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4 @settitle Semi-gnus 6.10.011 Manual
9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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264 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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273 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
275 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
276 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
277 are preserved on all copies.
279 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
280 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
281 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
282 permission notice identical to this one.
284 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
285 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
294 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
296 Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
298 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
299 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
300 are preserved on all copies.
303 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
304 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
305 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
306 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
309 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
310 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
311 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
312 permission notice identical to this one.
314 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
315 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
321 @title Semi-gnus 6.10.011 Manual
323 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
326 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
327 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
329 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
330 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
331 are preserved on all copies.
333 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
334 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
335 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
336 permission notice identical to this one.
338 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
339 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
348 @top The gnus Newsreader
352 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
353 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
354 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
357 Semi-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So Semi-gnus
358 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
359 other various kinds of formats. Semi-gnus also supports
360 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
361 API. So Semi-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
362 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
364 This manual corresponds to Semi-gnus 6.10.011.
375 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
376 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
378 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
379 being accused of plagiarism:
381 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
382 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
383 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you can
384 even read news with it!
386 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
387 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
388 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
389 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
390 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
397 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
398 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
399 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
400 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
401 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
402 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
403 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
404 * Various:: General purpose settings.
405 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
406 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
407 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
408 * Key Index:: Key Index.
412 @chapter Starting gnus
417 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
418 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
421 @findex gnus-other-frame
422 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
423 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
424 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
426 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
427 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
428 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
430 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
431 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
434 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
435 * The First Time:: What does gnus do the first time you start it?
436 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
437 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one gnus active at a time.
438 * Fetching a Group:: Starting gnus just to read a group.
439 * New Groups:: What is gnus supposed to do with new groups?
440 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
441 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
442 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
443 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
444 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
448 @node Finding the News
449 @section Finding the News
452 @vindex gnus-select-method
454 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
455 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
456 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
457 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are foreign
460 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
461 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
464 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
467 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
470 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
473 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
474 certainly be much faster.
476 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
478 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
479 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
480 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
481 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
482 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
483 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an
484 @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
486 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
487 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
488 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
489 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
491 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
492 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
493 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
494 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
495 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
496 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting.
498 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
500 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
501 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
502 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
503 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
504 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
505 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
507 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
509 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
510 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
511 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
512 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
513 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
514 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
517 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
518 would typically set this variable to
521 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
526 @section The First Time
527 @cindex first time usage
529 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
530 be subscribed by default.
532 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
533 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
534 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
535 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
538 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
539 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
540 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
542 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
543 help you with most common problems.
545 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
546 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
550 @node The Server is Down
551 @section The Server is Down
552 @cindex server errors
554 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
555 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
556 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
558 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
559 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
560 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
561 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
562 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
563 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
564 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
566 @findex gnus-no-server
567 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
569 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
570 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
571 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
572 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
573 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
574 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
579 @section Slave Gnusae
582 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
583 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if
584 you are using the two different gnusae to read from two different
585 servers), that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
587 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
590 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
591 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and @dfn{slaves}.
592 (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have taken out a
593 copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in conjunction
594 with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to me. Usage of
595 the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer Applications})
596 will be much more expensive, of course.)
598 Anyways, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
599 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
600 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
601 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
602 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
603 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
604 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
605 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
607 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
608 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
611 @node Fetching a Group
612 @section Fetching a Group
613 @cindex fetching a group
615 @findex gnus-fetch-group
616 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
617 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
618 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
619 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
620 It takes the group name as a parameter.
628 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
629 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
630 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
631 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
632 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
633 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
634 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
635 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
636 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
639 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
640 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
641 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
645 @node Checking New Groups
646 @subsection Checking New Groups
648 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
649 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
650 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
651 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
652 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
653 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
654 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
655 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
656 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
657 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
659 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
660 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
661 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
662 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
663 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't work.
664 I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server supports
665 @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't. You could
666 @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see whether it lists
667 @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If it does, then it
668 might work. (But there are servers that lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} without
669 supporting the function properly.)
671 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
672 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
673 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
674 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
675 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
676 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
679 @node Subscription Methods
680 @subsection Subscription Methods
682 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
683 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
684 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
686 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
687 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
689 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
693 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
694 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
695 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
696 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
697 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
699 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
700 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
701 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
702 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
704 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
705 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
706 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
708 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
709 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
710 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
711 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
712 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
713 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into it's
714 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
715 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
716 up. Or something like that.
718 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
719 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
720 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask you
721 about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe to
722 will be subscribed hierarchically.
724 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
725 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
730 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
731 A closely related variable is
732 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
733 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
734 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
735 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
738 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
739 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
740 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
741 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
744 @node Filtering New Groups
745 @subsection Filtering New Groups
747 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
748 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
749 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
752 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
755 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
756 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
757 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
758 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
759 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
760 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
761 subscribing these groups.
762 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
763 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
765 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
766 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
767 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
768 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
769 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
770 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
771 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
772 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
774 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
775 Yet another variable that meddles here is
776 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
777 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
778 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
779 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
780 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
781 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
782 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
783 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
785 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
786 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
789 @node Changing Servers
790 @section Changing Servers
791 @cindex changing servers
793 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
794 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
795 very flaky and you want to use another.
797 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
798 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
802 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
803 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
804 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
805 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
808 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
809 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
810 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
811 functions more than absolutely necessary.
813 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
814 @findex gnus-change-server
815 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
816 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
817 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
818 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
819 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
821 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
822 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
823 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
824 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
825 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
827 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
828 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
829 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
830 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
831 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
832 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
836 @section Startup Files
837 @cindex startup files
842 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
843 information is traditionally stored in this file.
845 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{GNUS}. In addition to
846 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
847 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
848 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
849 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{GNUS} would read whichever one of these
850 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
851 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
853 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
854 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
855 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
856 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
857 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
858 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
860 In addition, gnus does not change anything. Hail comrade Lars!
862 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
863 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
864 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
865 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
866 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
867 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right?
869 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
870 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
871 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
872 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
873 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
874 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
875 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
876 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
877 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
878 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
879 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
880 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
882 @vindex gnus-startup-file
883 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
884 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
885 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
887 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
888 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
889 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
890 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
891 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
892 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
893 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
894 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
895 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
896 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
899 (defun turn-off-backup ()
900 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
902 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
903 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
906 @vindex gnus-init-file
907 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
908 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
909 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
910 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
911 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
912 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
913 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
914 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
915 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
924 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
925 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
926 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
927 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
928 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
931 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
932 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file
935 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
936 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
937 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
939 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
940 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
941 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
942 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
943 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
944 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
946 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
947 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
948 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
951 @node The Active File
952 @section The Active File
954 @cindex ignored groups
956 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
957 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
958 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
960 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
961 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
962 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
963 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
964 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
965 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
966 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
969 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
970 @c if you set it to anything else.
972 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
974 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
975 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
976 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
978 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
979 you actually subscribe to.
981 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
982 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
983 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
984 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
986 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
987 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
988 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
989 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
990 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
991 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
993 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
994 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
995 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
996 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
997 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
998 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1000 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1001 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1003 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1004 secondary select methods.
1007 @node Startup Variables
1008 @section Startup Variables
1012 @item gnus-load-hook
1013 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1014 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1015 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1016 times you start gnus.
1018 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1019 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1020 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1022 @item gnus-startup-hook
1023 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1024 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1026 @item gnus-started-hook
1027 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1028 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1031 @item gnus-started-hook
1032 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1033 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1034 generating the group buffer.
1036 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1037 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1038 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1039 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1040 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1041 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1042 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1043 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1045 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1046 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1047 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1048 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1049 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1050 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1052 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1053 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1054 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1056 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1057 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1058 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1060 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1061 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1062 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1063 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1068 @node The Group Buffer
1069 @chapter The Group Buffer
1070 @cindex group buffer
1072 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1073 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1074 long as gnus is active.
1078 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1079 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1080 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1081 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1082 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1083 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1084 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1085 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1091 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1092 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1093 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1094 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1095 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1096 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1097 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1098 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1099 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1100 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1101 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1102 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1103 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1104 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1105 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1106 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1107 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1111 @node Group Buffer Format
1112 @section Group Buffer Format
1115 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1116 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1117 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1121 @node Group Line Specification
1122 @subsection Group Line Specification
1123 @cindex group buffer format
1125 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1126 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1128 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1131 25: news.announce.newusers
1132 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1137 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1138 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1139 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1140 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1142 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1143 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1144 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1145 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1146 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1147 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1149 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1151 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1152 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1153 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1154 never examined by gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1157 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1158 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1159 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1161 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1166 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1169 Whether the group is subscribed.
1172 Level of subscribedness.
1175 Number of unread articles.
1178 Number of dormant articles.
1181 Number of ticked articles.
1184 Number of read articles.
1187 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1188 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1191 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1194 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1203 Newsgroup description.
1206 @samp{m} if moderated.
1209 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1218 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1222 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1225 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1226 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1227 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1228 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1229 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.emacs.gnus}.
1232 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1234 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1238 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1242 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1243 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1244 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1245 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1246 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1247 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1252 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1253 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1254 group, or a bogus native group.
1257 @node Group Modeline Specification
1258 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1259 @cindex group modeline
1261 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1262 The mode line can be changed by setting
1263 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1264 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1268 The native news server.
1270 The native select method.
1274 @node Group Highlighting
1275 @subsection Group Highlighting
1276 @cindex highlighting
1277 @cindex group highlighting
1279 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1280 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1281 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1282 that look like @var{(form . face)}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1283 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1285 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1289 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-1
1290 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))))
1291 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-2
1292 '((t (:foreground "SeaGreen" :bold t))))
1293 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-3
1294 '((t (:foreground "SpringGreen" :bold t))))
1295 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-4
1296 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))))
1297 (face-spec-set 'my-group-face-5
1298 '((t (:foreground "SkyBlue" :bold t))))
1300 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1301 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1302 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1303 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1304 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1305 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1308 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1310 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1317 The number of unread articles in the group.
1321 Whether the group is a mail group.
1323 The level of the group.
1325 The score of the group.
1327 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1329 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1330 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1332 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1333 topic being inserted.
1336 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1337 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1338 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1340 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1341 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1342 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1343 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1344 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1347 @node Group Maneuvering
1348 @section Group Maneuvering
1349 @cindex group movement
1351 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1352 expected, hopefully.
1358 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1359 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1360 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1366 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1367 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1368 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1372 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1373 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1377 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1378 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1382 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1383 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1384 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1388 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1389 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1390 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1393 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1399 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1400 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1401 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1406 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1407 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1408 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1412 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1413 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1414 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1417 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1418 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1419 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1420 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1424 @node Selecting a Group
1425 @section Selecting a Group
1426 @cindex group selection
1431 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1432 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1433 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1434 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1435 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1436 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1437 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1438 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1439 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1440 negative, gnus fetches the @var{abs(N)} oldest articles.
1444 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1445 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1446 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1447 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1448 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1452 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1453 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1454 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1455 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1456 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1457 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1458 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1459 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1460 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1461 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1464 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1465 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1466 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1467 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1468 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1471 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1472 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1473 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1474 doing any processing of its contents
1475 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1476 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1477 manner will have no permanent effects.
1481 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1482 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
1483 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1484 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
1485 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1486 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1487 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1488 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1491 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1492 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1493 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1494 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1499 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1500 full summary buffer.
1503 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1506 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
1510 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
1511 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
1512 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
1516 @node Subscription Commands
1517 @section Subscription Commands
1518 @cindex subscription
1526 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
1527 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
1528 Toggle subscription to the current group
1529 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
1535 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
1536 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
1537 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
1538 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
1544 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
1545 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
1546 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
1552 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
1553 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
1556 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
1557 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
1558 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
1559 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
1560 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
1566 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
1567 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
1571 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
1572 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
1575 @kindex S C-k (Group)
1576 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
1577 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
1578 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
1579 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
1580 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
1581 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
1582 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
1583 @file{.newsrc} file.
1587 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1597 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
1598 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
1599 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
1600 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
1601 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
1602 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group
1603 from the group buffer.
1607 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
1608 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
1609 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
1613 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1614 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
1615 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1617 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1618 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1619 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1620 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
1621 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
1622 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
1629 @section Group Levels
1633 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
1634 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
1635 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
1636 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
1637 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1639 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
1645 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
1646 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
1647 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
1648 prompted for a level.
1651 @vindex gnus-level-killed
1652 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
1653 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
1654 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
1655 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
1656 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
1657 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
1658 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
1659 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
1660 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
1661 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
1662 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
1663 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
1664 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
1665 reasons of efficiency.
1667 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
1668 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
1670 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
1671 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
1672 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
1674 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
1675 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
1676 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
1677 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
1678 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
1679 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
1680 relevant valid ranges.
1682 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
1683 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
1684 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
1685 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
1686 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
1687 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
1690 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
1691 All groups with a level less than or equal to
1692 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
1695 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
1696 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
1697 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
1698 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
1701 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
1702 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
1703 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
1704 use this level as the ``work'' level.
1706 @vindex gnus-activate-level
1707 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
1708 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
1709 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
1710 to 5. The default is 6.
1714 @section Group Score
1719 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
1720 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
1721 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
1724 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can assign a score to each
1725 group. You can then sort the group buffer based on this score.
1726 Alternatively, you can sort on score and then level. (Taken together,
1727 the level and the score is called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group
1728 that is on level 4 and has a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group
1729 on level 5 that has a score of 300. (The level is the most significant
1730 part and the score is the least significant part.))
1732 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
1733 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
1734 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
1735 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
1736 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
1737 action after each summary exit, you can add
1738 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
1739 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
1740 slow things down somewhat.
1743 @node Marking Groups
1744 @section Marking Groups
1745 @cindex marking groups
1747 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
1748 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
1749 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
1750 bidding on those groups.
1752 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
1753 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
1754 with the process mark and then execute the command.
1762 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
1763 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
1769 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
1770 Remove the mark from the current group
1771 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
1775 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
1776 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
1780 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
1781 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
1785 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
1786 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
1790 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
1791 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
1792 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
1795 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
1797 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
1798 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
1799 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
1800 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
1801 the command to be executed.
1804 @node Foreign Groups
1805 @section Foreign Groups
1806 @cindex foreign groups
1808 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
1809 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
1810 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
1811 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
1818 @findex gnus-group-make-group
1819 @cindex making groups
1820 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
1821 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
1822 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
1826 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
1827 @cindex renaming groups
1828 Rename the current group to something else
1829 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
1830 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
1836 @findex gnus-group-customize
1837 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
1841 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
1842 @cindex renaming groups
1843 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
1844 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
1848 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
1849 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
1850 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
1854 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
1855 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
1856 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
1860 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
1862 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
1863 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
1868 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
1869 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
1873 @cindex (ding) archive
1874 @cindex archive group
1875 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
1876 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
1877 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
1878 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
1879 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
1880 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
1881 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
1885 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
1887 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
1888 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
1889 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
1890 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
1894 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
1896 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
1897 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
1898 @xref{Anything Groups}.
1902 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
1903 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
1905 Make a group based on some file or other
1906 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1907 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
1908 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
1909 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
1910 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, and @code{forward}. If you run
1911 this command without a prefix, gnus will guess at the file type.
1912 @xref{Document Groups}.
1916 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
1917 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
1918 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
1919 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
1923 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
1928 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
1929 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
1930 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
1931 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
1932 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
1933 @xref{Web Searches}.
1935 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
1936 to a particular group by using a match string like
1937 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
1940 @kindex G DEL (Group)
1941 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
1942 This function will delete the current group
1943 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
1944 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
1945 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
1946 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
1947 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
1951 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
1952 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
1953 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
1957 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
1958 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
1959 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
1962 @xref{Select Methods} for more information on the various select
1965 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
1966 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
1967 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
1968 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
1969 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
1970 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
1974 @node Group Parameters
1975 @section Group Parameters
1976 @cindex group parameters
1978 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
1979 Here's an example group parameter list:
1982 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
1986 We see that each element consists of a ``dotted pair''---the thing
1987 before the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value.
1988 All the parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs,
1989 which are not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
1991 The following group parameters can be used:
1996 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
1999 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2002 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2003 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2004 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2005 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2006 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2008 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2009 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2010 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2011 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2012 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2013 list address instead.
2017 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2020 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2023 It is totally ignored
2024 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2025 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2027 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2028 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2029 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2030 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2031 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2033 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2034 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2035 sending the message.
2039 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2040 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2041 of whether it has any unread articles.
2043 @item broken-reply-to
2044 @cindex broken-reply-to
2045 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2046 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2047 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2048 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2049 broken behavior. So there!
2053 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2054 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2058 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2059 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2060 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2065 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2066 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2067 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2068 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2069 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2070 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2071 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2075 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2076 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2077 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2080 @cindex total-expire
2081 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2082 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2083 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2084 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2089 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2090 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2091 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2092 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2093 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2094 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2097 @cindex score file group parameter
2098 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2099 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2100 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2103 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2104 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2105 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2106 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2109 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2110 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2111 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2112 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2115 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2116 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2120 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2123 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2128 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2129 arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by gnus,
2130 but provide a place for you to store information on particular groups.
2133 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2134 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2135 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2137 @item @var{(variable form)}
2138 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2139 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2140 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2141 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2142 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2143 @code{eval}ed there.
2145 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2146 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2147 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2148 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2149 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2153 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2154 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2158 @node Listing Groups
2159 @section Listing Groups
2160 @cindex group listing
2162 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2170 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2171 List all groups that have unread articles
2172 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2173 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2174 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2175 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2182 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2183 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2184 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2185 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2186 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2187 unsubscribed groups).
2191 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2192 List all unread groups on a specific level
2193 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2194 with no unread articles.
2198 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2199 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2200 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2201 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2206 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2207 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2211 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2212 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2213 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2217 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2218 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2222 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2223 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2224 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2225 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2226 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2227 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2228 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2229 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2233 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2234 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2235 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2239 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2240 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2241 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2245 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2246 @cindex visible group parameter
2247 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2248 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2249 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2250 get the same effect.
2252 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2253 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2254 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2255 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2256 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2259 @node Sorting Groups
2260 @section Sorting Groups
2261 @cindex sorting groups
2263 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2264 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2265 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2266 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2267 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2268 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2273 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2274 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2275 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2277 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2278 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2279 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2281 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2282 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2283 Sort by group level.
2285 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2286 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2287 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2289 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2290 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2291 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2292 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2294 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2295 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2296 Sort by number of unread articles.
2298 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2299 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2300 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2305 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2306 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2310 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2311 some sorting criteria:
2315 @kindex G S a (Group)
2316 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2317 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2318 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2321 @kindex G S u (Group)
2322 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2323 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2324 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2327 @kindex G S l (Group)
2328 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2329 Sort the group buffer by group level
2330 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2333 @kindex G S v (Group)
2334 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2335 Sort the group buffer by group score
2336 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2339 @kindex G S r (Group)
2340 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2341 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2342 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2345 @kindex G S m (Group)
2346 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2347 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2348 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2352 All the commands below obeys the process/prefix convention
2353 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2355 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2356 commands will sort in reverse order.
2358 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2362 @kindex G P a (Group)
2363 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2364 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2365 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2368 @kindex G P u (Group)
2369 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2370 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2371 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2374 @kindex G P l (Group)
2375 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2376 Sort the groups by group level
2377 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2380 @kindex G P v (Group)
2381 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2382 Sort the groups by group score
2383 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2386 @kindex G P r (Group)
2387 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2388 Sort the groups by group rank
2389 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2392 @kindex G P m (Group)
2393 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2394 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2395 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2401 @node Group Maintenance
2402 @section Group Maintenance
2403 @cindex bogus groups
2408 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2409 Find bogus groups and delete them
2410 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2414 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2415 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2416 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2417 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2418 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2422 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2423 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2424 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2425 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2428 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2429 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2430 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2431 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2436 @node Browse Foreign Server
2437 @section Browse Foreign Server
2438 @cindex foreign servers
2439 @cindex browsing servers
2444 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2445 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2446 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2447 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2450 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2451 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2452 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2453 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2455 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2460 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2461 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
2465 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
2466 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
2469 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
2470 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
2471 Enter the current group and display the first article
2472 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
2475 @kindex RET (Browse)
2476 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
2477 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
2481 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
2482 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
2483 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2489 @findex gnus-browse-exit
2490 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
2494 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
2495 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
2496 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
2501 @section Exiting gnus
2502 @cindex exiting gnus
2504 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
2509 @findex gnus-group-suspend
2510 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit
2511 gnus, but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure
2512 why this is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
2516 @findex gnus-group-exit
2517 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
2518 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
2522 @findex gnus-group-quit
2523 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files
2524 (@code{gnus-group-quit}). The dribble file will be saved, though
2525 (@pxref{Auto Save}).
2528 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
2529 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
2530 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
2531 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
2532 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
2537 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
2538 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
2539 trying to customize meta-variables.
2544 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
2545 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
2546 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
2552 @section Group Topics
2555 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
2556 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
2557 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
2558 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
2559 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
2560 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
2564 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
2565 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
2576 2: alt.religion.emacs
2579 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2581 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2582 13: comp.sources.unix
2585 @findex gnus-topic-mode
2587 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
2588 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
2589 is a toggling command.)
2591 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
2592 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
2593 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
2594 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
2597 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
2598 the hook for the group mode:
2601 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
2605 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
2606 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
2607 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
2608 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
2609 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
2613 @node Topic Variables
2614 @subsection Topic Variables
2615 @cindex topic variables
2617 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
2618 really neat, I think.
2620 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
2621 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
2622 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
2635 Number of groups in the topic.
2637 Number of unread articles in the topic.
2639 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
2642 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
2643 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
2644 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
2647 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
2648 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
2650 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
2651 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
2652 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
2655 @node Topic Commands
2656 @subsection Topic Commands
2657 @cindex topic commands
2659 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
2660 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
2661 definitions slightly.
2667 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
2668 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
2669 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
2673 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
2674 Move the current group to some other topic
2675 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2676 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2680 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
2681 Copy the current group to some other topic
2682 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
2683 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2687 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
2688 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
2689 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
2690 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
2691 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
2692 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
2693 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
2696 This command uses the process/prefix convention
2697 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2701 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
2702 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2703 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
2707 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
2708 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
2709 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
2713 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
2714 Toggle hiding empty topics
2715 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
2719 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
2720 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
2721 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
2724 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
2725 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
2726 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
2727 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
2731 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
2733 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
2734 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
2735 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
2736 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
2737 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
2738 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
2742 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
2744 @findex gnus-topic-indent
2745 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2746 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
2747 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
2750 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
2751 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
2752 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
2753 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
2757 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
2758 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
2759 topic will be removed along with the topic.
2763 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
2764 Yank the previously killed group or topic
2765 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
2770 @findex gnus-topic-rename
2771 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
2774 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
2775 @findex gnus-topic-delete
2776 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
2780 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
2781 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
2782 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
2786 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
2787 @cindex group parameters
2788 @cindex topic parameters
2790 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
2791 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
2797 @subsection Topic Sorting
2798 @cindex topic sorting
2800 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
2806 @kindex T S a (Topic)
2807 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2808 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
2809 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2812 @kindex T S u (Topic)
2813 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
2814 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
2815 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2818 @kindex T S l (Topic)
2819 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
2820 Sort the current topic by group level
2821 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
2824 @kindex T S v (Topic)
2825 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
2826 Sort the current topic by group score
2827 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2830 @kindex T S r (Topic)
2831 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
2832 Sort the current topic by group rank
2833 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2836 @kindex T S m (Topic)
2837 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
2838 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
2839 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
2843 @xref{Sorting Groups} for more information about group sorting.
2846 @node Topic Topology
2847 @subsection Topic Topology
2848 @cindex topic topology
2851 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
2857 2: alt.religion.emacs
2860 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2862 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2863 13: comp.sources.unix
2866 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
2867 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
2868 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
2873 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
2874 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
2878 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
2879 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
2880 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
2881 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
2882 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
2883 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
2885 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
2886 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
2887 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
2890 @node Topic Parameters
2891 @subsection Topic Parameters
2892 @cindex topic parameters
2894 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
2895 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
2896 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
2898 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
2899 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
2900 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
2901 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
2907 2: alt.religion.emacs
2911 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
2913 8: comp.binaries.fractals
2914 13: comp.sources.unix
2918 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
2919 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
2920 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
2921 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
2922 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
2923 . "religion.SCORE")}.
2925 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
2926 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
2927 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
2928 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
2929 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
2931 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
2932 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
2933 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
2934 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
2935 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
2936 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
2937 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
2938 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
2941 @node Misc Group Stuff
2942 @section Misc Group Stuff
2945 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
2946 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and gnus.
2947 * Group Timestamp:: Making gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
2948 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the gnus files.
2955 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
2956 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
2957 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
2961 @findex gnus-group-post-news
2962 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
2963 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
2967 @findex gnus-group-mail
2968 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
2972 Variables for the group buffer:
2976 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
2977 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
2978 is called after the group buffer has been
2981 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
2982 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2983 is called after the group buffer is
2984 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
2987 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
2988 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
2989 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
2990 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
2992 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2993 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2994 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
2995 whether they are empty or not.
