15937 For @acronym{TLS} connection, the @code{gnutls-cli} program from GNUTLS is
15938 needed. It is available from
15939 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gnutls/}.
15941 @vindex imap-gssapi-program
15942 This parameter specifies a list of command lines that invoke a GSSAPI
15943 authenticated @acronym{IMAP} stream in a subshell. They are tried
15944 sequentially until a connection is made, or the list has been
15945 exhausted. By default, @samp{gsasl} from GNU SASL, available from
15946 @uref{http://www.gnu.org/software/gsasl/}, and the @samp{imtest}
15947 program from Cyrus IMAPD (see @code{imap-kerberos4-program}), are
15950 @vindex imap-ssl-program
15951 For @acronym{SSL} connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
15952 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
15953 and nnimap support it too---although the most recent versions of
15954 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15955 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15956 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15959 @vindex imap-shell-program
15960 @vindex imap-shell-host
15961 For @acronym{IMAP} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15962 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15964 @item nnimap-authenticator
15965 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15967 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15968 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15970 Example server specification:
15973 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15974 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15977 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15981 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15982 external program @code{gsasl} or @code{imtest}.
15984 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15987 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15988 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15990 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15992 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15994 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as ``anonymous'', supplying your email address as password.
15997 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15999 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
16000 Unlike Parmenides the @acronym{IMAP} designers have decided things that
16001 don't exist actually do exist. More specifically, @acronym{IMAP} has
16002 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
16003 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
16004 nnimap does when you delete an article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
16007 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
16008 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
16009 running in circles yet?
16011 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
16012 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
16015 The possible options are:
16020 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as ``Deleted'' when
16023 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
16024 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @acronym{IMAP} clients
16025 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
16026 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
16028 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
16033 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
16034 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
16036 If non-@code{nil} (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as
16037 well), for other @acronym{IMAP} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
16038 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
16039 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @acronym{IMAP}
16040 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @acronym{IMAP}
16043 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
16044 enable per-user persistent dormant flags, using something like:
16047 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
16048 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16049 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
16050 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
16053 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
16054 as ticked for other users.
16056 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
16058 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
16060 This variable contain the @acronym{IMAP} search command sent to server when
16061 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
16062 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
16063 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
16065 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
16066 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
16067 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
16068 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
16070 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
16071 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
16073 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
16074 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
16075 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
16078 @item nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16079 @vindex nnimap-need-unselect-to-notice-new-mail
16081 Unselect mailboxes before looking for new mail in them. Some servers
16082 seem to need this under some circumstances; it was reported that
16088 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
16089 * Expiring in IMAP:: Expiring mail with nnimap.
16090 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
16091 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a ``compress mailbox'' button.
16092 * A note on namespaces:: How to (not) use @acronym{IMAP} namespace in Gnus.
16097 @node Splitting in IMAP
16098 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
16099 @cindex splitting imap mail
16101 Splitting is something Gnus users have loved and used for years, and now
16102 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
16103 @acronym{IMAP} servers have server side splitting and those that have
16104 splitting seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that
16105 @acronym{IMAP} support for Gnus has to do its own splitting.
16109 (Incidentally, people seem to have been dreaming on, and Sieve has
16110 gaining a market share and is supported by several IMAP servers.
16111 Fortunately, Gnus support it too, @xref{Sieve Commands}.)
16113 Here are the variables of interest:
16117 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
16118 @cindex splitting, crosspost
16120 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
16122 If non-@code{nil}, do crossposting if several split methods match the
16123 mail. If @code{nil}, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule}
16124 found will be used.
16126 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
16128 @item nnimap-split-inbox
16129 @cindex splitting, inbox
16131 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
16133 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @acronym{IMAP}
16134 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to @code{nil}, which means that
16135 splitting is disabled!
16138 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
16139 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
16142 No nnmail equivalent.
16144 @item nnimap-split-rule
16145 @cindex splitting, rules
16146 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
16148 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
16151 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
16152 sublist gives the name of the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox to move articles
16153 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
16154 Neither did I, we need examples.
16157 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16159 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
16160 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
16161 ("INBOX.private" "")))
16164 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
16165 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
16166 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
16168 The first string may contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by
16169 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
16173 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
16176 The first element can also be the symbol @code{junk} to indicate that
16177 matching messages should simply be deleted. Use with care.
16179 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
16180 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
16181 containing the headers of the article. It should return a
16182 non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
16184 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
16185 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
16186 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
16187 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
16188 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
16189 them every time you fetch new mail.)
16191 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
16192 end. The first rule to make a match will ``win'', unless you have
16193 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will ``win''.
16195 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
16196 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
16197 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16199 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
16201 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
16202 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
16203 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
16206 (setq nnimap-split-rule
16207 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
16208 ("junk" "From:.*Simon"))))
16209 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
16210 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
16211 ("junk" my-junk-func))))))
16214 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
16215 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
16216 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
16217 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
16218 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
16219 group/function elements.
16221 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16223 @item nnimap-split-predicate
16225 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
16227 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
16228 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
16230 This might be useful if you use another @acronym{IMAP} client to read mail in
16231 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
16232 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
16235 @item nnimap-split-fancy
16236 @cindex splitting, fancy
16237 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
16238 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
16240 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16241 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
16242 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
16244 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
16245 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
16246 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
16247 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
16252 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
16253 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
16256 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
16258 @item nnimap-split-download-body
16259 @findex nnimap-split-download-body
16260 @vindex nnimap-split-download-body
16262 Set to non-@code{nil} to download entire articles during splitting.
16263 This is generally not required, and will slow things down
16264 considerably. You may need it if you want to use an advanced
16265 splitting function that analyses the body to split the article.
16269 @node Expiring in IMAP
16270 @subsection Expiring in IMAP
16271 @cindex expiring imap mail
16273 Even though @code{nnimap} is not a proper @code{nnmail} derived back
16274 end, it supports most features in regular expiring (@pxref{Expiring
16275 Mail}). Unlike splitting in @acronym{IMAP} (@pxref{Splitting in
16276 IMAP}) it does not clone the @code{nnmail} variables (i.e., creating
16277 @var{nnimap-expiry-wait}) but reuse the @code{nnmail} variables. What
16278 follows below are the variables used by the @code{nnimap} expiry
16281 A note on how the expire mark is stored on the @acronym{IMAP} server is
16282 appropriate here as well. The expire mark is translated into a
16283 @code{imap} client specific mark, @code{gnus-expire}, and stored on the
16284 message. This means that likely only Gnus will understand and treat
16285 the @code{gnus-expire} mark properly, although other clients may allow
16286 you to view client specific flags on the message. It also means that
16287 your server must support permanent storage of client specific flags on
16288 messages. Most do, fortunately.
16292 @item nnmail-expiry-wait
16293 @item nnmail-expiry-wait-function
16295 These variables are fully supported. The expire value can be a
16296 number, the symbol @code{immediate} or @code{never}.
16298 @item nnmail-expiry-target
16300 This variable is supported, and internally implemented by calling the
16301 @code{nnmail} functions that handle this. It contains an optimization
16302 that if the destination is a @acronym{IMAP} group on the same server, the
16303 article is copied instead of appended (that is, uploaded again).
16307 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
16308 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
16309 @cindex editing imap acls
16310 @cindex Access Control Lists
16311 @cindex Editing @acronym{IMAP} ACLs
16313 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
16315 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @acronym{IMAP} for
16316 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
16317 @acronym{IMAP} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
16320 To edit an ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
16321 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with an ACL
16322 editing window with detailed instructions.
16324 Some possible uses:
16328 Giving ``anyone'' the ``lrs'' rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
16329 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
16330 follow the list without subscribing to it.
16332 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
16333 ``anyone'' posting ("p") capabilities to have ``plussing'' work (that is,
16334 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @acronym{IMAP} mailbox
16338 @node Expunging mailboxes
16339 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
16343 @cindex manual expunging
16345 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
16347 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
16348 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
16349 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
16351 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
16354 @node A note on namespaces
16355 @subsection A note on namespaces
16356 @cindex IMAP namespace
16359 The @acronym{IMAP} protocol has a concept called namespaces, described
16360 by the following text in the RFC:
16363 5.1.2. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention
16365 By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
16366 which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
16367 the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
16368 types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
16370 For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
16371 newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the USENET
16372 newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes. Thus, the
16373 comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have an mailbox name of
16374 "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name "comp.mail.misc" could refer
16375 to a different object (e.g. a user's private mailbox).
16378 While there is nothing in this text that warrants concern for the
16379 @acronym{IMAP} implementation in Gnus, some servers use namespace
16380 prefixes in a way that does not work with how Gnus uses mailbox names.
16382 Specifically, University of Washington's @acronym{IMAP} server uses
16383 mailbox names like @code{#driver.mbx/read-mail} which are valid only
16384 in the @sc{create} and @sc{append} commands. After the mailbox is
16385 created (or a messages is appended to a mailbox), it must be accessed
16386 without the namespace prefix, i.e. @code{read-mail}. Since Gnus do
16387 not make it possible for the user to guarantee that user entered
16388 mailbox names will only be used with the CREATE and APPEND commands,
16389 you should simply not use the namespace prefixed mailbox names in
16392 See the UoW IMAPD documentation for the @code{#driver.*/} prefix
16393 for more information on how to use the prefixes. They are a power
16394 tool and should be used only if you are sure what the effects are.
16396 @node Other Sources
16397 @section Other Sources
16399 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
16400 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
16404 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
16405 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
16406 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
16407 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
16408 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
16412 @node Directory Groups
16413 @subsection Directory Groups
16415 @cindex directory groups
16417 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
16418 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
16421 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
16422 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
16423 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
16424 back end to read directories. Big deal.
16426 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
16427 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
16428 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
16429 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
16430 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
16432 @code{nndir} will use @acronym{NOV} files if they are present.
16434 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
16435 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
16436 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
16437 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
16440 @node Anything Groups
16441 @subsection Anything Groups
16444 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
16445 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
16446 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
16449 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
16450 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
16451 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
16452 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
16453 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
16454 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
16455 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
16456 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
16457 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
16458 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
16461 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
16462 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
16463 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
16464 in the article buffer, just as usual.
16466 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
16467 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
16468 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
16469 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
16471 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
16472 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
16473 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
16474 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
16475 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
16476 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
16477 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
16478 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
16483 @item nneething-map-file-directory
16484 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
16485 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
16486 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
16488 @item nneething-exclude-files
16489 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
16490 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
16491 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
16493 @item nneething-include-files
16494 @vindex nneething-include-files
16495 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
16496 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
16498 @item nneething-map-file
16499 @vindex nneething-map-file
16500 Name of the map files.
16504 @node Document Groups
16505 @subsection Document Groups
16507 @cindex documentation group
16510 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
16511 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
16518 The Babyl (Rmail) mail box.
16523 The standard Unix mbox file.
16525 @cindex MMDF mail box
16527 The MMDF mail box format.
16530 Several news articles appended into a file.
16533 @cindex rnews batch files
16534 The rnews batch transport format.
16535 @cindex forwarded messages
16538 Forwarded articles.
16541 Netscape mail boxes.
16544 @acronym{MIME} multipart messages.
16546 @item standard-digest
16547 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
16550 A @acronym{MIME} digest of messages.
16552 @item lanl-gov-announce
16553 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
16555 @item rfc822-forward
16556 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
16559 The Outlook mail box.
16562 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
16565 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
16568 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
16571 An RFC934-forwarded message.
16577 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
16580 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
16586 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
16587 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
16588 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
16591 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
16592 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
16593 group. And that's it.
16595 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
16596 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
16597 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
16598 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
16599 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
16600 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
16601 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
16602 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
16603 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
16604 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
16606 Virtual server variables:
16609 @item nndoc-article-type
16610 @vindex nndoc-article-type
16611 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
16612 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
16613 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
16614 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
16615 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
16617 @item nndoc-post-type
16618 @vindex nndoc-post-type
16619 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
16620 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
16625 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
16629 @node Document Server Internals
16630 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
16632 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
16633 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
16634 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
16635 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
16637 First, here's an example document type definition:
16641 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
16642 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
16645 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
16646 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
16647 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
16648 types can be defined with very few settings:
16651 @item first-article
16652 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
16653 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
16656 @item article-begin
16657 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
16658 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
16660 @item head-begin-function
16661 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
16664 @item nndoc-head-begin
16665 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
16668 @item nndoc-head-end
16669 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
16670 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
16672 @item body-begin-function
16673 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
16677 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
16680 @item body-end-function
16681 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
16685 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
16688 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
16689 regexp will be totally ignored.
16693 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
16694 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
16695 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
16696 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
16697 something that's palatable for Gnus:
16700 @item prepare-body-function
16701 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
16702 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
16703 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
16705 @item article-transform-function
16706 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
16707 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
16708 body of the article.
16710 @item generate-head-function
16711 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
16712 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
16713 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
16714 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
16718 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
16723 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16724 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
16725 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
16726 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
16727 (head-end . "^ ?$")
16728 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
16729 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
16730 (subtype digest guess))
16733 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
16734 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
16735 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
16736 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
16737 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
16739 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
16740 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first
16741 is the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says
16742 where in the document type definition alist to put this definition.
16743 The alist is traversed sequentially, and
16744 @code{nndoc-@var{type}-type-p} is called for a given type @var{type}.
16745 So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document is of
16746 @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
16747 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it
16748 is of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
16749 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number
16750 means low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
16758 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
16759 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
16760 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
16762 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
16763 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
16764 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
16767 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
16768 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
16769 that interested in doing things properly.
16771 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
16772 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
16775 First some terminology:
16780 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
16781 get news and/or mail from.
16784 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
16785 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
16788 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
16792 @item message packets
16793 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
16794 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
16795 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16797 @item response packets
16798 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
16799 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
16800 default, where @var{x} is a number.
16810 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
16811 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
16812 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
16813 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
16816 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
16819 You put the packet in your home directory.
16822 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
16823 the native or secondary server.
16826 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
16827 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
16830 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
16834 You transfer this packet to the server.
16837 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
16840 You then repeat until you die.
16844 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
16845 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
16848 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
16849 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
16850 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
16854 @node SOUP Commands
16855 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
16857 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
16861 @kindex G s b (Group)
16862 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
16863 Pack all unread articles in the current group
16864 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
16865 process/prefix convention.
16868 @kindex G s w (Group)
16869 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
16870 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
16873 @kindex G s s (Group)
16874 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
16875 Send all replies from the replies packet
16876 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
16879 @kindex G s p (Group)
16880 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
16881 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
16884 @kindex G s r (Group)
16885 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
16886 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
16889 @kindex O s (Summary)
16890 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
16891 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
16892 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
16893 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16898 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
16903 @item gnus-soup-directory
16904 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
16905 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
16906 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
16908 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
16909 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
16910 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
16911 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
16913 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
16914 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
16915 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
16916 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
16918 @item gnus-soup-packer
16919 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
16920 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16921 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
16923 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
16924 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
16925 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
16926 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16928 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
16929 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
16930 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
16932 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16933 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
16934 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
16935 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
16941 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
16944 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
16945 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
16946 you can read them at leisure.
16948 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
16952 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
16953 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
16954 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
16955 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
16957 @item nnsoup-directory
16958 @vindex nnsoup-directory
16959 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
16960 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
16962 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
16963 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
16964 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
16965 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/}.
16967 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
16968 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
16969 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
16970 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
16971 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
16973 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
16974 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
16975 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
16976 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
16978 @item nnsoup-active-file
16979 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
16980 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
16981 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
16982 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
16983 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
16985 @item nnsoup-packer
16986 @vindex nnsoup-packer
16987 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
16988 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
16990 @item nnsoup-unpacker
16991 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
16992 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
16993 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
16995 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
16996 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
16997 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
17000 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
17001 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
17002 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
17005 @item nnsoup-always-save
17006 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
17007 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
17013 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
17015 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
17016 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
17017 more for that to happen.
17019 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
17020 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
17021 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
17024 In specific, this is what it does:
17027 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
17028 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
17031 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
17032 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
17033 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
17036 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
17037 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
17038 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
17041 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
17042 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
17043 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
17045 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
17051 @item nngateway-address
17052 @vindex nngateway-address
17053 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
17055 @item nngateway-header-transformation
17056 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
17057 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
17058 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
17059 transformation should be called, and defaults to
17060 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
17061 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
17064 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
17065 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
17066 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
17069 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
17072 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
17075 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
17078 The following pre-defined functions exist:
17080 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17083 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
17084 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17085 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
17087 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17089 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
17090 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
17091 @code{nngateway-address}.
17099 (setq gnus-post-method
17101 "mail2news@@replay.com"
17102 (nngateway-header-transformation
17103 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
17106 So, to use this, simply say something like:
17109 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
17114 @node Combined Groups
17115 @section Combined Groups
17117 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
17121 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
17122 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
17126 @node Virtual Groups
17127 @subsection Virtual Groups
17129 @cindex virtual groups
17130 @cindex merging groups
17132 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
17135 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
17136 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
17137 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
17139 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
17140 regexp to match component groups.
17142 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
17143 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
17144 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
17145 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
17146 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
17147 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
17148 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
17149 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
17151 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
17152 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
17155 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
17158 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
17159 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
17161 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
17162 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
17163 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
17164 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
17167 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
17170 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
17171 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
17172 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
17174 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
17175 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
17176 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
17177 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
17178 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
17180 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
17181 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
17182 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
17184 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
17185 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
17186 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
17187 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
17188 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
17189 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
17190 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
17191 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
17192 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
17193 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
17194 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
17196 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
17197 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
17198 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
17199 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
17200 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
17201 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
17202 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
17204 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
17205 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
17207 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
17208 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
17212 @node Kibozed Groups
17213 @subsection Kibozed Groups
17217 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by the @acronym{OED} as ``grepping through
17218 (parts of) the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will
17219 do this for you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @acronym{NNTP} server
17220 down to a halt with useless requests! Oh happiness!
17222 @kindex G k (Group)
17223 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
17226 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
17227 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
17228 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between
17229 @code{nnkiboze} and @code{nnvirtual} end.
17231 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an
17232 @code{nnkiboze} group must have a score file to say what articles are
17233 to be included in the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
17235 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
17236 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
17237 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
17238 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time.
17239 Lots of time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the
17240 headers from all the articles in all the component groups and run them
17241 through the scoring process to determine if there are any articles in
17242 the groups that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
17244 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
17245 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
17246 @acronym{NNTP} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
17247 Stranger things have happened.
17249 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
17250 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
17252 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
17253 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
17254 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/kiboze/} by default.
17255 One contains the @acronym{NOV} header lines for all the articles in
17256 the group, and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store
17257 information on what groups have been searched through to find
17258 component articles.
17260 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
17261 their @acronym{NOV} lines removed from the @acronym{NOV} file.
17264 @node Gnus Unplugged
17265 @section Gnus Unplugged
17270 @cindex Gnus unplugged
17272 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
17273 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
17274 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
17275 read news. Believe it or not.
17277 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
17278 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
17279 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
17280 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
17281 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
17283 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
17284 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
17285 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
17286 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
17287 reading news on a machine.
17289 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
17290 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
17292 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
17295 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
17296 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
17297 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
17298 * Agent Visuals:: Ways that the agent may effect your summary buffer.
17299 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
17300 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
17301 * Agent Regeneration:: How to recover from lost connections and other accidents.
17302 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with @acronym{IMAP}.
17303 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
17304 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
17305 * Example Setup:: An example @file{~/.gnus.el} file for offline people.
17306 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
17307 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
17312 @subsection Agent Basics
17314 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
17316 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
17317 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
17318 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
17319 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
17321 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
17322 connected to the net continuously.
17324 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
17325 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
17327 You know that Gnus gives you all the opportunity you'd ever want for
17328 shooting yourself in the foot. Some people call it flexibility. Gnus
17329 is also customizable to a great extent, which means that the user has a
17330 say on how Gnus behaves. Other newsreaders might unconditionally shoot
17331 you in your foot, but with Gnus, you have a choice!
17333 Gnus is never really in plugged or unplugged state. Rather, it applies
17334 that state to each server individually. This means that some servers
17335 can be plugged while others can be unplugged. Additionally, some
17336 servers can be ignored by the Agent altogether (which means that
17337 they're kinda like plugged always).
17339 So when you unplug the Agent and then wonder why is Gnus opening a
17340 connection to the Net, the next step to do is to look whether all
17341 servers are agentized. If there is an unagentized server, you found
17344 Another thing is the @dfn{offline} state. Sometimes, servers aren't
17345 reachable. When Gnus notices this, it asks you whether you want the
17346 server to be switched to offline state. If you say yes, then the
17347 server will behave somewhat as if it was unplugged, except that Gnus
17348 will ask you whether you want to switch it back online again.
17350 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
17355 @findex gnus-unplugged
17356 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
17357 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
17358 already fetched while in this mode.
17361 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
17362 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
17363 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
17364 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode (@pxref{Mail
17365 Source Specifiers}).
17368 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the
17369 news onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press
17370 @kbd{g} to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J s} to fetch
17371 all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus know which
17372 articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}).
17375 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
17376 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
17377 then you read the news offline.
17380 And then you go to step 2.
17383 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
17389 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
17390 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
17391 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
17392 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
17393 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
17394 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
17395 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} servers in @code{gnus-select-method} and
17396 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
17399 Decide on download policy. It's fairly simple once you decide whether
17400 you are going to use agent categories, topic parameters, and/or group
17401 parameters to implement your policy. If you're new to gnus, it
17402 is probably best to start with a category, @xref{Agent Categories}.
17404 Both topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) and agent categories
17405 (@pxref{Agent Categories}) provide for setting a policy that applies
17406 to multiple groups. Which you use is entirely up to you. Topic
17407 parameters do override categories so, if you mix the two, you'll have
17408 to take that into account. If you have a few groups that deviate from
17409 your policy, you can use group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to
17413 Uhm@dots{} that's it.
17417 @node Agent Categories
17418 @subsection Agent Categories
17420 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
17421 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
17422 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
17423 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
17424 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
17425 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
17426 you're interested in the articles anyway.
17428 One of the more effective methods for controlling what is to be
17429 downloaded is to create a @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all)
17430 groups to this category. Groups that do not belong in any other
17431 category belong to the @code{default} category. Gnus has its own
17432 buffer for creating and managing categories.