3000 @node Scanning New Messages
3001 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3002 @cindex new messages
3003 @cindex scanning new news
3009 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3010 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3011 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3012 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3013 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3014 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3019 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3020 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3021 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3022 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3023 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3024 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3025 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3027 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3028 @cindex activating groups
3030 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3031 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3036 @findex gnus-group-restart
3037 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3038 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3039 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3043 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3044 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3046 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3047 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3051 @node Group Information
3052 @subsection Group Information
3053 @cindex group information
3054 @cindex information on groups
3061 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3062 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3065 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3066 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3067 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3068 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3069 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3070 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3071 for fetching the file.
3073 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3074 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3078 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3080 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3081 @cindex describing groups
3082 @cindex group description
3083 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3084 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3085 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3089 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3090 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3091 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3098 @findex gnus-version
3099 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3103 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3104 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3107 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3110 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3111 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3115 @node Group Timestamp
3116 @subsection Group Timestamp
3118 @cindex group timestamps
3120 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
3121 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3122 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3125 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3128 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3130 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3131 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3134 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3135 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3138 This will result in lines looking like:
3141 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3142 0: custom 19961002T012713
3145 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3146 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3150 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3151 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3156 @subsection File Commands
3157 @cindex file commands
3163 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3164 @vindex gnus-init-file
3165 @cindex reading init file
3166 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3167 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3171 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3172 @cindex saving .newsrc
3173 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3174 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3175 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3178 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3179 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3180 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3185 @node The Summary Buffer
3186 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3187 @cindex summary buffer
3189 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3190 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3192 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3193 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3195 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3198 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3199 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3200 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3201 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3202 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3203 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
3204 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3205 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3206 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3207 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3208 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3209 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3210 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3211 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3212 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3213 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3214 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3215 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3216 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3217 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3218 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3219 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3220 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3221 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3222 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3223 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3224 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3225 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3229 @node Summary Buffer Format
3230 @section Summary Buffer Format
3231 @cindex summary buffer format
3235 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3236 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3237 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3243 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3244 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3245 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3248 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3249 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3250 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3251 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3252 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3253 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
3254 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3255 fast, and too simplistic solution;
3256 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
3257 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
3258 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
3259 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
3260 other function instead.
3262 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3263 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3264 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3265 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3268 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3269 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3271 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3272 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3273 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3274 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3275 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3277 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3279 The following format specification characters are understood:
3287 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3288 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3289 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3291 Full @code{From} header.
3293 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3295 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3296 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3297 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3298 may be more thorough.
3300 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3303 Number of lines in the article.
3305 Number of characters in the article.
3307 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3309 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3310 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3312 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3313 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3315 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3316 for adopted articles.
3318 One space for each thread level.
3320 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3325 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3326 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3330 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3332 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3333 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3334 default level. If the difference between
3335 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3336 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3344 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3346 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3352 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3353 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3355 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3356 article has any children.
3362 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3363 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3364 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3365 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3366 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3367 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3370 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3371 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
3372 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3373 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3374 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3375 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3377 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3378 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3380 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
3383 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
3384 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
3386 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
3387 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
3388 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
3389 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
3391 Here are the elements you can play with:
3397 Unprefixed group name.
3399 Current article number.
3401 Current article score.
3405 Number of unread articles in this group.
3407 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
3410 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
3411 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
3412 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
3413 and no unselected ones.
3415 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
3416 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
3418 Subject of the current article.
3420 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
3422 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
3424 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3426 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
3428 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
3430 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
3434 @node Summary Highlighting
3435 @subsection Summary Highlighting
3439 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3440 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
3441 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
3442 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
3443 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3445 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
3446 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
3447 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
3448 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
3450 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
3451 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
3452 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
3453 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
3455 @item gnus-summary-highlight
3456 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
3457 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
3458 list where the elements are of the format @var{(FORM . FACE)}. If you
3459 would, for instance, like ticked articles to be italic and high-scored
3460 articles to be bold, you could set this variable to something like
3462 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
3463 ((> score default) . bold))
3465 As you may have guessed, if @var{FORM} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
3466 @var{FACE} will be applied to the line.
3470 @node Summary Maneuvering
3471 @section Summary Maneuvering
3472 @cindex summary movement
3474 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
3475 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
3477 None of these commands select articles.
3482 @kindex M-n (Summary)
3483 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
3484 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
3485 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
3486 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
3490 @kindex M-p (Summary)
3491 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
3492 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
3493 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
3494 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
3499 @kindex G j (Summary)
3500 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
3501 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
3502 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
3505 @kindex G g (Summary)
3506 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
3507 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
3508 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
3511 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
3512 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
3513 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
3514 to the group buffer.
3516 Variables related to summary movement:
3520 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
3521 @item gnus-auto-select-next
3522 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
3523 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
3524 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
3525 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
3526 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
3527 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
3528 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
3529 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
3530 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
3531 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
3532 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
3533 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
3535 @item gnus-auto-select-same
3536 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
3537 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
3538 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
3539 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
3540 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
3541 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
3543 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
3545 @item gnus-summary-check-current
3546 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
3547 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
3548 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
3549 Instead, they will choose the current article.
3551 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
3552 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
3553 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
3554 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
3555 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
3556 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
3557 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
3558 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
3564 @node Choosing Articles
3565 @section Choosing Articles
3566 @cindex selecting articles
3569 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
3570 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
3574 @node Choosing Commands
3575 @subsection Choosing Commands
3577 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
3578 and they all select and display an article.
3582 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3583 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3584 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
3585 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3590 @kindex G n (Summary)
3591 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
3592 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
3593 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
3598 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
3599 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
3600 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
3605 @kindex G N (Summary)
3606 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
3607 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
3612 @kindex G P (Summary)
3613 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
3614 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
3617 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
3618 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
3619 Go to the next article with the same subject
3620 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
3623 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
3624 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
3625 Go to the previous article with the same subject
3626 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
3630 @kindex G f (Summary)
3632 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
3633 Go to the first unread article
3634 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
3638 @kindex G b (Summary)
3640 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
3641 Go to the article with the highest score
3642 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
3647 @kindex G l (Summary)
3648 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
3649 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
3652 @kindex G o (Summary)
3653 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
3655 @cindex article history
3656 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
3657 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
3658 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
3659 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
3660 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
3661 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
3665 @node Choosing Variables
3666 @subsection Choosing Variables
3668 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
3671 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3672 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
3673 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
3674 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
3675 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
3676 the server and display it in the article buffer.
3678 @item gnus-select-article-hook
3679 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
3680 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
3681 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
3683 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
3684 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
3685 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
3686 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
3687 @findex gnus-unread-mark
3688 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
3689 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
3690 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
3691 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
3692 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
3693 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
3694 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
3695 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
3696 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
3701 @node Paging the Article
3702 @section Scrolling the Article
3703 @cindex article scrolling
3708 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
3709 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
3710 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
3711 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
3712 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
3715 @kindex DEL (Summary)
3716 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
3717 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
3720 @kindex RET (Summary)
3721 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
3722 Scroll the current article one line forward
3723 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
3726 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
3727 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
3728 Scroll the current article one line backward
3729 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
3733 @kindex A g (Summary)
3735 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
3736 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
3737 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
3738 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
3739 the way it came from the server.
3744 @kindex A < (Summary)
3745 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
3746 Scroll to the beginning of the article
3747 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
3752 @kindex A > (Summary)
3753 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
3754 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
3758 @kindex A s (Summary)
3760 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
3761 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
3762 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
3766 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
3767 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
3772 @node Reply Followup and Post
3773 @section Reply, Followup and Post
3776 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
3777 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
3781 @node Summary Mail Commands
3782 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
3784 @cindex composing mail
3786 Commands for composing a mail message:
3792 @kindex S r (Summary)
3794 @findex gnus-summary-reply
3795 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
3796 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
3797 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
3798 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
3803 @kindex S R (Summary)
3804 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
3805 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
3806 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
3807 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
3808 command uses the process/prefix convention.
3811 @kindex S w (Summary)
3812 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
3813 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
3814 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
3815 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
3816 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
3819 @kindex S W (Summary)
3820 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
3821 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
3822 message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This command uses
3823 the process/prefix convention.
3826 @kindex S o m (Summary)
3827 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
3828 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
3829 Forward the current article to some other person
3830 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3831 headers of the forwarded article.
3836 @kindex S m (Summary)
3837 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
3838 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
3839 Send a mail to some other person
3840 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
3843 @kindex S D b (Summary)
3844 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
3845 @cindex bouncing mail
3846 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
3847 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
3848 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
3849 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
3850 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
3851 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
3852 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
3853 very well fail, though.
3856 @kindex S D r (Summary)
3857 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
3858 Not to be confused with the previous command,
3859 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
3860 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
3861 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
3862 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
3863 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
3864 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
3865 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
3867 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
3868 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
3869 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
3870 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
3871 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung mu
\e,A_
\e(B sein!
3873 This command understands the process/prefix convention
3874 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3877 @kindex S O m (Summary)
3878 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
3879 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
3880 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
3881 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3884 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
3885 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
3886 @cindex crossposting
3887 @cindex excessive crossposting
3888 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
3889 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
3891 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
3892 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
3893 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
3894 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
3895 command understands the process/prefix convention
3896 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
3900 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3903 @node Summary Post Commands
3904 @subsection Summary Post Commands
3906 @cindex composing news
3908 Commands for posting a news article:
3914 @kindex S p (Summary)
3915 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
3916 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
3917 Post an article to the current group
3918 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
3923 @kindex S f (Summary)
3924 @findex gnus-summary-followup
3925 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
3926 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
3930 @kindex S F (Summary)
3932 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
3933 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
3934 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
3935 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
3936 process/prefix convention.
3939 @kindex S n (Summary)
3940 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
3941 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3942 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
3945 @kindex S N (Summary)
3946 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
3947 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
3948 message through mail and include the original message
3949 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
3950 the process/prefix convention.
3953 @kindex S o p (Summary)
3954 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
3955 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
3956 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
3957 headers of the forwarded article.
3960 @kindex S O p (Summary)
3961 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
3963 @cindex making digests
3964 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
3965 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
3966 process/prefix convention.
3969 @kindex S u (Summary)
3970 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
3971 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
3972 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
3973 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
3976 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
3979 @node Canceling and Superseding
3980 @section Canceling Articles
3981 @cindex canceling articles
3982 @cindex superseding articles
3984 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
3985 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
3987 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
3989 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
3991 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
3992 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
3993 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
3994 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
3995 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
3996 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3998 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
3999 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4002 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4003 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4004 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4006 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4007 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4008 your original article.
4010 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4012 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4013 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4014 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4017 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4018 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4019 have posted almost the same article twice.
4021 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4022 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4023 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4024 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4025 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4026 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4027 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4028 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4029 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4030 canceled/superseded.
4032 Just remember, kids: There is no `c' in `supersede'.
4035 @node Marking Articles
4036 @section Marking Articles
4037 @cindex article marking
4038 @cindex article ticking
4041 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4043 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4044 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4045 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4047 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4050 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4051 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4052 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4056 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4060 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4061 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4065 @node Unread Articles
4066 @subsection Unread Articles
4068 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4073 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4074 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4076 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4077 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4078 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4079 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4080 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4084 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4085 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4087 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4088 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4089 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4092 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4093 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4095 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4100 @subsection Read Articles
4101 @cindex expirable mark
4103 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4108 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4109 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4110 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4113 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4114 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4117 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4118 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4119 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4122 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4123 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4126 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4127 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4130 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4131 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4134 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4135 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4138 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4139 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4142 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4143 @sc{SOUP}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4146 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4147 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4151 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4152 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4153 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4157 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4158 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4160 One more special mark, though:
4164 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4165 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4167 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4168 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4169 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4170 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at any time.
4175 @subsection Other Marks
4176 @cindex process mark
4179 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4185 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4186 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4187 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4188 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4189 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}
4192 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4193 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4194 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4195 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4198 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4199 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4200 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}
4203 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4204 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4205 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4206 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4209 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4210 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4211 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4212 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4213 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4216 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4217 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4218 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4219 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4220 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4221 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4225 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4226 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4227 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4229 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4230 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4231 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4235 @subsection Setting Marks
4236 @cindex setting marks
4238 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4243 @kindex M c (Summary)
4244 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4245 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4246 @cindex mark as unread
4247 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4248 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4254 @kindex M t (Summary)
4255 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4256 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4257 @xref{Article Caching}
4262 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4263 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4264 Mark the current article as dormant
4265 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}
4269 @kindex M d (Summary)
4271 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4272 Mark the current article as read
4273 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4277 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4278 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4279 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4284 @kindex M k (Summary)
4285 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4286 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4287 and then select the next unread article
4288 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4292 @kindex M K (Summary)
4293 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4294 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4295 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4296 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4299 @kindex M C (Summary)
4300 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4301 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4302 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4305 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4306 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4307 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4308 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4311 @kindex M H (Summary)
4312 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
4313 Catchup the current group to point
4314 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
4317 @kindex C-w (Summary)
4318 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
4319 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
4320 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
4323 @kindex M V k (Summary)
4324 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
4325 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
4326 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
4330 @kindex M e (Summary)
4332 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
4333 Mark the current article as expirable
4334 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
4337 @kindex M b (Summary)
4338 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
4339 Set a bookmark in the current article
4340 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
4343 @kindex M B (Summary)
4344 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
4345 Remove the bookmark from the current article
4346 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
4349 @kindex M V c (Summary)
4350 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
4351 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
4352 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4355 @kindex M V u (Summary)
4356 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
4357 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
4358 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
4361 @kindex M V m (Summary)
4362 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
4363 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
4364 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
4365 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
4368 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
4369 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
4370 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
4371 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
4372 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
4373 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
4374 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
4375 The default is @code{t}.
4378 @node Setting Process Marks
4379 @subsection Setting Process Marks
4380 @cindex setting process marks
4387 @kindex M P p (Summary)
4388 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
4389 Mark the current article with the process mark
4390 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
4391 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
4395 @kindex M P u (Summary)
4396 @kindex M-# (Summary)
4397 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
4398 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
4401 @kindex M P U (Summary)
4402 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
4403 Remove the process mark from all articles
4404 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
4407 @kindex M P i (Summary)
4408 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
4409 Invert the list of process marked articles
4410 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
4413 @kindex M P R (Summary)
4414 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
4415 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
4416 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
4419 @kindex M P r (Summary)
4420 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
4421 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
4424 @kindex M P t (Summary)
4425 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
4426 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4427 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
4430 @kindex M P T (Summary)
4431 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
4432 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
4433 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
4436 @kindex M P v (Summary)
4437 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
4438 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
4439 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
4442 @kindex M P s (Summary)
4443 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
4444 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4447 @kindex M P S (Summary)
4448 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
4449 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
4450 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
4453 @kindex M P a (Summary)
4454 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
4455 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
4458 @kindex M P b (Summary)
4459 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
4460 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
4461 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
4464 @kindex M P k (Summary)
4465 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
4466 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
4467 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
4470 @kindex M P y (Summary)
4471 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
4472 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
4473 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
4476 @kindex M P w (Summary)
4477 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
4478 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
4479 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
4488 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
4489 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
4490 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
4493 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
4494 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
4495 additional articles.
4501 @kindex / / (Summary)
4502 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
4503 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
4504 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
4507 @kindex / a (Summary)
4508 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
4509 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
4510 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
4514 @kindex / u (Summary)
4516 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
4517 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
4518 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
4519 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
4520 dormant articles will also be excluded.
4523 @kindex / m (Summary)
4524 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
4525 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
4526 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
4529 @kindex / t (Summary)
4530 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
4531 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
4532 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}). If given a prefix, limit to
4533 articles younger than that number of days.
4536 @kindex / n (Summary)
4537 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
4538 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
4539 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
4540 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4543 @kindex / w (Summary)
4544 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
4545 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
4546 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
4550 @kindex / v (Summary)
4551 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
4552 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
4553 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
4557 @kindex M S (Summary)
4558 @kindex / E (Summary)
4559 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
4560 Include all expunged articles in the limit
4561 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
4564 @kindex / D (Summary)
4565 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
4566 Include all dormant articles in the limit
4567 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
4570 @kindex / * (Summary)
4571 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
4572 Include all cached articles in the limit
4573 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
4576 @kindex / d (Summary)
4577 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
4578 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
4579 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
4582 @kindex / T (Summary)
4583 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
4584 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
4587 @kindex / c (Summary)
4588 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
4589 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
4590 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
4593 @kindex / C (Summary)
4594 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
4595 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
4596 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
4597 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
4605 @cindex article threading
4607 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
4608 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
4609 hierarchical fashion.
4611 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
4612 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
4613 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
4614 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
4615 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
4616 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
4617 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
4619 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
4623 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
4626 A tree-like article structure.
4629 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
4632 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
4633 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
4634 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
4635 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
4636 called loose threads.
4638 @item thread gathering
4639 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
4641 @item sparse threads
4642 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
4643 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
4649 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
4650 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
4654 @node Customizing Threading
4655 @subsection Customizing Threading
4656 @cindex customizing threading
4659 * Loose Threads:: How gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
4660 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
4661 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
4662 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
4667 @subsubsection Loose Threads
4670 @cindex loose threads
4673 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
4674 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
4675 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
4676 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
4677 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
4678 read or killed the root in a previous session.
4680 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
4681 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
4682 There are four possible values:
4686 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
4687 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
4688 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4689 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4690 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
4695 @cindex adopting articles
4700 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
4701 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
4702 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
4703 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
4706 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
4707 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
4708 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
4709 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
4710 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
4711 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
4712 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
4715 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
4716 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
4717 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
4721 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
4722 display them after one another.
4725 Don't gather loose threads.
4728 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4729 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
4730 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
4731 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
4732 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
4733 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
4734 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
4735 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
4736 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
4737 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
4738 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
4740 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
4741 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
4742 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
4745 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4746 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
4747 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
4748 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
4749 simplification is used.
4751 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4752 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4753 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
4754 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
4756 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
4758 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
4764 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
4765 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
4766 "answer" "reference" "announce"
4767 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
4772 (mapconcat 'identity
4773 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
4775 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
4778 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
4781 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4782 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
4783 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
4784 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
4785 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
4786 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
4788 Useful functions to put in this list include:
4791 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
4792 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
4793 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
4795 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4796 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
4799 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
4800 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
4801 Remove excessive whitespace.
4804 You may also write your own functions, of course.
4807 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4808 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
4809 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
4810 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
4811 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
4812 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
4813 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
4814 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
4816 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4817 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4818 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
4819 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
4820 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
4821 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
4822 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
4823 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
4824 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
4828 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4829 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
4830 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
4831 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
4833 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4834 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
4835 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
4838 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
4842 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
4843 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
4849 @node Filling In Threads
4850 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
4853 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
4854 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
4855 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
4856 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you would
4857 like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still connect as
4858 many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable to
4859 @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than that
4860 number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case, fetching
4861 old headers only works if the backend you are using carries overview
4862 files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
4863 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
4864 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
4866 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
4867 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
4868 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
4870 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
4871 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
4872 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
4873 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
4874 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
4875 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
4876 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
4877 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
4878 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
4879 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
4880 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
4881 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
4882 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
4883 @code{nil} by default.
4888 @node More Threading
4889 @subsubsection More Threading
4892 @item gnus-show-threads
4893 @vindex gnus-show-threads
4894 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
4895 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
4896 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
4897 slower and more awkward.
4899 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4900 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
4901 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
4904 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
4905 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
4906 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
4907 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
4908 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
4909 threads are expunged.
4911 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
4912 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
4913 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
4916 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4917 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
4918 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
4919 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
4920 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
4923 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
4924 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
4925 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
4931 @node Low-Level Threading
4932 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
4936 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
4937 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
4938 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
4939 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
4940 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
4941 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
4943 @item gnus-alter-header-function
4944 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
4945 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
4946 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
4947 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
4948 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
4949 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
4950 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
4951 meaningful. Here's one example:
4954 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
4956 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
4957 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
4959 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
4961 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
4968 @node Thread Commands
4969 @subsection Thread Commands
4970 @cindex thread commands
4976 @kindex T k (Summary)
4977 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
4978 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
4979 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
4980 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
4981 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
4986 @kindex T l (Summary)
4987 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
4988 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
4989 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
4990 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
4993 @kindex T i (Summary)
4994 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
4995 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
4996 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
4999 @kindex T # (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5001 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5002 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5005 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5006 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5007 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5008 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5011 @kindex T T (Summary)
5012 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5013 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5016 @kindex T s (Summary)
5017 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5018 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5019 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5022 @kindex T h (Summary)
5023 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5024 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5027 @kindex T S (Summary)
5028 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5029 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5032 @kindex T H (Summary)
5033 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5034 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5037 @kindex T t (Summary)
5038 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5039 Re-thread the current article's thread
5040 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5041 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5044 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5045 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5046 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5047 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5051 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5052 understand the numeric prefix.
5057 @kindex T n (Summary)
5058 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5059 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5062 @kindex T p (Summary)
5063 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5064 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5067 @kindex T d (Summary)
5068 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5069 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5072 @kindex T u (Summary)
5073 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5074 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5077 @kindex T o (Summary)
5078 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5079 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5082 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5083 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5084 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5085 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5086 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5087 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5088 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5089 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5090 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5091 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5092 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5093 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5100 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5101 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5102 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5103 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5104 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5105 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5106 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5107 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5108 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which is a list of functions.
5109 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5110 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5111 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5112 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5113 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5115 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5116 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5117 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread. If you use
5118 more than one function, the primary sort key should be the last function
5119 in the list. You should probably always include
5120 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5121 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5122 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5123 ascending article order.
5125 If you would like to sort by score, then by subject, and finally by
5126 number, you could do something like:
5129 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5130 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5131 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5132 gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score))
5135 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5136 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5137 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5138 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5139 which the articles arrived.
5141 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5145 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5147 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5148 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5151 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5152 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5153 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5154 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5157 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5158 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5159 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5160 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5161 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5162 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5163 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5164 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5165 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5166 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5167 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5168 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5169 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5171 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5175 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5176 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5177 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5182 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5183 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5184 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5185 @cindex article pre-fetch
5188 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5189 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5190 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5191 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5192 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5194 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5195 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
5197 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5198 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5199 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5200 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5201 connection is blocked.
5203 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5204 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5205 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5206 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
5208 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5209 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5210 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5211 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5214 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5217 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5218 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5219 happen automatically.
5221 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5222 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5223 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5224 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5225 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5226 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5227 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5229 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5230 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5231 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
5232 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
5233 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
5234 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
5235 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
5236 data structure as the only parameter.
5238 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter
5239 than 100 lines, you could say something like:
5242 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
5243 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
5244 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
5245 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
5248 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
5251 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
5252 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much. It's
5253 probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
5255 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
5256 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
5257 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
5258 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
5262 Remove articles when they are read.
5265 Remove articles when exiting the group.
5268 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
5270 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
5271 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
5272 @c from the next group.
5275 @node Article Caching
5276 @section Article Caching
5277 @cindex article caching
5280 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
5281 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
5282 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
5283 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
5284 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
5286 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
5288 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5289 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
5290 @vindex gnus-use-cache
5291 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
5292 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
5293 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
5294 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
5295 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
5297 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
5298 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
5299 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
5300 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
5301 as dormant, and don't worry.
5303 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
5305 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
5306 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
5307 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
5308 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
5309 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
5310 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
5311 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
5312 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
5313 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
5314 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
5316 @findex gnus-jog-cache
5317 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
5318 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
5319 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
5320 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
5321 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
5322 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
5323 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
5324 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
5325 not then be downloaded by this command.
5327 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
5328 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
5329 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
5330 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
5331 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
5332 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
5334 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
5335 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
5336 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
5337 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
5338 variables, the group is not cached.
5340 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
5341 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
5342 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
5343 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
5344 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
5345 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
5346 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
5347 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
5348 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
5352 @node Persistent Articles
5353 @section Persistent Articles
5354 @cindex persistent articles
5356 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
5357 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
5358 useful in my opinion.
5360 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
5361 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
5362 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
5363 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
5364 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
5365 the expiry going on at the news server.
5367 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
5368 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
5369 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
5375 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
5376 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
5379 @kindex M-* (Summary)
5380 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
5381 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
5382 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
5386 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
5388 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
5389 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
5390 interested in persistent articles:
5393 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
5397 @node Article Backlog
5398 @section Article Backlog
5400 @cindex article backlog
5402 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
5403 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
5404 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
5405 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
5406 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
5407 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
5408 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
5409 increase memory usage some.
5411 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
5412 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
5413 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
5414 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
5415 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
5416 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
5417 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
5419 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
5422 @node Saving Articles
5423 @section Saving Articles
5424 @cindex saving articles
5426 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
5427 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
5428 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
5429 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
5430 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
5432 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
5433 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
5434 unwanted headers before saving the article.
5436 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
5437 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
5438 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
5439 deleted before saving.