17434 If you prefer, you can also use group parameters (@pxref{Group
17435 Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}) for an
17436 alternative approach to controlling the agent. The only real
17437 difference is that categories are specific to the agent (so there is
17438 less to learn) while group and topic parameters include the kitchen
17441 Since you can set agent parameters in several different places we have
17442 a rule to decide which source to believe. This rule specifies that
17443 the parameter sources are checked in the following order: group
17444 parameters, topic parameters, agent category, and finally customizable
17445 variables. So you can mix all of these sources to produce a wide range
17446 of behavior, just don't blame me if you don't remember where you put
17450 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
17451 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
17452 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
17456 @node Category Syntax
17457 @subsubsection Category Syntax
17459 A category consists of a name, the list of groups belonging to the
17460 category, and a number of optional parameters that override the
17461 customizable variables. The complete list of agent parameters are
17465 @item gnus-agent-cat-name
17466 The name of the category.
17468 @item gnus-agent-cat-groups
17469 The list of groups that are in this category.
17471 @item gnus-agent-cat-predicate
17472 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
17473 are eligible for downloading; and
17475 @item gnus-agent-cat-score-file
17476 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
17477 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
17478 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
17480 @item gnus-agent-cat-enable-expiration
17481 a boolean indicating whether the agent should expire old articles in
17482 this group. Most groups should be expired to conserve disk space. In
17483 fact, its probably safe to say that the gnus.* hierarchy contains the
17484 only groups that should not be expired.
17486 @item gnus-agent-cat-days-until-old
17487 an integer indicating the number of days that the agent should wait
17488 before deciding that a read article is safe to expire.
17490 @item gnus-agent-cat-low-score
17491 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-low-score}.
17493 @item gnus-agent-cat-high-score
17494 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-high-score}.
17496 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-short
17497 an integer that overrides the value of
17498 @code{gnus-agent-short-article}.
17500 @item gnus-agent-cat-length-when-long
17501 an integer that overrides the value of @code{gnus-agent-long-article}.
17504 The name of a category can not be changed once the category has been
17507 Each category maintains a list of groups that are exclusive members of
17508 that category. The exclusivity rule is automatically enforced, add a
17509 group to a new category and it is automatically removed from its old
17512 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
17513 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
17514 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
17515 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
17517 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
17518 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
17519 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
17521 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
17522 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
17523 operators sprinkled in between.
17525 Perhaps some examples are in order.
17527 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
17528 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
17534 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
17535 short (for some value of ``short'').
17537 Here's a more complex predicate:
17546 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
17547 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
17550 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
17551 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
17552 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
17554 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
17555 you want to do, you can write your own.
17557 When evaluating each of these predicates, the named constant will be
17558 bound to the value determined by calling
17559 @code{gnus-agent-find-parameter} on the appropriate parameter. For
17560 example, gnus-agent-short-article will be bound to
17561 @code{(gnus-agent-find-parameter group 'agent-short-article)}. This
17562 means that you can specify a predicate in your category then tune that
17563 predicate to individual groups.
17567 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
17568 lines; default 100.
17571 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
17572 lines; default 200.
17575 True iff the article has a download score less than
17576 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
17579 True iff the article has a download score greater than
17580 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
17583 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
17584 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
17585 checksum and sees whether articles match.
17594 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
17595 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
17596 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
17599 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
17600 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
17601 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
17602 something along the lines of the following:
17605 (defun my-article-old-p ()
17606 "Say whether an article is old."
17607 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
17608 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
17611 with the predicate then defined as:
17614 (not my-article-old-p)
17617 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
17618 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
17622 (require 'gnus-agent)
17623 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
17624 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
17625 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
17628 and simply specify your predicate as:
17634 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
17635 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
17636 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
17637 just don't give a damn.
17639 The above predicates apply to @emph{all} the groups which belong to the
17640 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
17641 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
17642 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in its group
17643 parameters like so:
17646 (agent-predicate . short)
17649 This is the group/topic parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
17650 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
17651 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
17653 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
17656 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
17659 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
17660 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
17661 predicate is assumed to be a list.
17664 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
17665 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
17666 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
17667 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
17668 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
17669 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
17671 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
17672 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
17673 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
17674 if it's to be specific to that group.
17676 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
17683 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
17684 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
17690 Category specification
17694 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17700 Group/Topic Parameter specification
17703 (agent-score ("from"
17704 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
17709 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
17715 These score files must @emph{only} contain the permitted scoring
17716 keywords stated above.
17722 Category specification
17725 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
17731 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
17735 Group Parameter specification
17738 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
17741 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
17746 Use @code{normal} score files
17748 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
17749 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
17750 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
17751 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
17753 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
17754 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
17755 files for a group, @emph{filtering out} those sections that do not
17756 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
17760 Category Specification
17767 Group Parameter specification
17770 (agent-score . file)
17775 @node Category Buffer
17776 @subsubsection Category Buffer
17778 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
17779 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
17780 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
17782 The following commands are available in this buffer:
17786 @kindex q (Category)
17787 @findex gnus-category-exit
17788 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
17791 @kindex e (Category)
17792 @findex gnus-category-customize-category
17793 Use a customization buffer to set all of the selected category's
17794 parameters at one time (@code{gnus-category-customize-category}).
17797 @kindex k (Category)
17798 @findex gnus-category-kill
17799 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
17802 @kindex c (Category)
17803 @findex gnus-category-copy
17804 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
17807 @kindex a (Category)
17808 @findex gnus-category-add
17809 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
17812 @kindex p (Category)
17813 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
17814 Edit the predicate of the current category
17815 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
17818 @kindex g (Category)
17819 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
17820 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
17821 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
17824 @kindex s (Category)
17825 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
17826 Edit the download score rule of the current category
17827 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
17830 @kindex l (Category)
17831 @findex gnus-category-list
17832 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
17836 @node Category Variables
17837 @subsubsection Category Variables
17840 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
17841 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
17842 Hook run in category buffers.
17844 @item gnus-category-line-format
17845 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
17846 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
17847 Variables}). Valid elements are:
17851 The name of the category.
17854 The number of groups in the category.
17857 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
17858 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
17859 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
17861 @item gnus-agent-short-article
17862 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
17863 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
17865 @item gnus-agent-long-article
17866 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
17867 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
17869 @item gnus-agent-low-score
17870 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
17871 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
17874 @item gnus-agent-high-score
17875 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
17876 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
17879 @item gnus-agent-expire-days
17880 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
17881 The number of days that a @samp{read} article must stay in the agent's
17882 local disk before becoming eligible for expiration (While the name is
17883 the same, this doesn't mean expiring the article on the server. It
17884 just means deleting the local copy of the article). What is also
17885 important to understand is that the counter starts with the time the
17886 article was written to the local disk and not the time the article was
17890 @item gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17891 @vindex gnus-agent-enable-expiration
17892 Determines whether articles in a group are, by default, expired or
17893 retained indefinitely. The default is @code{ENABLE} which means that
17894 you'll have to disable expiration when desired. On the other hand,
17895 you could set this to @code{DISABLE}. In that case, you would then
17896 have to enable expiration in selected groups.
17901 @node Agent Commands
17902 @subsection Agent Commands
17903 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-plugged
17904 @kindex J j (Agent)
17906 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
17907 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
17908 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
17912 * Group Agent Commands:: Configure groups and fetch their contents.
17913 * Summary Agent Commands:: Manually select then fetch specific articles.
17914 * Server Agent Commands:: Select the servers that are supported by the agent.
17920 @node Group Agent Commands
17921 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
17925 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
17926 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
17927 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
17928 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
17931 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
17932 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
17933 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
17936 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
17937 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
17938 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
17939 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
17942 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
17943 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
17944 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
17945 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
17948 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
17949 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
17950 Add the current group to an Agent category
17951 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
17952 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17955 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
17956 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
17957 Remove the current group from its category, if any
17958 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
17959 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
17962 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
17963 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
17964 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
17970 @node Summary Agent Commands
17971 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
17975 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
17976 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
17977 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
17980 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
17981 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
17982 Remove the downloading mark from the article
17983 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
17987 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
17988 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
17989 Toggle whether to download the article
17990 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}). The download mark is @samp{%} by
17994 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
17995 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
17996 Mark all articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}) that are neither cached, downloaded, nor downloadable.
17999 @kindex J S (Agent Summary)
18000 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-group
18001 Download all eligible (@pxref{Agent Categories}) articles in this group.
18002 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-group}).
18005 @kindex J s (Agent Summary)
18006 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-series
18007 Download all processable articles in this group.
18008 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-series}).
18011 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
18012 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
18013 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
18014 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
18019 @node Server Agent Commands
18020 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
18024 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
18025 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
18026 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
18027 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
18030 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
18031 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
18032 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
18033 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
18038 @node Agent Visuals
18039 @subsection Agent Visuals
18041 If you open a summary while unplugged and, Gnus knows from the group's
18042 active range that there are more articles than the headers currently
18043 stored in the Agent, you may see some articles whose subject looks
18044 something like @samp{[Undownloaded article #####]}. These are
18045 placeholders for the missing headers. Aside from setting a mark,
18046 there is not much that can be done with one of these placeholders.
18047 When Gnus finally gets a chance to fetch the group's headers, the
18048 placeholders will automatically be replaced by the actual headers.
18049 You can configure the summary buffer's maneuvering to skip over the
18050 placeholders if you care (See @code{gnus-auto-goto-ignores}).
18052 While it may be obvious to all, the only headers and articles
18053 available while unplugged are those headers and articles that were
18054 fetched into the Agent while previously plugged. To put it another
18055 way, "If you forget to fetch something while plugged, you might have a
18056 less than satisfying unplugged session". For this reason, the Agent
18057 adds two visual effects to your summary buffer. These effects display
18058 the download status of each article so that you always know which
18059 articles will be available when unplugged.
18061 The first visual effect is the @samp{%O} spec. If you customize
18062 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} to include this specifier, you will add
18063 a single character field that indicates an article's download status.
18064 Articles that have been fetched into either the Agent or the Cache,
18065 will display @code{gnus-downloaded-mark} (defaults to @samp{+}). All
18066 other articles will display @code{gnus-undownloaded-mark} (defaults to
18067 @samp{-}). If you open a group that has not been agentized, a space
18068 (@samp{ }) will be displayed.
18070 The second visual effect are the undownloaded faces. The faces, there
18071 are three indicating the article's score (low, normal, high), seem to
18072 result in a love/hate response from many Gnus users. The problem is
18073 that the face selection is controlled by a list of condition tests and
18074 face names (See @code{gnus-summary-highlight}). Each condition is
18075 tested in the order in which it appears in the list so early
18076 conditions have precedence over later conditions. All of this means
18077 that, if you tick an undownloaded article, the article will continue
18078 to be displayed in the undownloaded face rather than the ticked face.
18080 If you use the Agent as a cache (to avoid downloading the same article
18081 each time you visit it or to minimize your connection time), the
18082 undownloaded face will probably seem like a good idea. The reason
18083 being that you do all of our work (marking, reading, deleting) with
18084 downloaded articles so the normal faces always appear.
18086 For occasional Agent users, the undownloaded faces may appear to be an
18087 absolutely horrible idea. The issue being that, since most of their
18088 articles have not been fetched into the Agent, most of the normal
18089 faces will be obscured by the undownloaded faces. If this is your
18090 situation, you have two choices available. First, you can completely
18091 disable the undownload faces by customizing
18092 @code{gnus-summary-highlight} to delete the three cons-cells that
18093 refer to the @code{gnus-summary-*-undownloaded-face} faces. Second, if
18094 you prefer to take a more fine-grained approach, you may set the
18095 @code{agent-disable-undownloaded-faces} group parameter to t. This
18096 parameter, like all other agent parameters, may be set on an Agent
18097 Category (@pxref{Agent Categories}), a Group Topic (@pxref{Topic
18098 Parameters}), or an individual group (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
18100 @node Agent as Cache
18101 @subsection Agent as Cache
18103 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
18104 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
18105 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
18106 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
18107 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
18108 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
18109 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
18110 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
18111 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
18113 If you so desire, you can configure the agent (see @code{gnus-agent-cache}
18114 @pxref{Agent Variables}) to always download headers and articles while
18115 plugged. Gnus will almost certainly be slower, but it will be kept
18116 synchronized with the server. That last point probably won't make any
18117 sense if you are using a nntp or nnimap back end.
18120 @subsection Agent Expiry
18122 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
18123 @findex gnus-agent-expire
18124 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
18125 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire-group
18126 @findex gnus-agent-expire-group
18127 @cindex agent expiry
18128 @cindex Gnus agent expiry
18131 The Agent back end, @code{nnagent}, doesn't handle expiry. Well, at
18132 least it doesn't handle it like other back ends. Instead, there are
18133 special @code{gnus-agent-expire} and @code{gnus-agent-expire-group}
18134 commands that will expire all read articles that are older than
18135 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. They can be run whenever you feel
18136 that you're running out of space. Neither are particularly fast or
18137 efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to interrupt them (with
18138 @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started one of them.
18140 Note that other functions, e.g. @code{gnus-request-expire-articles},
18141 might run @code{gnus-agent-expire} for you to keep the agent
18142 synchronized with the group.
18144 The agent parameter @code{agent-enable-expiration} may be used to
18145 prevent expiration in selected groups.
18147 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
18148 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, the agent
18149 expiration commands will expire all articles---unread, read, ticked
18150 and dormant. If @code{nil} (which is the default), only read articles
18151 are eligible for expiry, and unread, ticked and dormant articles will
18152 be kept indefinitely.
18154 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
18155 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's are special
18156 commands, @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} and
18157 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group}, to fix possible problems.
18159 @node Agent Regeneration
18160 @subsection Agent Regeneration
18162 @cindex agent regeneration
18163 @cindex Gnus agent regeneration
18164 @cindex regeneration
18166 The local data structures used by @code{nnagent} may become corrupted
18167 due to certain exceptional conditions. When this happens,
18168 @code{nnagent} functionality may degrade or even fail. The solution
18169 to this problem is to repair the local data structures by removing all
18170 internal inconsistencies.
18172 For example, if your connection to your server is lost while
18173 downloaded articles into the agent, the local data structures will not
18174 know about articles successfully downloaded prior to the connection
18175 failure. Running @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} or
18176 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} will update the data structures
18177 such that you don't need to download these articles a second time.
18179 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
18180 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate
18181 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} will perform
18182 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} on every agentized group. While
18183 you can run @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} in any buffer, it is strongly
18184 recommended that you first close all summary buffers.
18186 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18187 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-regenerate-group
18188 The command @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} uses the local copies
18189 of individual articles to repair the local @acronym{NOV}(header) database. It
18190 then updates the internal data structures that document which articles
18191 are stored locally. An optional argument will mark articles in the
18194 @node Agent and IMAP
18195 @subsection Agent and IMAP
18197 The Agent works with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
18198 since there are some conceptual differences between @acronym{NNTP} and
18199 @acronym{IMAP}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
18200 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @acronym{IMAP} Disconnected Mode client.
18202 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
18203 are kept on the @acronym{IMAP} server, rather than in @file{.newsrc} as is the
18204 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
18205 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
18207 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
18208 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
18209 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
18210 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
18212 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
18213 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
18214 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
18215 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
18216 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
18217 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
18219 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
18220 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
18221 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
18222 in the group buffer.
18224 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
18225 expect from a disconnected @acronym{IMAP} client, including:
18230 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
18233 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
18237 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by ``pushing''
18238 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
18239 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
18240 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on an article, quit the group and
18241 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
18242 removed from the server when you ``synchronize''. The queued flag
18243 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
18244 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
18247 @node Outgoing Messages
18248 @subsection Outgoing Messages
18250 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
18251 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
18252 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
18254 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
18255 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
18256 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
18257 messages in the draft group.
18261 @node Agent Variables
18262 @subsection Agent Variables
18265 @item gnus-agent-directory
18266 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
18267 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
18268 @file{~/News/agent/}.
18270 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
18271 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
18272 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
18273 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
18274 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
18277 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18278 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
18279 Hook run when connecting to the network.
18281 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18282 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
18283 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
18285 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18286 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
18287 Hook run when finished fetching articles.
18289 @item gnus-agent-cache
18290 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
18291 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @acronym{NOV} and
18292 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
18293 The default is non-@code{nil}, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
18295 @item gnus-agent-go-online
18296 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
18297 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
18298 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
18299 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
18300 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
18301 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
18304 @item gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18305 @vindex gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded
18306 If @code{gnus-agent-mark-unread-after-downloaded} is non-@code{nil},
18307 mark articles as unread after downloading. This is usually a safe
18308 thing to do as the newly downloaded article has obviously not been
18309 read. The default is t.
18311 @item gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18312 @vindex gnus-agent-consider-all-articles
18313 If @code{gnus-agent-consider-all-articles} is non-@code{nil}, the
18314 agent will fetch all missing headers. When @code{nil}, the agent will
18315 fetch only new headers. The default is @code{nil}.
18317 @item gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18318 @vindex gnus-agent-max-fetch-size
18319 The agent fetches articles into a temporary buffer prior to parsing
18320 them into individual files. To avoid exceeding the max. buffer size,
18321 the agent alternates between fetching and parsing until all articles
18322 have been fetched. @code{gnus-agent-max-fetch-size} provides a size
18323 limit to control how often the cycling occurs. A large value improves
18324 performance. A small value minimizes the time lost should the
18325 connection be lost while fetching (You may need to run
18326 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate-group} to update the group's state.
18327 However, all articles parsed prior to loosing the connection will be
18328 available while unplugged). The default is 10M so it is unusual to
18331 @item gnus-server-unopen-status
18332 @vindex gnus-server-unopen-status
18333 Perhaps not an Agent variable, but closely related to the Agent, this
18334 variable says what will happen if Gnus cannot open a server. If the
18335 Agent is enabled, the default, @code{nil}, makes Gnus ask the user
18336 whether to deny the server or whether to unplug the agent. If the
18337 Agent is disabled, Gnus always simply deny the server. Other choices
18338 for this variable include @code{denied} and @code{offline} the latter
18339 is only valid if the Agent is used.
18341 @item gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18342 @vindex gnus-auto-goto-ignores
18343 Another variable that isn't an Agent variable, yet so closely related
18344 that most will look for it here, this variable tells the summary
18345 buffer how to maneuver around undownloaded (only headers stored in the
18346 agent) and unfetched (neither article nor headers stored) articles.
18348 The legal values are @code{nil} (maneuver to any article),
18349 @code{undownloaded} (maneuvering while unplugged ignores articles that
18350 have not been fetched), @code{always-undownloaded} (maneuvering always
18351 ignores articles that have not been fetched), @code{unfetched}
18352 (maneuvering ignores articles whose headers have not been fetched).
18357 @node Example Setup
18358 @subsection Example Setup
18360 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
18361 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
18362 @file{~/.gnus.el} file to get started.
18365 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @acronym{NNTP}}
18366 ;;; @r{from your ISP's server.}
18367 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
18369 ;;; @r{Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from}
18370 ;;; @r{your ISP's @acronym{POP} server.}
18371 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
18373 ;;; @r{Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.}
18374 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
18376 ;;; @r{Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.}
18377 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; @r{The obsolete setting.}
18378 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; @r{Now the default.}
18381 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
18382 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
18385 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
18386 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
18387 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
18388 @acronym{NNTP} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
18389 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
18392 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
18393 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
18394 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
18395 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
18396 back all the killed groups.)
18398 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
18399 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
18400 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
18403 @node Batching Agents
18404 @subsection Batching Agents
18405 @findex gnus-agent-batch
18407 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
18408 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
18409 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
18411 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
18412 following incantation:
18416 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f -l ~/.gnus.el gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null 2>&1
18420 @node Agent Caveats
18421 @subsection Agent Caveats
18423 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
18424 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
18428 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
18430 @strong{No}. If you want this behaviour, add
18431 @code{gnus-agent-fetch-selected-article} to
18432 @code{gnus-select-article-hook}.
18434 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in
18435 the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
18437 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is @code{nil}.
18441 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
18442 articles; when it's plugged, it talks to your ISP and may also use the
18443 locally stored articles.
18450 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
18451 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
18452 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
18455 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
18456 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
18457 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
18458 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
18459 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
18461 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
18462 before generating the summary buffer.
18464 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
18465 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
18466 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
18468 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
18469 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
18470 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
18471 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
18474 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
18475 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
18476 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
18477 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
18478 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
18479 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
18480 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
18481 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
18482 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
18483 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
18484 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
18485 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
18486 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
18487 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
18488 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
18489 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
18490 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
18494 @node Summary Score Commands
18495 @section Summary Score Commands
18496 @cindex score commands
18498 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
18499 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
18500 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
18501 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
18502 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
18504 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
18505 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
18506 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
18507 score file the current one.
18509 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
18514 @kindex V s (Summary)
18515 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
18516 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
18519 @kindex V S (Summary)
18520 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
18521 Display the score of the current article
18522 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
18525 @kindex V t (Summary)
18526 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
18527 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
18528 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}). In the @code{*Score Trace*} buffer, you
18529 can use @kbd{q} to quit. @kbd{e} edits the corresponding score file.
18530 When point is on a string within the match element, @kbd{e} will try to
18531 bring you to this string in the score file.
18534 @kindex V w (Summary)
18535 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
18536 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
18539 @kindex V R (Summary)
18540 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
18541 Run the current summary through the scoring process
18542 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
18543 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
18544 effect you're having.
18547 @kindex V c (Summary)
18548 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
18549 Make a different score file the current
18550 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
18553 @kindex V e (Summary)
18554 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
18555 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
18556 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
18560 @kindex V f (Summary)
18561 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
18562 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
18563 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
18566 @kindex V F (Summary)
18567 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18568 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
18569 after editing score files.
18572 @kindex V C (Summary)
18573 @findex gnus-score-customize
18574 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
18575 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
18579 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
18584 @kindex V m (Summary)
18585 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
18586 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
18587 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
18590 @kindex V x (Summary)
18591 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
18592 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
18593 expunge all articles below this score
18594 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
18597 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
18598 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
18601 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
18602 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
18606 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
18607 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
18609 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
18610 keys are available:
18614 Score on the author name.
18617 Score on the subject line.
18620 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
18623 Score on the @code{References} line.
18629 Score on the number of lines.
18632 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
18635 Score on an ``extra'' header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
18636 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
18639 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
18640 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
18641 @file{ADAPT} files.)
18650 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
18656 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
18657 what headers you are scoring on.
18669 Substring matching.
18672 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
18701 Greater than number.
18706 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
18707 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
18708 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
18713 Temporary score entry.
18716 Permanent score entry.
18719 Immediately scoring.
18723 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
18724 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
18725 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
18729 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
18730 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
18731 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
18732 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
18734 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
18735 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
18736 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
18737 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
18738 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
18740 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
18741 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
18742 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
18743 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
18744 current score file.
18746 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
18747 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
18748 pretend they are keymaps or not.
18751 @node Group Score Commands
18752 @section Group Score Commands
18753 @cindex group score commands
18755 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
18760 @kindex W f (Group)
18761 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
18762 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
18763 all the time. This command will flush the cache
18764 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
18768 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
18770 @findex gnus-batch-score
18771 @cindex batch scoring
18773 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
18777 @node Score Variables
18778 @section Score Variables
18779 @cindex score variables
18783 @item gnus-use-scoring
18784 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
18785 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
18786 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
18788 @item gnus-kill-killed
18789 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
18790 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
18791 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
18792 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
18793 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
18794 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
18795 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
18797 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
18798 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
18799 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
18800 initialized from the @env{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
18801 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
18803 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
18804 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
18805 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
18806 (@file{SCORE} by default.)
18808 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18809 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
18810 @cindex score cache
18811 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
18812 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
18813 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely
18814 to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
18815 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
18816 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
18817 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
18820 @item gnus-save-score
18821 @vindex gnus-save-score
18822 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
18823 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
18824 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
18826 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
18827 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
18828 across group visits.
18830 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18831 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
18832 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
18833 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
18834 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
18835 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
18836 manually entered data.
18838 @item gnus-summary-default-score
18839 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
18840 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
18842 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
18843 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
18844 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
18845 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
18846 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
18847 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
18849 @item gnus-score-over-mark
18850 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
18851 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
18852 default. Default is @samp{+}.
18854 @item gnus-score-below-mark
18855 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
18856 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
18857 default. Default is @samp{-}.
18859 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18860 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
18861 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
18862 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
18864 Predefined functions available are:
18867 @item gnus-score-find-single
18868 @findex gnus-score-find-single
18869 Only apply the group's own score file.
18871 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
18872 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
18873 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
18874 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
18875 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
18876 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
18877 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
18878 then a regexp match is done.
18880 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
18881 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
18883 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
18884 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
18885 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
18886 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
18888 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18889 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
18890 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
18891 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
18892 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
18896 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
18897 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
18898 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
18899 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
18900 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
18901 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
18902 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
18905 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
18906 overall score file, you could use the value
18908 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
18909 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
18912 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
18913 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
18914 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
18915 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
18916 are expired. It's 7 by default.
18918 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18919 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
18920 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
18921 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
18922 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
18923 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
18924 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
18925 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
18927 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18928 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
18929 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
18931 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
18932 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
18933 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be
18934 simplified for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
18935 threading---according to the current value of
18936 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions}. If the scoring entry uses
18937 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
18938 simplified in this manner.
18943 @node Score File Format
18944 @section Score File Format
18945 @cindex score file format
18947 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
18948 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
18949 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
18951 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
18955 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
18957 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
18959 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
18961 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
18966 (mark-and-expunge -10)
18970 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
18971 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
18972 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
18973 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
18977 This example demonstrates most score file elements. @xref{Advanced
18978 Scoring}, for a different approach.
18980 Even though this looks much like Lisp code, nothing here is actually
18981 @code{eval}ed. The Lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
18982 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
18984 Six keys are supported by this alist:
18989 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
18990 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
18991 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
18992 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
18993 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
18994 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
18995 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
18996 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
18997 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
18998 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
18999 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
19000 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
19001 to articles that matches these score entries.
19003 Following this key is an arbitrary number of score entries, where each
19004 score entry has one to four elements.
19008 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
19009 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
19013 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
19014 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
19015 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
19016 is successful. If this element is not present, the
19017 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
19018 instead. This is 1000 by default.
19021 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
19022 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
19023 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
19024 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
19025 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
19028 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
19029 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
19030 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
19031 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
19034 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
19035 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
19036 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
19037 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
19038 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
19039 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
19040 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
19041 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
19042 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
19043 instead, if you feel like.
19046 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
19047 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
19048 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
19049 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
19050 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
19051 if your @acronym{NNTP} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
19054 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
19058 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
19059 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
19061 These predicates are true if
19064 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
19067 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
19068 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
19075 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
19076 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
19077 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
19078 it's not. I think.)
19080 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
19081 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
19082 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
19083 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
19086 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
19087 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
19088 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
19089 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
19090 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
19091 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
19092 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
19096 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
19097 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
19098 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
19099 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
19100 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
19101 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
19102 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
19103 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
19106 @item Head, Body, All
19107 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
19111 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
19112 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
19113 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
19114 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
19115 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
19116 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
19117 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
19121 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
19122 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
19123 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
19124 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
19125 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
19126 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
19127 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
19128 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
19129 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
19130 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
19131 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
19135 @cindex score file atoms
19137 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19138 lower than this number will be marked as read.
19141 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19142 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
19144 @item mark-and-expunge
19145 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
19146 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
19149 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
19150 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
19151 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
19152 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
19153 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
19156 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
19157 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
19160 @item exclude-files
19161 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
19162 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
19166 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
19167 ignored when handling global score files.
19170 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
19171 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
19172 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
19173 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
19176 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
19177 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
19178 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
19179 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
19181 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
19185 (mark-and-expunge -100)
19188 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
19189 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
19190 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
19191 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
19192 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
19194 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
19195 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
19196 scoring rules exist.
19199 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
19200 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
19201 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
19202 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
19203 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
19204 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
19205 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19206 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
19207 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
19208 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
19209 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
19213 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
19214 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
19215 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
19216 file for a number of groups.
19219 @cindex local variables
19220 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(@var{var}
19221 @var{value})} pairs. Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the
19222 current summary buffer, and set to the value specified. This is a
19223 convenient, if somewhat strange, way of setting variables in some
19224 groups if you don't like hooks much. Note that the @var{value} won't
19229 @node Score File Editing
19230 @section Score File Editing
19232 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
19233 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
19234 with a mode for that.
19236 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
19237 additional commands:
19242 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
19243 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
19244 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
19245 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
19248 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
19249 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
19250 Insert the current date in numerical format
19251 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
19252 you were wondering.
19255 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
19256 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
19257 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
19258 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
19259 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
19264 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
19266 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
19267 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
19269 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
19270 e} to begin editing score files.
19273 @node Adaptive Scoring
19274 @section Adaptive Scoring
19275 @cindex adaptive scoring
19277 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
19278 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
19279 stupidity, to be precise.
19281 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
19282 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
19283 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
19284 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
19285 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
19286 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
19287 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
19288 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
19289 variable to @code{(word line)}.
19291 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19292 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
19293 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
19294 might look something like this:
19297 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
19298 '((gnus-unread-mark)
19299 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
19300 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
19301 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
19302 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
19303 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
19304 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
19305 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
19306 (gnus-ancient-mark)
19307 (gnus-low-score-mark)
19308 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
19311 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
19312 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
19313 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
19314 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
19315 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
19316 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
19319 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
19320 will be applied to each article.
19322 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
19323 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{e}) will have a
19324 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
19325 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
19327 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
19328 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
19329 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
19330 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
19332 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
19333 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
19334 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
19335 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
19337 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
19338 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
19339 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
19340 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
19341 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
19342 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
19344 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
19345 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
19346 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
19348 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
19349 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
19350 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
19352 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
19353 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
19354 let you use different rules in different groups.
19356 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
19357 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
19358 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
19361 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
19362 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
19363 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
19364 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
19365 the length of the match is less than
19366 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
19367 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
19370 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19371 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
19372 headers. If you adapt on words, the
19373 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
19374 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
19377 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
19378 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
19379 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
19380 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
19381 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
19384 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
19385 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
19386 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
19387 score with 30 points.
19389 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
19390 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
19391 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
19392 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
19393 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
19395 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
19396 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
19397 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
19398 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
19399 variable defaults to @code{nil}.
19401 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
19402 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
19403 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
19404 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
19406 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
19407 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
19408 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
19409 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
19411 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
19412 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
19413 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
19414 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
19415 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
19417 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
19418 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
19419 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
19421 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
19422 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
19423 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
19424 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
19427 @node Home Score File
19428 @section Home Score File
19430 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
19431 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
19432 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
19433 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
19435 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
19436 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
19437 could perhaps use the same home score file.
19439 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
19440 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
19445 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
19449 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
19450 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
19454 A list. The elements in this list can be:
19458 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
19459 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
19462 A function. If the function returns non-@code{nil}, the result will
19463 be used as the home score file.
19466 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
19469 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
19474 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
19477 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19478 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
19481 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
19482 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
19484 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
19486 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19487 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
19490 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
19491 Other functions include
19494 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
19495 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
19496 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
19497 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
19501 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
19502 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
19503 their own home score files:
19506 (setq gnus-home-score-file
19507 ;; @r{All groups that match the regexp @code{"\\.emacs"}}
19508 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
19509 ;; @r{All the comp groups in one score file}
19510 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
19513 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
19514 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
19515 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
19516 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
19517 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
19519 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
19520 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
19521 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
19522 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
19523 precedence over this variable.
19526 @node Followups To Yourself
19527 @section Followups To Yourself
19529 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
19530 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
19531 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
19532 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
19533 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
19534 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
19538 @item gnus-score-followup-article
19539 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
19540 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
19543 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
19544 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
19545 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
19549 @vindex message-sent-hook
19550 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
19551 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
19553 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
19557 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
19558 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
19562 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19563 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
19566 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
19567 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
19572 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
19576 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
19577 is system-dependent.
19580 @node Scoring On Other Headers
19581 @section Scoring On Other Headers
19582 @cindex scoring on other headers
19584 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
19585 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
19586 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
19587 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
19588 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
19590 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
19591 mail groups, you have greater control. In @ref{To From Newsgroups},
19592 it's explained in greater detail what this mechanism does, but here's
19593 a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on how to allow scoring on the
19594 @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
19596 Put the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
19599 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
19600 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
19603 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
19604 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
19605 time if you have much mail.
19607 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
19608 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
19614 @section Scoring Tips
19615 @cindex scoring tips
19621 @cindex scoring crossposts
19622 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
19623 the @code{Xref} header.
19625 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
19628 @item Multiple crossposts
19629 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
19630 more than, say, 3 groups:
19633 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
19637 @item Matching on the body
19638 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
19639 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
19640 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
19641 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
19642 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
19643 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
19644 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
19647 @item Marking as read
19648 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
19649 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
19650 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
19654 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
19656 @item Negated character classes
19657 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
19658 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
19659 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
19663 @node Reverse Scoring
19664 @section Reverse Scoring
19665 @cindex reverse scoring
19667 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
19668 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
19669 like this in your score file:
19673 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
19678 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
19679 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
19682 @node Global Score Files
19683 @section Global Score Files
19684 @cindex global score files
19686 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
19687 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
19688 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
19690 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
19691 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
19692 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
19694 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
19695 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
19696 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
19697 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
19698 files are applicable to which group.
19700 To use the score file
19701 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
19702 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
19706 (setq gnus-global-score-files
19707 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
19708 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
19711 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
19713 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
19714 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
19715 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
19716 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
19718 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
19719 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
19721 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
19722 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
19723 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
19724 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
19725 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
19726 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
19728 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
19734 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
19736 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
19738 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
19740 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
19741 lowered out of existence.
19743 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
19744 articles completely.
19747 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
19748 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
19749 old articles for a long time.
19752 @dots{} I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
19753 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
19754 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
19755 holding our breath yet?
19759 @section Kill Files
19762 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
19763 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
19764 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
19766 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
19767 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
19768 files into score files.
19770 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
19771 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
19772 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
19773 that isn't a very good idea.
19775 Normal kill files look like this:
19778 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
19779 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
19783 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
19784 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
19786 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
19787 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
19790 Two summary functions for editing a @sc{gnus} kill file:
19795 @kindex M-k (Summary)
19796 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
19797 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
19800 @kindex M-K (Summary)
19801 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
19802 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
19805 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
19810 @kindex M-k (Group)
19811 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
19812 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
19815 @kindex M-K (Group)
19816 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
19817 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
19820 Kill file variables:
19823 @item gnus-kill-file-name
19824 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
19825 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
19826 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
19827 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
19828 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
19829 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
19831 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19832 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
19833 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
19834 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
19837 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
19838 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
19839 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
19840 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
19841 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
19842 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
19843 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
19844 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
19845 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
19847 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19848 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
19849 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
19854 @node Converting Kill Files
19855 @section Converting Kill Files
19857 @cindex converting kill files
19859 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
19860 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
19861 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
19864 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
19865 You can fetch it from
19866 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
19868 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
19869 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
19870 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
19878 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/, GroupLens} is a
19879 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
19880 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
19881 news articles generated every day.
19883 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
19884 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
19885 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
19886 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
19887 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
19888 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
19889 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
19890 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
19893 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
19894 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
19897 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
19898 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
19899 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
19900 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
19904 @node Using GroupLens
19905 @subsection Using GroupLens
19907 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local
19908 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html, Better Bit
19909 Bureau (BBB)} is the only better bit in town at the moment.
19911 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
19915 @item gnus-use-grouplens
19916 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
19917 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
19918 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
19920 @item grouplens-pseudonym
19921 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
19922 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
19923 with the Better Bit Bureau.
19925 @item grouplens-newsgroups
19926 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
19927 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
19931 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
19932 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
19933 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
19934 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
19935 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
19936 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
19939 @node Rating Articles
19940 @subsection Rating Articles
19942 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
19943 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
19944 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
19945 yourself is, ``on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
19948 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
19953 @kindex r (GroupLens)
19954 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
19955 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
19958 @kindex k (GroupLens)
19959 @findex grouplens-score-thread
19960 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
19961 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
19962 threads in rec.humor.
19966 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
19967 the score of the article you're reading.
19972 @kindex n (GroupLens)
19973 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
19974 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
19977 @kindex , (GroupLens)
19978 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
19979 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
19983 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
19984 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
19987 @node Displaying Predictions
19988 @subsection Displaying Predictions
19990 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
19991 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
19992 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
19993 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
19994 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
19996 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
19997 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
19998 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
19999 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
20000 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
20001 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
20002 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
20003 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
20004 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
20005 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
20006 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
20007 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
20008 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
20010 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
20011 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
20012 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
20013 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
20015 The following are valid values for that variable.
20018 @item prediction-spot
20019 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
20022 @item confidence-interval
20023 A numeric confidence interval.
20025 @item prediction-bar
20026 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
20028 @item confidence-bar
20029 Numerical confidence.
20031 @item confidence-spot
20032 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
20034 @item prediction-num
20035 Plain-old numeric value.
20037 @item confidence-plus-minus
20038 Prediction +/- confidence.
20043 @node GroupLens Variables
20044 @subsection GroupLens Variables
20048 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
20049 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
20050 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
20051 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
20054 @item grouplens-bbb-host
20055 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
20058 @item grouplens-bbb-port
20059 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
20061 @item grouplens-score-offset
20062 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
20063 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
20066 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
20067 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
20068 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
20073 @node Advanced Scoring
20074 @section Advanced Scoring
20076 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
20077 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
20078 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
20079 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
20080 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
20082 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
20086 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
20087 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
20088 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
20092 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
20093 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
20095 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
20096 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
20097 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
20098 non-@code{nil} value.
20100 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
20101 operator, and various match operators.
20108 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20109 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
20110 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
20115 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
20116 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
20117 then this operator will return @code{false}.
20122 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
20123 logical negation of the value of its argument.
20127 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
20128 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
20129 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
20130 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
20131 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
20132 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
20133 the ancestry you want to go.
20135 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
20136 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
20137 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
20138 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
20139 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
20142 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
20143 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
20145 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
20146 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
20149 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
20150 when he's talking about Gnus:
20155 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20156 ("subject" "Gnus"))
20163 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
20167 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20174 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
20175 really don't want to read what he's written:
20179 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
20180 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
20184 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
20185 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
20186 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
20193 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
20194 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
20195 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
20196 ("body" "white.*socks"))
20200 The possibilities are endless.
20203 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
20204 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
20206 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
20207 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
20208 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
20209 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
20210 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
20211 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
20212 @samp{subject}) first.
20214 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
20215 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
20226 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
20227 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
20233 ("subject" "Gnus")))
20240 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
20241 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
20246 @section Score Decays
20247 @cindex score decays
20250 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
20251 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
20252 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
20253 use them in any sensible way.
20255 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
20256 @findex gnus-decay-score
20257 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
20258 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
20259 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
20260 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
20261 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
20262 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
20263 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
20264 definition of that function:
20267 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
20269 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
20270 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
20273 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
20275 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
20277 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
20280 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
20281 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
20282 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
20283 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
20287 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
20290 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
20293 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
20297 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
20298 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
20299 the new score, which should be an integer.
20301 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
20302 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
20307 @include message.texi
20308 @chapter Emacs MIME
20309 @include emacs-mime.texi
20311 @include sieve.texi
20313 @c @include pgg.texi
20321 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
20322 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
20323 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
20324 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
20325 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
20326 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
20327 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
20328 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
20329 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
20330 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
20331 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
20332 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
20333 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
20334 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
20335 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
20336 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
20337 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
20338 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
20339 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
20343 @node Process/Prefix
20344 @section Process/Prefix
20345 @cindex process/prefix convention
20347 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
20348 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
20350 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
20351 command to be performed on.
20355 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
20356 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
20357 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
20358 with the current one.
20360 @vindex transient-mark-mode
20361 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
20362 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
20364 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
20365 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
20368 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
20369 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
20371 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
20374 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
20375 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
20376 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
20377 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
20379 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
20380 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
20381 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
20382 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
20383 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
20384 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
20385 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
20386 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
20388 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
20389 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
20390 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
20391 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
20392 expirable, you could say @kbd{M P b M-& E}.
20396 @section Interactive
20397 @cindex interaction
20401 @item gnus-novice-user
20402 @vindex gnus-novice-user
20403 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
20404 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
20405 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
20406 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
20409 @item gnus-expert-user
20410 @vindex gnus-expert-user
20411 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
20412 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
20413 matter how strange.
20415 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
20416 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
20417 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
20418 is @code{t} by default.
20420 @item gnus-interactive-exit
20421 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
20422 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
20427 @node Symbolic Prefixes
20428 @section Symbolic Prefixes
20429 @cindex symbolic prefixes
20431 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
20432 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
20433 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
20434 rule of 900 to the current article.
20436 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
20437 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
20438 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
20439 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
20440 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
20441 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
20442 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
20444 @kindex M-i (Summary)
20445 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
20446 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
20447 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
20448 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
20449 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
20450 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
20451 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
20452 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
20454 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
20455 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
20456 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
20458 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
20462 @node Formatting Variables
20463 @section Formatting Variables
20464 @cindex formatting variables
20466 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
20467 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
20468 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
20469 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
20470 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
20473 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
20474 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
20475 lots of percentages everywhere.
20478 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
20479 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
20480 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
20481 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
20482 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
20483 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
20484 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
20485 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
20488 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
20489 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
20490 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
20491 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
20492 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
20493 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
20494 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
20495 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
20497 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
20498 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
20500 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
20501 @findex gnus-update-format
20502 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
20503 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
20504 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
20505 examine the resulting Lisp code to be run to generate the line.
20509 @node Formatting Basics
20510 @subsection Formatting Basics
20512 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
20513 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
20514 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
20516 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
20517 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
20518 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
20519 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
20520 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
20523 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
20524 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
20525 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
20526 less than 4 characters wide.
20528 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
20529 @samp{%&user-date;}.
20532 @node Mode Line Formatting
20533 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
20535 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
20536 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
20537 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
20538 with the following two differences:
20543 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
20546 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
20547 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
20548 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
20549 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
20550 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
20551 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
20552 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
20557 @node Advanced Formatting
20558 @subsection Advanced Formatting
20560 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
20561 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
20562 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
20563 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
20565 These are the valid modifiers:
20570 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
20574 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
20579 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
20582 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
20587 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
20590 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
20593 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
20596 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
20602 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
20607 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
20608 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
20609 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
20610 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
20611 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
20612 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
20613 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
20615 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
20616 last operation, padding.
20618 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
20619 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
20620 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
20621 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
20622 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
20623 the look of your lines.
20624 @xref{Compilation}.
20627 @node User-Defined Specs
20628 @subsection User-Defined Specs
20630 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
20631 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
20632 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
20633 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
20634 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
20635 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
20636 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
20637 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
20638 should protect against that.
20640 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
20641 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
20643 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
20644 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
20645 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
20646 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
20650 @node Formatting Fonts
20651 @subsection Formatting Fonts
20653 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
20654 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
20655 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
20656 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
20659 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
20660 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
20661 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
20662 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
20663 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
20664 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
20666 Text inside the @samp{%<<} and @samp{%>>} specifiers will get the
20667 special @code{balloon-help} property set to
20668 @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you say @samp{%1<<}, you'll get
20669 @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The @code{gnus-balloon-face-*}
20670 variables should be either strings or symbols naming functions that
20671 return a string. When the mouse passes over text with this property
20672 set, a balloon window will appear and display the string. Please
20673 refer to @ref{Tooltips, ,Tooltips, emacs, The Emacs Manual},
20674 (in GNU Emacs) or the doc string of @code{balloon-help-mode} (in
20675 XEmacs) for more information on this. (For technical reasons, the
20676 guillemets have been approximated as @samp{<<} and @samp{>>} in this
20679 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
20682 ;; @r{Create three face types.}
20683 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
20684 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
20686 ;; @r{We want the article count to be in}
20687 ;; @r{a bold and green face. So we create}
20688 ;; @r{a new face called @code{my-green-bold}.}
20689 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
20690 ;; @r{Set the color.}
20691 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
20692 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
20694 ;; @r{Set the new & fancy format.}
20695 (setq gnus-group-line-format
20696 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
20699 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
20700 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
20702 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
20703 mode-line variables.
20705 @node Positioning Point
20706 @subsection Positioning Point
20708 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
20709 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
20710 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
20712 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
20714 @findex gnus-goto-colon
20715 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
20716 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
20718 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
20719 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%*} specifier. If you
20720 put a @samp{%*} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
20725 @subsection Tabulation
20727 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
20728 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
20729 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
20730 about lining up the following text afterwards.
20732 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs---@samp{%=}. There are two
20733 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
20735 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20736 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
20737 This is the soft tabulator.
20739 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
20740 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
20741 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
20744 @node Wide Characters
20745 @subsection Wide Characters
20747 Fixed width fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
20748 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
20749 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
20751 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
20752 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
20753 these countries, that's not true.