5445 @kindex O o (Summary)
5447 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
5448 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
5449 Save the current article using the default article saver
5450 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
5453 @kindex O m (Summary)
5454 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
5455 Save the current article in mail format
5456 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
5459 @kindex O r (Summary)
5460 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
5461 Save the current article in rmail format
5462 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
5465 @kindex O f (Summary)
5466 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
5467 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
5468 Save the current article in plain file format
5469 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
5472 @kindex O F (Summary)
5473 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
5474 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
5475 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
5478 @kindex O b (Summary)
5479 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
5480 Save the current article body in plain file format
5481 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
5484 @kindex O h (Summary)
5485 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
5486 Save the current article in mh folder format
5487 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
5490 @kindex O v (Summary)
5491 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
5492 Save the current article in a VM folder
5493 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
5496 @kindex O p (Summary)
5497 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
5498 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
5499 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
5502 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
5503 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
5504 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
5505 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
5506 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
5507 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
5508 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
5509 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
5510 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
5511 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
5512 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
5513 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
5517 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
5518 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
5519 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the four ready-made
5520 functions below, or you can create your own.
5524 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5525 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
5526 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
5527 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5528 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
5529 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5530 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5532 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5533 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
5534 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
5535 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
5536 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5537 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
5539 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
5540 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
5541 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
5542 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5543 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
5544 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5545 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5547 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5548 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
5549 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
5550 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
5551 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
5553 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5554 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
5555 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
5556 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
5557 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
5560 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
5561 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
5562 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
5563 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
5564 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
5566 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5567 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
5568 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
5569 reader to use this setting.
5572 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
5573 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
5574 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
5575 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
5578 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
5579 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
5580 available functions that generate names:
5584 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
5585 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
5586 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5588 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
5589 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
5590 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
5592 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
5593 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
5594 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5596 @item gnus-plain-save-name
5597 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
5598 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
5601 @vindex gnus-split-methods
5602 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp
5603 into the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would
5604 like to save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and
5605 articles related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable
5609 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
5610 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
5611 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
5612 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
5615 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
5616 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
5617 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
5618 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
5619 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
5620 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
5621 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
5622 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
5623 called returns a string or a list of strings.
5625 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
5626 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
5627 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
5628 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
5630 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
5631 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
5632 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file name.
5634 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
5635 lots of mail groups called things like
5636 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
5637 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
5638 following will do just that:
5641 (defun my-save-name (group)
5642 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
5643 (substring group (match-end 0))))
5645 (setq gnus-split-methods
5646 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
5651 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
5652 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
5653 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
5654 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
5655 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
5656 all the files in the top level directory
5657 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
5658 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
5659 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
5660 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
5662 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
5663 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
5664 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
5665 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
5666 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
5669 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
5673 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
5674 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
5677 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
5678 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
5679 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
5680 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
5683 @node Decoding Articles
5684 @section Decoding Articles
5685 @cindex decoding articles
5687 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
5688 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
5691 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
5692 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
5693 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
5694 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
5695 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
5696 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
5700 @cindex article series
5701 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
5702 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
5703 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
5704 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
5705 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
5707 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
5708 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
5709 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
5711 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
5712 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
5713 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
5715 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
5716 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
5717 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
5720 @node Uuencoded Articles
5721 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
5723 @cindex uuencoded articles
5728 @kindex X u (Summary)
5729 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
5730 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
5731 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
5734 @kindex X U (Summary)
5735 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
5736 Uudecodes and saves the current series
5737 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5740 @kindex X v u (Summary)
5741 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
5742 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
5745 @kindex X v U (Summary)
5746 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
5747 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
5748 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
5752 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
5753 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
5754 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
5755 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
5756 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
5758 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
5759 @sc{GNUS 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
5760 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
5761 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
5764 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
5765 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
5766 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
5767 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
5768 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
5769 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
5773 @node Shell Archives
5774 @subsection Shell Archives
5776 @cindex shell archives
5777 @cindex shared articles
5779 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
5780 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
5781 some commands to deal with these:
5786 @kindex X s (Summary)
5787 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
5788 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
5791 @kindex X S (Summary)
5792 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
5793 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
5796 @kindex X v s (Summary)
5797 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
5798 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
5801 @kindex X v S (Summary)
5802 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
5803 Unshars, views and saves the current series
5804 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
5808 @node PostScript Files
5809 @subsection PostScript Files
5815 @kindex X p (Summary)
5816 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
5817 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
5820 @kindex X P (Summary)
5821 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
5822 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
5823 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
5826 @kindex X v p (Summary)
5827 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
5828 View the current PostScript series
5829 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
5832 @kindex X v P (Summary)
5833 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
5834 View and save the current PostScript series
5835 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
5840 @subsection Other Files
5844 @kindex X o (Summary)
5845 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
5846 Save the current series
5847 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
5850 @kindex X b (Summary)
5851 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
5852 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
5853 doesn't really work yet.
5857 @node Decoding Variables
5858 @subsection Decoding Variables
5860 Adjective, not verb.
5863 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
5864 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
5865 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
5869 @node Rule Variables
5870 @subsubsection Rule Variables
5871 @cindex rule variables
5873 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
5874 variables are of the form
5877 (list '(regexp1 command2)
5884 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5885 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5887 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
5888 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
5891 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
5892 (list '(\"\\\\.au$\" \"sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio\")))
5895 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5896 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
5897 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
5898 user and default view rules.
5900 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5901 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
5902 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
5907 @node Other Decode Variables
5908 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
5911 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5913 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
5914 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
5915 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
5916 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
5917 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
5921 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
5922 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
5925 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
5926 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
5927 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
5930 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5931 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
5932 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
5933 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
5934 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
5937 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5938 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
5939 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
5941 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5942 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
5943 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
5944 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
5945 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
5948 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5949 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
5950 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
5952 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5953 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
5954 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
5955 looking for files to display.
5957 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
5958 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
5959 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
5962 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5963 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
5964 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
5967 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5968 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
5969 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
5972 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5973 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
5974 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
5977 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5978 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
5979 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
5980 decoded articles as unread.
5982 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5983 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
5984 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
5985 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
5987 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5988 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
5989 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
5991 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5992 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
5994 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
5995 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
5996 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
5997 @code{metamail} for viewing.
5999 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6000 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6001 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6002 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6003 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6004 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC1153---no easy way
6005 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6006 simply dropped them.
6011 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6012 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6016 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6017 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6018 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6019 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6020 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6021 for you when you post the article.
6023 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6024 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6025 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6026 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6028 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6029 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6030 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6031 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6032 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6033 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6034 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6036 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6037 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6038 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6039 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6040 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6041 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6042 Default is @code{t}.
6048 @subsection Viewing Files
6049 @cindex viewing files
6050 @cindex pseudo-articles
6052 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
6053 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6054 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6055 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
6056 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6057 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6058 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6060 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6061 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6062 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6063 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6065 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6066 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6067 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6069 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6070 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6071 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6072 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6073 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6075 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6076 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6077 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6078 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6079 a list of parameters to that command.
6081 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6082 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6083 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6085 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6086 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6087 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6090 @node Article Treatment
6091 @section Article Treatment
6093 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6094 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6095 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6096 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6097 these articles easier.
6100 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6101 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6102 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6103 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6104 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6105 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6106 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6110 @node Article Highlighting
6111 @subsection Article Highlighting
6112 @cindex highlighting
6114 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6115 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6120 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6121 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6122 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6123 Do much highlighting of the current article
6124 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6125 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6127 Most users would prefer using @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} in
6128 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}) instead.
6129 This is a bit less agressive---it highlights only the headers, the
6130 signature and adds buttons.
6133 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6134 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6135 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6136 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6137 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6138 variable, which is a list where each element has the form @var{(regexp
6139 name content)}. @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6140 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6141 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6142 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6143 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6146 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6147 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6148 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6150 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6153 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6155 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6156 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6157 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6159 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6160 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6161 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6163 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6164 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6165 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6167 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6168 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6169 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6170 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6171 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6172 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6174 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6175 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6176 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6178 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6179 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6180 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6182 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6183 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6184 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6185 that it's a citation.
6187 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6188 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6189 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6191 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6192 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6193 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6195 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6196 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6197 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6198 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6204 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6205 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6206 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6207 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6208 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6209 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6210 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6211 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6216 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to highlight articles automatically.
6219 @node Article Fontisizing
6220 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6222 @cindex article emphasis
6224 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6225 @kindex W e (Summary)
6226 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6227 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*}. Gnus can make this look nicer by
6228 running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6229 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6231 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6232 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6233 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6234 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
6235 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
6236 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
6237 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
6238 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
6242 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
6243 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
6244 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
6247 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
6248 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
6249 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
6250 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
6251 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
6252 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
6253 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
6254 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
6255 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
6256 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
6257 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
6258 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
6259 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
6261 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
6262 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
6263 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
6267 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
6270 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to fontize articles automatically.
6273 @node Article Hiding
6274 @subsection Article Hiding
6275 @cindex article hiding
6277 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
6278 too much cruft in most articles.
6283 @kindex W W a (Summary)
6284 @findex gnus-article-hide
6285 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
6286 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
6287 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
6290 @kindex W W h (Summary)
6291 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
6292 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
6296 @kindex W W b (Summary)
6297 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
6298 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
6299 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
6302 @kindex W W s (Summary)
6303 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
6304 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
6308 @kindex W W p (Summary)
6309 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
6310 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6311 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
6312 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
6313 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
6314 articles that have signatures in them do:
6316 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
6318 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp)
6320 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
6321 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
6323 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
6326 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
6331 @kindex W W P (Summary)
6332 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
6333 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
6334 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
6337 @kindex W W c (Summary)
6338 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
6339 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
6340 customizing the hiding:
6344 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6345 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6346 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
6347 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
6348 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
6349 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
6350 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
6355 Starting point of the hidden text.
6357 Ending point of the hidden text.
6359 Number of characters in the hidden region.
6361 Number of lines of hidden text.
6364 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
6365 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
6366 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave shown.
6371 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
6372 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
6374 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
6375 following two variables:
6378 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6379 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
6380 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
6381 50), hide the cited text.
6383 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6384 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
6385 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
6390 @kindex W W C (Summary)
6391 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
6392 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
6393 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
6394 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
6395 in @code{gnus-article-display-hook} (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
6399 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
6400 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
6401 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
6403 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
6404 citation customization.
6406 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to hide article elements
6410 @node Article Washing
6411 @subsection Article Washing
6413 @cindex article washing
6415 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
6416 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
6418 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
6419 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
6425 @kindex W l (Summary)
6426 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
6427 Remove page breaks from the current article
6428 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article} for page
6432 @kindex W r (Summary)
6433 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
6434 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
6435 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
6436 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
6437 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
6438 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
6440 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
6441 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
6442 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
6443 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
6446 @kindex W t (Summary)
6447 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
6448 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
6449 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
6452 @kindex W v (Summary)
6453 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
6454 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
6455 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
6458 @kindex W m (Summary)
6459 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
6460 Toggle whether to display the article as @sc{mime} message
6461 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
6464 @kindex W o (Summary)
6465 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
6466 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
6469 @kindex W d (Summary)
6470 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
6471 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}).
6474 @kindex W w (Summary)
6475 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
6476 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}). If you use this
6477 function in @code{gnus-article-display-hook}, it should be run fairly
6478 late and certainly after any highlighting.
6480 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
6484 @kindex W c (Summary)
6485 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
6486 Remove CR (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines)
6487 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
6490 @kindex W f (Summary)
6492 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
6493 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
6494 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
6495 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
6501 Look for and display any X-Face headers
6502 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
6503 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
6504 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
6505 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
6506 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
6507 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
6508 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
6509 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
6510 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
6511 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
6512 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
6513 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
6514 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
6518 @kindex W b (Summary)
6519 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
6520 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
6521 @xref{Article Buttons}
6524 @kindex W B (Summary)
6525 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
6526 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
6527 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
6530 @kindex W E l (Summary)
6531 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
6532 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
6533 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
6536 @kindex W E m (Summary)
6537 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
6538 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
6539 lines with a single empty line.
6540 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
6543 @kindex W E t (Summary)
6544 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
6545 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
6546 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
6549 @kindex W E a (Summary)
6550 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
6551 Do all the three commands above
6552 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
6555 @kindex W E A (Summary)
6556 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
6557 Remove all blank lines
6558 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
6561 @kindex W E s (Summary)
6562 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
6563 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
6564 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
6568 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to wash articles automatically.
6571 @node Article Buttons
6572 @subsection Article Buttons
6575 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
6576 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
6577 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
6578 button on these references.
6580 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
6581 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
6582 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
6587 @item gnus-button-alist
6588 @vindex gnus-button-alist
6589 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
6592 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6598 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
6599 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
6600 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
6603 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
6604 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
6605 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
6608 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
6609 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
6610 avoid false matches.
6613 This function will be called when you click on this button.
6616 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
6617 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
6621 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
6624 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
6627 @item gnus-header-button-alist
6628 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
6629 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
6630 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
6631 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
6634 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
6637 @var{HEADER} is a regular expression.
6639 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
6640 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
6641 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
6642 default values of the variables above.
6644 @item gnus-article-button-face
6645 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
6646 Face used on buttons.
6648 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
6649 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
6650 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
6654 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to buttonize articles automatically.
6658 @subsection Article Date
6660 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
6661 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
6662 when the article was sent.
6667 @kindex W T u (Summary)
6668 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
6669 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
6670 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
6673 @kindex W T i (Summary)
6674 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
6676 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
6677 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
6680 @kindex W T l (Summary)
6681 @findex gnus-article-date-local
6682 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
6685 @kindex W T s (Summary)
6686 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
6687 @findex gnus-article-date-user
6688 @findex format-time-string
6689 Display the date using a user-defined format
6690 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
6691 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
6692 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
6693 for a list of possible format specs.
6696 @kindex W T e (Summary)
6697 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
6698 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
6699 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
6700 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
6701 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). If you want to have this line
6702 updated continually, you can put
6705 (gnus-start-date-timer)
6708 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
6709 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
6713 @kindex W T o (Summary)
6714 @findex gnus-article-date-original
6715 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
6716 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
6717 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
6718 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
6719 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
6723 @xref{Customizing Articles} for how to display the date in your
6724 preferred format automatically.
6727 @node Article Signature
6728 @subsection Article Signature
6730 @cindex article signature
6732 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6733 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
6734 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
6735 that says what is to be considered a signature is
6736 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
6737 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
6738 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
6739 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
6740 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
6743 (setq gnus-signature-separator
6744 '("^-- $" ; The standard
6745 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
6746 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
6747 ; line of dashes. Shame!
6748 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
6749 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
6750 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
6753 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
6756 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
6757 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
6762 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
6765 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
6768 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
6769 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
6771 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
6772 in question is not a signature.
6775 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
6776 listed above. Here's an example:
6779 (setq gnus-signature-limit
6780 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
6783 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
6784 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
6785 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
6786 signature after all.
6790 @section MIME Commands
6791 @cindex MIME decoding
6795 @kindex W M w (Summary)
6796 Decode RFC2047-encoded words in the article headers
6797 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
6800 @kindex W M c (Summary)
6801 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
6802 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
6804 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
6805 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
6806 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
6807 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
6808 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
6809 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
6814 @node Article Commands
6815 @section Article Commands
6822 @kindex A P (Summary)
6823 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
6824 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
6825 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
6826 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
6827 run just before printing the buffer.
6832 @node Summary Sorting
6833 @section Summary Sorting
6834 @cindex summary sorting
6836 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
6837 can't really see why you'd want that.
6842 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
6843 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
6844 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
6847 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
6848 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
6849 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
6852 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
6853 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
6854 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
6857 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
6858 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
6859 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
6862 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
6863 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
6864 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
6867 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
6868 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
6869 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
6872 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
6873 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
6874 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
6875 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
6876 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
6880 @node Finding the Parent
6881 @section Finding the Parent
6882 @cindex parent articles
6883 @cindex referring articles
6888 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
6889 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
6890 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
6891 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
6892 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
6893 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
6894 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
6895 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
6896 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
6898 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
6899 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
6900 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
6901 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
6902 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
6906 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
6907 @kindex A R (Summary)
6908 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
6909 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
6912 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
6913 @kindex A T (Summary)
6914 Display the full thread where the current article appears
6915 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
6916 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
6917 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
6918 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
6919 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
6920 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
6922 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
6923 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
6924 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
6925 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
6926 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
6927 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
6930 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
6931 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
6933 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
6934 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
6935 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
6936 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
6937 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
6938 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
6939 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
6942 The current select method will be used when fetching by
6943 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
6944 by giving this command a prefix.
6946 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
6947 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
6948 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
6949 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
6950 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
6951 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
6954 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
6955 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
6956 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
6957 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
6958 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
6959 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
6962 @node Alternative Approaches
6963 @section Alternative Approaches
6965 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
6966 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
6969 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
6970 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
6975 @subsection Pick and Read
6976 @cindex pick and read
6978 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
6979 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
6980 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
6981 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
6983 @findex gnus-pick-mode
6984 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
6985 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
6986 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
6987 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
6988 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
6990 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
6995 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
6996 Pick the article or thread on the current line
6997 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
6998 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
6999 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
7000 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
7001 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
7002 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
7005 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
7006 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
7007 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
7008 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
7012 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
7013 Unpick the thread or article
7014 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
7015 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
7016 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
7017 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
7018 the thread or article at that line.
7022 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
7023 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
7024 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
7025 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
7026 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
7027 will still be visible when you are reading.
7031 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
7032 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
7033 which is mapped to the same function
7034 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
7036 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
7039 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
7042 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
7043 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
7045 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
7046 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
7047 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
7049 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
7050 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
7051 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
7052 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
7053 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
7054 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
7055 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
7059 @subsection Binary Groups
7060 @cindex binary groups
7062 @findex gnus-binary-mode
7063 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
7064 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
7065 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
7066 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
7067 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
7068 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
7071 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
7072 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
7073 command, when you have turned on this mode
7074 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
7076 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
7077 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
7081 @section Tree Display
7084 @vindex gnus-use-trees
7085 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
7086 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
7087 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
7090 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
7093 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
7094 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
7095 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
7097 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7098 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
7099 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
7100 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
7101 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
7103 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
7104 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
7105 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
7106 default is @code{modeline}.
7108 @item gnus-tree-line-format
7109 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
7110 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
7111 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
7112 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
7113 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
7114 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
7120 The name of the poster.
7122 The @code{From} header.
7124 The number of the article.
7126 The opening bracket.
7128 The closing bracket.
7133 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
7135 Variables related to the display are:
7138 @item gnus-tree-brackets
7139 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
7140 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
7141 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @var{((real-open . real-close)
7142 (sparse-open . sparse-close) (dummy-open . dummy-close))}, and the
7143 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
7145 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7146 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
7147 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
7148 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
7152 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
7153 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
7154 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
7155 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
7156 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
7157 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
7158 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
7159 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
7160 other windows displayed next to it.
7162 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
7163 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
7164 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7165 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
7166 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
7167 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
7168 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
7172 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
7175 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
7185 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
7189 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
7190 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
7192 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
7194 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
7199 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
7200 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
7201 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
7204 (setq gnus-use-trees t
7205 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
7206 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
7207 (gnus-add-configuration
7211 (summary 0.75 point)
7216 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
7219 @node Mail Group Commands
7220 @section Mail Group Commands
7221 @cindex mail group commands
7223 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
7224 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
7226 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
7227 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7232 @kindex B e (Summary)
7233 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
7234 Expire all expirable articles in the group
7235 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
7238 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
7239 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
7240 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
7241 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
7242 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
7243 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
7246 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
7247 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
7248 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
7249 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
7250 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
7251 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
7254 @kindex B m (Summary)
7256 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
7257 Move the article from one mail group to another
7258 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}).
7261 @kindex B c (Summary)
7263 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
7264 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
7265 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
7266 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}).
7269 @kindex B B (Summary)
7270 @cindex crosspost mail
7271 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
7272 Crosspost the current article to some other group
7273 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
7274 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
7275 be properly updated.
7278 @kindex B i (Summary)
7279 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
7280 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
7281 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
7282 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
7285 @kindex B r (Summary)
7286 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
7287 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
7288 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
7289 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
7290 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
7294 @kindex B w (Summary)
7296 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
7297 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
7298 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
7299 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
7300 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
7301 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
7304 @kindex B q (Summary)
7305 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
7306 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
7307 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
7308 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
7311 @kindex B t (Summary)
7312 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
7313 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
7314 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
7317 @kindex B p (Summary)
7318 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
7319 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
7320 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
7321 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
7322 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
7323 article from your news server (or rather, from
7324 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
7325 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
7326 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
7327 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
7328 just not have arrived yet.
7332 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
7333 @cindex moving articles
7334 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
7335 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
7336 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
7337 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
7338 suggestions you find reasonable.
7341 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
7342 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
7343 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
7344 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
7348 @node Various Summary Stuff
7349 @section Various Summary Stuff
7352 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
7353 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
7354 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
7355 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
7359 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
7360 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
7361 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
7363 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
7364 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
7365 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
7366 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
7367 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
7368 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
7371 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7372 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
7373 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
7374 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
7375 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
7377 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7378 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
7379 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
7382 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7383 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
7384 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
7385 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
7386 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
7387 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
7388 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
7389 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
7390 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
7391 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
7396 @node Summary Group Information
7397 @subsection Summary Group Information
7402 @kindex H f (Summary)
7403 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
7404 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
7405 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
7406 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
7407 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
7408 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
7409 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
7410 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
7411 be used for fetching the file.
7414 @kindex H d (Summary)
7415 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
7416 Give a brief description of the current group
7417 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
7418 rereading the description from the server.
7421 @kindex H h (Summary)
7422 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
7423 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
7424 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
7427 @kindex H i (Summary)
7428 @findex gnus-info-find-node
7429 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
7433 @node Searching for Articles
7434 @subsection Searching for Articles
7439 @kindex M-s (Summary)
7440 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
7441 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
7442 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
7445 @kindex M-r (Summary)
7446 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
7447 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
7448 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
7452 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
7453 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
7454 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
7455 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
7459 @kindex M-& (Summary)
7460 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
7461 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
7462 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
7465 @node Summary Generation Commands
7466 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
7471 @kindex Y g (Summary)
7472 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
7473 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
7476 @kindex Y c (Summary)
7477 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
7478 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
7479 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
7484 @node Really Various Summary Commands
7485 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
7490 @kindex C-d (Summary)
7491 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
7492 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
7493 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
7494 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
7495 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
7496 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
7497 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
7498 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
7502 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
7503 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
7504 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
7505 several documents into one biiig group
7506 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
7507 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
7508 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
7509 command understands the process/prefix convention
7510 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7513 @kindex C-t (Summary)
7514 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
7515 Toggle truncation of summary lines
7516 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
7517 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
7518 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
7522 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
7523 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
7524 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
7527 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
7528 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
7529 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
7530 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
7535 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
7536 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
7537 @cindex summary exit
7538 @cindex exiting groups
7540 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
7541 group and return you to the group buffer.
7547 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
7549 @findex gnus-summary-exit
7550 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
7551 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
7552 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
7553 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
7554 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
7555 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
7556 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
7557 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
7558 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
7559 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
7563 @kindex Z E (Summary)
7565 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
7566 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
7567 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
7571 @kindex Z c (Summary)
7573 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
7574 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
7575 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
7576 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
7579 @kindex Z C (Summary)
7580 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
7581 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
7582 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
7585 @kindex Z n (Summary)
7586 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
7587 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
7588 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
7591 @kindex Z R (Summary)
7592 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
7593 Exit this group, and then enter it again
7594 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
7595 all articles, both read and unread.
7599 @kindex Z G (Summary)
7600 @kindex M-g (Summary)
7601 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
7602 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
7603 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
7604 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
7605 articles, both read and unread.
7608 @kindex Z N (Summary)
7609 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
7610 Exit the group and go to the next group
7611 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
7614 @kindex Z P (Summary)
7615 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
7616 Exit the group and go to the previous group
7617 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
7620 @kindex Z s (Summary)
7621 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
7622 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
7623 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
7624 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
7625 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
7628 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
7629 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current
7632 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
7633 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
7634 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
7635 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
7636 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
7637 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
7638 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
7639 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
7640 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
7641 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
7642 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
7643 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
7645 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
7647 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
7648 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
7649 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
7650 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
7651 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
7652 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
7653 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
7654 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
7655 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
7658 @node Crosspost Handling
7659 @section Crosspost Handling
7663 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
7664 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
7665 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
7666 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
7667 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
7668 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
7671 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
7672 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
7673 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
7674 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
7675 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
7677 @cindex cross-posting
7680 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
7681 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
7682 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
7683 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
7684 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
7685 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
7686 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
7687 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
7688 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
7689 the cross reference mechanism.
7691 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
7692 @cindex overview.fmt
7693 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
7694 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
7695 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
7696 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
7697 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
7698 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
7701 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
7702 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
7703 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
7708 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
7711 @node Duplicate Suppression
7712 @section Duplicate Suppression
7714 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
7715 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
7716 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
7717 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various reasons.
7721 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
7722 is evil and not very common.
7725 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
7726 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
7729 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
7730 different @sc{nntp} servers.
7733 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
7736 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
7737 well, but these four are the most common situations.
7739 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
7740 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
7741 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
7742 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
7743 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
7744 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
7745 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
7748 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
7749 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
7750 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
7751 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
7752 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
7756 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
7757 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
7758 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
7760 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
7761 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
7762 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
7763 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
7764 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
7765 session are suppressed.