20755 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
20756 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
20757 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
20758 prettier. The default value under XEmacs is @code{t} but @code{nil}
20762 @node Window Layout
20763 @section Window Layout
20764 @cindex window layout
20766 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
20768 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
20769 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
20770 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
20771 @code{t} by default.
20773 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
20774 glitches. Use at your own peril.
20776 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
20777 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
20778 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
20781 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
20782 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
20783 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20787 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
20788 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
20789 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
20790 possible names is listed below.
20792 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
20793 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
20796 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
20800 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
20801 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
20802 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
20803 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
20804 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
20805 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
20806 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
20807 size spec per split.
20809 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
20810 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
20811 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
20812 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
20813 present) gets focus.
20815 Here's a more complicated example:
20818 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
20819 (summary 0.25 point)
20820 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
20824 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
20825 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
20826 occupy, not a percentage.
20828 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
20829 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
20830 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
20831 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
20832 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
20835 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
20838 (article (horizontal 1.0
20843 (summary 0.25 point)
20848 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
20849 @code{horizontal} thingie?
20851 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
20852 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
20853 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
20854 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
20855 the screen is to be given to this strip.
20857 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
20858 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
20859 lines from the splits.
20861 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
20866 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
20867 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
20868 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
20869 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
20870 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
20871 size = number | frame-params
20872 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
20876 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
20877 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
20878 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
20879 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
20881 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
20882 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
20883 @cindex window height
20884 @cindex window width
20885 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
20886 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
20887 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
20888 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
20889 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
20890 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
20892 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
20893 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
20894 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
20895 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
20897 @findex gnus-configure-frame
20898 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
20899 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
20900 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
20901 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
20902 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
20903 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
20904 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
20905 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
20906 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
20907 configuration list.
20910 (gnus-configure-frame
20914 (article 0.3 point))
20922 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
20923 @code{frame} split:
20926 (gnus-configure-frame
20929 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
20931 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
20932 (user-position . t)
20933 (left . -1) (top . 1))
20938 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
20939 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
20940 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
20941 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
20942 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
20943 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
20944 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
20945 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
20947 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
20948 be found in its default value.
20950 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
20951 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
20952 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
20956 (message (horizontal 1.0
20957 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
20959 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
20964 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
20965 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
20966 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
20971 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
20972 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
20973 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
20974 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
20975 (name . "Message"))
20976 (message 1.0 point))))
20979 @findex gnus-add-configuration
20980 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
20981 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
20982 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
20983 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
20986 (gnus-add-configuration
20987 '(article (vertical 1.0
20989 (summary .25 point)
20993 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
20994 @file{~/.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
20995 Gnus has been loaded.
20997 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
20998 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
20999 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
21000 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
21001 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
21003 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
21004 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
21005 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
21008 @subsection Example Window Configurations
21012 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
21013 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
21028 (gnus-add-configuration
21031 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21033 (summary 0.16 point)
21036 (gnus-add-configuration
21039 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
21040 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
21046 @node Faces and Fonts
21047 @section Faces and Fonts
21052 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
21053 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
21054 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
21059 @section Compilation
21060 @cindex compilation
21061 @cindex byte-compilation
21063 @findex gnus-compile
21065 Remember all those line format specification variables?
21066 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
21067 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
21068 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
21069 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
21070 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
21071 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
21072 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
21075 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
21076 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
21077 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
21078 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
21079 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
21082 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
21083 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
21084 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
21085 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
21086 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
21091 @section Mode Lines
21094 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
21095 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
21096 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
21097 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
21098 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
21099 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
21100 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
21103 @cindex display-time
21105 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
21106 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
21107 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
21108 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
21109 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
21110 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
21111 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
21112 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
21115 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
21117 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
21118 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
21120 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
21121 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
21122 (length display-time-string)))))
21125 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
21126 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
21127 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
21128 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
21129 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
21132 @node Highlighting and Menus
21133 @section Highlighting and Menus
21135 @cindex highlighting
21138 @vindex gnus-visual
21139 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
21140 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
21141 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
21144 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
21145 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
21148 @item group-highlight
21149 Do highlights in the group buffer.
21150 @item summary-highlight
21151 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
21152 @item article-highlight
21153 Do highlights in the article buffer.
21155 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
21157 Create menus in the group buffer.
21159 Create menus in the summary buffers.
21161 Create menus in the article buffer.
21163 Create menus in the browse buffer.
21165 Create menus in the server buffer.
21167 Create menus in the score buffers.
21169 Create menus in all buffers.
21172 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
21173 buffers, you could say something like:
21176 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
21179 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
21182 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
21185 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
21186 in all Gnus buffers.
21188 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
21191 @item gnus-mouse-face
21192 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
21193 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
21194 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
21198 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
21202 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
21203 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
21204 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
21206 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
21207 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
21208 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
21210 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
21211 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
21212 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
21214 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
21215 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
21216 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
21218 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
21219 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
21220 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
21222 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
21223 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
21224 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
21235 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
21236 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
21237 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
21238 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
21239 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
21243 @vindex gnus-carpal
21244 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
21245 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
21246 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
21251 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21252 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
21253 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
21255 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
21256 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
21257 Face used on buttons.
21259 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
21260 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
21261 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
21263 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21264 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
21265 Buttons in the group buffer.
21267 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21268 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
21269 Buttons in the summary buffer.
21271 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21272 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
21273 Buttons in the server buffer.
21275 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21276 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
21277 Buttons in the browse buffer.
21280 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
21281 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
21282 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
21290 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
21291 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
21292 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
21293 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
21294 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
21296 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
21297 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
21298 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
21300 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
21301 been idle for thirty minutes:
21304 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
21307 Here's a handler that scans for @acronym{PGP} headers every hour when
21311 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
21314 This @var{time} parameter and that @var{idle} parameter work together
21315 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
21316 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21318 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
21319 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
21320 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
21321 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
21323 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
21324 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
21325 @var{idle} minutes.
21327 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
21328 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
21331 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
21332 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
21333 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
21335 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
21336 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
21337 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
21338 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
21340 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
21341 your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21343 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
21345 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
21348 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
21349 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
21350 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
21351 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
21352 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
21353 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
21354 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
21355 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
21356 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
21357 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
21358 @file{~/.gnus.el} if you want those abilities.
21360 @findex gnus-demon-init
21361 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
21362 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
21363 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
21364 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
21365 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
21367 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
21368 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
21369 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
21378 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
21379 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
21381 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
21382 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
21383 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
21384 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
21387 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
21388 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
21389 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
21390 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
21392 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
21393 this will make spam disappear.
21395 There are some variables to customize, of course:
21398 @item gnus-use-nocem
21399 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
21400 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
21403 @item gnus-nocem-groups
21404 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
21405 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
21408 ("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
21409 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")
21412 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
21413 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
21414 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
21415 people you want to listen to. The default is
21417 ("Automoose-1" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
21418 "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo" "hweede@@snafu.de")
21420 fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
21422 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at@*
21423 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
21425 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
21426 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
21427 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
21428 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
21429 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
21430 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
21431 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
21432 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
21433 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
21434 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
21436 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
21437 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
21440 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
21443 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
21444 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
21447 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
21450 The specs are applied left-to-right.
21453 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
21454 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
21456 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
21457 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
21458 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
21459 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
21461 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
21462 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
21465 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
21467 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
21475 This might be dangerous, though.
21477 @item gnus-nocem-directory
21478 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
21479 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is@*
21480 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
21482 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21483 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
21484 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
21485 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
21486 might then see old spam.
21488 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
21489 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
21490 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
21491 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
21492 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
21495 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21496 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
21497 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
21498 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
21502 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
21503 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
21504 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
21505 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
21512 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
21513 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
21514 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
21516 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
21517 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
21518 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
21519 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
21520 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
21521 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
21522 @code{undo} function.
21524 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
21525 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
21526 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
21527 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
21528 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
21529 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
21530 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
21531 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
21532 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
21533 never be totally undoable.
21535 @findex gnus-undo-mode
21536 @vindex gnus-use-undo
21538 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
21539 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
21540 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
21541 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
21545 @node Predicate Specifiers
21546 @section Predicate Specifiers
21547 @cindex predicate specifiers
21549 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
21550 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
21551 to type all that much.
21553 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
21558 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
21559 gnus-article-unread-p)
21562 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
21563 functions all take one parameter.
21565 @findex gnus-make-predicate
21566 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
21567 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
21568 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
21573 @section Moderation
21576 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
21577 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
21578 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
21581 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
21585 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
21588 in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file.
21590 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
21595 You split your incoming mail by matching on
21596 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
21597 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
21600 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
21601 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
21604 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
21605 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
21609 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
21612 (setq gnus-moderated-list
21613 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
21617 @node Image Enhancements
21618 @section Image Enhancements
21620 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21@footnote{Emacs 21 on MS Windows doesn't
21621 support images yet.}, is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has
21622 taken advantage of that.
21625 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
21626 * Face:: Display a funkier, teensier colored image.
21627 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
21628 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
21629 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
21637 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
21638 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
21639 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
21643 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
21644 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
21645 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
21653 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
21654 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
21655 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
21656 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
21658 The variable that controls this is the
21659 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
21660 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
21661 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
21662 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
21663 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
21665 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
21666 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
21667 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
21668 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
21671 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
21672 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
21673 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
21674 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
21675 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
21676 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
21677 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
21678 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
21680 (Note: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
21683 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21684 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
21686 @findex gnus-random-x-face
21687 @vindex gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command
21688 @vindex gnus-x-face-directory
21689 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files in
21690 @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
21691 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
21692 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
21693 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big. It returns the X-Face
21694 header data as a string.
21696 @findex gnus-insert-random-x-face-header
21697 @code{gnus-insert-random-x-face-header} calls
21698 @code{gnus-random-x-face} and inserts a @samp{X-Face} header with the
21699 randomly generated data.
21701 @findex gnus-x-face-from-file
21702 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command
21703 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a GIF file as the parameter, and then
21704 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
21705 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
21707 Here's how you would typically use the first function. Put something
21708 like the following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21711 (setq message-required-news-headers
21712 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21713 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
21716 Using the last function would be something like this:
21719 (setq message-required-news-headers
21720 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21721 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
21722 (gnus-x-face-from-file
21723 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
21731 @c #### FIXME: faces and x-faces'implementations should really be harmonized.
21733 @code{Face} headers are essentially a funkier version of @code{X-Face}
21734 ones. They describe a 48x48 pixel colored image that's supposed to
21735 represent the author of the message.
21738 @findex gnus-article-display-face
21739 The contents of a @code{Face} header must be a base64 encoded PNG image.
21740 See @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/circus/face/} for the precise
21743 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
21744 easier insertion of Face headers in outgoing messages.
21746 @findex gnus-convert-png-to-face
21747 @code{gnus-convert-png-to-face} takes a 48x48 PNG image, no longer than
21748 726 bytes long, and converts it to a face.
21750 @findex gnus-face-from-file
21751 @vindex gnus-convert-image-to-face-command
21752 @code{gnus-face-from-file} takes a JPEG file as the parameter, and then
21753 converts the file to Face format by using the
21754 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-face-command} shell command.
21756 Here's how you would typically use this function. Put something like the
21757 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21760 (setq message-required-news-headers
21761 (nconc message-required-news-headers
21762 (list '(Face . (lambda ()
21763 (gnus-face-from-file "~/face.jpg"))))))
21768 @subsection Smileys
21773 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
21778 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
21779 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
21781 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
21782 @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
21785 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
21788 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{8-)}, @samp{:-(} and
21789 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
21790 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
21791 text and maps that to file names.
21793 @vindex smiley-regexp-alist
21794 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist}
21795 variable. The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched;
21796 the second element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by
21797 the picture; and the third element is the name of the file to be
21800 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
21805 @item smiley-data-directory
21806 @vindex smiley-data-directory
21807 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
21809 @item gnus-smiley-file-types
21810 @vindex gnus-smiley-file-types
21811 List of suffixes on smiley file names to try.
21825 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
21826 good way to do so. It's also a great way to impress people staring
21827 over your shoulder as you read news.
21829 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
21838 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
21839 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
21840 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
21841 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
21842 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
21843 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
21844 @code{GIF} formats.
21847 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21848 For instructions on obtaining and installing the picons databases,
21849 point your Web browser at
21850 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}.
21852 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
21853 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
21855 To enable displaying picons, simply make sure that
21856 @code{gnus-picon-databases} points to the directory containing the
21859 The following variables offer control over where things are located.
21863 @item gnus-picon-databases
21864 @vindex gnus-picon-databases
21865 The location of the picons database. This is a list of directories
21866 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
21867 subdirectories. Defaults to @code{("/usr/lib/picon"
21868 "/usr/local/faces")}.
21870 @item gnus-picon-news-directories
21871 @vindex gnus-picon-news-directories
21872 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21873 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
21875 @item gnus-picon-user-directories
21876 @vindex gnus-picon-user-directories
21877 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for user
21878 faces. @code{("users" "usenix" "local" "misc")} is the default.
21880 @item gnus-picon-domain-directories
21881 @vindex gnus-picon-domain-directories
21882 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picon-databases} for
21883 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
21884 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
21886 @item gnus-picon-file-types
21887 @vindex gnus-picon-file-types
21888 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
21889 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not built-in your Emacs.
21895 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
21898 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21899 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
21900 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
21901 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
21902 unusual directory structure.
21904 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21905 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
21906 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
21907 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
21909 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21910 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
21911 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
21912 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
21913 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
21914 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
21916 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21917 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
21918 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
21923 @subsubsection Toolbar
21927 @item gnus-use-toolbar
21928 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
21929 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
21930 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
21931 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
21933 @item gnus-group-toolbar
21934 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
21935 The toolbar in the group buffer.
21937 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
21938 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
21939 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
21941 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21942 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
21943 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
21954 @node Fuzzy Matching
21955 @section Fuzzy Matching
21956 @cindex fuzzy matching
21958 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
21959 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
21961 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
21962 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
21963 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
21965 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
21966 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
21967 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
21968 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
21969 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
21972 @node Thwarting Email Spam
21973 @section Thwarting Email Spam
21977 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
21979 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
21980 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
21981 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
21982 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
21983 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
21984 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
21985 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
21986 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
21989 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
21990 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
21991 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
21992 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
21993 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
21994 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
21996 This is annoying. Here's what you can do about it.
21999 * The problem of spam:: Some background, and some solutions
22000 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
22001 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
22002 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
22003 * Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package::
22004 * Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat::
22007 @node The problem of spam
22008 @subsection The problem of spam
22010 @cindex spam filtering approaches
22011 @cindex filtering approaches, spam
22013 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22015 First, some background on spam.
22017 If you have access to e-mail, you are familiar with spam (technically
22018 termed @acronym{UCE}, Unsolicited Commercial E-mail). Simply put, it exists
22019 because e-mail delivery is very cheap compared to paper mail, so only
22020 a very small percentage of people need to respond to an UCE to make it
22021 worthwhile to the advertiser. Ironically, one of the most common
22022 spams is the one offering a database of e-mail addresses for further
22023 spamming. Senders of spam are usually called @emph{spammers}, but terms like
22024 @emph{vermin}, @emph{scum}, and @emph{morons} are in common use as well.
22026 Spam comes from a wide variety of sources. It is simply impossible to
22027 dispose of all spam without discarding useful messages. A good
22028 example is the TMDA system, which requires senders
22029 unknown to you to confirm themselves as legitimate senders before
22030 their e-mail can reach you. Without getting into the technical side
22031 of TMDA, a downside is clearly that e-mail from legitimate sources may
22032 be discarded if those sources can't or won't confirm themselves
22033 through the TMDA system. Another problem with TMDA is that it
22034 requires its users to have a basic understanding of e-mail delivery
22037 The simplest approach to filtering spam is filtering. If you get 200
22038 spam messages per day from @samp{random-address@@vmadmin.com}, you
22039 block @samp{vmadmin.com}. If you get 200 messages about
22040 @samp{VIAGRA}, you discard all messages with @samp{VIAGRA} in the
22041 message. This, unfortunately, is a great way to discard legitimate
22042 e-mail. For instance, the very informative and useful RISKS digest
22043 has been blocked by overzealous mail filters because it
22044 @strong{contained} words that were common in spam messages.
22045 Nevertheless, in isolated cases, with great care, direct filtering of
22046 mail can be useful.
22048 Another approach to filtering e-mail is the distributed spam
22049 processing, for instance DCC implements such a system. In essence,
22050 @var{N} systems around the world agree that a machine @var{X} in
22051 China, Ghana, or California is sending out spam e-mail, and these
22052 @var{N} systems enter @var{X} or the spam e-mail from @var{X} into
22053 a database. The criteria for spam detection vary---it may be the
22054 number of messages sent, the content of the messages, and so on. When
22055 a user of the distributed processing system wants to find out if a
22056 message is spam, he consults one of those @var{N} systems.
22058 Distributed spam processing works very well against spammers that send
22059 a large number of messages at once, but it requires the user to set up
22060 fairly complicated checks. There are commercial and free distributed
22061 spam processing systems. Distributed spam processing has its risks as
22062 well. For instance legitimate e-mail senders have been accused of
22063 sending spam, and their web sites have been shut down for some time
22064 because of the incident.
22066 The statistical approach to spam filtering is also popular. It is
22067 based on a statistical analysis of previous spam messages. Usually
22068 the analysis is a simple word frequency count, with perhaps pairs of
22069 words or 3-word combinations thrown into the mix. Statistical
22070 analysis of spam works very well in most of the cases, but it can
22071 classify legitimate e-mail as spam in some cases. It takes time to
22072 run the analysis, the full message must be analyzed, and the user has
22073 to store the database of spam analyses.
22075 @node Anti-Spam Basics
22076 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
22080 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
22082 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
22083 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
22085 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
22086 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
22087 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
22088 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
22089 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
22090 part of the mail address.)
22093 (setq message-default-news-headers
22094 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
22097 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
22098 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22103 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
22104 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
22105 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
22111 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
22112 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
22113 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
22114 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
22116 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @acronym{SMTP} server
22117 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
22118 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
22119 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
22120 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
22121 your fancy split rule in this way:
22126 (to "larsi" "misc")
22130 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
22131 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
22132 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
22133 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
22134 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
22136 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
22137 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
22138 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
22139 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
22144 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
22145 @cindex SpamAssassin
22146 @cindex Vipul's Razor
22149 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
22150 avoiding spam are coming to an end. There are many tools out there
22151 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
22152 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
22153 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
22154 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
22155 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
22157 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
22158 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
22159 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
22160 Specifiers}) follow.
22164 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
22167 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
22170 Once you manage to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
22171 the mail contain e.g.@: a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
22172 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
22175 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
22179 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
22182 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
22183 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
22187 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
22188 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
22189 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
22190 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
22193 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
22195 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
22197 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
22198 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
22200 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
22202 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
22203 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
22207 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
22208 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
22209 spam. And here is the nifty function:
22212 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
22213 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
22215 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
22216 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
22217 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
22221 @subsection Hashcash
22224 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
22225 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
22226 you cannot rely on everyone in the world using this technique,
22227 since it is not part of the Internet standards, but it may be useful
22228 in smaller communities.
22230 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
22231 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
22232 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
22233 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
22234 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
22235 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
22236 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
22237 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
22238 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
22239 one of them separately.
22242 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
22243 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
22244 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
22245 header. For more details, and for the external application
22246 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
22247 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
22248 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
22250 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
22254 (require 'hashcash)
22255 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
22258 The @file{hashcash.el} library can be found in the Gnus development
22259 contrib directory or at
22260 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}.
22262 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
22266 @item hashcash-default-payment
22267 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
22268 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
22269 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
22270 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
22272 @item hashcash-payment-alist
22273 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
22274 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
22275 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(@var{addr}
22276 @var{amount})} cells, where @var{addr} is the receiver (email address
22277 or newsgroup) and @var{amount} is the number of bits in the collision
22278 that is needed. It can also contain @samp{(@var{addr} @var{string}
22279 @var{amount})} cells, where the @var{string} is the string to use
22280 (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
22284 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
22288 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
22289 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
22290 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
22291 a useful contribution, however.
22293 @node Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22294 @subsection Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package
22295 @cindex spam filtering
22298 The idea behind @file{spam.el} is to have a control center for spam detection
22299 and filtering in Gnus. To that end, @file{spam.el} does two things: it
22300 filters incoming mail, and it analyzes mail known to be spam or ham.
22301 @dfn{Ham} is the name used throughout @file{spam.el} to indicate
22304 So, what happens when you load @file{spam.el}?
22306 First of all, you @strong{must} set the variable
22307 @code{spam-install-hooks} to @code{t} and install the @code{spam.el} hooks:
22310 (setq spam-install-hooks t)
22311 (spam-install-hooks-function)
22314 This is automatically done for you if you load @code{spam.el}
22315 @emph{after} one of the @code{spam-use-*} variables explained later
22316 are set. So you should load @code{spam.el} after you set one of the
22317 @code{spam-use-*} variables:
22320 (setq spam-use-bogofilter t)
22324 You get the following keyboard commands:
22334 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-spam
22335 @code{gnus-summary-mark-as-spam}.
22337 Mark current article as spam, showing it with the @samp{$} mark.
22338 Whenever you see a spam article, make sure to mark its summary line
22339 with @kbd{M-d} before leaving the group. This is done automatically
22340 for unread articles in @emph{spam} groups.
22346 @findex spam-bogofilter-score
22347 @code{spam-bogofilter-score}.
22349 You must have Bogofilter installed for that command to work properly.
22355 Also, when you load @file{spam.el}, you will be able to customize its
22356 variables. Try @code{customize-group} on the @samp{spam} variable
22359 @vindex gnus-spam-process-newsgroups
22360 The concepts of ham processors and spam processors are very important.
22361 Ham processors and spam processors for a group can be set with the
22362 @code{spam-process} group parameter, or the
22363 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. Ham processors take
22364 mail known to be non-spam (@emph{ham}) and process it in some way so
22365 that later similar mail will also be considered non-spam. Spam
22366 processors take mail known to be spam and process it so similar spam
22367 will be detected later.