7767 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
7768 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
7769 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
7770 suppression list. The default is 10000.
7772 @item gnus-duplicate-file
7773 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
7774 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
7775 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
7778 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
7779 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
7780 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
7781 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
7782 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
7783 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
7784 to you to figure out, I think.
7787 @node The Article Buffer
7788 @chapter The Article Buffer
7789 @cindex article buffer
7791 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
7792 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
7793 tell gnus otherwise.
7796 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
7797 * Using MIME:: Pushing to mime articles as @sc{mime} messages.
7798 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
7799 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
7800 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
7804 @node Hiding Headers
7805 @section Hiding Headers
7806 @cindex hiding headers
7807 @cindex deleting headers
7809 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
7810 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
7812 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
7813 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
7814 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
7815 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
7816 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
7817 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
7818 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
7819 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
7820 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
7822 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
7826 @item gnus-visible-headers
7827 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
7828 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
7829 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
7830 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
7832 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
7833 the article and the subject, you'd say:
7836 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
7839 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7842 @item gnus-ignored-headers
7843 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
7844 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
7845 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
7846 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
7847 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
7849 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
7850 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
7853 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
7856 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
7859 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
7860 variable will have no effect.
7864 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
7865 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
7866 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
7867 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
7868 the headers are to be displayed.
7870 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
7871 and then the subject, you might say something like:
7874 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
7877 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
7878 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed
7881 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7882 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7883 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
7884 You can hide further boring headers by entering
7885 @code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers} into
7886 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}. What this function does depends on
7887 the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a list, but this
7888 list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is lists various
7889 @dfn{boring conditions} that gnus can check and remove from sight.
7891 These conditions are:
7894 Remove all empty headers.
7896 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
7897 @code{Newsgroups} header.
7899 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
7902 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
7905 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
7908 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
7910 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
7913 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
7916 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
7917 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
7920 This is also the default value for this variable.
7924 @section Using @sc{mime}
7927 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
7928 while people stand around yawning.
7930 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
7931 while all newsreaders die of fear.
7933 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
7934 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
7935 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
7937 @vindex gnus-show-mime
7938 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
7939 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
7940 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
7941 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
7942 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
7943 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
7944 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
7945 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
7946 existed yet, sorry).
7948 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
7949 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
7950 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
7951 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
7952 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
7953 buffer. These can't be avoided.
7955 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
7956 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
7957 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
7958 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
7959 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
7960 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
7961 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
7962 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
7963 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
7966 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
7968 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
7969 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
7970 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
7971 buffer when there are nobody else.
7974 @node Customizing Articles
7975 @section Customizing Articles
7976 @cindex article customization
7978 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
7979 The @code{gnus-article-display-hook} is called after the article has
7980 been inserted into the article buffer. It is meant to handle all
7981 treatment of the article before it is displayed.
7983 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7984 @findex gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers
7985 By default this hook just contains
7986 @code{gnus-article-maybe-hide-headers},
7987 @code{gnus-hide-boring-headers}, @code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike},
7988 and @code{gnus-article-maybe-highlight} (and under XEmacs,
7989 @code{gnus-article-display-x-face}), but there are thousands, nay
7990 millions, of functions you can put in this hook. For an overview of
7991 functions @pxref{Article Highlighting}, @pxref{Article Hiding},
7992 @pxref{Article Washing}, @pxref{Article Buttons} and @pxref{Article
7993 Date}. Note that the order of functions in this hook might affect
7994 things, so you may have to fiddle a bit to get the desired results.
7996 You can, of course, write your own functions. The functions are called
7997 from the article buffer, and you can do anything you like, pretty much.
7998 There is no information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can
7999 change everything. However, you shouldn't delete any headers. Instead
8000 make them invisible if you want to make them go away.
8003 @node Article Keymap
8004 @section Article Keymap
8006 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
8007 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
8008 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
8009 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
8012 A few additional keystrokes are available:
8017 @kindex SPACE (Article)
8018 @findex gnus-article-next-page
8019 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
8022 @kindex DEL (Article)
8023 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
8024 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
8027 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
8028 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
8029 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
8030 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
8031 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
8034 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
8035 @findex gnus-article-mail
8036 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
8037 given a prefix, include the mail.
8041 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
8042 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
8043 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
8047 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
8048 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
8049 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
8052 @kindex TAB (Article)
8053 @findex gnus-article-next-button
8054 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
8055 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
8058 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
8059 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
8060 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
8066 @section Misc Article
8070 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
8071 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
8072 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
8073 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
8076 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
8077 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
8078 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
8079 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
8080 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
8081 the contents of the article buffer.
8083 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
8084 @item gnus-article-display-hook
8085 This hook is called as the last thing when displaying an article, and is
8086 intended for modifying the contents of the buffer, doing highlights,
8087 hiding headers, and the like.
8089 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
8090 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
8091 Hook called in article mode buffers.
8093 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8094 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
8095 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
8096 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
8098 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
8099 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
8100 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
8101 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
8102 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with one
8107 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
8108 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
8112 @vindex gnus-break-pages
8114 @item gnus-break-pages
8115 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
8116 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
8117 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
8118 paging will not be done.
8120 @item gnus-page-delimiter
8121 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
8122 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
8127 @node Composing Messages
8128 @chapter Composing Messages
8129 @cindex composing messages
8132 @cindex sending mail
8137 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
8138 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
8139 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the article
8140 by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The Message
8141 Manual}. If you are in a foreign news group, and you wish to post the
8142 article using the foreign server, you can give a prefix to @kbd{C-c C-c}
8143 to make gnus try to post using the foreign server.
8146 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
8147 * Post:: Posting and following up.
8148 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
8149 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
8150 * Archived Messages:: Where gnus stores the messages you've sent.
8151 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
8152 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
8153 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
8156 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
8157 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
8163 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
8166 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
8167 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
8168 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
8169 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
8171 @item gnus-add-to-list
8172 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
8173 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
8174 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
8182 Variables for composing news articles:
8185 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8186 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
8187 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
8188 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
8189 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
8190 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
8191 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
8192 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
8193 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want gnus to keep a history
8196 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8197 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
8198 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
8199 file. It is 1000 by default.
8204 @node Posting Server
8205 @section Posting Server
8207 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
8208 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
8210 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
8212 @vindex gnus-post-method
8214 It can be quite complicated. Normally, gnus will use the same native
8215 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
8216 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
8217 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
8218 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
8221 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
8224 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
8225 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
8226 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
8227 the ``current'' server for posting.
8229 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
8230 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
8232 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
8233 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
8236 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
8237 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
8238 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
8243 @section Mail and Post
8245 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
8249 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
8250 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
8251 @cindex mailing lists
8253 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
8254 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
8255 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
8256 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
8257 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
8258 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
8259 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
8260 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
8261 still a pain, though.
8265 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
8266 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
8267 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
8270 @findex ispell-message
8272 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
8276 @node Archived Messages
8277 @section Archived Messages
8278 @cindex archived messages
8279 @cindex sent messages
8281 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
8282 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
8283 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
8284 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
8287 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
8288 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
8289 use to store sent messages. The default is:
8293 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
8294 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
8295 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
8296 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
8299 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
8300 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
8301 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
8302 directory chosen, you could say something like:
8305 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
8306 '(nnfolder "archive"
8307 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
8308 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
8309 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
8312 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
8314 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
8315 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
8316 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
8318 This variable can be used to do the following:
8322 Messages will be saved in that group.
8323 @item a list of strings
8324 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
8325 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
8326 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
8328 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
8333 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
8335 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
8338 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
8340 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
8343 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
8345 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8346 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
8347 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
8348 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
8353 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8354 '((if (message-news-p)
8359 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
8360 messages in one file per month:
8363 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
8364 '((if (message-news-p)
8366 (concat "mail." (format-time-string
8367 "%Y-%m" (current-time))))))
8370 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
8371 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
8373 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
8374 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
8375 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
8376 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
8377 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
8378 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
8379 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
8380 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
8381 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
8382 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
8384 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
8385 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
8386 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
8387 this will disable archiving.
8390 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
8391 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
8392 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
8393 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
8394 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
8397 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
8398 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
8399 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
8402 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
8403 but the latter is the preferred method.
8407 @node Posting Styles
8408 @section Posting Styles
8409 @cindex posting styles
8412 All them variables, they make my head swim.
8414 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
8415 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
8416 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
8419 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
8420 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
8421 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
8422 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
8423 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
8428 (signature "Peace and happiness")
8429 (organization "What me?"))
8431 (signature "Death to everybody"))
8432 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
8433 (organization "Emacs is it")))
8436 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
8437 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
8438 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
8439 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
8440 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
8441 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
8442 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
8443 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
8445 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
8446 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
8447 If it's a function symbol, that function will be called with no
8448 arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
8449 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
8450 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
8453 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
8454 attribute consists of a @var{(name . value)} pair. The attribute name
8455 can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
8456 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
8457 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
8458 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
8461 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function (the
8462 return value will be used), a variable (its value will be used) or a
8463 list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value will be used).
8465 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
8466 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
8467 of the two dynamically bound variables @code{message-this-is-news} and
8468 @code{message-this-is-mail}.
8470 @vindex message-this-is-mail
8471 @vindex message-this-is-news
8473 So here's a new example:
8476 (setq gnus-posting-styles
8478 (signature-file "~/.signature")
8480 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
8481 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
8483 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
8484 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
8485 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
8486 (message-this-is-news
8487 (signature my-news-signature))
8488 (posting-from-work-p
8489 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
8490 (address "user@@bar.foo")
8491 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
8492 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
8494 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
8502 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
8503 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
8504 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
8505 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
8506 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
8508 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
8509 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
8510 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
8511 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
8512 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
8516 @vindex nndraft-directory
8517 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
8518 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
8519 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
8520 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
8521 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
8522 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
8524 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
8525 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
8528 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
8529 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
8530 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
8531 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
8532 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
8533 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
8534 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
8535 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
8536 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
8537 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
8538 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
8539 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
8540 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
8541 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
8543 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
8544 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
8545 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
8547 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
8549 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
8550 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
8551 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
8553 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
8556 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
8557 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
8558 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
8559 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
8560 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
8561 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
8562 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
8565 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
8566 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
8567 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
8570 @node Rejected Articles
8571 @section Rejected Articles
8572 @cindex rejected articles
8574 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
8575 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
8576 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
8577 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
8579 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
8580 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
8581 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
8582 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
8583 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
8585 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
8586 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
8587 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
8590 @node Select Methods
8591 @chapter Select Methods
8592 @cindex foreign groups
8593 @cindex select methods
8595 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
8596 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
8597 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
8598 personal mail group.
8600 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
8601 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
8602 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
8603 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
8604 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
8605 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
8607 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
8608 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
8610 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
8613 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
8614 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
8615 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
8616 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
8617 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
8619 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
8622 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
8623 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
8624 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
8625 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
8626 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
8627 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
8631 @node The Server Buffer
8632 @section The Server Buffer
8634 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
8635 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
8636 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
8637 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
8638 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
8639 backend represents a virtual server.
8641 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
8642 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
8643 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
8644 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
8646 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
8647 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
8648 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
8649 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
8650 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
8651 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
8652 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
8654 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
8655 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
8658 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
8659 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
8660 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
8661 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
8662 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
8663 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
8664 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
8667 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
8668 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
8671 @node Server Buffer Format
8672 @subsection Server Buffer Format
8673 @cindex server buffer format
8675 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
8676 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
8677 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
8678 variable, with some simple extensions:
8683 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
8686 The name of this server.
8689 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
8692 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
8695 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
8696 The mode line can also be customized by using the
8697 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
8698 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
8708 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
8711 @node Server Commands
8712 @subsection Server Commands
8713 @cindex server commands
8719 @findex gnus-server-add-server
8720 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
8724 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
8725 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
8728 @kindex SPACE (Server)
8729 @findex gnus-server-read-server
8730 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
8734 @findex gnus-server-exit
8735 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
8739 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
8740 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
8744 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
8745 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
8749 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
8750 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
8754 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
8755 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
8759 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
8760 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
8761 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
8766 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
8767 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
8768 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
8769 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
8774 @node Example Methods
8775 @subsection Example Methods
8777 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
8780 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
8783 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
8789 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
8790 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
8793 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
8794 @var{(variable form)} pairs.
8796 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
8797 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
8801 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
8804 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
8805 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
8807 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
8808 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
8809 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
8813 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
8816 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
8819 Here's the method for a public spool:
8823 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
8824 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
8827 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
8828 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
8829 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
8830 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
8831 should probably look something like this:
8835 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
8836 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8837 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8838 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8839 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
8842 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
8843 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
8844 server that would look something like this:
8848 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
8849 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
8850 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
8851 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
8852 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
8853 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
8856 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
8857 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
8858 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
8859 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
8862 @node Creating a Virtual Server
8863 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
8865 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
8866 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
8868 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
8869 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
8870 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
8872 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
8874 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
8875 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
8876 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
8877 will contain the following:
8887 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
8888 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
8889 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
8892 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
8893 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
8894 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
8897 @node Server Variables
8898 @subsection Server Variables
8900 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
8901 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
8902 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
8903 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
8904 won't change the "derived" variables.
8906 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
8907 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
8908 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
8909 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
8910 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
8911 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
8912 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
8913 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
8914 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
8918 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
8919 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
8920 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
8924 @node Servers and Methods
8925 @subsection Servers and Methods
8927 Wherever you would normally use a select method
8928 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
8929 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
8930 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
8934 @node Unavailable Servers
8935 @subsection Unavailable Servers
8937 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
8938 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
8939 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
8940 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
8941 actually the case or not.
8943 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
8944 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
8945 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
8946 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
8947 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
8948 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
8949 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
8950 it will regard that server as ``down''.
8952 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
8953 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
8955 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
8956 with the following commands:
8962 @findex gnus-server-open-server
8963 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
8964 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
8968 @findex gnus-server-close-server
8969 Close the connection (if any) to the server
8970 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
8974 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
8975 Mark the current server as unreachable
8976 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
8979 @kindex M-o (Server)
8980 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
8981 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
8982 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
8985 @kindex M-c (Server)
8986 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
8987 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
8988 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
8992 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
8993 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
8994 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
9000 @section Getting News
9001 @cindex reading news
9002 @cindex news backends
9004 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
9005 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
9006 or it can read from a local spool.
9009 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
9010 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
9015 @subsection @sc{nntp}
9018 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
9019 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
9020 server as the, uhm, address.
9022 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
9023 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
9024 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
9025 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9027 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
9028 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
9029 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
9031 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
9036 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
9037 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
9038 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
9040 @cindex authentification
9041 @cindex nntp authentification
9042 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9043 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
9044 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
9045 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
9046 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
9047 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
9048 present in this hook.
9050 @item nntp-authinfo-function
9051 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
9052 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
9053 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
9054 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
9055 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
9056 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
9057 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
9058 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
9059 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
9060 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
9061 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
9065 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
9068 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
9069 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
9070 @samp{default} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a valid
9071 @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is the only way the
9072 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
9077 Here's an example file:
9080 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
9081 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
9084 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
9085 have to be first, for instance.
9087 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
9088 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
9089 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
9090 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
9091 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
9092 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
9093 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
9095 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
9096 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
9102 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
9103 previously mentioned.
9105 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
9107 @item nntp-server-action-alist
9108 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
9109 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
9110 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
9111 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
9114 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
9118 You probably don't want to do that, though.
9120 The default value is
9123 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
9124 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
9127 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
9128 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
9130 @item nntp-maximum-request
9131 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
9132 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
9133 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
9134 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
9135 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
9136 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
9137 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
9139 @item nntp-connection-timeout
9140 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
9141 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
9142 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
9143 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
9144 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
9145 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
9146 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
9147 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
9148 no timeouts are done.
9150 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
9151 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
9152 @c @cindex PPP connections
9153 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
9154 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
9155 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
9156 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
9157 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
9158 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
9159 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
9160 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
9161 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
9162 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
9164 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
9165 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
9166 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
9167 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
9170 @item nntp-server-hook
9171 @vindex nntp-server-hook
9172 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
9175 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
9176 @findex nntp-open-telnet
9177 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
9178 @item nntp-open-connection-function
9179 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
9180 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
9181 functions are supplied:
9184 @item nntp-open-network-stream
9185 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
9188 @item nntp-open-rlogin
9189 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
9190 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
9193 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
9197 @item nntp-rlogin-program
9198 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
9199 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
9200 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
9202 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
9203 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
9204 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
9206 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9207 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9208 User name on the remote system.
9212 @item nntp-open-telnet
9213 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
9214 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
9216 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
9219 @item nntp-telnet-command
9220 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
9221 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
9223 @item nntp-telnet-switches
9224 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
9225 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
9227 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
9228 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
9229 User name for log in on the remote system.
9231 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
9232 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
9233 Password to use when logging in.
9235 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
9236 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
9237 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
9240 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9241 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
9242 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
9243 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
9245 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9246 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
9247 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
9248 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
9249 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
9253 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
9254 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
9255 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
9256 you must have SSLay installed
9257 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
9258 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
9259 define a server as follows:
9262 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
9264 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
9266 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
9267 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
9268 (nntp-port-number "snews")
9269 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
9274 @item nntp-end-of-line
9275 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
9276 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
9277 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
9278 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
9280 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
9281 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
9282 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
9286 @vindex nntp-address
9287 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
9289 @item nntp-port-number
9290 @vindex nntp-port-number
9291 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
9294 @item nntp-buggy-select
9295 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
9296 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
9298 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
9299 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
9300 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
9301 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
9304 @item nntp-xover-commands
9305 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
9308 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
9309 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
9313 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
9314 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
9315 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
9316 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
9317 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
9318 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
9319 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
9320 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
9321 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
9322 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
9323 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
9325 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
9326 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
9327 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
9329 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9330 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
9331 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
9332 server closes connection.
9334 @item nntp-record-commands
9335 @vindex nntp-record-commands
9336 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
9337 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
9338 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
9339 that doesn't seem to work.
9345 @subsection News Spool
9349 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
9350 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
9351 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
9354 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
9355 anything else) as the address.
9357 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
9358 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
9359 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
9360 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
9364 @item nnspool-inews-program
9365 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
9366 Program used to post an article.
9368 @item nnspool-inews-switches
9369 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
9370 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
9372 @item nnspool-spool-directory
9373 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
9374 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
9375 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
9377 @item nnspool-nov-directory
9378 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
9379 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
9380 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
9382 @item nnspool-lib-dir
9383 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
9384 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
9386 @item nnspool-active-file
9387 @vindex nnspool-active-file
9388 The path to the active file.
9390 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
9391 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
9392 The path to the group descriptions file.
9394 @item nnspool-history-file
9395 @vindex nnspool-history-file
9396 The path to the news history file.
9398 @item nnspool-active-times-file
9399 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
9400 The path to the active date file.
9402 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
9403 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
9404 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
9407 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9408 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
9410 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
9411 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
9412 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
9418 @section Getting Mail
9419 @cindex reading mail
9422 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
9426 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
9427 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
9428 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
9429 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
9430 * Mail and Procmail:: Reading mail groups that procmail create.
9431 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
9432 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
9433 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
9434 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
9435 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
9436 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
9440 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
9441 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
9443 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
9444 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
9445 and things will happen automatically.
9447 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
9448 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
9451 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
9452 '((nnml "private")))
9455 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
9456 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
9457 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
9458 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
9459 like any other group.
9461 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
9464 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9465 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9466 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9470 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
9471 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
9472 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
9475 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
9476 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
9477 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
9480 @node Splitting Mail
9481 @subsection Splitting Mail
9482 @cindex splitting mail
9483 @cindex mail splitting
9485 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
9486 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
9487 to be split into groups.
9490 (setq nnmail-split-methods
9491 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
9492 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
9496 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
9497 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
9498 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
9499 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
9500 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
9501 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
9502 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
9505 ("list.\\1" "From:.*\\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
9508 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
9509 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
9510 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
9511 mail belongs in that group.
9513 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
9514 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
9515 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
9516 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
9517 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
9518 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
9520 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
9521 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
9522 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
9523 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
9524 thinks should carry this mail message.
9526 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
9527 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
9528 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
9529 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
9531 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
9532 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
9533 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
9534 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
9535 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
9537 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
9540 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
9541 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
9542 links. If that's the case for you, set
9543 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
9544 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
9546 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
9547 @kindex nnmail-split-history
9548 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
9549 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
9551 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
9552 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
9553 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
9554 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
9555 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
9556 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
9557 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
9558 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
9562 @node Mail Backend Variables
9563 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
9565 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
9569 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9570 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
9571 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
9572 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
9574 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
9575 @item nnmail-spool-file
9579 @vindex nnmail-pop-password
9580 @vindex nnmail-pop-password-required
9581 The backends will look for new mail in this file. If this variable is
9582 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
9583 themselves. If you are using a POP mail server and your name is
9584 @samp{larsi}, you should set this variable to @samp{po:larsi}. If
9585 your name is not @samp{larsi}, you should probably modify that
9586 slightly, but you may have guessed that already, you smart & handsome
9587 devil! You can also set this variable to @code{pop}, and Gnus will try
9588 to figure out the POP mail string by itself. In any case, Gnus will
9589 call @code{movemail} which will contact the POP server named in the
9590 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable. If the POP server needs a
9591 password, you can either set @code{nnmail-pop-password-required} to
9592 @code{t} and be prompted for the password, or set
9593 @code{nnmail-pop-password} to the password itself.
9595 @code{nnmail-spool-file} can also be a list of mailboxes.
9597 Your Emacs has to have been configured with @samp{--with-pop} before
9598 compilation. This is the default, but some installations have it
9601 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
9602 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
9603 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
9604 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
9605 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
9606 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
9608 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9609 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9610 @item nnmail-use-procmail
9611 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will look in
9612 @code{nnmail-procmail-directory} for incoming mail. All the files in
9613 that directory that have names ending in @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix}
9614 will be considered incoming mailboxes, and will be searched for new
9617 @vindex nnmail-crash-box
9618 @item nnmail-crash-box
9619 When a mail backend reads a spool file, mail is first moved to this
9620 file, which is @file{~/.gnus-crash-box} by default. If this file
9621 already exists, it will always be read (and incorporated) before any
9624 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9625 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
9626 This is run in a buffer that holds all the new incoming mail, and can be
9627 used for, well, anything, really.
9629 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
9630 @item nnmail-split-hook
9631 @findex article-decode-rfc1522
9632 @findex RFC1522 decoding
9633 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
9634 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
9635 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
9636 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
9637 in the buffer will show up in any files. @code{gnus-article-decode-rfc1522}
9638 is one likely function to add to this hook.
9640 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9641 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9642 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9643 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
9644 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
9645 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
9646 starting to handle the new mail) and
9647 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
9648 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
9649 default file modes the new mail files get:
9652 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
9653 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
9655 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
9656 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
9659 @item nnmail-tmp-directory
9660 @vindex nnmail-tmp-directory
9661 This variable says where to move incoming mail to -- while processing
9662 it. This is usually done in the same directory that the mail backend
9663 inhabits (e.g., @file{~/Mail/}), but if this variable is non-@code{nil},
9664 it will be used instead.
9666 @item nnmail-movemail-program
9667 @vindex nnmail-movemail-program
9668 This program is executed to move mail from the user's inbox to her home
9669 directory. The default is @samp{movemail}.
9671 This can also be a function. In that case, the function will be called
9672 with two parameters -- the name of the inbox, and the file to be moved
9675 @item nnmail-delete-incoming
9676 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
9677 @cindex incoming mail files
9678 @cindex deleting incoming files
9679 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will delete the temporary incoming
9680 file after splitting mail into the proper groups. This is @code{t} by
9683 @c This is @code{nil} by
9684 @c default for reasons of security.
9686 @c Since Red Gnus is an alpha release, it is to be expected to lose mail.
9687 (No Gnus release since (ding) Gnus 0.10 (or something like that) have
9688 lost mail, I think, but that's not the point. (Except certain versions
9689 of Red Gnus.)) By not deleting the Incoming* files, one can be sure not
9690 to lose mail -- if Gnus totally whacks out, one can always recover what
9693 You may delete the @file{Incoming*} files at will.
9695 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
9696 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
9697 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
9698 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
9699 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
9700 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
9701 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
9703 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
9704 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
9706 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
9708 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9709 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
9710 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
9711 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
9712 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
9717 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
9718 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
9719 @cindex mail splitting
9720 @cindex fancy mail splitting
9722 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
9723 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
9724 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
9725 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
9726 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
9727 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
9729 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
9732 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
9733 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
9734 ;; from real errors.
9735 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
9737 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
9738 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
9739 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
9740 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
9741 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
9742 ;; Other mailing lists...
9743 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
9744 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
9746 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
9747 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
9751 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
9752 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
9753 the five possible split syntaxes:
9758 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
9759 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
9763 @var{(FIELD VALUE SPLIT)}: If the split is a list, the first element of
9764 which is a string, then store the message as specified by SPLIT, if
9765 header FIELD (a regexp) contains VALUE (also a regexp).
9768 @var{(| SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9769 @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each SPLIT until one of them
9770 matches. A SPLIT is said to match if it will cause the mail message to
9771 be stored in one or more groups.