22369 @vindex gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents
22370 Gnus learns from the spam you get. You have to collect your spam in
22371 one or more spam groups, and set or customize the variable
22372 @code{spam-junk-mailgroups} as appropriate. You can also declare
22373 groups to contain spam by setting their group parameter
22374 @code{spam-contents} to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-spam}, or
22375 by customizing the corresponding variable
22376 @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}. The @code{spam-contents} group
22377 parameter and the @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents} variable can
22378 also be used to declare groups as @emph{ham} groups if you set their
22379 classification to @code{gnus-group-spam-classification-ham}. If
22380 groups are not classified by means of @code{spam-junk-mailgroups},
22381 @code{spam-contents}, or @code{gnus-spam-newsgroup-contents}, they are
22382 considered @emph{unclassified}. All groups are unclassified by
22385 @vindex gnus-spam-mark
22387 In spam groups, all messages are considered to be spam by default:
22388 they get the @samp{$} mark (@code{gnus-spam-mark}) when you enter the
22389 group. If you have seen a message, had it marked as spam, then
22390 unmarked it, it won't be marked as spam when you enter the group
22391 thereafter. You can disable that behavior, so all unread messages
22392 will get the @samp{$} mark, if you set the
22393 @code{spam-mark-only-unseen-as-spam} parameter to nil. You should
22394 remove the @samp{$} mark when you are in the group summary buffer for
22395 every message that is not spam after all. To remove the @samp{$}
22396 mark, you can use @kbd{M-u} to ``unread'' the article, or @kbd{d} for
22397 declaring it read the non-spam way. When you leave a group, all
22398 spam-marked (@samp{$}) articles are sent to a spam processor which
22399 will study them as spam samples.
22401 Messages may also be deleted in various other ways, and unless
22402 @code{ham-marks} group parameter gets overridden below, marks @samp{R}
22403 and @samp{r} for default read or explicit delete, marks @samp{X} and
22404 @samp{K} for automatic or explicit kills, as well as mark @samp{Y} for
22405 low scores, are all considered to be associated with articles which
22406 are not spam. This assumption might be false, in particular if you
22407 use kill files or score files as means for detecting genuine spam, you
22408 should then adjust the @code{ham-marks} group parameter.
22411 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22412 marks you want to consider ham. By default, the list contains the
22413 deleted, read, killed, kill-filed, and low-score marks.
22417 You can customize this group or topic parameter to be the list of
22418 marks you want to consider spam. By default, the list contains only
22422 When you leave @emph{any} group, regardless of its
22423 @code{spam-contents} classification, all spam-marked articles are sent
22424 to a spam processor, which will study these as spam samples. If you
22425 explicit kill a lot, you might sometimes end up with articles marked
22426 @samp{K} which you never saw, and which might accidentally contain
22427 spam. Best is to make sure that real spam is marked with @samp{$},
22430 @vindex gnus-ham-process-destinations
22431 When you leave a @emph{spam} group, all spam-marked articles are
22432 marked as expired after processing with the spam processor. This is
22433 not done for @emph{unclassified} or @emph{ham} groups. Also, any
22434 @strong{ham} articles in a spam group will be moved to a location
22435 determined by either the @code{ham-process-destination} group
22436 parameter or a match in the @code{gnus-ham-process-destinations}
22437 variable, which is a list of regular expressions matched with group
22438 names (it's easiest to customize this variable with
22439 @code{customize-variable gnus-ham-process-destinations}). The ultimate
22440 location is a group name. If the @code{ham-process-destination}
22441 parameter is not set, ham articles are left in place. If the
22442 @code{spam-mark-ham-unread-before-move-from-spam-group} parameter is
22443 set, the ham articles are marked as unread before being moved.
22445 When you leave a @emph{ham} group, all ham-marked articles are sent to
22446 a ham processor, which will study these as non-spam samples.
22448 @vindex gnus-spam-process-destinations
22449 When you leave a @emph{ham} or @emph{unclassified} group, all
22450 @strong{spam} articles are moved to a location determined by either
22451 the @code{spam-process-destination} group parameter or a match in the
22452 @code{gnus-spam-process-destinations} variable, which is a list of
22453 regular expressions matched with group names (it's easiest to
22454 customize this variable with @code{customize-variable
22455 gnus-spam-process-destinations}). The ultimate location is a group
22456 name. If the @code{spam-process-destination} parameter is not set,
22457 the spam articles are only expired.
22459 To use the @file{spam.el} facilities for incoming mail filtering, you
22460 must add the following to your fancy split list
22461 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy}:
22467 Note that the fancy split may be called @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or
22468 @code{nnimap-split-fancy}, depending on whether you use the nnmail or
22469 nnimap back ends to retrieve your mail.
22471 The @code{spam-split} function will process incoming mail and send the
22472 mail considered to be spam into the group name given by the variable
22473 @code{spam-split-group}. By default that group name is @samp{spam},
22474 but you can customize @code{spam-split-group}.
22476 You can also give @code{spam-split} a parameter,
22477 e.g. @samp{'spam-use-regex-headers}. Why is this useful?
22479 Take these split rules (with @code{spam-use-regex-headers} and
22480 @code{spam-use-blackholes} set):
22483 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22484 (any "ding" "ding")
22490 Now, the problem is that you want all ding messages to make it to the
22491 ding folder. But that will let obvious spam (for example, spam
22492 detected by SpamAssassin, and @code{spam-use-regex-headers}) through,
22493 when it's sent to the ding list. On the other hand, some messages to
22494 the ding list are from a mail server in the blackhole list, so the
22495 invocation of @code{spam-split} can't be before the ding rule.
22497 You can let SpamAssassin headers supercede ding rules, but all other
22498 @code{spam-split} rules (including a second invocation of the
22499 regex-headers check) will be after the ding rule:
22502 nnimap-split-fancy '(|
22503 (: spam-split 'spam-use-regex-headers)
22504 (any "ding" "ding")
22510 Basically, this lets you invoke specific @code{spam-split} checks
22511 depending on your particular needs. You don't have to throw all mail
22512 into all the spam tests. Another reason why this is nice is that
22513 messages to mailing lists you have rules for don't have to have
22514 resource-intensive blackhole checks performed on them. You could also
22515 specify different spam checks for your nnmail split vs. your nnimap
22518 You still have to have specific checks such as
22519 @code{spam-use-regex-headers} set to @code{t}, even if you specifically
22520 invoke @code{spam-split} with the check. The reason is that when
22521 loading @file{spam.el}, some conditional loading is done depending on
22522 what @code{spam-use-xyz} variables you have set.
22524 @emph{Note for IMAP users}
22526 The boolean variable @code{nnimap-split-download-body} needs to be
22527 set, if you want to split based on the whole message instead of just
22528 the headers. By default, the nnimap back end will only retrieve the
22529 message headers. If you use @code{spam-check-bogofilter},
22530 @code{spam-check-ifile}, or @code{spam-check-stat} (the splitters that
22531 can benefit from the full message body), you should set this variable.
22532 It is not set by default because it will slow @acronym{IMAP} down, and
22533 that is not an appropriate decision to make on behalf of the user.
22535 @xref{Splitting in IMAP}.
22537 @emph{TODO: Currently, spam.el only supports insertion of articles
22538 into a back end. There is no way to tell spam.el that an article is no
22539 longer spam or ham.}
22541 @emph{TODO: spam.el needs to provide a uniform way of training all the
22542 statistical databases. Some have that functionality built-in, others
22545 The following are the methods you can use to control the behavior of
22546 @code{spam-split} and their corresponding spam and ham processors:
22549 * Blacklists and Whitelists::
22550 * BBDB Whitelists::
22551 * Gmane Spam Reporting::
22552 * Anti-spam Hashcash Payments::
22554 * Regular Expressions Header Matching::
22556 * ifile spam filtering::
22557 * spam-stat spam filtering::
22559 * Extending the spam elisp package::
22562 @node Blacklists and Whitelists
22563 @subsubsection Blacklists and Whitelists
22564 @cindex spam filtering
22565 @cindex whitelists, spam filtering
22566 @cindex blacklists, spam filtering
22569 @defvar spam-use-blacklist
22571 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use blacklists when
22572 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are in the blacklist
22573 will be sent to the @code{spam-split-group}. This is an explicit
22574 filter, meaning that it acts only on mail senders @emph{declared} to
22579 @defvar spam-use-whitelist
22581 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists when
22582 splitting incoming mail. Messages whose senders are not in the
22583 whitelist will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22584 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the whitelist, their
22585 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22589 @defvar spam-use-whitelist-exclusive
22591 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use whitelists as an
22592 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22593 unless the sender is in the whitelist. Use with care.
22597 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blacklist
22599 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22600 customizing the group parameters or the
22601 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22602 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22603 spam-marked articles will be added to the blacklist.
22607 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-whitelist
22609 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22610 customizing the group parameters or the
22611 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22612 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22613 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22614 whitelist. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22615 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22619 Blacklists are lists of regular expressions matching addresses you
22620 consider to be spam senders. For instance, to block mail from any
22621 sender at @samp{vmadmin.com}, you can put @samp{vmadmin.com} in your
22622 blacklist. You start out with an empty blacklist. Blacklist entries
22623 use the Emacs regular expression syntax.
22625 Conversely, whitelists tell Gnus what addresses are considered
22626 legitimate. All messages from whitelisted addresses are considered
22627 non-spam. Also see @ref{BBDB Whitelists}. Whitelist entries use the
22628 Emacs regular expression syntax.
22630 The blacklist and whitelist file locations can be customized with the
22631 @code{spam-directory} variable (@file{~/News/spam} by default), or
22632 the @code{spam-whitelist} and @code{spam-blacklist} variables
22633 directly. The whitelist and blacklist files will by default be in the
22634 @code{spam-directory} directory, named @file{whitelist} and
22635 @file{blacklist} respectively.
22637 @node BBDB Whitelists
22638 @subsubsection BBDB Whitelists
22639 @cindex spam filtering
22640 @cindex BBDB whitelists, spam filtering
22641 @cindex BBDB, spam filtering
22644 @defvar spam-use-BBDB
22646 Analogous to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22647 Whitelists}), but uses the BBDB as the source of whitelisted
22648 addresses, without regular expressions. You must have the BBDB loaded
22649 for @code{spam-use-BBDB} to work properly. Messages whose senders are
22650 not in the BBDB will be sent to the next spam-split rule. This is an
22651 explicit filter, meaning that unless someone is in the BBDB, their
22652 messages are not assumed to be spam or ham.
22656 @defvar spam-use-BBDB-exclusive
22658 Set this variable to @code{t} if you want to use the BBDB as an
22659 implicit filter, meaning that every message will be considered spam
22660 unless the sender is in the BBDB. Use with care. Only sender
22661 addresses in the BBDB will be allowed through; all others will be
22662 classified as spammers.
22666 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-BBDB
22668 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22669 customizing the group parameters or the
22670 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22671 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the senders of
22672 ham-marked articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the
22673 BBDB. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam}
22674 or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22678 @node Gmane Spam Reporting
22679 @subsubsection Gmane Spam Reporting
22680 @cindex spam reporting
22681 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
22682 @cindex Gmane, spam reporting
22685 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-report-gmane
22687 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22688 customizing the group parameters or the
22689 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22690 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22691 articles groups will be reported to the Gmane administrators.
22695 @node Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
22696 @subsubsection Anti-spam Hashcash Payments
22697 @cindex spam filtering
22698 @cindex hashcash, spam filtering
22701 @defvar spam-use-hashcash
22703 Similar to @code{spam-use-whitelist} (@pxref{Blacklists and
22704 Whitelists}), but uses hashcash tokens for whitelisting messages
22705 instead of the sender address. You must have the @code{hashcash.el}
22706 package loaded for @code{spam-use-hashcash} to work properly.
22707 Messages without a hashcash payment token will be sent to the next
22708 spam-split rule. This is an explicit filter, meaning that unless a
22709 hashcash token is found, the messages are not assumed to be spam or
22715 @subsubsection Blackholes
22716 @cindex spam filtering
22717 @cindex blackholes, spam filtering
22720 @defvar spam-use-blackholes
22722 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus consult the
22723 blackhole-type distributed spam processing systems (DCC, for instance)
22724 when you set this option. The variable @code{spam-blackhole-servers}
22725 holds the list of blackhole servers Gnus will consult. The current
22726 list is fairly comprehensive, but make sure to let us know if it
22727 contains outdated servers.
22729 The blackhole check uses the @code{dig.el} package, but you can tell
22730 @file{spam.el} to use @code{dns.el} instead for better performance if
22731 you set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil}. It is not recommended at
22732 this time to set @code{spam-use-dig} to @code{nil} despite the
22733 possible performance improvements, because some users may be unable to
22734 use it, but you can try it and see if it works for you.
22738 @defvar spam-blackhole-servers
22740 The list of servers to consult for blackhole checks.
22744 @defvar spam-blackhole-good-server-regex
22746 A regular expression for IPs that should not be checked against the
22747 blackhole server list. When set to @code{nil}, it has no effect.
22751 @defvar spam-use-dig
22753 Use the @code{dig.el} package instead of the @code{dns.el} package.
22754 The default setting of @code{t} is recommended.
22758 Blackhole checks are done only on incoming mail. There is no spam or
22759 ham processor for blackholes.
22761 @node Regular Expressions Header Matching
22762 @subsubsection Regular Expressions Header Matching
22763 @cindex spam filtering
22764 @cindex regular expressions header matching, spam filtering
22767 @defvar spam-use-regex-headers
22769 This option is disabled by default. You can let Gnus check the
22770 message headers against lists of regular expressions when you set this
22771 option. The variables @code{spam-regex-headers-spam} and
22772 @code{spam-regex-headers-ham} hold the list of regular expressions.
22773 Gnus will check against the message headers to determine if the
22774 message is spam or ham, respectively.
22778 @defvar spam-regex-headers-spam
22780 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22781 the message, positively identify it as spam.
22785 @defvar spam-regex-headers-ham
22787 The list of regular expressions that, when matched in the headers of
22788 the message, positively identify it as ham.
22792 Regular expression header checks are done only on incoming mail.
22793 There is no specific spam or ham processor for regular expressions.
22796 @subsubsection Bogofilter
22797 @cindex spam filtering
22798 @cindex bogofilter, spam filtering
22801 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter
22803 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22806 With a minimum of care for associating the @samp{$} mark for spam
22807 articles only, Bogofilter training all gets fairly automatic. You
22808 should do this until you get a few hundreds of articles in each
22809 category, spam or not. The command @kbd{S t} in summary mode, either
22810 for debugging or for curiosity, shows the @emph{spamicity} score of
22811 the current article (between 0.0 and 1.0).
22813 Bogofilter determines if a message is spam based on a specific
22814 threshold. That threshold can be customized, consult the Bogofilter
22817 If the @code{bogofilter} executable is not in your path, Bogofilter
22818 processing will be turned off.
22820 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}.
22824 @defvar spam-use-bogofilter-headers
22826 Set this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use Eric Raymond's
22827 speedy Bogofilter, looking only at the message headers. It works
22828 similarly to @code{spam-use-bogofilter}, but the @code{X-Bogosity} header
22829 must be in the message already. Normally you would do this with a
22830 procmail recipe or something similar; consult the Bogofilter
22831 installation documents for details.
22833 You should not enable this if you use @code{spam-use-bogofilter}.
22837 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-bogofilter
22838 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22839 customizing the group parameters or the
22840 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22841 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles
22842 will be added to the Bogofilter spam database.
22845 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-bogofilter
22846 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22847 customizing the group parameters or the
22848 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22849 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22850 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the Bogofilter database
22851 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22852 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22855 @defvar spam-bogofilter-database-directory
22857 This is the directory where Bogofilter will store its databases. It
22858 is not specified by default, so Bogofilter will use its own default
22859 database directory.
22863 The Bogofilter mail classifier is similar to @command{ifile} in intent and
22864 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22865 @code{spam-use-bogofilter} and @code{spam-use-bogofilter-headers}
22866 variables to indicate to spam-split that Bogofilter should either be
22867 used, or has already been used on the article. The 0.9.2.1 version of
22868 Bogofilter was used to test this functionality.
22870 @node ifile spam filtering
22871 @subsubsection ifile spam filtering
22872 @cindex spam filtering
22873 @cindex ifile, spam filtering
22876 @defvar spam-use-ifile
22878 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use @command{ifile}, a
22879 statistical analyzer similar to Bogofilter.
22883 @defvar spam-ifile-all-categories
22885 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-use-ifile} to give you all
22886 the ifile categories, not just spam/non-spam. If you use this, make
22887 sure you train ifile as described in its documentation.
22891 @defvar spam-ifile-spam-category
22893 This is the category of spam messages as far as ifile is concerned.
22894 The actual string used is irrelevant, but you probably want to leave
22895 the default value of @samp{spam}.
22898 @defvar spam-ifile-database-path
22900 This is the filename for the ifile database. It is not specified by
22901 default, so ifile will use its own default database name.
22905 The ifile mail classifier is similar to Bogofilter in intent and
22906 purpose. A ham and a spam processor are provided, plus the
22907 @code{spam-use-ifile} variable to indicate to spam-split that ifile
22908 should be used. The 1.2.1 version of ifile was used to test this
22911 @node spam-stat spam filtering
22912 @subsubsection spam-stat spam filtering
22913 @cindex spam filtering
22914 @cindex spam-stat, spam filtering
22918 @xref{Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat}.
22920 @defvar spam-use-stat
22922 Enable this variable if you want @code{spam-split} to use
22923 spam-stat.el, an Emacs Lisp statistical analyzer.
22927 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-stat
22928 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22929 customizing the group parameters or the
22930 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22931 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the spam-marked
22932 articles will be added to the spam-stat database of spam messages.
22935 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-stat
22936 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
22937 customizing the group parameters or the
22938 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is
22939 added to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked
22940 articles in @emph{ham} groups will be added to the spam-stat database
22941 of non-spam messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in
22942 @emph{spam} or @emph{unclassified} groups.
22945 This enables @file{spam.el} to cooperate with @file{spam-stat.el}.
22946 @file{spam-stat.el} provides an internal (Lisp-only) spam database,
22947 which unlike ifile or Bogofilter does not require external programs.
22948 A spam and a ham processor, and the @code{spam-use-stat} variable for
22949 @code{spam-split} are provided.
22952 @subsubsection Using SpamOracle with Gnus
22953 @cindex spam filtering
22957 An easy way to filter out spam is to use SpamOracle. SpamOracle is an
22958 statistical mail filtering tool written by Xavier Leroy and needs to be
22959 installed separately.
22961 There are several ways to use SpamOracle with Gnus. In all cases, your
22962 mail is piped through SpamOracle in its @emph{mark} mode. SpamOracle will
22963 then enter an @samp{X-Spam} header indicating whether it regards the
22964 mail as a spam mail or not.
22966 One possibility is to run SpamOracle as a @code{:prescript} from the
22967 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}, (@pxref{SpamAssassin}). This method has
22968 the advantage that the user can see the @emph{X-Spam} headers.
22970 The easiest method is to make @file{spam.el} (@pxref{Filtering Spam
22971 Using The Spam ELisp Package}) call SpamOracle.
22973 @vindex spam-use-spamoracle
22974 To enable SpamOracle usage by @file{spam.el}, set the variable
22975 @code{spam-use-spamoracle} to @code{t} and configure the
22976 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} or @code{nnimap-split-fancy} as described in
22977 the section @xref{Filtering Spam Using The Spam ELisp Package}. In
22978 this example the @samp{INBOX} of an nnimap server is filtered using
22979 SpamOracle. Mails recognized as spam mails will be moved to
22980 @code{spam-split-group}, @samp{Junk} in this case. Ham messages stay
22984 (setq spam-use-spamoracle t
22985 spam-split-group "Junk"
22986 nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX")
22987 nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
22988 nnimap-split-fancy '(| (: spam-split) "INBOX"))
22991 @defvar spam-use-spamoracle
22992 Set to @code{t} if you want Gnus to enable spam filtering using
22996 @defvar spam-spamoracle-binary
22997 Gnus uses the SpamOracle binary called @file{spamoracle} found in the
22998 user's PATH. Using the variable @code{spam-spamoracle-binary}, this
23002 @defvar spam-spamoracle-database
23003 By default, SpamOracle uses the file @file{~/.spamoracle.db} as a database to
23004 store its analyses. This is controlled by the variable
23005 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} which defaults to @code{nil}. That means
23006 the default SpamOracle database will be used. In case you want your
23007 database to live somewhere special, set
23008 @code{spam-spamoracle-database} to this path.
23011 SpamOracle employs a statistical algorithm to determine whether a
23012 message is spam or ham. In order to get good results, meaning few
23013 false hits or misses, SpamOracle needs training. SpamOracle learns the
23014 characteristics of your spam mails. Using the @emph{add} mode
23015 (training mode) one has to feed good (ham) and spam mails to
23016 SpamOracle. This can be done by pressing @kbd{|} in the Summary buffer
23017 and pipe the mail to a SpamOracle process or using @file{spam.el}'s
23018 spam- and ham-processors, which is much more convenient. For a
23019 detailed description of spam- and ham-processors, @xref{Filtering Spam
23020 Using The Spam ELisp Package}.
23022 @defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle
23023 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23024 customizing the group parameter or the
23025 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23026 to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter, spam-marked articles will be
23027 sent to SpamOracle as spam samples.
23030 @defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-spamoracle
23031 Add this symbol to a group's @code{spam-process} parameter by
23032 customizing the group parameter or the
23033 @code{gnus-spam-process-newsgroups} variable. When this symbol is added
23034 to a grup's @code{spam-process} parameter, the ham-marked articles in
23035 @emph{ham} groups will be sent to the SpamOracle as samples of ham
23036 messages. Note that this ham processor has no effect in @emph{spam} or
23037 @emph{unclassified} groups.
23040 @emph{Example:} These are the Group Parameters of an group that has been
23041 classified as a ham group, meaning that it should only contain ham
23044 ((spam-contents gnus-group-spam-classification-ham)
23046 (gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle)))
23048 For this group the @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle} is
23049 installed. If the group contains spam message (e.g. because SpamOracle
23050 has not had enough sample messages yet) and the user marks some
23051 messages as spam messages, these messages will be processed by
23052 @code{gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-spamoracle}. This processor sends
23053 the messages to SpamOracle as new samples for spam.
23055 @node Extending the spam elisp package
23056 @subsubsection Extending the spam elisp package
23057 @cindex spam filtering
23058 @cindex spam elisp package, extending
23059 @cindex extending the spam elisp package
23061 Say you want to add a new back end called blackbox. For filtering
23062 incoming mail, provide the following:
23070 (defvar spam-use-blackbox nil
23071 "True if blackbox should be used.")
23076 (spam-use-blackbox . spam-check-blackbox)
23078 to @code{spam-list-of-checks}.
23083 Write the @code{spam-check-blackbox} function. It should return
23084 @samp{nil} or @code{spam-split-group}. See the existing
23085 @code{spam-check-*} functions for examples of what you can do.