9774 @var{(& SPLIT...)}: If the split is a list, and the first element is
9775 @code{&}, then process all SPLITs in the list.
9778 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
9779 this message. Use with extreme caution.
9782 @var{(: function arg1 arg2 ...)}: If the split is a list, and the first
9783 element is @code{:}, then the second element will be called as a
9784 function with @var{args} given as arguments. The function should return
9788 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
9792 In these splits, @var{FIELD} must match a complete field name.
9793 @var{VALUE} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
9794 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
9795 field names or words. In other words, all @var{VALUE}'s are wrapped in
9796 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
9798 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
9799 @var{FIELD} and @var{VALUE} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
9800 are expanded as specified by the variable
9801 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
9802 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
9805 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
9806 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
9807 when all this splitting is performed.
9809 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
9810 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
9811 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
9814 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
9817 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
9818 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
9819 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
9820 groupings 1 through 9.
9823 @node Mail and Procmail
9824 @subsection Mail and Procmail
9829 Many people use @code{procmail} (or some other mail filter program or
9830 external delivery agent---@code{slocal}, @code{elm}, etc) to split
9831 incoming mail into groups. If you do that, you should set
9832 @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{procmail} to ensure that the mail
9833 backends never ever try to fetch mail by themselves.
9835 If you have a combined @code{procmail}/POP/mailbox setup, you can do
9836 something like the following:
9838 @vindex nnmail-use-procmail
9840 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
9841 (setq nnmail-spool-file
9842 '("/usr/spool/mail/my-name" "po:my-name"))
9845 This also means that you probably don't want to set
9846 @code{nnmail-split-methods} either, which has some, perhaps, unexpected
9849 When a mail backend is queried for what groups it carries, it replies
9850 with the contents of that variable, along with any groups it has figured
9851 out that it carries by other means. None of the backends, except
9852 @code{nnmh}, actually go out to the disk and check what groups actually
9853 exist. (It's not trivial to distinguish between what the user thinks is
9854 a basis for a newsgroup and what is just a plain old file or directory.)
9856 This means that you have to tell Gnus (and the backends) by hand what
9859 Let's take the @code{nnmh} backend as an example:
9861 The folders are located in @code{nnmh-directory}, say, @file{~/Mail/}.
9862 There are three folders, @file{foo}, @file{bar} and @file{mail.baz}.
9864 Go to the group buffer and type @kbd{G m}. When prompted, answer
9865 @samp{foo} for the name and @samp{nnmh} for the method. Repeat
9866 twice for the two other groups, @samp{bar} and @samp{mail.baz}. Be sure
9867 to include all your mail groups.
9869 That's it. You are now set to read your mail. An active file for this
9870 method will be created automatically.
9872 @vindex nnmail-procmail-suffix
9873 @vindex nnmail-procmail-directory
9874 If you use @code{nnfolder} or any other backend that store more than a
9875 single article in each file, you should never have procmail add mails to
9876 the file that Gnus sees. Instead, procmail should put all incoming mail
9877 in @code{nnmail-procmail-directory}. To arrive at the file name to put
9878 the incoming mail in, append @code{nnmail-procmail-suffix} to the group
9879 name. The mail backends will read the mail from these files.
9881 @vindex nnmail-resplit-incoming
9882 When Gnus reads a file called @file{mail.misc.spool}, this mail will be
9883 put in the @code{mail.misc}, as one would expect. However, if you want
9884 Gnus to split the mail the normal way, you could set
9885 @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming} to @code{t}.
9887 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
9888 If you use @code{procmail} to split things directly into an @code{nnmh}
9889 directory (which you shouldn't do), you should set
9890 @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} to non-@code{nil} to prevent Gnus from
9891 ever expiring the final article (i.e., the article with the highest
9892 article number) in a mail newsgroup. This is quite, quite important.
9894 Here's an example setup: The incoming spools are located in
9895 @file{~/incoming/} and have @samp{""} as suffixes (i.e., the incoming
9896 spool files have the same names as the equivalent groups). The
9897 @code{nnfolder} backend is to be used as the mail interface, and the
9898 @code{nnfolder} directory is @file{~/fMail/}.
9901 (setq nnfolder-directory "~/fMail/")
9902 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
9903 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/incoming/")
9904 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnfolder "")))
9905 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "")
9909 @node Incorporating Old Mail
9910 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
9912 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
9913 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
9914 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
9917 Doing so can be quite easy.
9919 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
9920 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
9921 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
9922 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
9923 your @code{nnml} groups.
9929 Go to the group buffer.
9932 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
9933 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
9936 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
9939 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
9940 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
9943 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
9944 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
9947 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
9948 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
9949 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
9950 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
9951 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
9953 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
9954 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
9955 using the new mail backend.
9959 @subsection Expiring Mail
9960 @cindex article expiry
9962 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
9963 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
9964 different approach to mail reading.
9966 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
9967 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
9968 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
9969 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
9970 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
9971 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
9974 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
9975 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
9976 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
9977 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
9978 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
9979 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
9980 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
9981 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
9983 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
9984 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
9985 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
9986 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
9987 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
9988 column in the summary buffer.
9990 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
9991 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
9992 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
9993 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
9996 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
9998 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
9999 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
10000 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
10003 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
10004 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
10005 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
10006 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
10007 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
10009 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
10010 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
10013 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
10014 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
10017 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
10018 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
10020 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
10021 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
10022 don't really mix very well.
10024 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
10025 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
10026 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
10027 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
10030 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
10031 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
10032 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
10033 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
10036 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10038 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
10040 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
10042 ((string= group "mail.junk")
10044 ((string= group "important")
10050 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
10051 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
10053 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
10054 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
10055 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
10058 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
10059 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
10061 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
10062 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
10063 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
10064 easier for procmail users.
10066 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
10067 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
10068 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
10069 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
10070 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
10071 caution. Even more dangerous is the
10072 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
10073 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
10074 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
10075 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
10076 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
10077 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
10078 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
10081 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
10085 @subsection Washing Mail
10086 @cindex mail washing
10087 @cindex list server brain damage
10088 @cindex incoming mail treatment
10090 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
10091 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC822 doesn't explicitly
10092 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
10093 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
10094 Yes, but RFC822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
10095 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
10097 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
10098 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
10099 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
10102 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
10103 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
10104 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
10105 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
10108 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10109 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
10110 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
10111 grand, sweeping gestures. Functions to be used include:
10114 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10115 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
10116 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
10117 Emacs running on MS machines.
10121 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10122 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
10123 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
10124 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
10127 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10128 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
10129 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
10130 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
10132 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10133 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
10134 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
10135 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
10136 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
10137 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
10138 also be a list of regexp.
10140 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
10141 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
10144 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
10145 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
10148 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
10149 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
10150 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
10154 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10155 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
10156 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
10160 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
10161 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
10162 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
10169 @subsection Duplicates
10171 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
10172 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
10173 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
10174 @cindex duplicate mails
10175 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
10176 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
10177 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
10178 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
10179 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
10180 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
10181 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
10182 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
10183 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
10184 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
10185 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
10186 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
10187 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
10189 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
10190 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
10191 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
10192 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
10194 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
10197 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
10198 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
10202 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
10203 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
10204 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
10205 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
10206 (any mail "mail.misc")
10213 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10214 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
10219 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
10220 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
10221 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
10222 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
10223 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
10226 @node Not Reading Mail
10227 @subsection Not Reading Mail
10229 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
10230 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
10231 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
10233 If you set @code{nnmail-spool-file} to @code{nil}, none of the backends
10234 will ever attempt to read incoming mail, which should help.
10236 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10237 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10238 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10239 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10240 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10241 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
10242 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
10243 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
10244 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
10245 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
10246 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
10248 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
10249 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
10253 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
10254 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
10256 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
10257 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
10258 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
10261 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
10262 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
10263 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
10264 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
10265 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
10269 @node Unix Mail Box
10270 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
10272 @cindex unix mail box
10274 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10275 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10276 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
10277 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
10278 which group it belongs in.
10280 Virtual server settings:
10283 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
10284 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
10285 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
10287 @item nnmbox-active-file
10288 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
10289 The name of the active file for the mail box.
10291 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
10292 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
10293 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
10299 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
10303 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10304 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10305 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
10306 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each mail
10307 article to say which group it belongs in.
10309 Virtual server settings:
10312 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
10313 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
10314 The name of the rmail mbox file.
10316 @item nnbabyl-active-file
10317 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
10318 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
10320 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10321 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
10322 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
10327 @subsubsection Mail Spool
10329 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
10331 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
10332 format. It should be used with some caution.
10334 @vindex nnml-directory
10335 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
10336 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
10337 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
10338 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
10340 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
10343 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
10344 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
10345 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
10346 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
10347 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
10348 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
10349 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
10350 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
10352 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
10353 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
10354 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
10355 backend when it comes to reading mail.
10357 Virtual server settings:
10360 @item nnml-directory
10361 @vindex nnml-directory
10362 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
10364 @item nnml-active-file
10365 @vindex nnml-active-file
10366 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
10368 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
10369 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
10370 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
10373 @item nnml-get-new-mail
10374 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
10375 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
10377 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
10378 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
10379 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
10381 @item nnml-nov-file-name
10382 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
10383 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
10385 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10386 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
10387 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
10391 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
10392 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
10393 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
10394 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
10395 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
10396 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
10397 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
10402 @subsubsection MH Spool
10404 @cindex mh-e mail spool
10406 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
10407 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
10408 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
10409 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
10411 Virtual server settings:
10414 @item nnmh-directory
10415 @vindex nnmh-directory
10416 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
10418 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
10419 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
10420 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
10423 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
10424 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
10425 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
10426 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
10427 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
10428 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
10429 to set this variable to @code{t}.
10434 @subsubsection Mail Folders
10436 @cindex mbox folders
10437 @cindex mail folders
10439 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
10440 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
10441 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
10444 Virtual server settings:
10447 @item nnfolder-directory
10448 @vindex nnfolder-directory
10449 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
10451 @item nnfolder-active-file
10452 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
10453 The name of the active file.
10455 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10456 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
10457 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
10459 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
10460 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
10461 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
10463 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10464 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
10465 @cindex backup files
10466 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
10467 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
10468 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
10469 your @file{.emacs} file:
10472 (defun turn-off-backup ()
10473 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
10475 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
10478 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10479 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
10480 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
10481 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
10482 extract some information from it before removing it.
10487 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
10488 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
10489 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
10490 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
10491 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
10492 @code{nnfolder-directory}.
10495 @node Other Sources
10496 @section Other Sources
10498 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
10499 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
10503 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
10504 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
10505 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
10506 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{SOUP} packets ``offline''.
10507 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
10508 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
10512 @node Directory Groups
10513 @subsection Directory Groups
10515 @cindex directory groups
10517 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
10518 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
10521 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
10522 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
10523 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
10524 backend to read directories. Big deal.
10526 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
10527 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
10528 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
10529 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
10530 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
10532 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
10534 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
10535 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
10536 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
10537 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
10540 @node Anything Groups
10541 @subsection Anything Groups
10544 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
10545 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
10546 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
10549 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
10550 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
10551 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
10552 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're
10553 forgetting. @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it
10554 snoops each file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e.,
10555 the first few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head.
10556 If this is just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source
10557 file), @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It
10558 will use file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
10561 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
10562 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
10563 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
10564 in the article buffer, just as usual.
10566 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
10567 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
10568 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
10569 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
10571 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
10572 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
10573 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
10574 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
10575 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
10576 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
10577 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
10578 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
10583 @item nneething-map-file-directory
10584 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
10585 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
10586 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
10588 @item nneething-exclude-files
10589 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
10590 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
10591 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
10593 @item nneething-map-file
10594 @vindex nneething-map-file
10595 Name of the map files.
10599 @node Document Groups
10600 @subsection Document Groups
10602 @cindex documentation group
10605 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
10606 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
10613 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
10618 The standard Unix mbox file.
10620 @cindex MMDF mail box
10622 The MMDF mail box format.
10625 Several news articles appended into a file.
10628 @cindex rnews batch files
10629 The rnews batch transport format.
10630 @cindex forwarded messages
10633 Forwarded articles.
10636 MIME multipart messages, besides digests.
10640 @cindex MIME digest
10641 @cindex 1153 digest
10642 @cindex RFC 1153 digest
10643 @cindex RFC 341 digest
10644 MIME (RFC 1341) digest format.
10646 @item standard-digest
10647 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
10650 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
10653 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
10654 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
10655 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
10658 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
10659 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
10660 group. And that's it.
10662 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
10663 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
10664 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
10665 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
10666 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
10667 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
10668 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
10669 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
10670 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
10671 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
10673 Virtual server variables:
10676 @item nndoc-article-type
10677 @vindex nndoc-article-type
10678 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
10679 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
10680 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{mime-digest},
10681 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs} or
10684 @item nndoc-post-type
10685 @vindex nndoc-post-type
10686 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
10687 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
10692 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
10696 @node Document Server Internals
10697 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
10699 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
10700 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
10701 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
10702 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
10704 First, here's an example document type definition:
10708 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
10709 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
10712 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
10713 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
10714 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
10715 types can be defined with very few settings:
10718 @item first-article
10719 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
10720 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
10723 @item article-begin
10724 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
10725 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
10727 @item head-begin-function
10728 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
10731 @item nndoc-head-begin
10732 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
10735 @item nndoc-head-end
10736 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
10737 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
10739 @item body-begin-function
10740 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
10744 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
10747 @item body-end-function
10748 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
10752 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
10755 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
10756 regexp will be totally ignored.
10760 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
10761 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
10762 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
10763 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
10764 something that's palatable for Gnus:
10767 @item prepare-body-function
10768 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
10769 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
10770 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
10772 @item article-transform-function
10773 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
10774 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
10775 body of the article.
10777 @item generate-head-function
10778 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
10779 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
10780 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
10781 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
10785 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
10790 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10791 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
10792 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
10793 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
10794 (head-end . "^ ?$")
10795 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
10796 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
10797 (subtype digest guess))
10800 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
10801 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
10802 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
10803 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
10804 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
10806 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
10807 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
10808 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
10809 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
10810 traversed sequentially, and @code{nndoc-TYPE-type-p} is called for a given type @code{TYPE}. So @code{nndoc-mmdf-type-p} is called to see whether a document
10811 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
10812 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
10813 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
10814 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
10815 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
10823 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
10824 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
10825 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
10827 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
10828 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
10829 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
10832 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something a that's a bit
10833 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
10834 that interested in doing things properly.
10836 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
10837 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
10840 First some terminology:
10845 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
10846 get news and/or mail from.
10849 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
10850 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
10853 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
10857 @item message packets
10858 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
10859 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
10860 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10862 @item response packets
10863 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
10864 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
10865 default, where @var{X} is a number.
10875 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
10876 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
10877 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
10878 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
10881 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
10884 You put the packet in your home directory.
10887 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
10888 the native or secondary server.
10891 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
10892 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
10895 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
10899 You transfer this packet to the server.
10902 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
10905 You then repeat until you die.
10909 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
10910 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
10913 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
10914 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
10915 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
10919 @node SOUP Commands
10920 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
10922 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
10926 @kindex G s b (Group)
10927 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
10928 Pack all unread articles in the current group
10929 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
10930 process/prefix convention.
10933 @kindex G s w (Group)
10934 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
10935 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
10938 @kindex G s s (Group)
10939 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
10940 Send all replies from the replies packet
10941 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
10944 @kindex G s p (Group)
10945 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
10946 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
10949 @kindex G s r (Group)
10950 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
10951 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
10954 @kindex O s (Summary)
10955 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
10956 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
10957 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
10958 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
10963 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
10968 @item gnus-soup-directory
10969 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
10970 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
10971 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
10973 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
10974 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
10975 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
10976 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
10978 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
10979 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
10980 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
10981 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
10983 @item gnus-soup-packer
10984 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
10985 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10986 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
10988 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
10989 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
10990 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
10991 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
10993 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
10994 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
10995 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
10997 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10998 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
10999 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
11000 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
11006 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
11009 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
11010 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
11011 you can read them at leisure.
11013 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
11017 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
11018 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
11019 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
11020 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
11022 @item nnsoup-directory
11023 @vindex nnsoup-directory
11024 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
11025 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
11027 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
11028 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
11029 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
11030 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
11032 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
11033 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
11034 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
11035 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
11036 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
11038 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
11039 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
11040 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
11041 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
11043 @item nnsoup-active-file
11044 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
11045 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
11046 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
11047 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
11048 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
11050 @item nnsoup-packer
11051 @vindex nnsoup-packer
11052 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
11053 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
11055 @item nnsoup-unpacker
11056 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
11057 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
11058 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
11060 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
11061 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
11062 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
11065 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
11066 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
11067 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
11070 @item nnsoup-always-save
11071 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
11072 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
11078 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
11080 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
11081 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
11082 more for that to happen.
11084 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
11085 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
11086 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
11089 In specific, this is what it does:
11092 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
11093 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
11096 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
11097 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
11098 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
11102 @subsection Web Searches
11106 @cindex InReference
11107 @cindex Usenet searches
11108 @cindex searching the Usenet
11110 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
11111 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
11112 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
11113 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
11114 searches without having to use a browser.
11116 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
11117 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
11118 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
11119 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
11120 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
11122 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
11123 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
11124 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
11125 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
11126 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
11127 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
11128 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
11129 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
11130 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
11131 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
11134 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
11135 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
11136 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'
\e,Aj
\e(Btre} is to
11137 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
11138 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
11139 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
11141 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
11142 to use @code{nnweb}.
11144 Virtual server variables:
11149 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
11150 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
11154 @vindex nnweb-search
11155 The search string to feed to the search engine.
11157 @item nnweb-max-hits
11158 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
11159 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
11162 @item nnweb-type-definition
11163 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
11164 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
11165 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
11170 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
11174 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
11177 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
11180 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
11184 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
11191 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
11192 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
11193 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
11196 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
11197 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
11198 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
11200 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
11206 @item nngateway-address
11207 @vindex nngateway-address
11208 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
11210 @item nngateway-header-transformation
11211 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
11212 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
11213 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
11214 transformation should be called, and defaults to
11215 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
11216 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
11219 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
11220 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
11221 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
11224 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
11227 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
11230 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
11233 The following pre-defined functions exist:
11235 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11238 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
11239 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11240 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
11242 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11244 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
11245 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
11246 @code{nngateway-address}.
11251 (setq gnus-post-method
11252 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
11253 (nngateway-header-transformation
11254 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
11262 So, to use this, simply say something like:
11265 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
11269 @node Combined Groups
11270 @section Combined Groups
11272 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
11276 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
11277 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
11281 @node Virtual Groups
11282 @subsection Virtual Groups
11284 @cindex virtual groups
11285 @cindex merging groups
11287 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
11290 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
11291 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
11292 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
11294 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
11295 regexp to match component groups.
11297 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
11298 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
11299 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
11300 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
11301 the virtual group.)
11303 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
11304 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
11307 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
11310 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
11311 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
11313 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
11314 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
11315 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
11316 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
11319 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
11322 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
11323 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
11324 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
11326 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
11327 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
11328 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
11329 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
11330 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
11332 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
11333 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
11334 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
11336 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
11337 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
11338 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
11339 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
11340 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
11341 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
11342 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
11343 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
11344 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
11345 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
11346 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
11348 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
11349 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
11350 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
11351 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
11352 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
11353 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
11354 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
11356 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
11357 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
11361 @node Kibozed Groups
11362 @subsection Kibozed Groups
11366 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
11367 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
11368 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
11369 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
11371 @kindex G k (Group)
11372 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
11375 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
11376 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
11377 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
11378 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
11380 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
11381 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
11382 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
11384 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
11385 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
11386 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
11387 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
11388 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
11389 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
11390 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
11391 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
11393 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
11394 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
11395 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
11396 Stranger things have happened.
11398 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
11399 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
11401 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
11402 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
11403 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
11404 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
11405 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
11406 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
11408 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
11409 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
11412 @node Gnus Unplugged
11413 @section Gnus Unplugged
11418 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
11420 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
11421 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
11422 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
11423 read news. Believe it or not.
11425 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
11426 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
11427 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
11428 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
11429 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
11431 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
11432 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
11433 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
11434 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
11435 reading news on a machine.
11437 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
11441 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
11442 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
11446 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
11447 @file{.gnus.el} file:
11454 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
11456 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
11459 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
11460 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
11461 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
11462 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
11463 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
11464 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
11465 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
11466 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
11471 @subsection Agent Basics
11473 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
11475 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
11476 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
11477 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
11478 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
11480 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
11481 connected to the net continuously.
11483 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
11484 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
11486 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
11491 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
11492 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
11493 already fetched while in this mode.
11496 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
11497 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
11498 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
11501 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
11502 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
11503 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
11504 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
11507 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
11508 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
11509 then you read the news offline.
11512 And then you go to step 2.
11515 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
11521 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
11522 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
11523 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
11524 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
11525 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
11526 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
11529 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}
11536 @node Agent Categories
11537 @subsection Agent Categories
11539 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
11540 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
11541 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
11542 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
11543 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
11544 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
11545 you're interested in the articles anyway.
11547 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
11548 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
11549 Gnus has its own buffer for creating and managing categories.
11552 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
11553 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
11554 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
11558 @node Category Syntax
11559 @subsubsection Category Syntax
11561 A category consists of two things.
11565 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
11566 are eligible for downloading; and
11569 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
11570 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
11571 score} is wholly unrelated to normal scores.)
11574 A predicate consists of predicates with logical operators sprinkled in
11577 Perhaps some examples are in order.
11579 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
11580 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
11586 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
11587 short (for some value of ``short'').
11589 Here's a more complex predicate:
11598 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
11599 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
11602 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
11603 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
11604 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
11606 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
11607 you want to do, you can write your own.
11611 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
11612 lines; default 100.
11615 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
11616 lines; default 200.
11619 True iff the article has a download score less than
11620 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
11623 True iff the article has a download score greater than
11624 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
11627 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
11628 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
11629 checksum and sees whether articles match.
11638 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
11639 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
11640 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
11643 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
11644 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
11645 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
11646 following headers can be scored on: @code{From}, @code{Subject},
11647 @code{Date}, @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars}, @code{Message-ID},
11648 and @code{References}.
11651 @node The Category Buffer
11652 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
11654 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
11655 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
11656 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
11658 The following commands are available in this buffer:
11662 @kindex q (Category)
11663 @findex gnus-category-exit
11664 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
11667 @kindex k (Category)
11668 @findex gnus-category-kill
11669 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
11672 @kindex c (Category)
11673 @findex gnus-category-copy
11674 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
11677 @kindex a (Category)
11678 @findex gnus-category-add
11679 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
11682 @kindex p (Category)
11683 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
11684 Edit the predicate of the current category
11685 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
11688 @kindex g (Category)
11689 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
11690 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
11691 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
11694 @kindex s (Category)
11695 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
11696 Edit the download score rule of the current category
11697 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
11700 @kindex l (Category)
11701 @findex gnus-category-list
11702 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
11706 @node Category Variables
11707 @subsubsection Category Variables
11710 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
11711 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
11712 Hook run in category buffers.
11714 @item gnus-category-line-format
11715 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
11716 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
11717 Variables}). Valid elements are:
11721 The name of the category.
11724 The number of groups in the category.
11727 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
11728 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
11729 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
11731 @item gnus-agent-short-article
11732 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
11733 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
11735 @item gnus-agent-long-article
11736 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
11737 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
11739 @item gnus-agent-low-score
11740 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
11741 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
11744 @item gnus-agent-high-score
11745 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
11746 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
11752 @node Agent Commands
11753 @subsection Agent Commands
11755 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
11756 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
11757 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
11761 * Group Agent Commands::
11762 * Summary Agent Commands::
11763 * Server Agent Commands::
11766 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
11767 following incantation:
11769 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11771 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
11776 @node Group Agent Commands
11777 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
11781 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
11782 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
11783 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
11784 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
11787 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
11788 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
11789 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
11792 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
11793 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
11794 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
11795 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
11798 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
11799 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
11800 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
11801 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}). @xref{Drafts}
11804 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
11805 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
11806 Add the current group to an Agent category
11807 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}).
11812 @node Summary Agent Commands
11813 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
11817 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
11818 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
11819 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
11822 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
11823 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
11824 Remove the downloading mark from the article
11825 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
11828 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
11829 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
11830 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
11833 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
11834 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
11835 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
11840 @node Server Agent Commands
11841 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
11845 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
11846 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
11847 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
11848 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
11851 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
11852 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
11853 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
11854 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
11860 @subsection Agent Expiry
11862 @vindex gnus-agent-expiry-days
11863 @findex gnus-agent-expiry
11864 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expiry
11865 @cindex Agent expiry
11866 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
11869 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
11870 @code{gnus-agent-expiry} command that will expire all read articles that
11871 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expiry-days} days. It can be run
11872 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
11873 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
11874 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
11876 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
11877 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
11878 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
11879 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
11880 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
11883 @node Outgoing Messages
11884 @subsection Outgoing Messages
11886 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
11887 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
11888 after posting, and edit them at will.
11890 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
11891 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
11892 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
11893 messages in the draft group.