23087 Make sure to add @code{spam-use-blackbox} to
23088 @code{spam-list-of-statistical-checks} if Blackbox is a statistical
23089 mail analyzer that needs the full message body to operate.
23093 For processing spam and ham messages, provide the following:
23100 Note you don't have to provide a spam or a ham processor. Only
23101 provide them if Blackbox supports spam or ham processing.
23104 (defvar gnus-group-spam-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
23105 "The Blackbox summary exit spam processor.
23106 Only applicable to spam groups.")
23108 (defvar gnus-group-ham-exit-processor-blackbox "blackbox"
23109 "The whitelist summary exit ham processor.
23110 Only applicable to non-spam (unclassified and ham) groups.")
23118 (defun spam-blackbox-register-spam-routine ()
23119 (spam-generic-register-routine
23120 ;; @r{the spam function}
23122 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
23123 (when (stringp from)
23124 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer from))))
23125 ;; @r{the ham function}
23128 (defun spam-blackbox-register-ham-routine ()
23129 (spam-generic-register-routine
23130 ;; @r{the spam function}
23132 ;; @r{the ham function}
23134 (let ((from (spam-fetch-field-from-fast article)))
23135 (when (stringp from)
23136 (blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender from))))))
23139 Write the @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-ham-sender} and
23140 @code{blackbox-do-something-with-this-spammer} functions. You can add
23141 more complex code than fetching the message sender, but keep in mind
23142 that retrieving the whole message takes significantly longer than the
23143 sender through @code{spam-fetch-field-from-fast}, because the message
23144 senders are kept in memory by Gnus.
23149 @node Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23150 @subsection Filtering Spam Using Statistics with spam-stat
23151 @cindex Paul Graham
23152 @cindex Graham, Paul
23153 @cindex naive Bayesian spam filtering
23154 @cindex Bayesian spam filtering, naive
23155 @cindex spam filtering, naive Bayesian
23157 Paul Graham has written an excellent essay about spam filtering using
23158 statistics: @uref{http://www.paulgraham.com/spam.html,A Plan for
23159 Spam}. In it he describes the inherent deficiency of rule-based
23160 filtering as used by SpamAssassin, for example: Somebody has to write
23161 the rules, and everybody else has to install these rules. You are
23162 always late. It would be much better, he argues, to filter mail based
23163 on whether it somehow resembles spam or non-spam. One way to measure
23164 this is word distribution. He then goes on to describe a solution
23165 that checks whether a new mail resembles any of your other spam mails
23168 The basic idea is this: Create a two collections of your mail, one
23169 with spam, one with non-spam. Count how often each word appears in
23170 either collection, weight this by the total number of mails in the
23171 collections, and store this information in a dictionary. For every
23172 word in a new mail, determine its probability to belong to a spam or a
23173 non-spam mail. Use the 15 most conspicuous words, compute the total
23174 probability of the mail being spam. If this probability is higher
23175 than a certain threshold, the mail is considered to be spam.
23177 Gnus supports this kind of filtering. But it needs some setting up.
23178 First, you need two collections of your mail, one with spam, one with
23179 non-spam. Then you need to create a dictionary using these two
23180 collections, and save it. And last but not least, you need to use
23181 this dictionary in your fancy mail splitting rules.
23184 * Creating a spam-stat dictionary::
23185 * Splitting mail using spam-stat::
23186 * Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary::
23189 @node Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23190 @subsubsection Creating a spam-stat dictionary
23192 Before you can begin to filter spam based on statistics, you must
23193 create these statistics based on two mail collections, one with spam,
23194 one with non-spam. These statistics are then stored in a dictionary
23195 for later use. In order for these statistics to be meaningful, you
23196 need several hundred emails in both collections.
23198 Gnus currently supports only the nnml back end for automated dictionary
23199 creation. The nnml back end stores all mails in a directory, one file
23200 per mail. Use the following:
23202 @defun spam-stat-process-spam-directory
23203 Create spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every file
23204 is treated as one spam mail.
23207 @defun spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory
23208 Create non-spam statistics for every file in this directory. Every
23209 file is treated as one non-spam mail.
23212 Usually you would call @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory} on a
23213 directory such as @file{~/Mail/mail/spam} (this usually corresponds
23214 the the group @samp{nnml:mail.spam}), and you would call
23215 @code{spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory} on a directory such as
23216 @file{~/Mail/mail/misc} (this usually corresponds the the group
23217 @samp{nnml:mail.misc}).
23219 When you are using @acronym{IMAP}, you won't have the mails available
23220 locally, so that will not work. One solution is to use the Gnus Agent
23221 to cache the articles. Then you can use directories such as
23222 @file{"~/News/agent/nnimap/mail.yourisp.com/personal_spam"} for
23223 @code{spam-stat-process-spam-directory}. @xref{Agent as Cache}.
23226 This variable holds the hash-table with all the statistics---the
23227 dictionary we have been talking about. For every word in either
23228 collection, this hash-table stores a vector describing how often the
23229 word appeared in spam and often it appeared in non-spam mails.
23232 If you want to regenerate the statistics from scratch, you need to
23233 reset the dictionary.
23235 @defun spam-stat-reset
23236 Reset the @code{spam-stat} hash-table, deleting all the statistics.
23239 When you are done, you must save the dictionary. The dictionary may
23240 be rather large. If you will not update the dictionary incrementally
23241 (instead, you will recreate it once a month, for example), then you
23242 can reduce the size of the dictionary by deleting all words that did
23243 not appear often enough or that do not clearly belong to only spam or
23244 only non-spam mails.
23246 @defun spam-stat-reduce-size
23247 Reduce the size of the dictionary. Use this only if you do not want
23248 to update the dictionary incrementally.
23251 @defun spam-stat-save
23252 Save the dictionary.
23255 @defvar spam-stat-file
23256 The filename used to store the dictionary. This defaults to
23257 @file{~/.spam-stat.el}.
23260 @node Splitting mail using spam-stat
23261 @subsubsection Splitting mail using spam-stat
23263 In order to use @code{spam-stat} to split your mail, you need to add the
23264 following to your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23267 (require 'spam-stat)
23271 This will load the necessary Gnus code, and the dictionary you
23274 Next, you need to adapt your fancy splitting rules: You need to
23275 determine how to use @code{spam-stat}. The following examples are for
23276 the nnml back end. Using the nnimap back end works just as well. Just
23277 use @code{nnimap-split-fancy} instead of @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
23279 In the simplest case, you only have two groups, @samp{mail.misc} and
23280 @samp{mail.spam}. The following expression says that mail is either
23281 spam or it should go into @samp{mail.misc}. If it is spam, then
23282 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will return @samp{mail.spam}.
23285 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23286 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23290 @defvar spam-stat-split-fancy-spam-group
23291 The group to use for spam. Default is @samp{mail.spam}.
23294 If you also filter mail with specific subjects into other groups, use
23295 the following expression. Only mails not matching the regular
23296 expression are considered potential spam.
23299 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23300 `(| ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23301 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23305 If you want to filter for spam first, then you must be careful when
23306 creating the dictionary. Note that @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} must
23307 consider both mails in @samp{mail.emacs} and in @samp{mail.misc} as
23308 non-spam, therefore both should be in your collection of non-spam
23309 mails, when creating the dictionary!
23312 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23313 `(| (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23314 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23318 You can combine this with traditional filtering. Here, we move all
23319 HTML-only mails into the @samp{mail.spam.filtered} group. Note that since
23320 @code{spam-stat-split-fancy} will never see them, the mails in
23321 @samp{mail.spam.filtered} should be neither in your collection of spam mails,
23322 nor in your collection of non-spam mails, when creating the
23326 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
23327 `(| ("Content-Type" "text/html" "mail.spam.filtered")
23328 (: spam-stat-split-fancy)
23329 ("Subject" "\\bspam-stat\\b" "mail.emacs")
23334 @node Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23335 @subsubsection Low-level interface to the spam-stat dictionary
23337 The main interface to using @code{spam-stat}, are the following functions:
23339 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-spam
23340 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new spam mail.
23341 Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23344 @defun spam-stat-buffer-is-no-spam
23345 Called in a buffer, that buffer is considered to be a new non-spam
23346 mail. Use this for new mail that has not been processed before.
23349 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-spam
23350 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be normal
23351 mail but spam. Use this to change the status of a mail that has
23352 already been processed as non-spam.
23355 @defun spam-stat-buffer-change-to-non-spam
23356 Called in a buffer, that buffer is no longer considered to be spam but
23357 normal mail. Use this to change the status of a mail that has already
23358 been processed as spam.
23361 @defun spam-stat-save
23362 Save the hash table to the file. The filename used is stored in the
23363 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23366 @defun spam-stat-load
23367 Load the hash table from a file. The filename used is stored in the
23368 variable @code{spam-stat-file}.
23371 @defun spam-stat-score-word
23372 Return the spam score for a word.
23375 @defun spam-stat-score-buffer
23376 Return the spam score for a buffer.
23379 @defun spam-stat-split-fancy
23380 Use this function for fancy mail splitting. Add the rule @samp{(:
23381 spam-stat-split-fancy)} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
23384 Make sure you load the dictionary before using it. This requires the
23385 following in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file:
23388 (require 'spam-stat)
23392 Typical test will involve calls to the following functions:
23395 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23396 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23397 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23398 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23399 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23400 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23401 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23402 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23403 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23404 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23405 File size: (nth 7 (file-attributes spam-stat-file))
23406 Number of words: (hash-table-count spam-stat)
23407 Test spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23408 Test non-spam: (spam-stat-test-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23411 Here is how you would create your dictionary:
23414 Reset: (setq spam-stat (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
23415 Learn spam: (spam-stat-process-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/spam")
23416 Learn non-spam: (spam-stat-process-non-spam-directory "~/Mail/mail/misc")
23417 Repeat for any other non-spam group you need...
23418 Reduce table size: (spam-stat-reduce-size)
23419 Save table: (spam-stat-save)
23422 @node Various Various
23423 @section Various Various
23429 @item gnus-home-directory
23430 @vindex gnus-home-directory
23431 All Gnus file and directory variables will be initialized from this
23432 variable, which defaults to @file{~/}.
23434 @item gnus-directory
23435 @vindex gnus-directory
23436 Most Gnus storage file and directory variables will be initialized from
23437 this variable, which defaults to the @env{SAVEDIR} environment
23438 variable, or @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
23440 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
23441 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
23442 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
23443 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
23445 @item gnus-default-directory
23446 @vindex gnus-default-directory
23447 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
23448 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
23449 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
23450 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
23451 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
23452 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
23455 @vindex gnus-verbose
23456 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
23457 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
23458 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
23459 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
23460 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
23462 @item gnus-verbose-backends
23463 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
23464 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
23465 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
23467 @item nnheader-max-head-length
23468 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
23469 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
23470 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
23471 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
23472 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
23473 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
23474 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
23475 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
23476 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
23478 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
23479 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
23480 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
23481 read when doing the operation described above.
23483 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23484 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23486 @cindex invalid characters in file names
23487 @cindex characters in file names
23488 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
23489 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
23490 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
23494 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
23499 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
23500 Windows (phooey) systems.
23502 @item gnus-hidden-properties
23503 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
23504 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
23505 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
23506 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
23508 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
23509 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
23510 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
23511 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
23512 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
23514 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
23515 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
23516 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
23518 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23519 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
23521 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
23522 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
23523 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
23524 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
23527 @acronym{IMAP} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
23535 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
23536 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
23538 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
23540 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
23546 Not because of victories @*
23549 but for the common sunshine,@*
23551 the largess of the spring.
23555 but for the day's work done@*
23556 as well as I was able;@*
23557 not for a seat upon the dais@*
23558 but at the common table.@*
23563 @chapter Appendices
23566 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
23567 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
23568 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
23569 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
23570 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
23571 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
23572 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
23573 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
23574 * Frequently Asked Questions:: The Gnus FAQ
23581 @cindex installing under XEmacs
23583 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
23584 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
23585 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
23586 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
23587 @samp{xemacs-base}, @samp{sh-script} and @samp{fsf-compat}. The
23588 @samp{misc-games} package is required for Morse decoding.
23595 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
23596 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
23598 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
23599 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
23600 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
23601 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
23602 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
23604 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
23605 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
23606 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
23607 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
23608 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
23609 appropriate name, don't you think?)
23611 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
23612 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
23613 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
23614 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
23617 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
23618 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
23619 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
23620 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
23621 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
23622 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
23623 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
23624 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
23625 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
23629 @node Gnus Versions
23630 @subsection Gnus Versions
23632 @cindex September Gnus
23634 @cindex Quassia Gnus
23635 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
23638 @cindex Gnus versions
23640 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
23641 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
23642 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
23644 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
23645 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
23647 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
23648 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
23650 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
23651 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
23653 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
23654 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
23657 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
23659 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
23660 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
23661 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
23662 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
23663 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
23664 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
23667 @node Other Gnus Versions
23668 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
23671 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
23672 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
23673 Japan. It's based on a library called @acronym{SEMI}, which provides
23674 @acronym{MIME} capabilities.
23676 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
23677 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
23678 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
23679 @acronym{MIME} and multilingualization things, especially important for
23686 What's the point of Gnus?
23688 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
23689 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
23690 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
23691 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
23692 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
23693 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
23694 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
23695 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
23696 keep track of millions of people who post?
23698 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
23699 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
23700 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
23701 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
23702 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
23703 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
23704 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
23705 every one of you to explore and invent.
23707 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
23708 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
23711 @node Compatibility
23712 @subsection Compatibility
23714 @cindex compatibility
23715 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
23716 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
23717 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
23722 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
23726 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
23729 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
23732 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
23733 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
23734 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
23735 important variables have their values copied into their global
23736 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
23737 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
23739 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
23740 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
23741 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
23742 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
23743 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
23747 @cindex highlighting
23748 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
23749 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
23750 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
23751 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
23752 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
23753 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
23756 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
23757 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
23758 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
23759 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
23761 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
23762 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
23763 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
23764 to stop doing it the old way.
23766 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
23768 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23770 @cindex reporting bugs
23772 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
23773 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
23774 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
23776 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
23777 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
23778 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
23779 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
23784 @subsection Conformity
23786 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
23787 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
23795 There are no known breaches of this standard.
23799 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
23801 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
23802 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
23803 We do have some breaches to this one.
23809 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
23810 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
23811 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
23812 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
23813 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
23818 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
23819 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
23820 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
23821 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
23823 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
23824 @cindex @acronym{MIME}
23825 All the various @acronym{MIME} RFCs are supported.
23827 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
23828 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
23830 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
23833 RFC 1991 is the original @acronym{PGP} message specification,
23834 published as an informational RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now
23835 called Open PGP, and put on the Standards Track. Both document a
23836 non-@acronym{MIME} aware @acronym{PGP} format. Gnus supports both
23837 encoding (signing and encryption) and decoding (verification and
23840 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
23841 RFC 2015 (superseded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
23842 1991) describes the @acronym{MIME}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
23843 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
23845 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
23846 RFC 2633 describes the @acronym{S/MIME} format.
23848 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
23849 RFC 1730 is @acronym{IMAP} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060
23850 (@acronym{IMAP} 4 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5
23851 authentication for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2086 describes access control
23852 lists (ACLs) for @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 2359 describes a @acronym{IMAP}
23853 protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper @acronym{TLS}
23854 integration (STARTTLS) with @acronym{IMAP}. RFC 1731 describes the
23855 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @acronym{IMAP}.
23859 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
23860 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
23865 @subsection Emacsen
23871 Gnus should work on :
23879 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
23883 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
23884 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
23885 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
23886 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
23887 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
23889 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
23890 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
23891 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
23895 @node Gnus Development
23896 @subsection Gnus Development
23898 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
23899 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
23900 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
23901 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
23902 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
23903 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
23904 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
23905 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
23907 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
23908 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
23909 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
23910 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
23911 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
23914 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
23915 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
23916 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
23917 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
23918 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
23920 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
23921 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
23922 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
23923 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
23924 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
23925 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
23926 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
23927 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
23928 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
23929 can't be assumed to do so.
23934 @subsection Contributors
23935 @cindex contributors
23937 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
23938 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
23939 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
23940 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
23941 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
23942 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
23943 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
23944 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
23945 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
23946 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
23948 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for@dots{} oops,
23954 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
23957 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
23958 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @acronym{MIME} and
23959 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
23960 functionality and stuff.
23963 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
23964 well as numerous other things).
23967 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
23970 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
23973 Justin Sheehy---the @acronym{FAQ} maintainer.
23976 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
23979 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
23980 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
23983 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
23986 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
23987 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
23990 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
23993 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
23996 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
23999 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
24002 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
24003 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
24006 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
24009 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
24012 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
24015 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
24019 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
24022 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
24025 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
24028 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
24029 well as autoconf support.
24033 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
24034 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
24036 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
24051 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
24053 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
24057 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
24067 Alexei V. Barantsev,
24082 Massimo Campostrini,
24087 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
24088 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
24092 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
24095 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
24101 Michael Welsh Duggan,
24106 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
24110 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
24118 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
24120 Michelangelo Grigni,
24124 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
24126 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c Hayashi
24128 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
24135 François Felix Ingrand,
24136 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c Ichikawa
24137 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
24139 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
24149 Peter Skov Knudsen,
24150 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
24152 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
24153 Thor Kristoffersen,
24156 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
24174 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
24175 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
24182 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
24187 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
24191 John McClary Prevost,
24197 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
24202 Christian von Roques,
24205 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
24212 Philippe Schnoebelen,
24214 Randal L. Schwartz,
24228 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
24233 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
24253 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
24254 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
24255 (550kB and counting).
24257 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
24260 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
24261 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
24265 @subsection New Features
24266 @cindex new features
24269 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
24270 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
24271 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
24272 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
24273 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
24274 * Oort Gnus:: It's big. It's far out. Gnus 5.10.
24277 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
24278 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
24279 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
24282 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
24284 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
24289 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
24290 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
24293 Local spool and several @acronym{NNTP} servers can be used at once
24294 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
24297 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
24300 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
24301 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
24302 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
24305 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
24306 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
24307 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
24308 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24311 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
24312 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24315 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
24316 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
24317 (@pxref{The Active File}).
24320 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
24321 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
24324 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
24325 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
24326 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24329 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
24330 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
24331 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
24334 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{~/.gnus.el}) to avoid
24335 cluttering up the @file{.emacs} file.
24338 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
24339 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
24342 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
24343 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
24346 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
24347 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24350 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
24351 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
24354 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
24355 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24358 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
24361 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
24362 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
24365 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
24366 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
24369 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
24370 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
24373 Gnus can fetch @acronym{FAQ}s and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
24376 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
24377 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24380 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
24384 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
24388 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
24389 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
24392 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
24398 @node September Gnus
24399 @subsubsection September Gnus
24403 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
24407 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
24412 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
24413 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
24417 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
24418 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
24422 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
24426 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
24427 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
24430 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
24434 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
24437 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
24440 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
24443 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
24447 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
24448 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
24451 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
24455 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
24459 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
24463 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
24467 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
24470 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
24471 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
24474 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
24478 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
24479 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
24482 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
24485 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
24486 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
24487 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
24490 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
24494 The Gnus cache is much faster.
24497 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
24501 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
24502 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
24505 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
24506 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
24509 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
24510 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
24513 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
24514 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
24515 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
24518 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
24519 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
24522 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
24525 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24528 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
24531 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
24534 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
24535 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
24538 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
24542 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
24545 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
24550 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
24553 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
24557 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
24560 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
24564 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
24567 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
24570 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
24571 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
24574 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
24575 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
24579 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
24580 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
24583 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
24587 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
24588 buffer to allow easier treatment.
24591 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
24594 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
24598 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
24602 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
24603 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
24606 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
24610 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
24611 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
24614 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
24615 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24618 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
24622 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
24625 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
24628 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
24634 @subsubsection Red Gnus
24636 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
24640 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
24647 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
24650 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
24651 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
24654 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
24655 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
24659 Article washing status can be displayed in the
24660 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
24663 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
24666 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
24667 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
24670 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
24674 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
24675 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
24679 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
24680 Server Internals}).
24683 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
24687 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
24690 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
24691 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
24694 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
24695 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
24696 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
24699 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
24700 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24703 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
24704 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
24707 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
24711 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
24712 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24715 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
24716 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
24719 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
24723 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
24726 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
24730 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
24731 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24734 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
24735 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
24738 A new command for reading collections of documents
24739 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
24740 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
24743 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
24747 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @acronym{NNTP}
24748 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
24751 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
24752 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
24753 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
24756 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
24757 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
24761 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
24765 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
24769 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
24774 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
24778 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
24782 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
24783 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
24786 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
24792 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
24794 New features in Gnus 5.6:
24799 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
24800 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added.
24801 @xref{Gnus Unplugged}, for the full story.
24804 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
24805 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
24806 group, which is created automatically.
24809 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
24813 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
24816 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
24817 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
24820 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
24824 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
24827 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
24828 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
24831 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
24834 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. @xref{Symbolic Prefixes}, for
24838 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
24839 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the @file{all.SCORE} file.
24842 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
24843 control over simplification.
24846 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
24849 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
24853 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
24856 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
24859 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
24860 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
24861 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
24864 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
24865 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
24868 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
24872 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
24873 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
24876 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
24877 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @acronym{NNTP} servers.
24880 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
24884 A history of where mails have been split is available.
24887 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
24890 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
24891 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
24894 A new function for citing in Message has been
24895 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
24898 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
24901 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
24905 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
24906 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
24909 The ``lapsed date'' article header can be kept continually
24910 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
24913 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
24916 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
24920 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
24921 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
24923 New features in Gnus 5.8:
24928 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
24929 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
24931 If you used procmail like in
24934 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
24935 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
24936 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
24937 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
24940 this now has changed to
24944 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
24948 @xref{Mail Source Specifiers}.
24951 Gnus is now a @acronym{MIME}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
24952 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
24955 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
24956 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
24959 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
24960 called to position point.
24963 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
24964 summary buffers and @acronym{NOV} files.
24967 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
24968 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
24971 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
24972 subtly different manner.
24975 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
24976 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
24977 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
24980 Gnus can now read @acronym{IMAP} mail via @code{nnimap}.
24985 @subsubsection Oort Gnus
24988 New features in Gnus 5.10:
24993 The revised Gnus @acronym{FAQ} is included in the manual,
24994 @xref{Frequently Asked Questions}.
24997 Upgrading from previous (stable) version if you have used Oort.
24999 If you have tried Oort (the unstable Gnus branch leading to this
25000 release) but went back to a stable version, be careful when upgrading to
25001 this version. In particular, you will probably want to remove all
25002 @file{.marks} (nnml) and @file{.mrk} (nnfolder) files, so that flags are
25003 read from your @file{.newsrc.eld} instead of from the
25004 @file{.marks}/@file{.mrk} file where this release store flags. See a
25005 later entry for more information about marks. Note that downgrading
25006 isn't save in general.
25011 More buttons for URLs, mail addresses, Message-IDs, Info links, man
25012 pages and Emacs or Gnus related references. @xref{Article Buttons}. The
25013 variables @code{gnus-button-@var{*}-level} can be used to control the
25014 appearance of all article buttons. @xref{Article Button Levels}.
25019 @code{gnus-dired-minor-mode} installs key bindings in dired buffers to send
25020 a file as an attachment (@kbd{C-c C-a}), open a file using the appropriate
25021 mailcap entry (@kbd{C-c C-l}), and print a file using the mailcap entry
25022 (@kbd{C-c P}). It is enabled with
25024 (add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-dired-mode)
25028 Gnus can display RSS newsfeeds as a newsgroup. @xref{RSS}.
25031 Single-part yenc encoded attachments can be decoded.
25036 The picons code has been reimplemented to work in GNU Emacs---some of
25037 the previous options have been removed or renamed.
25039 Picons are small ``personal icons'' representing users, domain and
25040 newsgroups, which can be displayed in the Article buffer.
25044 If the new option @code{gnus-treat-body-boundary} is non-@code{nil}, a
25045 boundary line is drawn at the end of the headers.
25048 Retrieval of charters and control messages
25050 There are new commands for fetching newsgroup charters (@kbd{H c}) and
25051 control messages (@kbd{H C}).
25056 You can delay the sending of a message with @kbd{C-c C-j} in the Message
25057 buffer. The messages are delivered at specified time. This is useful
25058 for sending yourself reminders. @xref{Delayed Articles}.
25061 If @code{auto-compression-mode} is enabled, attachments are automatically
25062 decompressed when activated.
25065 If the new option @code{nnml-use-compressed-files} is non-@code{nil},
25066 the nnml back end allows compressed message files.
25069 Signed article headers (X-PGP-Sig) can be verified with @kbd{W p}.
25072 The Summary Buffer uses an arrow in the fringe to indicate the current
25073 article. Use @code{(setq gnus-summary-display-arrow nil)} to disable it.
25076 Warn about email replies to news
25078 Do you often find yourself replying to news by email by mistake? Then
25079 the new option @code{gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news} is just the thing for
25083 If the new option @code{gnus-summary-display-while-building} is
25084 non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer is shown and updated as it's being
25088 The new @code{recent} mark @samp{.} indicates newly arrived messages (as
25089 opposed to old but unread messages).
25092 The new option @code{gnus-gcc-mark-as-read} automatically marks
25093 Gcc articles as read.
25096 The nndoc back end now supports mailman digests and exim bounces.
25099 Gnus supports RFC 2369 mailing list headers, and adds a number of
25100 related commands in mailing list groups. @xref{Mailing List}.
25103 The Date header can be displayed in a format that can be read aloud
25104 in English. @xref{Article Date}.
25107 The envelope sender address can be customized when using Sendmail.
25108 @xref{Mail Variables, Mail Variables,, message, Message Manual}.
25111 diffs are automatically highlighted in groups matching
25112 @code{mm-uu-diff-groups-regexp}
25115 @acronym{TLS} wrapper shipped with Gnus
25117 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} is now supported in @acronym{IMAP} and
25118 @acronym{NNTP} via @file{tls.el} and GNUTLS. The old
25119 @acronym{TLS}/@acronym{SSL} support via (external third party)
25120 @file{ssl.el} and OpenSSL still works.
25123 New @file{make.bat} for compiling and installing Gnus under MS Windows
25125 Use @file{make.bat} if you want to install Gnus under MS Windows, the
25126 first argument to the batch-program should be the directory where
25127 @file{xemacs.exe} respectively @file{emacs.exe} is located, iff you want
25128 to install Gnus after compiling it, give @file{make.bat} @code{/copy} as
25129 the second parameter.
25131 @file{make.bat} has been rewritten from scratch, it now features
25132 automatic recognition of XEmacs and GNU Emacs, generates
25133 @file{gnus-load.el}, checks if errors occur while compilation and
25134 generation of info files and reports them at the end of the build
25135 process. It now uses @code{makeinfo} if it is available and falls
25136 back to @file{infohack.el} otherwise. @file{make.bat} should now
25137 install all files which are necessary to run Gnus and be generally a
25138 complete replacement for the @code{configure; make; make install}
25139 cycle used under Unix systems.
25141 The new @file{make.bat} makes @file{make-x.bat} superfluous, so it has
25145 Support for non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names
25147 Message supports non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To: and
25148 Cc: and will query you whether to perform encoding when you try to
25149 send a message. The variable @code{message-use-idna} controls this.
25150 Gnus will also decode non-@acronym{ASCII} domain names in From:, To:
25151 and Cc: when you view a message. The variable @code{gnus-use-idna}
25155 Better handling of Microsoft citation styles
25157 Gnus now tries to recognize the mangled header block that some Microsoft
25158 mailers use to indicate that the rest of the message is a citation, even
25159 though it is not quoted in any way. The variable
25160 @code{gnus-cite-unsightly-citation-regexp} matches the start of these
25164 @code{gnus-article-skip-boring}
25166 If you set @code{gnus-article-skip-boring} to @code{t}, then Gnus will
25167 not scroll down to show you a page that contains only boring text,
25168 which by default means cited text and signature. You can customize
25169 what is skippable using @code{gnus-article-boring-faces}.
25171 This feature is especially useful if you read many articles that
25172 consist of a little new content at the top with a long, untrimmed
25173 message cited below.
25176 The format spec @code{%C} for positioning point has changed to @code{%*}.
25179 The new variable @code{gnus-parameters} can be used to set group parameters.
25181 Earlier this was done only via @kbd{G p} (or @kbd{G c}), which stored
25182 the parameters in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, but via this variable you can
25183 enjoy the powers of customize, and simplified backups since you set the
25184 variable in @file{~/.emacs} instead of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. The
25185 variable maps regular expressions matching group names to group
25188 (setq gnus-parameters
25190 (gnus-show-threads nil)
25191 (gnus-use-scoring nil))
25192 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
25193 (to-group . "\\1"))))
25197 Smileys (@samp{:-)}, @samp{;-)} etc) are now iconized for Emacs too.
25199 Put @code{(setq gnus-treat-display-smileys nil)} in @file{~/.emacs} to
25203 Gnus no longer generate the Sender: header automatically.
25205 Earlier it was generated iff the user configurable email address was
25206 different from the Gnus guessed default user address. As the guessing
25207 algorithm is rarely correct these days, and (more controversially) the
25208 only use of the Sender: header was to check if you are entitled to
25209 cancel/supersede news (which is now solved by Cancel Locks instead,
25210 see another entry), generation of the header has been disabled by
25211 default. See the variables @code{message-required-headers},
25212 @code{message-required-news-headers}, and
25213 @code{message-required-mail-headers}.
25216 Features from third party @file{message-utils.el} added to @file{message.el}.
25218 Message now asks if you wish to remove @samp{(was: <old subject>)} from
25219 subject lines (see @code{message-subject-trailing-was-query}). @kbd{C-c
25220 M-m} and @kbd{C-c M-f} inserts markers indicating included text.
25221 @kbd{C-c C-f a} adds a X-No-Archive: header. @kbd{C-c C-f x} inserts
25222 appropriate headers and a note in the body for cross-postings and
25223 followups (see the variables @code{message-cross-post-@var{*}}).
25226 References and X-Draft-Headers are no longer generated when you start
25227 composing messages and @code{message-generate-headers-first} is
25231 Improved anti-spam features.
25233 Gnus is now able to take out spam from your mail and news streams
25234 using a wide variety of programs and filter rules. Among the supported
25235 methods are RBL blocklists, bogofilter and white/blacklists. Hooks
25236 for easy use of external packages such as SpamAssassin and Hashcash
25237 are also new. @xref{Thwarting Email Spam}.
25240 Easy inclusion of X-Faces headers.
25243 Face headers handling.
25246 In the summary buffer, the new command @kbd{/ N} inserts new messages
25247 and @kbd{/ o} inserts old messages.
25250 Gnus decodes morse encoded messages if you press @kbd{W m}.
25253 Unread count correct in nnimap groups.
25255 The estimated number of unread articles in the group buffer should now
25256 be correct for nnimap groups. This is achieved by calling
25257 @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} from the
25258 @code{gnus-setup-news-hook} (called on startup) and
25259 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook}. (called after getting new
25260 mail). If you have modified those variables from the default, you may
25261 want to add @code{nnimap-fixup-unread-after-getting-new-news} again. If
25262 you were happy with the estimate and want to save some (minimal) time
25263 when getting new mail, remove the function.
25266 Group Carbon Copy (GCC) quoting
25268 To support groups that contains SPC and other weird characters, groups
25269 are quoted before they are placed in the Gcc: header. This means
25270 variables such as @code{gnus-message-archive-group} should no longer
25271 contain quote characters to make groups containing SPC work. Also, if
25272 you are using the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar} (indicating Gcc
25273 into two groups) you must change it to return the list
25274 @code{("nnml:foo" "nnml:bar")}, otherwise the Gcc: line will be quoted
25275 incorrectly. Note that returning the string @samp{nnml:foo, nnml:bar}
25276 was incorrect earlier, it just didn't generate any problems since it
25277 was inserted directly.
25280 @file{~/News/overview/} not used.
25282 As a result of the following change, the @file{~/News/overview/}
25283 directory is not used any more. You can safely delete the entire
25289 The Gnus Agent has seen a major updated and is now enabled by default,
25290 and all nntp and nnimap servers from @code{gnus-select-method} and
25291 @code{gnus-secondary-select-method} are agentized by default. Earlier
25292 only the server in @code{gnus-select-method} was agentized by the
25293 default, and the agent was disabled by default. When the agent is
25294 enabled, headers are now also retrieved from the Agent cache instead
25295 of the back ends when possible. Earlier this only happened in the
25296 unplugged state. You can enroll or remove servers with @kbd{J a} and
25297 @kbd{J r} in the server buffer. Gnus will not download articles into
25298 the Agent cache, unless you instruct it to do so, though, by using
25299 @kbd{J u} or @kbd{J s} from the Group buffer. You revert to the old
25300 behaviour of having the Agent disabled with @code{(setq gnus-agent
25301 nil)}. Note that putting @code{(gnus-agentize)} in @file{~/.gnus.el}
25302 is not needed any more.
25305 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}
25307 The default value changed to @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%)
25308 %s\n}. Moreover @code{gnus-extra-headers},
25309 @code{nnmail-extra-headers} and @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses}
25310 changed their default so that the users name will be replaced by the
25311 recipient's name or the group name posting to for @acronym{NNTP}
25315 @file{deuglify.el} (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article})
25317 A new file from Raymond Scholz @email{rscholz@@zonix.de} for deuglifying
25318 broken Outlook (Express) articles.
25321 @code{(require 'gnus-load)}
25323 If you use a stand-alone Gnus distribution, you'd better add
25324 @code{(require 'gnus-load)} into your @file{~/.emacs} after adding the Gnus
25325 lisp directory into load-path.
25327 File @file{gnus-load.el} contains autoload commands, functions and variables,
25328 some of which may not be included in distributions of Emacsen.
25331 @code{gnus-slave-unplugged}
25333 A new command which starts Gnus offline in slave mode.
25336 @code{message-insinuate-rmail}
25338 Adding @code{(message-insinuate-rmail)} and @code{(setq
25339 mail-user-agent 'gnus-user-agent)} in @file{.emacs} convinces Rmail to
25340 compose, reply and forward messages in message-mode, where you can
25341 enjoy the power of @acronym{MML}.
25344 @code{message-minibuffer-local-map}
25346 The line below enables BBDB in resending a message:
25348 (define-key message-minibuffer-local-map [(tab)]
25349 'bbdb-complete-name)
25353 Externalizing and deleting of attachments.
25355 If @code{gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments} or
25356 @code{message-fcc-externalize-attachments} is non-@code{nil}, attach
25357 local files as external parts.
25359 The command @code{gnus-mime-save-part-and-strip} (bound to @kbd{C-o}
25360 on @acronym{MIME} buttons) saves a part and replaces the part with an
25361 external one. @code{gnus-mime-delete-part} (bound to @kbd{d} on
25362 @acronym{MIME} buttons) removes a part. It works only on back ends
25363 that support editing.
25366 @code{gnus-default-charset}
25368 The default value is determined from the
25369 @code{current-language-environment} variable, instead of
25370 @code{iso-8859-1}. Also the @samp{.*} item in
25371 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} is removed.
25374 @code{gnus-posting-styles}
25376 Add a new format of match like
25378 ((header "to" "larsi.*org")
25379 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25381 The old format like the lines below is obsolete, but still accepted.
25383 (header "to" "larsi.*org"
25384 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
25388 @code{message-ignored-news-headers} and @code{message-ignored-mail-headers}
25390 @samp{X-Draft-From} and @samp{X-Gnus-Agent-Meta-Information} have been
25391 added into these two variables. If you customized those, perhaps you
25392 need add those two headers too.
25395 Gnus reads the @acronym{NOV} and articles in the Agent if plugged.
25397 If one reads an article while plugged, and the article already exists
25398 in the Agent, it won't get downloaded once more. @code{(setq
25399 gnus-agent-cache nil)} reverts to the old behavior.
25402 Gnus supports the ``format=flowed'' (RFC 2646) parameter. On
25403 composing messages, it is enabled by @code{use-hard-newlines}.
25404 Decoding format=flowed was present but not documented in earlier
25408 Gnus supports the generation of RFC 2298 Disposition Notification requests.
25410 This is invoked with the @kbd{C-c M-n} key binding from message mode.
25413 Gnus supports Maildir groups.
25415 Gnus includes a new back end @file{nnmaildir.el}. @xref{Maildir}.
25418 Printing capabilities are enhanced.
25420 Gnus supports Muttprint natively with @kbd{O P} from the Summary and
25421 Article buffers. Also, each individual @acronym{MIME} part can be
25422 printed using @kbd{p} on the @acronym{MIME} button.
25425 Message supports the Importance: (RFC 2156) header.
25427 In the message buffer, @kbd{C-c C-f C-i} or @kbd{C-c C-u} cycles through
25431 Gnus supports Cancel Locks in News.
25433 This means a header @samp{Cancel-Lock} is inserted in news posting. It is
25434 used to determine if you wrote an article or not (for cancelling and
25435 superseding). Gnus generates a random password string the first time
25436 you post a message, and saves it in your @file{~/.emacs} using the Custom
25437 system. While the variable is called @code{canlock-password}, it is not
25438 security sensitive data. Publishing your canlock string on the web
25439 will not allow anyone to be able to anything she could not already do.
25440 The behaviour can be changed by customizing @code{message-insert-canlock}.
25443 Gnus supports server-side mail filtering using Sieve.
25445 Sieve rules can be added as Group Parameters for groups, and the
25446 complete Sieve script is generated using @kbd{D g} from the Group
25447 buffer, and then uploaded to the server using @kbd{C-c C-l} in the
25448 generated Sieve buffer. @xref{Sieve Commands}, and the new Sieve
25449 manual @ref{Top, , Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
25452 Extended format specs.
25454 Format spec @samp{%&user-date;} is added into
25455 @code{gnus-summary-line-format-alist}. Also, user defined extended
25456 format specs are supported. The extended format specs look like
25457 @samp{%u&foo;}, which invokes function
25458 @code{gnus-user-format-function-@var{foo}}. Because @samp{&} is used as the
25459 escape character, old user defined format @samp{%u&} is no longer supported.
25462 @kbd{/ *} (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}) is rewritten.
25464 It was aliased to @kbd{Y c}
25465 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}). The new function filters
25466 out other articles.
25468 @item Some limiting commands accept a @kbd{C-u} prefix to negate the match.
25470 If @kbd{C-u} is used on subject, author or extra headers, i.e., @kbd{/
25471 s}, @kbd{/ a}, and @kbd{/ x}
25472 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-@{subject,author,extra@}}) respectively, the
25473 result will be to display all articles that do not match the expression.
25476 Group names are treated as UTF-8 by default.
25478 This is supposedly what USEFOR wanted to migrate to. See
25479 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist} and
25480 @code{gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist} for customization.
25483 The nnml and nnfolder back ends store marks for each groups.
25485 This makes it possible to take backup of nnml/nnfolder servers/groups
25486 separately of @file{~/.newsrc.eld}, while preserving marks. It also
25487 makes it possible to share articles and marks between users (without
25488 sharing the @file{~/.newsrc.eld} file) within e.g. a department. It
25489 works by storing the marks stored in @file{~/.newsrc.eld} in a per-group
25490 file @file{.marks} (for nnml) and @file{@var{groupname}.mrk} (for
25491 nnfolder, named @var{groupname}). If the nnml/nnfolder is moved to
25492 another machine, Gnus will automatically use the @file{.marks} or
25493 @file{.mrk} file instead of the information in @file{~/.newsrc.eld}.
25494 The new server variables @code{nnml-marks-is-evil} and
25495 @code{nnfolder-marks-is-evil} can be used to disable this feature.
25498 The menu bar item (in Group and Summary buffer) named ``Misc'' has
25499 been renamed to ``Gnus''.
25502 The menu bar item (in Message mode) named ``@acronym{MML}'' has been
25503 renamed to ``Attachments''. Note that this menu also contains security
25504 related stuff, like signing and encryption (@pxref{Security, Security,,
25505 message, Message Manual}).
25508 @code{gnus-group-charset-alist} and
25509 @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
25511 The regexps in these variables are compared with full group names
25512 instead of real group names in 5.8. Users who customize these
25513 variables should change those regexps accordingly. For example:
25515 ("^han\\>" euc-kr) -> ("\\(^\\|:\\)han\\>" euc-kr)
25519 Gnus supports @acronym{PGP} (RFC 1991/2440), @acronym{PGP/MIME} (RFC
25520 2015/3156) and @acronym{S/MIME} (RFC 2630-2633).
25522 It needs an external @acronym{S/MIME} and OpenPGP implementation, but no
25523 additional Lisp libraries. This add several menu items to the
25524 Attachments menu, and @kbd{C-c RET} key bindings, when composing
25525 messages. This also obsoletes @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook}.
25528 Gnus inlines external parts (message/external).
25531 @acronym{MML} (Mime compose) prefix changed from @kbd{M-m} to @kbd{C-c
25534 This change was made to avoid conflict with the standard binding of
25535 @code{back-to-indentation}, which is also useful in message mode.
25542 @section The Manual
25546 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
25547 either @code{texi2dvi}
25549 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
25550 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
25552 to get what you hold in your hands now.
25554 The following conventions have been used:
25559 This is a @samp{string}
25562 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
25565 This is a @file{file}
25568 This is a @code{symbol}
25572 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
25576 (setq flargnoze "yes")
25579 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
25582 (setq flumphel 'yes)
25585 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
25586 ever get them confused.
25590 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
25591 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
25592 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
25593 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
25594 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
25595 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
25596 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
25602 @node On Writing Manuals
25603 @section On Writing Manuals
25605 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
25606 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
25607 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
25608 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
25609 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
25610 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
25613 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
25614 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
25615 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
25618 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
25619 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
25624 @section Terminology
25626 @cindex terminology
25631 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
25632 News is generally fetched from a nearby @acronym{NNTP} server, and is
25633 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
25634 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
25635 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
25639 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
25640 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
25641 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
25642 not posting, and replying is not following up.
25646 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
25650 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
25655 Gnus considers mail and news to be mostly the same, really. The only
25656 difference is how to access the actual articles. News articles are
25657 commonly fetched via the protocol @acronym{NNTP}, whereas mail
25658 messages could be read from a file on the local disk. The internal
25659 architecture of Gnus thus comprises a ``front end'' and a number of
25660 ``back ends''. Internally, when you enter a group (by hitting
25661 @key{RET}, say), you thereby invoke a function in the front end in
25662 Gnus. The front end then ``talks'' to a back end and says things like
25663 ``Give me the list of articles in the foo group'' or ``Show me article
25666 So a back end mainly defines either a protocol (the @code{nntp} back
25667 end accesses news via @acronym{NNTP}, the @code{nnimap} back end
25668 accesses mail via @acronym{IMAP}) or a file format and directory
25669 layout (the @code{nnspool} back end accesses news via the common
25670 ``spool directory'' format, the @code{nnml} back end access mail via a
25671 file format and directory layout that's quite similar).
25673 Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this is all
25674 done by the back ends. A back end is a collection of functions to
25675 access the articles.
25677 However, sometimes the term ``back end'' is also used where ``server''
25678 would have been more appropriate. And then there is the term ``select
25679 method'' which can mean either. The Gnus terminology can be quite
25684 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
25685 default, way of getting news.
25689 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
25690 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
25695 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
25696 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
25700 A message that has been posted as news.
25703 @cindex mail message
25704 A message that has been mailed.
25708 A mail message or news article
25712 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
25717 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
25722 A line from the head of an article.
25726 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
25727 collection of @acronym{NOV} lines.
25729 @item @acronym{NOV}
25730 @cindex @acronym{NOV}
25731 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
25732 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
25733 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
25734 normal @sc{head} format.
25738 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
25739 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
25740 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
25741 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
25742 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
25743 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
25745 @item killed groups
25746 @cindex killed groups
25747 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
25748 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
25750 @item zombie groups
25751 @cindex zombie groups
25752 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
25755 @cindex active file
25756 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
25757 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
25758 is rather large, as you might surmise.
25761 @cindex bogus groups
25762 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
25763 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
25764 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
25767 @cindex activating groups
25768 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
25769 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
25770 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
25774 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
25776 @item select method
25777 @cindex select method
25778 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
25781 @item virtual server
25782 @cindex virtual server
25783 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
25784 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
25785 whole is a virtual server.
25789 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
25790 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
25793 @item ephemeral groups
25794 @cindex ephemeral groups
25795 @cindex temporary groups
25796 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
25797 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
25798 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
25801 @cindex solid groups
25802 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
25803 group buffer are solid groups.