11897 @node Agent Variables
11898 @subsection Agent Variables
11901 @item gnus-agent-directory
11902 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
11903 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
11904 @file{~/News/agent/}.
11906 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
11907 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
11908 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
11909 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
11910 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
11913 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11914 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
11915 Hook run when connecting to the network.
11917 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11918 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
11919 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
11924 @node Example Setup
11925 @subsection Example Setup
11927 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
11928 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
11929 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
11932 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over NNTP
11933 ;;; from your ISP's server.
11934 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "nntp.your-isp.com"))
11936 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
11937 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
11938 (setenv "MAILHOST" "pop.your-isp.com")
11939 (setq nnmail-spool-file "po:username")
11941 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
11942 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
11944 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
11948 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
11949 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
11952 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
11953 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
11954 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
11955 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
11956 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
11959 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
11960 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
11961 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
11962 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
11963 back all the killed groups.)
11965 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
11966 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
11967 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
11970 @node Batching Agents
11971 @subsection Batching Agents
11973 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
11974 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
11975 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
11979 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
11988 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
11989 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
11990 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
11993 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
11994 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
11995 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
11996 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
11997 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
11999 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
12000 before generating the summary buffer.
12002 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
12003 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
12004 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
12006 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
12007 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
12008 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
12009 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
12012 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
12013 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
12014 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
12015 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
12016 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
12017 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
12018 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
12019 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
12020 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
12021 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
12022 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
12023 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
12024 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
12025 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
12026 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
12027 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
12031 @node Summary Score Commands
12032 @section Summary Score Commands
12033 @cindex score commands
12035 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
12036 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
12037 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
12038 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
12039 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
12041 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
12042 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
12043 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
12044 score file the current one.
12046 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
12051 @kindex V s (Summary)
12052 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
12053 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
12056 @kindex V S (Summary)
12057 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
12058 Display the score of the current article
12059 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
12062 @kindex V t (Summary)
12063 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
12064 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
12065 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
12068 @kindex V R (Summary)
12069 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
12070 Run the current summary through the scoring process
12071 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
12072 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
12073 effect you're having.
12076 @kindex V c (Summary)
12077 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
12078 Make a different score file the current
12079 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
12082 @kindex V e (Summary)
12083 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
12084 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
12085 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
12089 @kindex V f (Summary)
12090 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
12091 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
12092 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
12095 @kindex V F (Summary)
12096 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12097 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
12098 after editing score files.
12101 @kindex V C (Summary)
12102 @findex gnus-score-customize
12103 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
12104 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
12108 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
12113 @kindex V m (Summary)
12114 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
12115 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
12116 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
12119 @kindex V x (Summary)
12120 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
12121 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
12122 expunge all articles below this score
12123 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
12126 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
12127 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
12130 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
12131 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
12135 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
12136 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
12138 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
12139 keys are available:
12143 Score on the author name.
12146 Score on the subject line.
12149 Score on the Xref line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
12152 Score on the References line.
12158 Score on the number of lines.
12161 Score on the Message-ID.
12164 Score on followups.
12178 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
12179 what headers you are scoring on.
12191 Substring matching.
12194 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
12223 Greater than number.
12228 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
12229 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
12230 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
12234 Temporary score entry.
12237 Permanent score entry.
12240 Immediately scoring.
12245 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
12246 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
12247 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
12248 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
12250 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
12251 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
12252 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
12253 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
12254 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
12256 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
12257 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
12258 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
12259 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
12260 current score file.
12262 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
12263 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
12264 pretend they are keymaps or not.
12267 @node Group Score Commands
12268 @section Group Score Commands
12269 @cindex group score commands
12271 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
12276 @kindex W f (Group)
12277 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
12278 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
12279 all the time. This command will flush the cache
12280 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
12284 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
12286 @findex gnus-batch-score
12287 @cindex batch scoring
12289 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l gnus -f gnus-batch-score
12293 @node Score Variables
12294 @section Score Variables
12295 @cindex score variables
12299 @item gnus-use-scoring
12300 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
12301 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
12302 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
12304 @item gnus-kill-killed
12305 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
12306 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
12307 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
12308 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
12309 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
12310 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
12311 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
12313 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
12314 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
12315 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
12316 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
12317 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
12319 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
12320 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
12321 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
12322 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
12324 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12325 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
12326 @cindex score cache
12327 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
12328 score files. However, if this might make you Emacs grow big and
12329 bloated, so this regexp can be used to weed out score files unlikely to be needed again. It would be a bad idea to deny caching of
12330 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
12331 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
12332 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
12335 @item gnus-save-score
12336 @vindex gnus-save-score
12337 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
12338 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
12339 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
12341 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12342 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
12343 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
12344 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
12345 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
12346 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
12347 manually entered data.
12349 @item gnus-summary-default-score
12350 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
12351 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
12353 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
12354 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
12355 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
12356 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
12357 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
12358 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
12360 @item gnus-score-over-mark
12361 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
12362 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
12363 default. Default is @samp{+}.
12365 @item gnus-score-below-mark
12366 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
12367 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
12368 default. Default is @samp{-}.
12370 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12371 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
12372 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
12373 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
12375 Predefined functions available are:
12378 @item gnus-score-find-single
12379 @findex gnus-score-find-single
12380 Only apply the group's own score file.
12382 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
12383 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
12384 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
12385 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
12386 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
12387 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
12388 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
12389 then a regexp match is done.
12391 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
12392 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
12394 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
12395 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
12396 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
12397 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
12399 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12400 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
12401 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
12402 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
12403 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
12406 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
12407 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
12408 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
12409 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
12410 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
12411 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
12414 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
12415 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
12416 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
12417 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
12418 are expired. It's 7 by default.
12420 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12421 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
12422 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
12423 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
12424 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
12425 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
12426 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
12429 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12430 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
12431 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
12433 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
12434 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
12435 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
12436 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
12437 threading---according to the current value of
12438 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
12439 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
12440 simplified in this manner.
12445 @node Score File Format
12446 @section Score File Format
12447 @cindex score file format
12449 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
12450 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
12451 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
12453 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
12457 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
12459 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
12461 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
12463 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
12468 (mark-and-expunge -10)
12472 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
12473 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
12474 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
12475 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
12479 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
12480 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
12482 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
12483 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
12484 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
12486 Six keys are supported by this alist:
12491 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
12492 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
12493 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
12494 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
12495 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
12496 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
12497 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
12498 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
12499 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
12500 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
12501 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
12502 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
12503 to articles that matches these score entries.
12505 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
12506 score entry has one to four elements.
12510 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
12511 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
12515 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
12516 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
12517 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
12518 is successful. If this element is not present, the
12519 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
12520 instead. This is 1000 by default.
12523 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
12524 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
12525 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
12526 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
12527 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
12530 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
12531 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
12532 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
12533 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
12536 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
12537 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
12538 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
12539 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
12540 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
12541 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
12542 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
12543 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
12544 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
12545 instead, if you feel like.
12548 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
12549 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
12551 These predicates are true if
12554 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
12557 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
12558 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
12565 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
12566 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
12567 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
12568 it's not. I think.)
12570 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
12571 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
12572 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
12573 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
12576 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
12577 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
12578 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
12579 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
12580 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
12581 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
12582 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
12586 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
12587 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
12588 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
12589 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
12590 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
12591 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
12592 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
12593 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
12596 @item Head, Body, All
12597 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
12601 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
12602 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
12603 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
12604 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
12605 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
12606 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
12607 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
12611 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
12612 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{X}, then you add a
12613 @samp{thread} match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each
12614 article that has @var{X} in its @code{References} header. (These new
12615 @samp{thread} matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching
12616 articles.) This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an
12617 entire thread, even though some articles in the thread may not have
12618 complete @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
12619 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
12620 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
12624 @cindex Score File Atoms
12626 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12627 lower than this number will be marked as read.
12630 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12631 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
12633 @item mark-and-expunge
12634 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
12635 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
12638 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
12639 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
12640 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
12641 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
12642 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
12645 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
12646 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
12649 @item exclude-files
12650 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
12651 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
12655 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
12656 ignored when handling global score files.
12659 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
12660 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
12661 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
12662 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
12665 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
12666 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
12667 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
12668 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
12670 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
12674 (mark-and-expunge -100)
12677 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
12678 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
12679 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
12680 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
12681 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
12683 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
12684 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
12685 ordinary scoring rules.
12688 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
12689 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
12690 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
12691 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
12692 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
12693 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
12694 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12695 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
12696 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
12697 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
12698 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
12702 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
12703 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
12704 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
12705 file for a number of groups.
12708 @cindex local variables
12709 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
12710 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
12711 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
12712 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
12713 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
12717 @node Score File Editing
12718 @section Score File Editing
12720 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
12721 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
12722 with a mode for that.
12724 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
12725 additional commands:
12730 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
12731 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
12732 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
12733 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
12736 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
12737 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
12738 Insert the current date in numerical format
12739 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
12740 you were wondering.
12743 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
12744 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
12745 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
12746 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
12747 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
12752 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
12754 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
12755 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
12757 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
12758 e} to begin editing score files.
12761 @node Adaptive Scoring
12762 @section Adaptive Scoring
12763 @cindex adaptive scoring
12765 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
12766 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
12767 stupidity, to be precise.
12769 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
12770 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
12771 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
12772 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
12773 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
12774 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
12775 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
12776 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
12777 variable to @code{(word line)}.
12779 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12780 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
12781 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
12782 might look something like this:
12785 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
12786 '((gnus-unread-mark)
12787 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
12788 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
12789 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
12790 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
12791 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
12792 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
12793 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
12794 (gnus-ancient-mark)
12795 (gnus-low-score-mark)
12796 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
12799 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
12800 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
12801 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
12802 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
12803 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
12804 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
12807 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
12808 will be applied to each article.
12810 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
12811 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
12812 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
12813 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
12815 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
12816 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
12817 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
12818 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
12820 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
12821 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
12822 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
12823 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
12825 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
12826 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
12827 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
12828 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
12829 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
12830 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
12832 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
12833 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
12834 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
12835 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
12836 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
12837 aspirins afterwards.)
12839 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
12840 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
12841 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
12843 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
12844 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
12845 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
12847 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
12848 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
12849 let you use different rules in different groups.
12851 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
12852 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
12853 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
12856 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
12857 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
12858 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
12859 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
12860 the length of the match is less than
12861 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
12862 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
12865 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12866 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
12867 headers. If you adapt on words, the
12868 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
12869 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
12872 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
12873 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
12874 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
12875 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
12876 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
12879 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
12880 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
12881 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
12882 score with 30 points.
12884 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
12885 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
12886 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
12887 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
12888 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
12890 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
12891 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
12892 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
12893 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
12895 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
12896 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
12897 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
12898 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
12900 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
12901 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
12902 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
12904 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
12905 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
12906 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
12907 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
12910 @node Home Score File
12911 @section Home Score File
12913 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
12914 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
12915 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
12916 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
12918 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
12919 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
12920 could perhaps use the same home score file.
12922 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
12923 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
12928 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
12932 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
12933 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
12937 A list. The elements in this list can be:
12941 @var{(regexp file-name)}. If the @var{regexp} matches the group name,
12942 the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
12945 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
12946 the home score file.
12949 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
12952 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
12957 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
12960 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12961 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
12964 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
12965 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
12967 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
12969 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12970 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
12973 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
12974 Other functions include
12977 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
12978 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
12979 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
12980 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
12984 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
12985 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
12986 their own home score files:
12989 (setq gnus-home-score-file
12990 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
12991 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
12992 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
12993 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
12996 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
12997 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
12998 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
12999 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
13000 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
13002 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
13003 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
13004 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
13005 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
13006 precedence over this variable.
13009 @node Followups To Yourself
13010 @section Followups To Yourself
13012 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
13013 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
13014 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
13015 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
13016 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
13017 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
13021 @item gnus-score-followup-article
13022 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
13023 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
13026 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
13027 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
13028 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
13032 @vindex message-sent-hook
13033 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
13034 @code{message-sent-hook}.
13036 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
13037 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
13041 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13042 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
13045 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
13046 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
13051 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
13055 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
13056 is system-dependent.
13060 @section Scoring Tips
13061 @cindex scoring tips
13067 @cindex scoring crossposts
13068 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
13069 the @code{Xref} header.
13071 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
13074 @item Multiple crossposts
13075 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
13076 more than, say, 3 groups:
13078 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
13081 @item Matching on the body
13082 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
13083 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
13084 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
13085 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
13086 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
13087 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
13088 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
13091 @item Marking as read
13092 You will probably want to mark articles that has a score below a certain
13093 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
13094 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
13098 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
13100 @item Negated character classes
13101 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
13102 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
13103 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
13107 @node Reverse Scoring
13108 @section Reverse Scoring
13109 @cindex reverse scoring
13111 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
13112 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
13113 like this in your score file:
13117 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
13122 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
13123 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
13126 @node Global Score Files
13127 @section Global Score Files
13128 @cindex global score files
13130 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
13131 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
13132 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
13134 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
13135 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
13136 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
13138 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
13139 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
13140 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
13141 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
13142 files are applicable to which group.
13144 Say you want to use the score file
13145 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
13146 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
13149 (setq gnus-global-score-files
13150 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
13151 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
13154 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
13155 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
13156 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
13157 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
13158 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
13160 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
13161 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
13163 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
13164 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
13165 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
13166 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
13167 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
13168 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
13170 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
13176 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
13178 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
13180 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
13182 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
13183 lowered out of existence.
13185 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
13186 articles completely.
13189 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
13190 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
13191 old articles for a long time.
13194 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
13195 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
13196 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
13197 holding our breath yet?
13201 @section Kill Files
13204 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
13205 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
13206 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
13208 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
13209 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
13210 files into score files.
13212 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
13213 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
13214 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
13215 that isn't a very good idea.
13217 Normal kill files look like this:
13220 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13221 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
13225 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
13226 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
13228 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
13229 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
13232 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
13237 @kindex M-k (Summary)
13238 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
13239 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
13242 @kindex M-K (Summary)
13243 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
13244 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
13247 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
13252 @kindex M-k (Group)
13253 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
13254 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
13257 @kindex M-K (Group)
13258 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
13259 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
13262 Kill file variables:
13265 @item gnus-kill-file-name
13266 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
13267 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
13268 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
13269 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
13270 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
13271 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
13273 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13274 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
13275 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
13276 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
13279 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
13280 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
13281 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
13282 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
13283 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
13284 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
13285 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
13286 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
13287 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
13289 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13290 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
13291 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
13296 @node Converting Kill Files
13297 @section Converting Kill Files
13299 @cindex converting kill files
13301 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
13302 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
13303 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
13306 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
13307 You can fetch it from
13308 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
13310 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
13311 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
13312 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
13320 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
13321 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
13322 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
13324 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
13325 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
13326 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
13327 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
13328 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
13329 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
13330 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
13331 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
13335 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
13336 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
13337 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
13338 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
13342 @node Using GroupLens
13343 @subsection Using GroupLens
13345 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
13347 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
13348 better bit in town at the moment.
13350 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
13354 @item gnus-use-grouplens
13355 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
13356 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
13357 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
13359 @item grouplens-pseudonym
13360 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
13361 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
13362 with the Better Bit Bureau.
13364 @item grouplens-newsgroups
13365 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
13366 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
13370 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
13371 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
13372 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
13373 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
13374 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
13375 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
13378 @node Rating Articles
13379 @subsection Rating Articles
13381 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
13382 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
13383 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
13384 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
13387 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
13392 @kindex r (GroupLens)
13393 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
13394 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
13397 @kindex k (GroupLens)
13398 @findex grouplens-score-thread
13399 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
13400 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
13401 threads in rec.humor.
13405 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
13406 the score of the article you're reading.
13411 @kindex n (GroupLens)
13412 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
13413 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
13416 @kindex , (GroupLens)
13417 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
13418 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
13422 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
13423 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
13426 @node Displaying Predictions
13427 @subsection Displaying Predictions
13429 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
13430 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
13431 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
13432 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
13433 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
13435 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
13436 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
13437 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
13438 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
13439 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
13440 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
13441 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
13442 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
13443 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
13444 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
13445 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
13446 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
13447 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
13449 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
13450 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
13451 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
13452 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
13454 The following are valid values for that variable.
13457 @item prediction-spot
13458 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
13461 @item confidence-interval
13462 A numeric confidence interval.
13464 @item prediction-bar
13465 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
13467 @item confidence-bar
13468 Numerical confidence.
13470 @item confidence-spot
13471 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
13473 @item prediction-num
13474 Plain-old numeric value.
13476 @item confidence-plus-minus
13477 Prediction +/- confidence.
13482 @node GroupLens Variables
13483 @subsection GroupLens Variables
13487 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
13488 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
13489 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
13490 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
13493 @item grouplens-bbb-host
13494 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
13497 @item grouplens-bbb-port
13498 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
13500 @item grouplens-score-offset
13501 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
13502 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
13505 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
13506 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
13507 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
13512 @node Advanced Scoring
13513 @section Advanced Scoring
13515 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
13516 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
13517 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
13518 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
13519 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
13521 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
13525 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
13526 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
13527 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
13531 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
13532 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
13534 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
13535 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
13536 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
13537 non-@code{nil} value.
13539 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
13540 operator, and various match operators.
13547 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13548 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
13549 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
13554 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
13555 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
13556 then this operator will return @code{false}.
13561 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
13562 logical negation of the value of its argument.
13566 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
13567 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
13568 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
13569 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
13570 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
13571 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
13572 the ancestry you want to go.
13574 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
13575 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
13576 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
13577 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
13578 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
13581 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
13582 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
13584 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
13585 when he's talking about Gnus:
13589 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13590 ("subject" "Gnus"))
13596 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
13600 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13607 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
13608 really don't want to read what he's written:
13612 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
13613 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
13617 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
13618 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
13619 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
13626 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
13627 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
13628 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
13629 ("body" "white.*socks"))
13633 The possibilities are endless.
13636 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
13637 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
13639 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
13640 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
13641 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
13642 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
13643 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
13644 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
13645 @samp{subject}) first.
13647 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
13648 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
13659 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
13660 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
13666 ("subject" "Gnus")))
13673 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
13674 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
13679 @section Score Decays
13680 @cindex score decays
13683 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
13684 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
13685 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
13686 use them in any sensible way.
13688 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
13689 @findex gnus-decay-score
13690 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
13691 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
13692 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
13693 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
13694 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
13695 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
13696 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
13697 definition of that function:
13700 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
13702 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
13703 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
13706 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
13708 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
13710 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
13713 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
13714 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
13715 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
13716 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
13720 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
13723 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
13726 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
13730 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
13731 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
13732 the new score, which should be an integer.
13734 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
13735 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
13742 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
13743 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
13744 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
13745 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
13746 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
13747 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
13748 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
13749 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
13750 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
13751 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
13752 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
13753 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
13754 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
13755 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
13756 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
13757 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
13758 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
13759 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
13763 @node Process/Prefix
13764 @section Process/Prefix
13765 @cindex process/prefix convention
13767 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
13768 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
13770 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
13771 command to be performed on.
13775 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
13776 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
13777 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
13778 with the current one.
13780 @vindex transient-mark-mode
13781 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
13782 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
13784 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
13785 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
13788 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
13789 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
13791 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
13794 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
13795 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
13796 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
13797 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13799 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
13800 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
13801 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
13802 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
13803 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
13804 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
13805 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
13806 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
13810 @section Interactive
13811 @cindex interaction
13815 @item gnus-novice-user
13816 @vindex gnus-novice-user
13817 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
13818 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
13819 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
13820 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
13823 @item gnus-expert-user
13824 @vindex gnus-expert-user
13825 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
13826 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
13827 matter how strange.
13829 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
13830 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
13831 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
13832 is @code{t} by default.
13834 @item gnus-interactive-exit
13835 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
13836 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
13841 @node Symbolic Prefixes
13842 @section Symbolic Prefixes
13843 @cindex symbolic prefixes
13845 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
13846 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
13847 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
13848 rule of 900 to the current article.
13850 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
13851 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
13852 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
13853 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
13854 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
13855 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
13856 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
13858 @kindex M-i (Summary)
13859 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
13860 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
13861 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
13862 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
13863 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
13864 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
13865 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
13866 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
13868 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
13869 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
13870 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
13872 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
13876 @node Formatting Variables
13877 @section Formatting Variables
13878 @cindex formatting variables
13880 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
13881 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
13882 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
13883 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
13884 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
13887 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
13888 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
13889 lots of percentages everywhere.
13892 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
13893 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
13894 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
13895 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
13896 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
13899 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
13900 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
13901 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
13902 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
13903 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
13904 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
13905 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
13906 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
13908 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
13909 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
13911 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
13912 @findex gnus-update-format
13913 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
13914 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
13915 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
13916 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
13920 @node Formatting Basics
13921 @subsection Formatting Basics
13923 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
13924 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
13925 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
13927 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
13928 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
13929 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
13930 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
13931 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
13934 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
13935 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
13936 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
13937 less than 4 characters wide.
13940 @node Mode Line Formatting
13941 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
13943 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
13944 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
13945 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
13946 with the following two differences:
13951 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
13954 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
13955 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
13956 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
13957 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
13958 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
13959 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
13960 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
13965 @node Advanced Formatting
13966 @subsection Advanced Formatting
13968 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
13969 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
13970 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
13971 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
13973 These are the valid modifiers:
13978 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
13982 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
13987 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
13990 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
13995 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
13998 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
14001 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
14004 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
14008 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
14009 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
14010 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
14011 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
14012 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
14013 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
14014 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
14016 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
14017 last operation, padding.
14019 If you use lots of these advanced thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets
14020 quite slow. This can be helped enormously by running @kbd{M-x
14021 gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with the look of your lines.
14022 @xref{Compilation}.
14025 @node User-Defined Specs
14026 @subsection User-Defined Specs
14028 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
14029 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
14030 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
14031 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
14032 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
14033 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
14034 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
14035 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
14036 should protect against that.
14038 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
14039 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
14040 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
14041 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
14045 @node Formatting Fonts
14046 @subsection Formatting Fonts
14048 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
14049 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
14050 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
14051 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
14054 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
14055 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
14056 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
14057 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
14058 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
14059 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
14061 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
14064 ;; Create three face types.
14065 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
14066 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
14068 ;; We want the article count to be in
14069 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
14070 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
14071 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
14073 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
14074 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
14076 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
14077 (setq gnus-group-line-format
14078 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
14081 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
14082 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
14084 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
14085 mode-line variables.
14088 @node Windows Configuration
14089 @section Windows Configuration
14090 @cindex windows configuration
14092 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
14094 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
14095 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
14096 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
14097 @code{t} by default.
14099 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
14100 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
14101 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
14104 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
14105 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
14106 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14110 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
14111 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
14112 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
14113 possible names is listed below.
14115 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
14116 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
14119 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
14123 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
14124 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
14125 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
14126 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
14127 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
14128 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
14129 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
14130 size spec per split.
14132 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
14133 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
14134 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
14135 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
14136 present) gets focus.
14138 Here's a more complicated example:
14141 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
14142 (summary 0.25 point)
14143 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
14147 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
14148 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
14149 occupy, not a percentage.
14151 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
14152 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
14153 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
14154 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
14155 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
14158 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
14161 (article (horizontal 1.0
14166 (summary 0.25 point)
14171 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
14172 @code{horizontal} thingie?
14174 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
14175 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
14176 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
14177 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
14178 the screen is to be given to this strip.
14180 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
14181 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
14182 lines from the splits.
14184 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
14188 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
14189 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
14190 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
14191 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
14192 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
14193 size = number | frame-params
14194 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
14197 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
14198 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
14199 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
14200 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
14202 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
14203 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
14204 @cindex window height
14205 @cindex window width
14206 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
14207 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
14208 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
14209 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
14210 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
14211 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
14213 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
14214 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
14215 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
14216 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
14218 @findex gnus-configure-frame
14219 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
14220 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
14221 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
14222 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
14223 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
14224 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
14225 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
14226 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
14227 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
14228 configuration list.
14231 (gnus-configure-frame
14235 (article 0.3 point))
14243 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
14244 @code{frame} split:
14247 (gnus-configure-frame
14250 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
14252 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
14253 (user-position . t)
14254 (left . -1) (top . 1))
14259 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
14260 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
14261 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
14262 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
14263 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
14264 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
14265 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
14266 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
14269 Here's a list of all possible keys for
14270 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration}:
14272 @code{group}, @code{summary}, @code{article}, @code{server},
14273 @code{browse}, @code{message}, @code{pick}, @code{info},
14274 @code{summary-faq}, @code{edit-group}, @code{edit-server},
14275 @code{edit-score}, @code{post}, @code{reply}, @code{forward},
14276 @code{reply-yank}, @code{mail-bounce}, @code{draft}, @code{pipe},
14277 @code{bug}, @code{compose-bounce}, and @code{score-trace}.
14279 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
14280 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
14281 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
14285 (message (horizontal 1.0
14286 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
14288 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
14293 @findex gnus-add-configuration
14294 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
14295 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
14296 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
14297 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
14300 (gnus-add-configuration
14301 '(article (vertical 1.0
14303 (summary .25 point)
14307 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
14308 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
14309 Gnus has been loaded.
14311 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
14312 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
14313 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
14314 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
14315 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
14318 @node Faces and Fonts
14319 @section Faces and Fonts
14324 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
14325 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
14326 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
14331 @section Compilation
14332 @cindex compilation
14333 @cindex byte-compilation
14335 @findex gnus-compile
14337 Remember all those line format specification variables?
14338 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
14339 on. Now, Gnus will of course heed whatever these variables are, but,
14340 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
14341 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
14342 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
14345 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
14346 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
14347 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
14348 you'll get top speed again. Gnus will save these compiled specs in the
14349 @file{.newsrc.eld} file. (User-defined functions aren't compiled by
14350 this function, though---you should compile them yourself by sticking
14351 them into the @code{.gnus.el} file and byte-compiling that file.)
14355 @section Mode Lines
14358 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
14359 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
14360 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
14361 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
14362 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
14363 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
14364 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
14367 @cindex display-time
14369 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
14370 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
14371 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
14372 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
14373 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
14374 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
14375 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
14376 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
14379 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
14381 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
14382 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
14384 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
14385 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
14386 (length display-time-string)))))
14389 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
14390 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
14391 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
14392 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
14393 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
14396 @node Highlighting and Menus
14397 @section Highlighting and Menus
14399 @cindex highlighting
14402 @vindex gnus-visual
14403 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
14404 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
14405 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
14408 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
14409 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
14412 @item group-highlight
14413 Do highlights in the group buffer.
14414 @item summary-highlight
14415 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
14416 @item article-highlight
14417 Do highlights according to @code{gnus-article-display-hook} in the
14420 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
14422 Create menus in the group buffer.
14424 Create menus in the summary buffers.
14426 Create menus in the article buffer.
14428 Create menus in the browse buffer.
14430 Create menus in the server buffer.
14432 Create menus in the score buffers.
14434 Create menus in all buffers.
14437 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
14438 buffers, you could say something like:
14441 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
14444 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
14447 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
14450 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
14451 in all Gnus buffers.
14453 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
14456 @item gnus-mouse-face
14457 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
14458 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
14459 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
14463 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
14467 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
14468 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
14469 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
14471 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
14472 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
14473 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
14475 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
14476 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
14477 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
14479 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
14480 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
14481 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
14483 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
14484 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
14485 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
14487 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
14488 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
14489 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
14500 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
14501 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
14502 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
14503 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
14504 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
14508 @vindex gnus-carpal
14509 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
14510 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
14511 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
14516 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14517 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
14518 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
14520 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
14521 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
14522 Face used on buttons.
14524 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
14525 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
14526 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
14528 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14529 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
14530 Buttons in the group buffer.
14532 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14533 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
14534 Buttons in the summary buffer.
14536 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14537 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
14538 Buttons in the server buffer.
14540 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14541 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
14542 Buttons in the browse buffer.
14545 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
14546 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
14547 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
14555 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
14556 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
14557 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
14558 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
14559 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
14561 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
14562 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
14563 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
14565 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
14566 been idle for thirty minutes:
14569 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
14572 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
14576 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
14579 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
14580 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
14581 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14583 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
14584 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
14585 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
14586 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
14588 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
14589 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
14590 @var{idle} minutes.
14592 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
14593 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
14596 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
14597 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
14598 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
14600 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
14601 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
14602 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
14603 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
14605 @vindex gnus-use-demon
14606 To set the whole thing in motion, though, you have to set
14607 @code{gnus-use-demon} to @code{t}.
14609 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
14610 your @file{.gnus} file:
14612 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
14614 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
14617 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
14618 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
14619 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
14620 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
14621 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
14622 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
14623 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
14624 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
14625 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
14626 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
14627 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
14629 @findex gnus-demon-init
14630 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
14631 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
14632 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
14633 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
14634 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
14636 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
14637 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
14638 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
14647 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
14648 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
14650 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
14651 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
14652 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
14653 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
14656 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
14657 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
14658 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
14659 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
14661 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
14662 this will make spam disappear.
14664 There are some variables to customize, of course:
14667 @item gnus-use-nocem
14668 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
14669 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
14672 @item gnus-nocem-groups
14673 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
14674 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
14675 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
14676 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
14678 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
14679 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
14680 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
14681 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
14682 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
14683 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
14684 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
14686 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
14689 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
14690 @cindex Chris Lewis
14691 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
14692 usenet abuse than anybody else.
14695 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
14696 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
14697 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
14699 @item jem@@xpat.com;
14701 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
14704 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
14705 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
14706 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
14709 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
14710 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
14711 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
14712 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
14713 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
14714 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
14715 @var{(issuer conditions ...)} elements in the list. Each condition is
14716 either a string (which is a regexp that matches types you want to use)
14717 or a list on the form @code{(not STRING)}, where @var{string} is a
14718 regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
14720 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
14721 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
14724 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
14727 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
14728 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
14731 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
14734 The specs are applied left-to-right.
14737 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
14738 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
14740 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
14741 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
14742 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
14743 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
14745 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
14746 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
14749 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
14751 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
14759 This might be dangerous, though.
14761 @item gnus-nocem-directory
14762 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
14763 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
14764 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
14766 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14767 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
14768 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
14769 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
14770 might then see old spam.
14774 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
14775 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
14776 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
14777 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
14784 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
14785 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
14786 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
14788 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
14789 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
14790 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
14791 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
14792 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
14793 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
14794 @code{undo} function.
14796 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
14797 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
14798 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
14799 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
14800 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
14801 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
14802 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
14803 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
14804 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
14805 never be totally undoable.
14807 @findex gnus-undo-mode
14808 @vindex gnus-use-undo
14810 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
14811 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
14812 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
14813 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
14818 @section Moderation
14821 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
14822 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
14823 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
14826 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
14830 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
14833 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
14835 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
14840 You split your incoming mail by matching on
14841 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
14842 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
14845 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
14846 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
14849 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
14850 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
14854 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
14857 (setq gnus-moderated-list
14858 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
14862 @node XEmacs Enhancements
14863 @section XEmacs Enhancements
14866 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
14870 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
14871 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
14872 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
14873 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
14886 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
14887 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
14888 over your shoulder as you read news.
14891 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
14892 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
14893 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
14894 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
14895 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
14900 @subsubsection Picon Basics
14902 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
14911 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
14912 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
14913 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
14914 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
14915 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
14916 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
14917 @code{GIF} formats.
14920 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14921 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
14922 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
14923 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
14924 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
14926 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14927 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
14928 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
14929 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
14930 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
14931 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
14934 @node Picon Requirements
14935 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
14937 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
14938 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
14941 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
14942 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
14943 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
14945 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
14946 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
14947 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
14948 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
14949 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
14953 @subsubsection Easy Picons
14955 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
14956 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
14959 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
14960 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
14961 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
14962 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
14963 'gnus-picons-article-display-x-face)
14966 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
14967 containing the Picons databases.
14969 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
14972 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
14973 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
14978 @subsubsection Hard Picons
14986 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
14987 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
14988 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
14989 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
14990 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
14995 @item gnus-picons-database
14996 @vindex gnus-picons-database
14997 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
14998 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
14999 subdirectories. This is only useful if
15000 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
15001 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
15003 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15004 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
15005 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
15006 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
15007 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
15008 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
15009 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
15011 @item gnus-picons-display-where
15012 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15013 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
15014 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
15015 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
15016 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
15017 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
15018 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
15020 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15021 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
15022 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
15027 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
15028 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
15030 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
15031 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
15034 @vindex gnus-article-display-hook
15035 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
15037 @item gnus-article-display-picons
15038 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15039 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
15040 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer. Should be added to the
15041 @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15043 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
15044 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
15045 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present. This function
15046 should be added to @code{gnus-article-display-hook}.
15050 Note: You must append them to the hook, so make sure to specify 't'
15051 for the append flag of @code{add-hook}:
15054 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-display-picons t)
15058 @node Picon Useless Configuration
15059 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
15067 The following variables offer further control over how things are
15068 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
15069 don't need to worry about.
15073 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
15074 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
15075 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15076 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
15078 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
15079 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
15080 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
15081 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
15083 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
15084 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
15085 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
15086 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
15087 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
15089 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15090 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
15091 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
15092 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
15093 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
15094 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
15095 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
15097 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15098 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
15099 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
15100 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
15102 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15103 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
15104 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
15105 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
15106 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
15107 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
15108 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
15110 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15111 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
15112 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
15113 Defaults to @code{nil}.
15115 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
15116 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
15117 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
15118 Defaults to @code{t}.
15120 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15121 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
15122 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
15123 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
15125 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15126 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
15127 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
15128 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
15130 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15131 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
15132 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
15133 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
15134 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
15135 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
15136 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
15137 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
15148 @subsection Smileys
15153 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
15158 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
15159 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
15161 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
15162 @file{.gnus.el} file:
15165 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-smiley-display t)
15168 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
15169 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
15170 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
15171 text and maps that to file names.
15173 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
15174 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
15175 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
15176 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
15177 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
15178 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
15180 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
15181 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
15183 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
15184 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
15185 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
15187 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
15188 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
15192 @item smiley-data-directory
15193 @vindex smiley-data-directory
15194 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
15196 @item smiley-flesh-color
15197 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
15198 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
15200 @item smiley-features-color
15201 @vindex smiley-features-color
15202 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15204 @item smiley-tongue-color
15205 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
15206 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
15208 @item smiley-circle-color
15209 @vindex smiley-circle-color
15210 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
15212 @item smiley-mouse-face
15213 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
15214 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
15220 @subsection Toolbar
15230 @item gnus-use-toolbar
15231 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
15232 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
15233 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
15234 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
15236 @item gnus-group-toolbar
15237 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
15238 The toolbar in the group buffer.
15240 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
15241 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
15242 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
15244 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15245 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
15246 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
15252 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
15255 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15256 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
15257 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
15258 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
15259 unusual directory structure.
15261 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15262 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
15263 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
15264 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
15266 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15267 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
15268 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
15269 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
15270 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
15271 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
15273 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15274 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
15275 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
15289 @node Fuzzy Matching
15290 @section Fuzzy Matching
15291 @cindex fuzzy matching
15293 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
15294 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
15296 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
15297 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
15298 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
15300 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
15301 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
15302 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
15303 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
15304 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
15307 @node Thwarting Email Spam
15308 @section Thwarting Email Spam
15312 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
15314 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
15315 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
15316 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
15317 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
15318 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
15319 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
15320 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
15321 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
15324 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
15325 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
15326 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
15327 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
15328 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
15329 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
15333 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
15334 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
15336 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
15337 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
15338 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
15339 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
15340 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
15341 part of the mail address.)
15344 (setq message-default-news-headers
15345 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
15348 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
15349 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
15354 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
15355 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
15356 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
15362 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
15363 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
15364 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
15365 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
15367 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
15368 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
15369 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
15370 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
15371 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
15372 your fancy split rule in this way:
15377 (to "larsi" "misc")
15381 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
15382 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
15383 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
15384 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
15385 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
15387 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
15388 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
15389 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
15390 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
15391 cosmic balance somewhat.
15393 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
15394 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
15395 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
15396 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
15399 @node Various Various
15400 @section Various Various
15406 @item gnus-home-directory
15407 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
15408 defaults to @file{~/}.
15410 @item gnus-directory
15411 @vindex gnus-directory
15412 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
15413 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
15414 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
15416 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
15417 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
15418 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
15419 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
15421 @item gnus-default-directory
15422 @vindex gnus-default-directory
15423 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
15424 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
15425 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
15426 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
15427 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
15428 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
15431 @vindex gnus-verbose
15432 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
15433 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
15434 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
15435 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
15436 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
15438 @item gnus-verbose-backends
15439 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
15440 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
15441 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
15443 @item nnheader-max-head-length
15444 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
15445 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
15446 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
15447 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
15448 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
15449 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
15450 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
15451 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
15452 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
15454 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
15455 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
15456 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
15457 read when doing the operation described above.
15459 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15460 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15462 @cindex invalid characters in file names
15463 @cindex characters in file names
15464 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
15465 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
15466 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
15469 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
15473 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
15474 Windows (phooey) systems.
15476 @item gnus-hidden-properties
15477 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
15478 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
15479 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
15480 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
15482 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
15483 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
15484 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
15485 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
15486 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
15488 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
15489 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
15490 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
15499 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
15500 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
15502 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
15504 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
15510 Not because of victories @*
15513 but for the common sunshine,@*
15515 the largess of the spring.
15519 but for the day's work done@*
15520 as well as I was able;@*
15521 not for a seat upon the dais@*
15522 but at the common table.@*
15527 @chapter Appendices
15530 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
15531 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
15532 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
15533 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
15534 * A Programmers Guide to Gnus:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
15535 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
15536 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
15544 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
15545 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
15547 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage, you
15548 can point your (feh!) web browser to
15549 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
15550 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is known
15551 as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
15553 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
15554 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
15555 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
15556 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
15557 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
15558 appropriate name, don't you think?)
15560 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
15561 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
15562 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
15563 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
15565 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
15566 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
15567 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
15569 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
15570 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
15572 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
15573 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
15575 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37
15576 releases. If was released as ``Gnus 5.6 on March 8th 1998.
15578 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
15579 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
15580 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
15581 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
15582 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
15586 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
15587 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
15588 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
15589 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
15590 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
15591 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
15592 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
15599 What's the point of Gnus?
15601 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
15602 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
15603 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
15604 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
15605 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
15606 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
15607 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
15608 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
15609 keep track of millions of people who post?
15611 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
15612 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
15613 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
15614 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
15615 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
15616 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
15617 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
15618 every one of you to explore and invent.
15620 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
15621 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
15624 @node Compatibility
15625 @subsection Compatibility
15627 @cindex compatibility
15628 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
15629 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
15630 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
15635 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
15639 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
15642 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
15645 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
15646 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
15647 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
15648 important variables have their values copied into their global
15649 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
15650 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
15652 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
15653 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
15654 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
15655 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
15656 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
15660 @cindex highlighting
15661 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
15662 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
15663 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
15664 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
15665 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
15666 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
15669 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
15670 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
15671 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
15672 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
15674 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
15675 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
15676 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
15677 to stop doing it the old way.
15679 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
15681 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
15683 @cindex reporting bugs
15685 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
15686 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
15687 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
15689 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
15690 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
15691 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
15692 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
15697 @subsection Conformity
15699 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
15700 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
15707 There are no known breaches of this standard.
15711 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
15713 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
15714 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
15715 We do have some breaches to this one.
15720 Gnus does not yet fully handle MIME, and this standard-to-be seems to
15721 think that MIME is the bees' knees, so we have major breakage here.
15724 This is considered to be a ``vanity header'', while I consider it to be
15725 consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted articles
15726 coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use either of
15727 those for posting articles. I would not have known that if it wasn't
15728 for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
15733 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
15734 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
15735 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
15736 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
15740 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
15741 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
15746 @subsection Emacsen
15752 Gnus should work on :
15760 XEmacs 20.4 and up.
15764 Gnus will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than that. Not
15765 reliably, at least.
15767 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
15768 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
15769 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
15774 @subsection Contributors
15775 @cindex contributors
15777 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
15778 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
15779 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
15780 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
15781 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
15782 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
15783 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
15784 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
15785 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
15786 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
15788 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
15794 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
15797 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
15798 well as numerous other things).
15801 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
15804 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
15807 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
15808 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
15811 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
15814 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
15815 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
15818 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
15821 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
15824 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
15827 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
15830 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
15831 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
15834 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
15837 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
15840 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
15843 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
15847 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
15850 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
15853 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
15856 Fran
\e,Ag
\e(Bois Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
15857 well as autoconf support.
15861 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
15862 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
15864 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
15869 David K
\e,Ae
\e(Bgedal,
15873 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
15877 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
15899 Massimo Campostrini,
15907 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
15913 Michael Welsh Duggan,
15916 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
15920 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
15926 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
15928 Michelangelo Grigni,
15931 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
15933 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
15935 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
15940 Fran
\e,Ag
\e(Bois Felix Ingrand,
15941 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
15943 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
15952 Peter Skov Knudsen,
15953 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
15954 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
15955 Thor Kristoffersen,
15958 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
15975 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
15976 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
15983 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
15987 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
15990 John McClary Prevost,
15996 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
16001 Christian von Roques,
16003 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
16009 Philippe Schnoebelen,
16011 Randal L. Schwartz,
16040 Katsumi Yamaoka, @c Yamaoka
16042 Shenghuo Zhu. @c Zhu
16044 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
16045 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
16046 (550kB and counting).
16048 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
16051 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
16052 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
16056 @subsection New Features
16057 @cindex new features
16060 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
16061 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
16062 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
16063 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
16066 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
16067 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
16068 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
16072 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
16074 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
16079 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
16080 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
16083 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
16084 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
16087 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
16090 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
16091 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
16092 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
16095 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
16096 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
16097 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
16098 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16101 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
16102 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16105 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
16106 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
16107 (@pxref{The Active File}).
16110 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
16111 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
16114 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
16115 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
16116 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16119 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
16120 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
16121 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
16124 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
16125 the @file{.emacs} file.
16128 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
16129 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16132 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
16133 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
16136 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
16137 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16140 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
16141 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
16144 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
16145 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16148 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
16151 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
16152 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
16155 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
16156 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
16159 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
16160 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
16163 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
16166 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
16167 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16170 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
16174 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
16178 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
16179 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
16182 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
16188 @node September Gnus
16189 @subsubsection September Gnus
16193 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
16197 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
16202 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
16203 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
16207 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
16208 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
16212 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
16216 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
16217 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
16220 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
16224 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
16227 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
16230 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
16233 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
16237 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
16238 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
16241 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
16245 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
16249 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
16253 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
16257 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
16260 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
16261 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
16264 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
16268 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
16269 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
16272 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
16275 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
16276 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
16277 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
16280 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
16284 The Gnus cache is much faster.
16287 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
16291 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
16292 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
16295 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
16296 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
16299 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
16300 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16303 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
16304 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
16305 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
16308 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
16309 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
16312 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
16315 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16318 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16319 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
16323 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
16326 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
16329 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
16330 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
16333 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
16337 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
16340 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
16345 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
16348 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
16352 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
16355 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
16359 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
16362 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
16365 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
16366 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
16369 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
16370 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
16374 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
16375 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
16378 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
16382 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
16383 buffer to allow easier treatment.
16386 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
16389 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
16393 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
16397 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
16398 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
16401 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
16405 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
16406 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
16409 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
16410 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16413 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
16417 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
16420 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16421 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers t)
16425 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
16428 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
16434 @subsubsection Red Gnus
16436 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
16440 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
16447 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
16450 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
16451 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
16454 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
16455 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
16459 Article washing status can be displayed in the
16460 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
16463 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
16466 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
16467 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
16470 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
16474 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
16475 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
16479 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
16480 Server Internals}).
16483 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
16487 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
16490 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
16491 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
16494 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
16495 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
16496 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
16499 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
16500 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16503 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
16504 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
16507 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
16511 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
16512 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16515 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
16516 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
16519 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
16523 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
16526 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
16530 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
16531 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
16534 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
16535 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
16538 A new command for reading collections of documents
16539 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
16540 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
16543 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
16547 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the NNTP
16548 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
16551 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
16552 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
16553 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
16556 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
16557 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
16561 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
16565 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
16569 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
16574 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
16578 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
16582 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
16583 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
16586 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
16589 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook
16590 'gnus-article-emphasize)
16597 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
16599 New features in Gnus 5.6:
16604 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
16605 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
16606 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
16609 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
16610 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
16611 group, which is created automatically.
16614 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
16618 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
16621 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
16622 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
16625 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
16629 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
16632 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
16633 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
16636 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
16639 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
16640 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
16643 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
16644 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
16647 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
16648 control over simplification.
16651 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
16654 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
16658 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
16661 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
16664 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
16665 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
16666 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
16669 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
16670 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
16673 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
16677 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
16678 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
16681 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
16682 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
16685 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
16689 A history of where mails have been split is available.
16692 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
16695 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
16696 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
16699 A new function for citing in Message has been
16700 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
16703 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
16706 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
16710 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
16711 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
16714 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
16715 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
16718 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
16721 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
16726 @node Newest Features
16727 @subsection Newest Features
16730 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
16733 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
16735 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
16736 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
16739 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
16744 Native @sc{mime} support is something that should be done.
16747 Really do unbinhexing.
16750 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
16751 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
16754 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
16757 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
16760 facep is not declared.
16763 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
16764 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
16767 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
16772 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
16773 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
16774 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
16775 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
16776 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
16777 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
16778 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
16783 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
16786 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
16789 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
16791 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
16792 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
16794 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
16796 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
16798 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
16799 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
16801 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
16803 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
16804 be marked as unread.
16806 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
16808 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
16810 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
16811 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
16813 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
16815 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
16817 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
16818 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
16820 topics that contain just groups with ticked
16821 articles aren't displayed.
16823 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
16825 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
16826 make the mail groups killed.
16828 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
16830 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
16831 and articles have to be removed.
16833 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
16836 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
16838 finding short score file names takes forever.
16840 canceling articles in foreign groups.
16842 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
16844 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
16846 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
16848 nnweb doesn't work properly.
16850 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
16852 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
16853 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
16857 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
16859 really unbinhex binhex files.
16861 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
16862 bar and the Gnus bar.
16865 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
16866 `(canonize-message-id id)'
16867 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
16868 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
16869 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
16870 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
16875 nnml .overview directory with splits.
16879 postponed commands.
16881 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
16883 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
16886 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
16887 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
16889 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
16890 inherit copy prompts and save files.
16892 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
16894 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
16895 for backends that support that.
16897 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
16899 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
16900 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
16902 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
16903 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
16905 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
16907 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
16909 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
16911 server mode command: close/open all connections
16913 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
16914 has been changed before using it.
16916 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
16918 hide (sub)threads with low score.
16920 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
16922 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
16924 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
16925 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
16927 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
16928 contain groups that match a regexp.
16930 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
16933 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
16936 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
16937 from subject lines.
16939 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
16941 nntp-ping-before-connect
16943 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
16945 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
16946 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
16948 message annotations.
16950 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
16952 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
16953 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
16955 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
16960 support qmail maildir spools
16962 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
16964 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
16966 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
16968 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
16969 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
16971 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
16973 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
16975 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
16976 finds and generate proper active ranges.
16978 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
16979 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
16981 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
16983 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
16985 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
16986 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
16988 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
16990 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
16992 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
16993 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
16996 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
16998 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
17000 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
17001 `C-c C-c' when posting.
17003 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
17006 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
17007 should be marker as expirable.
17009 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
17011 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
17012 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
17014 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
17015 Also consult Date headers.
17017 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
17019 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
17021 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
17022 Message-ID, delete the "original".
17024 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
17025 into a See-Also header.
17027 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
17029 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
17031 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
17032 should be listed as such and not as "K".
17034 generate font names dynamically.
17036 score file mode auto-alist.
17038 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
17039 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
17041 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
17042 absolutely all headers there is.
17044 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
17045 and pipe them to the process.
17047 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
17048 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
17049 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
17051 function for starting to edit a file to put into
17052 the current mail group.
17054 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
17056 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
17057 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
17059 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
17060 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
17062 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
17064 when replying to several process-marked articles,
17065 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
17067 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
17068 groups it has been mailed to.
17070 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
17072 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
17074 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
17076 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
17077 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
17079 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
17080 newlines) should be ignored.
17082 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
17083 groups in subtopics as well.
17085 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
17087 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
17090 add edit and forward secondary marks.
17092 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
17094 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
17096 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
17098 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
17100 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
17102 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
17103 or the formatted article.
17105 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
17107 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
17108 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
17110 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
17112 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
17114 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
17116 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
17117 even unread articles.
17119 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
17121 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
17123 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
17125 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
17127 canceling articles in foreign groups.
17129 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
17132 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
17133 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
17135 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
17136 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
17138 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
17140 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
17142 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
17143 from a particular server? Hm.
17145 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
17146 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
17148 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
17150 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
17151 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
17153 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
17154 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
17156 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
17157 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
17158 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
17161 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
17162 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
17164 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
17166 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
17168 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
17170 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
17173 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
17176 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
17177 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
17179 command to show and edit group scores
17181 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
17184 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
17186 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
17188 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
17189 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
17192 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
17193 that are of that length.
17195 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
17197 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
17199 asynchronous posting under nntp.
17201 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
17203 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
17205 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
17207 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
17208 a score lower than this number.
17210 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
17212 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
17214 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
17215 so that each copy can be edited separately.
17217 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
17219 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
17220 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
17222 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
17225 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
17226 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
17227 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
17228 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
17230 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
17233 command to remove all topic stuff.
17235 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
17236 and splitting the resulting digests.
17238 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
17240 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
17242 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
17243 matches an alist -- before saving.
17245 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
17247 variable to activate each group before entering them
17248 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
17250 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
17251 starting Gnus first if necessary.
17253 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
17254 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
17256 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
17258 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
17259 of several groups at once.
17261 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
17262 matches some regexp(s).
17264 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
17266 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
17268 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
17270 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
17272 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
17274 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
17276 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
17278 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
17279 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
17280 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
17281 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
17283 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
17284 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
17286 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
17288 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
17289 recently cited text.