25805 @item sparse articles
25806 @cindex sparse articles
25807 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
25808 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
25812 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
25813 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
25817 @cindex thread root
25818 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
25819 articles in the thread.
25823 An article that has responses.
25827 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
25831 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
25832 specified by RFC 1153.
25835 @cindex splitting, terminolgy
25836 @cindex mail sorting
25837 @cindex mail filtering (splitting)
25838 The action of sorting your emails according to certain rules. Sometimes
25839 incorrectly called mail filtering.
25845 @node Customization
25846 @section Customization
25847 @cindex general customization
25849 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
25850 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
25851 for some quite common situations.
25854 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
25855 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
25856 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
25857 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
25861 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
25862 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
25864 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
25865 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
25866 Gnus has to get from the @acronym{NNTP} server.
25870 @item gnus-read-active-file
25871 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
25872 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
25873 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
25874 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
25875 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
25877 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
25878 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
25879 the @acronym{NNTP} server will not be very fast. Not all @acronym{NNTP} servers
25880 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
25884 @node Slow Terminal Connection
25885 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
25887 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
25888 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
25889 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
25893 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
25894 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
25895 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
25896 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
25897 horizontal and vertical recentering.
25899 @item gnus-visible-headers
25900 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
25901 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
25902 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
25903 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
25905 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
25907 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
25908 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
25909 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
25912 @item gnus-use-full-window
25913 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
25914 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
25915 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
25916 want to read them anyway.
25918 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
25919 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
25923 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
25924 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
25925 lines, which might save some time.
25929 @node Little Disk Space
25930 @subsection Little Disk Space
25933 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
25934 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
25938 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
25939 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
25940 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
25941 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
25944 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
25945 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
25946 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
25947 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
25950 @item gnus-save-killed-list
25951 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
25952 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
25953 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
25954 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
25960 @subsection Slow Machine
25961 @cindex slow machine
25963 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
25964 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
25966 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
25967 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
25969 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
25970 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
25971 summary buffer faster.
25975 @node Troubleshooting
25976 @section Troubleshooting
25977 @cindex troubleshooting
25979 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
25987 Make sure your computer is switched on.
25990 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
25991 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
25995 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
25996 like @samp{T-gnus 6.16.* (based on Gnus v5.10.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
25997 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
25998 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
25999 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
26002 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a
26003 @acronym{FAQ} and a how-to.
26006 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
26007 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
26008 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
26009 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
26010 something like that.
26013 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
26016 @cindex reporting bugs
26018 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
26020 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
26021 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
26022 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
26023 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
26025 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
26026 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
26027 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
26028 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
26031 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
26032 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
26033 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
26034 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
26035 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
26036 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
26038 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
26039 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
26040 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
26044 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
26045 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
26048 If you want to debug your problem further before reporting, possibly
26049 in order to solve the problem yourself and send a patch, you can use
26050 edebug. Debugging Lisp code is documented in the Elisp manual
26051 (@pxref{Debugging, , Debugging Lisp Programs, elisp, The GNU Emacs
26052 Lisp Reference Manual}). To get you started with edebug, consider if
26053 you discover some weird behaviour when pressing @kbd{c}, the first
26054 step is to do @kbd{C-h k c} and click on the hyperlink (Emacs only) in
26055 the documentation buffer that leads you to the function definition,
26056 then press @kbd{M-x edebug-defun RET} with point inside that function,
26057 return to Gnus and press @kbd{c} to invoke the code. You will be
26058 placed in the lisp buffer and can single step using @kbd{SPC} and
26059 evaluate expressions using @kbd{M-:} or inspect variables using
26060 @kbd{C-h v}, abort execution with @kbd{q}, and resume execution with
26061 @kbd{c} or @kbd{g}.
26066 Sometimes, a problem do not directly generate an elisp error but
26067 manifests itself by causing Gnus to be very slow. In these cases, you
26068 can use @kbd{M-x toggle-debug-on-quit} and press @kbd{C-g} when things are
26069 slow, and then try to analyze the backtrace (repeating the procedure
26070 helps isolating the real problem areas).
26072 A fancier approach is to use the elisp profiler, ELP. The profiler is
26073 (or should be) fully documented elsewhere, but to get you started
26074 there are a few steps that need to be followed. First, instrument the
26075 part of Gnus you are interested in for profiling, e.g. @kbd{M-x
26076 elp-instrument-package RET gnus} or @kbd{M-x elp-instrument-package
26077 RET message}. Then perform the operation that is slow and press
26078 @kbd{M-x elp-results}. You will then see which operations that takes
26079 time, and can debug them further. If the entire operation takes much
26080 longer than the time spent in the slowest function in the profiler
26081 output, you probably profiled the wrong part of Gnus. To reset
26082 profiling statistics, use @kbd{M-x elp-reset-all}. @kbd{M-x
26083 elp-restore-all} is supposed to remove profiling, but given the
26084 complexities and dynamic code generation in Gnus, it might not always
26087 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
26088 @cindex ding mailing list
26089 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
26090 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful. You can also ask on
26091 @email{ding@@gnus.org, the ding mailing list}. Write to
26092 @email{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
26096 @node Gnus Reference Guide
26097 @section Gnus Reference Guide
26099 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
26100 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
26101 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
26102 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
26105 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
26106 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
26107 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
26108 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
26109 and general methods of operation.
26112 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
26113 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
26114 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
26115 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
26116 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
26117 * Group Info:: The group info format.
26118 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
26119 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
26120 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
26124 @node Gnus Utility Functions
26125 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
26126 @cindex Gnus utility functions
26127 @cindex utility functions
26129 @cindex internal variables
26131 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
26132 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
26133 Below is a list of the most common ones.
26137 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
26138 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
26139 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
26141 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
26142 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
26143 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
26145 @item gnus-group-real-name
26146 @findex gnus-group-real-name
26147 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
26150 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
26151 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
26152 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
26153 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
26155 @item gnus-get-info
26156 @findex gnus-get-info
26157 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
26159 @item gnus-group-unread
26160 @findex gnus-group-unread
26161 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
26165 @findex gnus-active
26166 The active entry for @var{group}.
26168 @item gnus-set-active
26169 @findex gnus-set-active
26170 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
26172 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26173 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
26174 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
26177 @item gnus-continuum-version
26178 @findex gnus-continuum-version
26179 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
26180 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
26183 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
26184 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
26185 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
26187 @item gnus-news-group-p
26188 @findex gnus-news-group-p
26189 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
26191 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26192 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
26193 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
26195 @item gnus-server-to-method
26196 @findex gnus-server-to-method
26197 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
26199 @item gnus-server-equal
26200 @findex gnus-server-equal
26201 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
26203 @item gnus-group-native-p
26204 @findex gnus-group-native-p
26205 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
26207 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
26208 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
26209 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
26211 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
26212 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
26213 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
26215 @item gnus-group-find-parameter
26216 @findex gnus-group-find-parameter
26217 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
26218 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
26220 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
26221 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
26222 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
26224 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
26225 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
26226 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
26228 @item gnus-check-backend-function
26229 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
26230 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
26231 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
26234 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
26238 @item gnus-read-method
26239 @findex gnus-read-method
26240 Prompts the user for a select method.
26245 @node Back End Interface
26246 @subsection Back End Interface
26248 Gnus doesn't know anything about @acronym{NNTP}, spools, mail or virtual
26249 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
26250 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
26251 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
26252 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
26253 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
26255 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
26256 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
26257 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
26258 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
26259 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
26260 been opened, the function should fail.
26262 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
26263 name. Take this example:
26267 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
26268 (nntp-port-number 4324))
26271 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
26272 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
26274 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
26275 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
26276 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
26278 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
26279 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
26280 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
26282 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
26283 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
26284 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
26285 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
26286 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
26287 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
26290 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
26291 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
26292 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
26293 ---they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
26296 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
26297 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
26298 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
26299 possible for later articles to ``re-use'' older article numbers without
26300 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
26301 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
26302 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
26303 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
26304 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
26305 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
26307 The previous paragraph already mentions all the ``hard'' restrictions that
26308 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
26309 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
26310 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
26311 the ``no-reuse'' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
26312 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
26313 of numbers as long as possible.
26315 Note that by convention, back ends are named @code{nnsomething}, but
26316 Gnus also comes with some @code{nnnotbackends}, such as
26317 @file{nnheader.el}, @file{nnmail.el} and @file{nnoo.el}.
26319 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
26322 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
26325 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
26326 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
26327 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
26328 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
26329 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
26330 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
26334 @node Required Back End Functions
26335 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
26339 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
26341 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
26342 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
26343 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
26344 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
26346 The result data should either be HEADs or @acronym{NOV} lines, and the result
26347 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
26348 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
26349 of HEADs and @acronym{NOV} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
26351 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching ``extra
26352 headers'', in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
26353 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
26354 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
26355 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
26356 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
26357 number, do maximum fetches.
26359 Here's an example HEAD:
26362 221 1056 Article retrieved.
26363 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
26364 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
26365 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
26366 Subject: Re: Something very droll
26367 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
26368 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
26370 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
26371 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
26372 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
26376 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
26377 these in the data buffer.
26379 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
26383 head = error / valid-head
26384 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
26385 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
26386 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
26387 header = <text> eol
26391 (The version of BNF used here is the one used in RFC822.)
26393 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
26394 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
26398 nov-buffer = *nov-line
26399 nov-line = field 7*8[ <TAB> field ] eol
26400 field = <text except TAB>
26403 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
26407 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
26409 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
26410 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
26412 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
26413 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
26414 server. In fact, it should do so.
26416 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
26417 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
26420 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
26422 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
26423 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
26426 There should be no data returned.
26429 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
26431 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
26432 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
26433 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
26434 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
26436 There should be no data returned.
26439 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
26441 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
26442 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
26443 non-@code{nil} value. This function should under no circumstances
26444 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
26446 There should be no data returned.
26449 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
26451 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
26453 There should be no data returned.
26456 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
26458 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
26459 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
26460 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
26461 it would be nice if that were possible.
26463 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
26464 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
26465 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
26466 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
26467 into its article buffer.
26469 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
26470 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
26471 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
26472 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
26473 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
26474 on successful article retrieval.
26477 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
26479 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
26480 making @var{group} the current group.
26482 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
26485 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
26488 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
26491 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
26492 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
26493 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
26494 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
26495 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
26496 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
26497 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
26498 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
26499 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
26503 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
26504 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
26505 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
26509 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
26511 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
26512 a no-op on most back ends.
26514 There should be no data returned.
26517 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
26519 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
26522 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
26525 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
26526 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
26529 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
26530 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
26531 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
26532 and the highest as 0.
26535 active-file = *active-line
26536 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
26538 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
26541 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
26542 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
26543 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
26546 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
26548 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
26549 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
26550 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
26551 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
26552 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
26553 clear if the posting could not be completed.
26555 There should be no result data from this function.
26560 @node Optional Back End Functions
26561 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
26565 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
26567 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
26568 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
26569 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
26571 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
26572 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
26573 former is in the same format as the data from
26574 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
26575 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
26578 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
26582 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
26584 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
26585 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all
26586 the information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
26587 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
26588 should return a non-@code{nil} value.
26590 There should be no result data from this function.
26593 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
26595 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
26596 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
26597 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
26598 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
26599 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
26600 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
26601 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
26602 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
26604 There should be no result data from this function.
26607 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
26609 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
26610 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
26611 @file{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @acronym{IMAP}) however carry
26612 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
26613 propagate the mark information to the server.
26615 @var{action} is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
26618 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
26621 @var{range} is a range of articles you wish to update marks on.
26622 @var{action} is @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove
26623 marks (preserving all marks not mentioned). @var{mark} is a list of
26624 marks; where each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are
26625 @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
26626 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
26627 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
26628 possible, not limit itself to these.
26630 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
26631 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
26632 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
26633 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
26635 An example action list:
26638 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
26639 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
26640 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
26643 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
26644 mark on (currently not used for anything).
26646 There should be no result data from this function.
26648 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
26650 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
26651 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
26652 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
26653 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
26654 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
26656 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
26657 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
26658 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
26661 There should be no result data from this function.
26664 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
26666 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
26667 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
26668 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query
26669 the @acronym{POP} server when this function is invoked. The
26670 @var{group} doesn't have to be heeded---if the back end decides that
26671 it is too much work just scanning for a single group, it may do a
26672 total scan of all groups. It would be nice, however, to keep things
26673 local if that's practical.
26675 There should be no result data from this function.
26678 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
26680 The result data from this function should be a description of
26684 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
26686 description = <text>
26689 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
26691 The result data from this function should be the description of all
26692 groups available on the server.
26695 description-buffer = *description-line
26699 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
26701 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
26702 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
26703 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
26704 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
26705 in the active buffer format.
26707 It is okay for this function to return ``too many'' groups; some back ends
26708 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
26709 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
26710 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
26711 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
26712 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
26713 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
26716 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
26718 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
26720 There should be no return data.
26723 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
26725 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
26726 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
26727 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
26728 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
26729 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
26732 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
26735 There should be no result data returned.
26738 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM &optional LAST)
26740 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
26741 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
26743 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
26744 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
26745 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
26746 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
26747 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
26748 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
26750 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
26751 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
26754 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
26755 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
26757 The group should exist before the back end is asked to accept the
26758 article for that group.
26760 There should be no data returned.
26763 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
26765 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
26766 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
26767 this function in short order.
26769 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
26770 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
26772 There should be no data returned.
26775 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
26777 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
26778 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
26780 There should be no data returned.
26783 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
26785 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
26786 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
26787 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
26789 There should be no data returned.
26792 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
26794 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
26795 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
26797 There should be no data returned.
26802 @node Error Messaging
26803 @subsubsection Error Messaging
26805 @findex nnheader-report
26806 @findex nnheader-get-report
26807 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
26808 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
26809 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
26810 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
26811 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
26812 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
26815 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
26817 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
26820 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
26821 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
26822 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
26823 takes one argument---the server symbol.
26825 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
26826 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
26827 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
26830 @node Writing New Back Ends
26831 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
26833 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
26834 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
26835 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
26836 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
26837 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
26840 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
26841 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
26842 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
26844 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
26845 package called @code{nnoo}.
26847 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
26848 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
26854 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
26855 parameters. For instance:
26858 (nnoo-declare nndir
26862 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
26863 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
26866 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
26867 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
26868 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
26870 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
26871 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
26872 a function in those back ends.
26875 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
26876 "Where nndir will look for groups."
26877 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
26880 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
26881 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
26882 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
26884 @item nnoo-define-basics
26885 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
26889 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
26893 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
26894 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
26895 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
26897 @item nnoo-map-functions
26898 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
26899 functions from the parent back ends.
26902 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
26903 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
26904 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
26907 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
26908 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
26909 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
26910 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
26913 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
26914 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
26915 haven't already been defined.
26921 nnmh-request-newgroups)
26925 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
26926 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
26927 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
26932 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
26935 ;;; @r{nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus}
26936 ;; @r{Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.}
26940 (require 'nnheader)
26944 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
26946 (nnoo-declare nndir
26949 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
26950 "Where nndir will look for groups."
26951 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
26953 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
26954 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
26957 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
26959 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
26960 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
26961 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
26963 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
26964 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
26966 ;;; @r{Interface functions.}
26968 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
26970 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
26971 (setq nndir-directory
26972 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
26974 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
26975 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
26976 (push `(nndir-current-group
26977 ,(file-name-nondirectory
26978 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
26980 (push `(nndir-top-directory
26981 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
26983 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
26985 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
26986 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
26987 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
26988 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
26989 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
26993 nnmh-status-message
26995 nnmh-request-newgroups))
27001 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27002 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
27004 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
27005 @findex gnus-declare-backend
27006 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
27007 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
27008 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
27010 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
27011 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
27016 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
27019 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
27021 The abilities can be:
27025 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
27027 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
27029 This back end supports both mail and news.
27031 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
27034 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
27035 articles and groups.
27037 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
27038 true for almost all back ends.
27039 @item prompt-address
27040 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
27041 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
27042 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
27046 @node Mail-like Back Ends
27047 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
27049 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
27050 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
27051 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
27052 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
27055 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
27056 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
27057 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
27060 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
27061 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
27064 This function takes four parameters.
27068 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
27071 @item exit-function
27072 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
27074 @item temp-directory
27075 Where the temporary files should be stored.
27078 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
27079 performed for one group only.
27082 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
27083 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
27084 find the article number assigned to this article.
27086 The function also uses the following variables:
27087 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
27088 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
27089 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
27090 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
27094 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
27095 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
27099 @node Score File Syntax
27100 @subsection Score File Syntax
27102 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
27103 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
27104 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
27106 Here's a typical score file:
27110 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
27117 BNF definition of a score file:
27120 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
27121 element = rule / atom
27122 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
27123 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
27124 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
27125 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
27127 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
27128 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
27129 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
27130 date-header = "date"
27131 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27132 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27133 score = "nil" / <integer>
27134 date = "nil" / <natural number>
27135 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
27136 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
27137 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
27138 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
27139 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27140 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27141 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
27142 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
27143 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
27144 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
27145 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
27146 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
27147 exclude-files / read-only / touched
27148 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
27149 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
27150 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
27151 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
27152 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
27153 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
27154 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
27155 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
27156 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
27157 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
27158 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
27159 eval = "eval" space <form>
27160 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
27163 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
27166 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
27167 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
27168 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
27169 one looong line, then that's ok.
27171 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
27172 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
27176 @subsection Headers
27178 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
27179 corresponds to the @acronym{NOV} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
27180 almost suspect that the author looked at the @acronym{NOV} specification and
27181 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
27183 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
27184 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
27185 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
27186 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
27187 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
27188 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
27189 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
27191 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
27192 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
27193 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
27194 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
27195 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
27197 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
27198 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
27204 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
27205 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
27207 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
27208 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
27209 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
27210 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
27212 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
27216 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
27219 is transformed into
27222 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
27225 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
27226 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
27229 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
27232 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
27233 is slightly tricky:
27236 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
27242 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
27245 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
27251 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
27258 and is equal to the previous range.
27260 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
27261 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
27262 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
27266 range = simple-range / normal-range
27267 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
27268 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
27269 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
27270 number *[ " " contents ]
27273 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
27274 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
27275 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
27276 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
27277 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
27282 @subsection Group Info
27284 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
27285 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
27286 describes the group.
27288 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
27289 second is a more complex one:
27292 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
27294 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
27295 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
27297 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
27300 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
27301 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
27302 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
27303 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
27304 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
27305 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
27306 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
27307 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
27308 this section is about.
27310 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
27311 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
27312 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
27314 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
27317 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
27318 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
27319 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
27320 group = quote <string> quote
27321 ralevel = rank / level
27322 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27323 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
27324 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
27326 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
27327 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
27328 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
27329 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
27332 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
27333 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
27336 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
27337 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
27340 @item gnus-info-group
27341 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
27342 @findex gnus-info-group
27343 @findex gnus-info-set-group
27344 Get/set the group name.
27346 @item gnus-info-rank
27347 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
27348 @findex gnus-info-rank
27349 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
27350 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
27352 @item gnus-info-level
27353 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
27354 @findex gnus-info-level
27355 @findex gnus-info-set-level
27356 Get/set the group level.
27358 @item gnus-info-score
27359 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
27360 @findex gnus-info-score
27361 @findex gnus-info-set-score
27362 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
27364 @item gnus-info-read
27365 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
27366 @findex gnus-info-read
27367 @findex gnus-info-set-read
27368 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
27370 @item gnus-info-marks
27371 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
27372 @findex gnus-info-marks
27373 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
27374 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
27376 @item gnus-info-method
27377 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
27378 @findex gnus-info-method
27379 @findex gnus-info-set-method
27380 Get/set the group select method.
27382 @item gnus-info-params
27383 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
27384 @findex gnus-info-params
27385 @findex gnus-info-set-params
27386 Get/set the group parameters.
27389 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
27390 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
27392 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
27393 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
27394 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
27395 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
27398 @node Extended Interactive
27399 @subsection Extended Interactive
27400 @cindex interactive
27401 @findex gnus-interactive
27403 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
27404 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
27405 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
27408 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
27409 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
27414 The best thing to do would have been to implement
27415 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
27416 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
27417 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
27418 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
27419 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
27420 @code{interactive}.
27422 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
27427 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
27428 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
27432 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
27433 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
27434 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
27437 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
27441 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
27445 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
27451 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
27452 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
27456 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
27457 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
27458 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
27460 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
27461 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
27462 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
27463 Gnus, that's very useful.
27465 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
27466 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
27467 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
27468 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
27469 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
27470 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
27471 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
27472 following function:
27475 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
27479 (,function ,@@args))
27483 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
27484 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
27485 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
27488 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
27489 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
27490 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
27492 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
27493 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
27494 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
27497 @node Various File Formats
27498 @subsection Various File Formats
27501 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
27502 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
27506 @node Active File Format
27507 @subsubsection Active File Format
27509 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
27510 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
27513 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
27516 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
27517 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
27518 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
27519 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
27520 no.general 1000 900 y
27523 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
27526 active = *group-line
27527 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
27528 group = <non-white-space string>
27530 high-number = <non-negative integer>
27531 low-number = <positive integer>
27532 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
27535 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
27536 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
27539 @node Newsgroups File Format
27540 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
27542 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
27543 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
27544 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
27547 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
27548 Here's the definition:
27552 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
27553 group = <non-white-space string>
27555 description = <string>
27560 @node Emacs for Heathens
27561 @section Emacs for Heathens
27563 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
27564 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
27565 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
27566 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
27567 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
27568 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
27569 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
27573 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
27574 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
27579 @subsection Keystrokes
27583 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
27586 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
27589 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
27590 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
27591 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
27592 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
27593 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
27594 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
27596 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
27597 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
27598 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
27599 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
27600 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
27601 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
27602 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
27604 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
27605 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
27606 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
27607 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
27608 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
27609 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
27610 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
27612 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
27613 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
27614 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
27615 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
27616 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
27622 @subsection Emacs Lisp
27624 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
27625 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
27626 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
27627 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
27629 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
27630 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
27631 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
27632 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
27633 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
27634 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
27635 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
27638 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
27639 write the following:
27642 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
27645 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
27646 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
27647 you can go and fill your @file{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
27650 If you have put that thing in your @file{.emacs} file, it will be read
27651 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
27652 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
27653 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
27654 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
27656 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
27657 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
27658 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
27662 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
27666 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
27669 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
27670 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
27673 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
27676 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
27677 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
27680 @include gnus-faq.texi
27700 @c Local Variables:
27702 @c coding: iso-8859-1