17291 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
17293 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
17296 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
17297 server and just read the articles in the server
17299 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
17300 value of nnoo variables.
17302 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
17304 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
17305 listed in each group info.
17307 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
17310 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
17311 should only be applied to some groups.
17313 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
17314 mail-copies-to: never.
17316 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
17317 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
17319 the slave dribble files should autosave to the slave file names.
17321 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
17324 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
17327 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
17329 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
17332 group user-defined meta-parameters.
17336 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
17338 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
17339 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
17340 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
17341 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
17342 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
17344 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
17345 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
17352 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
17353 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
17355 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
17356 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
17358 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
17359 "Return the date the group was last read."
17360 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
17365 tanken var at n
\e,Ae
\e(Br du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til ilete
17366 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den v
\e,Af
\e(Bre en
17367 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
17368 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
17372 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
17373 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
17375 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
17378 They could be used like this:
17382 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
17383 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
17384 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
17386 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
17388 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
17391 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
17394 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
17395 affect the summary line format.
17399 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
17401 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
17402 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
17404 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
17407 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
17409 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
17411 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
17413 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
17415 - For other files, just find them normally.
17417 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
17418 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
17421 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
17422 tell him what you are doing.
17425 Currently, I get prompted:
17429 decend into sci.something ?
17433 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
17434 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
17435 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
17436 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
17439 Ja, det burde v
\e,Af
\e(Bre en m
\e,Ae
\e(Bte
\e,Ae
\e(B si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
17440 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? S
\e,Ae
\e(B kunne score-regler legges til den
17441 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
17442 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
17445 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
17446 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
17452 more than n blank lines
17454 more than m identical lines
17455 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
17457 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
17461 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
17462 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
17463 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
17464 "same" subject for threading purposes.
17467 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
17468 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
17469 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
17470 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
17473 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
17476 soup - bowl of soup
17477 score below - dim light bulb
17478 score over - bright light bulb
17481 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
17486 show-list-of-articles-in-group
17487 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17488 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
17489 if (articles-selected)
17490 start-reading-selected-articles;
17491 junk-unread-articles;
17496 else if (key-pressed = '.')
17497 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
17498 select-thread-under-cursor;
17500 select-article-under-cursor;
17504 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
17505 if (more-pages-in-article)
17507 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
17514 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
17515 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
17516 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
17519 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
17520 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
17521 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
17522 the wildcard expression).
17525 It would be nice if it also handled
17527 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
17529 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
17534 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
17535 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
17536 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
17537 article versions) variable.
17539 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
17541 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
17542 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
17546 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
17549 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
17550 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
17551 (message-sent-hook).
17553 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
17556 * Enhancements to Gnus:
17560 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
17561 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
17564 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
17565 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
17566 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
17569 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
17570 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
17574 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
17577 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
17581 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
17582 the nnmail duplicate checking.
17585 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
17586 value of the signature file.
17589 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
17590 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
17593 (setq message-tab-alist
17594 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
17595 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
17597 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
17601 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
17604 a command to import a buffer into a group.
17607 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
17610 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
17611 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
17614 a command to process mark all unread articles.
17617 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
17618 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
17619 do more gathering by subject.
17622 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
17623 article numerical order.
17626 (gnus-thread-total-score
17627 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
17631 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
17634 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
17635 in the summary buffer.
17638 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
17639 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
17642 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
17643 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
17644 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
17645 and/or newsgroup name.
17648 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
17651 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
17654 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
17657 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
17658 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
17659 will automatically get the process mark.
17662 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
17663 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
17664 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
17667 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
17671 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
17672 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
17675 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
17676 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
17680 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
17681 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
17684 be able to post via DejaNews.
17687 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
17690 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
17691 allow them to be displayed separately.
17694 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
17695 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
17698 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
17699 articles that match a certain From header.
17702 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
17703 saving living summary buffers.
17706 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
17707 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
17710 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
17711 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
17714 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
17715 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
17718 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
17719 (goto-char (point-min))
17720 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
17721 (replace-match "`" t t))
17722 (goto-char (point-min))
17723 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
17724 (replace-match "'" t t))
17725 (goto-char (point-min))
17726 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
17727 (replace-match "\"" t t))
17728 (goto-char (point-min))
17729 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
17730 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
17735 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
17737 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
17738 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
17739 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
17740 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
17744 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
17747 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
17748 numbers and match on the age of the article.
17752 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
17753 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
17754 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
17756 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
17757 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
17759 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
17760 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
17765 all commands that react to the process mark should push
17766 the current process mark set onto the stack.
17769 gnus-article-hide-pgp
17770 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt islette den dersom teksten matcher
17772 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
17774 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
17775 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
17778 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
17779 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
17782 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
17786 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
17787 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
17790 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
17793 nndraft-request-group should tally autosave files.
17796 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
17799 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
17803 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
17809 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
17812 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
17816 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
17817 X characters in the body.
17820 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
17823 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
17826 format spec to "tab" to a position.
17829 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
17832 command to display all dormant articles.
17835 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
17838 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
17839 to something someone else has said.
17842 Read Netscape discussion groups:
17843 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
17846 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
17847 the displayed version.
17850 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
17854 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
17857 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
17858 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
17859 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
17863 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
17864 in the head or body.
17867 Allow breaking lengthy NNTP commands.
17870 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
17873 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
17874 in a special, unique buffer.
17877 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
17880 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
17881 is less than a certain number of days old.
17884 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
17887 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
17890 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
17891 file, for instance.
17894 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
17895 in any other dummy thread will make gnus highlight the
17896 dummy root instead of the first article.
17899 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
17900 topics for displaying.
17903 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
17904 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
17907 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
17910 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
17911 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
17912 summary buffer for each article.
17915 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
17918 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
17922 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
17925 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
17929 Solve the halting problem.
17938 @section The Manual
17942 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
17943 either @code{texi2dvi}
17945 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
17946 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
17948 to get what you hold in your hands now.
17950 The following conventions have been used:
17955 This is a @samp{string}
17958 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
17961 This is a @file{file}
17964 This is a @code{symbol}
17968 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
17972 (setq flargnoze "yes")
17975 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
17978 (setq flumphel 'yes)
17981 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
17982 ever get them confused.
17986 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
17987 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
17988 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
17989 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
17990 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
17991 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
17992 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
18000 @section Terminology
18002 @cindex terminology
18007 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
18008 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
18009 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
18010 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
18011 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
18015 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
18016 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
18017 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
18018 not posting, and replying is not following up.
18022 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
18026 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
18031 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
18032 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
18033 is all done by the backends.
18037 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
18038 default, way of getting news.
18042 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
18043 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
18048 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
18049 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
18053 A message that has been posted as news.
18056 @cindex mail message
18057 A message that has been mailed.
18061 A mail message or news article
18065 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
18070 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
18075 A line from the head of an article.
18079 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
18080 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
18084 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
18085 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
18086 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
18087 normal @sc{head} format.
18091 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
18092 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
18093 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
18094 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
18095 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
18096 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
18098 @item killed groups
18099 @cindex killed groups
18100 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
18101 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
18103 @item zombie groups
18104 @cindex zombie groups
18105 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
18108 @cindex active file
18109 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
18110 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
18111 is rather large, as you might surmise.
18114 @cindex bogus groups
18115 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
18116 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
18117 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
18120 @cindex activating groups
18121 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
18122 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
18123 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
18127 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
18129 @item select method
18130 @cindex select method
18131 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
18134 @item virtual server
18135 @cindex virtual server
18136 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
18137 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
18138 whole is a virtual server.
18142 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
18143 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
18146 @item ephemeral groups
18147 @cindex ephemeral groups
18148 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
18149 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
18150 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
18153 @cindex solid groups
18154 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
18155 group buffer are solid groups.
18157 @item sparse articles
18158 @cindex sparse articles
18159 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
18160 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
18164 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
18165 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
18169 @cindex thread root
18170 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
18171 articles in the thread.
18175 An article that has responses.
18179 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
18183 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
18184 specified by RFC1153.
18190 @node Customization
18191 @section Customization
18192 @cindex general customization
18194 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
18195 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
18196 for some quite common situations.
18199 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
18200 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
18201 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
18202 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
18206 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
18207 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
18209 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
18210 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
18211 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
18215 @item gnus-read-active-file
18216 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
18217 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
18218 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18219 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
18220 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
18222 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
18223 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
18224 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
18225 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
18229 @node Slow Terminal Connection
18230 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
18232 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
18233 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
18234 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
18238 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
18239 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
18240 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
18241 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
18242 horizontal and vertical recentering.
18244 @item gnus-visible-headers
18245 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
18246 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
18247 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
18248 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
18250 @item gnus-article-display-hook
18251 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
18253 (setq gnus-article-display-hook
18254 '(gnus-article-hide-headers
18255 gnus-article-hide-signature
18256 gnus-article-hide-citation))
18259 @item gnus-use-full-window
18260 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
18261 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
18262 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
18263 want to read them anyway.
18265 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
18266 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
18269 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
18270 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
18271 lines, which might save some time.
18275 @node Little Disk Space
18276 @subsection Little Disk Space
18279 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
18280 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
18284 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
18285 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
18286 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
18287 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
18290 @item gnus-save-killed-list
18291 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
18292 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
18293 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
18294 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
18300 @subsection Slow Machine
18301 @cindex slow machine
18303 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
18304 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
18306 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
18307 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
18309 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
18310 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
18311 summary buffer faster.
18313 Set @code{gnus-article-display-hook} to @code{nil} to make article
18314 processing a bit faster.
18318 @node Troubleshooting
18319 @section Troubleshooting
18320 @cindex troubleshooting
18322 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
18330 Make sure your computer is switched on.
18333 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
18334 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
18338 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
18339 like @samp{Gnus v5.46; nntp 4.0} you have the right files loaded. If,
18340 on the other hand, you get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp
18341 flee}, you have some old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
18344 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
18348 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
18349 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
18350 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
18351 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
18352 something like that.
18355 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
18358 @cindex reporting bugs
18360 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18362 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
18363 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
18364 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
18365 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
18367 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
18368 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
18369 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
18370 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
18373 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
18374 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
18375 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
18376 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
18377 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
18378 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
18380 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
18381 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
18382 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
18385 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
18386 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
18388 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
18389 @cindex ding mailing list
18390 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
18391 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
18395 @node A Programmers Guide to Gnus
18396 @section A Programmer@'s Guide to Gnus
18398 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
18399 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
18400 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
18401 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
18404 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
18405 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
18406 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
18407 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
18408 and general methods of operation.
18411 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
18412 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
18413 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
18414 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
18415 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
18416 * Group Info:: The group info format.
18417 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
18418 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
18419 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
18423 @node Gnus Utility Functions
18424 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
18425 @cindex Gnus utility functions
18426 @cindex utility functions
18428 @cindex internal variables
18430 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
18431 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
18432 Below is a list of the most common ones.
18436 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
18437 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
18438 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
18440 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
18441 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
18442 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
18444 @item gnus-group-real-name
18445 @findex gnus-group-real-name
18446 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
18449 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
18450 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
18451 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
18452 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
18454 @item gnus-get-info
18455 @findex gnus-get-info
18456 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
18458 @item gnus-group-unread
18459 @findex gnus-group-unread
18460 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
18464 @findex gnus-active
18465 The active entry for @var{group}.
18467 @item gnus-set-active
18468 @findex gnus-set-active
18469 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
18471 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18472 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
18473 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
18476 @item gnus-continuum-version
18477 @findex gnus-continuum-version
18478 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
18479 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
18482 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
18483 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
18484 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
18486 @item gnus-news-group-p
18487 @findex gnus-news-group-p
18488 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
18490 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18491 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
18492 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
18494 @item gnus-server-to-method
18495 @findex gnus-server-to-method
18496 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
18498 @item gnus-server-equal
18499 @findex gnus-server-equal
18500 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
18502 @item gnus-group-native-p
18503 @findex gnus-group-native-p
18504 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
18506 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
18507 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
18508 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
18510 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
18511 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
18512 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
18514 @item group-group-find-parameter
18515 @findex group-group-find-parameter
18516 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
18517 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
18519 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
18520 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
18521 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
18523 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
18524 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
18525 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
18527 @item gnus-check-backend-function
18528 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
18529 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
18530 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
18533 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
18537 @item gnus-read-method
18538 @findex gnus-read-method
18539 Prompts the user for a select method.
18544 @node Backend Interface
18545 @subsection Backend Interface
18547 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
18548 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
18549 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
18550 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
18551 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
18552 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
18554 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
18555 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
18556 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
18557 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
18558 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
18559 been opened, the function should fail.
18561 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
18562 name. Take this example:
18566 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
18567 (nntp-port-number 4324))
18570 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
18571 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
18573 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
18574 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
18575 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
18577 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
18578 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
18579 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
18581 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
18582 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
18583 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
18584 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
18585 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
18586 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
18589 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
18590 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
18591 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
18592 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
18595 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
18598 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
18601 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
18602 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
18603 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
18604 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
18605 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
18606 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
18610 @node Required Backend Functions
18611 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
18615 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
18617 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
18618 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
18619 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
18620 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
18622 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
18623 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
18624 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
18625 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
18627 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
18628 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
18629 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
18630 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
18631 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
18632 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
18633 number, do maximum fetches.
18635 Here's an example HEAD:
18638 221 1056 Article retrieved.
18639 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
18640 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
18641 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
18642 Subject: Re: Something very droll
18643 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
18644 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
18646 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
18647 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
18648 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
18652 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
18653 these in the data buffer.
18655 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
18659 head = error / valid-head
18660 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
18661 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
18662 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
18663 header = <text> eol
18666 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
18667 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
18671 nov-buffer = *nov-line
18672 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
18673 field = <text except TAB>
18676 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
18680 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
18682 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
18683 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
18685 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
18686 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
18687 server. In fact, it should do so.
18689 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
18690 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
18693 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
18695 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
18696 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
18699 There should be no data returned.
18702 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
18704 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
18705 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
18706 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
18707 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
18709 There should be no data returned.
18712 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
18714 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
18715 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
18716 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
18717 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
18719 There should be no data returned.
18722 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
18724 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
18726 There should be no data returned.
18729 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
18731 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
18732 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
18733 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
18734 it would be nice if that were possible.
18736 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
18737 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
18738 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
18739 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
18740 into its article buffer.
18742 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
18743 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
18744 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
18745 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
18746 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
18747 on successful article retrieval.
18750 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
18752 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
18753 making @var{group} the current group.
18755 If @var{FAST}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
18758 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
18761 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
18764 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
18765 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
18766 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
18767 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
18768 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
18769 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
18770 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
18771 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
18774 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
18775 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
18776 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
18780 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18782 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
18783 a no-op on most backends.
18785 There should be no data returned.
18788 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
18790 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
18793 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
18796 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
18797 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
18800 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
18801 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
18804 active-file = *active-line
18805 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
18807 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
18810 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
18811 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
18812 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
18815 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
18817 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
18818 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
18819 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
18820 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
18821 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
18822 clear if the posting could not be completed.
18824 There should be no result data from this function.
18829 @node Optional Backend Functions
18830 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
18834 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
18836 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
18837 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
18838 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
18840 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
18841 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
18842 former is in the same format as the data from
18843 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
18844 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
18847 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
18851 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
18853 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
18854 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
18855 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
18856 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
18857 should return the (altered) group info.
18859 There should be no result data from this function.
18862 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
18864 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
18865 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
18866 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
18867 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
18868 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
18869 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
18870 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
18871 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
18873 There should be no result data from this function.
18876 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
18878 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
18879 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
18880 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
18881 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
18882 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
18884 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
18885 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
18886 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
18889 There should be no result data from this function.
18892 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
18894 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
18895 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
18896 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
18897 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
18898 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
18899 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
18900 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
18902 There should be no result data from this function.
18905 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
18907 The result data from this function should be a description of
18911 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
18913 description = <text>
18916 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
18918 The result data from this function should be the description of all
18919 groups available on the server.
18922 description-buffer = *description-line
18926 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
18928 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
18929 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
18930 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
18933 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
18935 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
18937 There should be no return data.
18940 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
18942 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
18943 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
18944 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
18945 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
18946 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
18949 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
18952 There should be no result data returned.
18955 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
18958 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
18959 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
18961 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
18962 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
18963 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
18964 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
18965 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
18966 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
18968 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
18969 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
18972 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18973 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18975 There should be no data returned.
18978 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
18980 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
18981 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
18982 this function in short order.
18984 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
18985 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
18987 There should be no data returned.
18990 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
18992 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
18993 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
18995 There should be no data returned.
18998 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
19000 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
19001 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
19002 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
19004 There should be no data returned.
19007 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
19009 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
19010 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
19012 There should be no data returned.
19017 @node Error Messaging
19018 @subsubsection Error Messaging
19020 @findex nnheader-report
19021 @findex nnheader-get-report
19022 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
19023 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
19024 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
19025 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
19026 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
19027 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
19030 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
19032 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
19035 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
19036 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
19037 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
19038 takes one argument---the server symbol.
19040 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
19041 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
19042 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
19045 @node Writing New Backends
19046 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
19048 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
19049 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
19050 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
19051 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
19052 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
19055 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
19056 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
19057 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
19059 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
19060 package called @code{nnoo}.
19062 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
19063 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
19069 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
19070 parameters. For instance:
19073 (nnoo-declare nndir
19077 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
19078 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
19081 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
19082 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
19083 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
19085 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
19086 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
19087 a function in those backends.
19090 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19091 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19092 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19095 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
19096 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
19097 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
19099 @item nnoo-define-basics
19100 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
19104 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19108 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
19109 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
19110 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
19112 @item nnoo-map-functions
19113 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
19114 functions from the parent backends.
19117 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19118 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19119 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
19122 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
19123 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
19124 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
19125 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
19128 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
19129 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
19130 haven't already been defined.
19136 nnmh-request-newgroups)
19140 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
19141 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
19142 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
19147 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
19150 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
19151 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
19155 (require 'nnheader)
19159 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
19161 (nnoo-declare nndir
19164 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
19165 "Where nndir will look for groups."
19166 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
19168 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
19169 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
19172 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
19173 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
19174 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
19176 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
19177 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
19179 ;;; Interface functions.
19181 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
19183 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
19184 (setq nndir-directory
19185 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
19187 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
19188 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
19189 (push `(nndir-current-group
19190 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19192 (push `(nndir-top-directory
19193 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
19195 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
19197 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
19198 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19199 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
19200 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
19201 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
19205 nnmh-status-message
19207 nnmh-request-newgroups))
19213 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19214 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
19216 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
19217 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
19218 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
19219 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
19221 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
19222 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
19227 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
19230 The abilities can be:
19234 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
19236 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
19238 This backend supports both mail and news.
19240 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
19243 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
19244 articles and groups.
19246 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
19247 true for almost all backends.
19248 @item prompt-address
19249 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
19250 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
19251 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
19255 @node Mail-like Backends
19256 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
19258 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
19259 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
19260 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
19261 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
19264 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
19265 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
19266 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
19269 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
19270 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
19273 This function takes four parameters.
19277 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
19280 @item exit-function
19281 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
19283 @item temp-directory
19284 Where the temporary files should be stored.
19287 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
19288 performed for one group only.
19291 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
19292 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
19293 find the article number assigned to this article.
19295 The function also uses the following variables:
19296 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
19297 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
19298 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
19299 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
19303 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
19304 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
19308 @node Score File Syntax
19309 @subsection Score File Syntax
19311 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
19312 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
19313 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
19315 Here's a typical score file:
19319 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
19326 BNF definition of a score file:
19329 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
19330 element = rule / atom
19331 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
19332 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
19333 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
19334 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
19336 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
19337 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
19338 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
19339 date-header = "date"
19340 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19341 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19342 score = "nil" / <integer>
19343 date = "nil" / <natural number>
19344 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
19345 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
19346 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
19347 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
19348 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19349 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19350 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
19351 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
19352 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
19353 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
19354 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
19355 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
19356 exclude-files / read-only / touched
19357 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
19358 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
19359 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
19360 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
19361 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
19362 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
19363 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
19364 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
19365 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
19366 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
19367 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
19368 eval = "eval" space <form>
19369 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
19372 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
19375 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
19376 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
19377 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
19378 one looong line, then that's ok.
19380 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
19381 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19385 @subsection Headers
19387 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
19388 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
19389 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
19390 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
19392 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
19393 RFC1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
19394 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
19395 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
19396 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
19397 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
19398 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
19400 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
19401 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
19402 @code{xref}. There are macros for accessing and setting these
19403 slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
19404 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
19406 The @code{xref} slot is really a @code{misc} slot. Any extra info will
19413 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
19414 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
19416 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
19417 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
19418 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
19419 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
19421 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
19425 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
19428 is transformed into
19431 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
19434 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
19435 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
19438 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
19441 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
19442 is slightly tricky:
19445 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
19451 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
19454 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
19460 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
19467 and is equal to the previous range.
19469 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
19470 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
19471 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
19475 range = simple-range / normal-range
19476 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
19477 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
19478 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
19479 number *[ " " contents ]
19482 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
19483 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
19484 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
19485 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
19486 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
19491 @subsection Group Info
19493 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
19494 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
19495 describes the group.
19497 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
19498 second is a more complex one:
19501 ("no.group" 5 (1 . 54324))
19503 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
19504 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
19506 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
19509 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
19510 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
19511 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
19512 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
19513 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
19514 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
19515 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
19516 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
19517 this section is about.
19519 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
19520 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
19521 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
19523 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
19526 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
19527 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
19528 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
19529 group = quote <string> quote
19530 ralevel = rank / level
19531 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19532 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
19533 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
19535 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
19536 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
19537 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
19538 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
19541 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
19542 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
19545 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
19546 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
19549 @item gnus-info-group
19550 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
19551 @findex gnus-info-group
19552 @findex gnus-info-set-group
19553 Get/set the group name.
19555 @item gnus-info-rank
19556 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
19557 @findex gnus-info-rank
19558 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
19559 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
19561 @item gnus-info-level
19562 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
19563 @findex gnus-info-level
19564 @findex gnus-info-set-level
19565 Get/set the group level.
19567 @item gnus-info-score
19568 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
19569 @findex gnus-info-score
19570 @findex gnus-info-set-score
19571 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
19573 @item gnus-info-read
19574 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
19575 @findex gnus-info-read
19576 @findex gnus-info-set-read
19577 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
19579 @item gnus-info-marks
19580 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
19581 @findex gnus-info-marks
19582 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
19583 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
19585 @item gnus-info-method
19586 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
19587 @findex gnus-info-method
19588 @findex gnus-info-set-method
19589 Get/set the group select method.
19591 @item gnus-info-params
19592 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
19593 @findex gnus-info-params
19594 @findex gnus-info-set-params
19595 Get/set the group parameters.
19598 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
19599 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
19601 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
19602 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
19603 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
19604 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
19607 @node Extended Interactive
19608 @subsection Extended Interactive
19609 @cindex interactive
19610 @findex gnus-interactive
19612 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
19613 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
19614 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
19617 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
19618 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
19623 The best thing to do would have been to implement
19624 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
19625 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
19626 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
19627 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
19628 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
19629 @code{interactive}.
19631 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
19636 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
19637 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
19641 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
19642 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
19643 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
19646 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
19650 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
19654 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
19660 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
19661 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
19665 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
19666 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
19667 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
19669 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
19670 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
19671 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
19672 Gnus, that's very useful.
19674 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
19675 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
19676 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
19677 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
19678 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
19679 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
19680 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
19681 following function:
19684 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
19688 (,function ,@@args))
19692 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
19693 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
19694 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
19697 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
19698 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
19699 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
19701 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
19702 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
19703 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
19706 @node Various File Formats
19707 @subsection Various File Formats
19710 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
19711 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
19715 @node Active File Format
19716 @subsubsection Active File Format
19718 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
19719 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
19722 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
19725 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
19726 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
19727 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
19728 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
19729 no.general 1000 900 y
19732 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
19735 active = *group-line
19736 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
19737 group = <non-white-space string>
19739 high-number = <non-negative integer>
19740 low-number = <positive integer>
19741 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
19744 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
19745 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
19748 @node Newsgroups File Format
19749 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
19751 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
19752 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
19753 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
19756 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
19757 Here's the definition:
19761 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
19762 group = <non-white-space string>
19764 description = <string>
19769 @node Emacs for Heathens
19770 @section Emacs for Heathens
19772 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
19773 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
19774 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
19775 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
19776 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
19777 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
19778 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
19782 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
19783 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
19788 @subsection Keystrokes
19792 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
19795 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
19798 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
19799 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
19800 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
19801 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
19802 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
19803 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
19805 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
19806 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
19807 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
19808 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
19809 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
19810 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
19811 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
19813 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
19814 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
19815 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
19816 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
19817 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
19818 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
19819 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
19821 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
19822 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
19823 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
19824 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
19825 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
19831 @subsection Emacs Lisp
19833 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
19834 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
19835 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
19836 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
19838 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
19839 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
19840 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
19841 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
19842 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
19843 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
19844 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
19847 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
19848 write the following:
19851 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
19854 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
19855 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
19856 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
19859 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
19860 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
19861 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
19862 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
19863 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
19865 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
19866 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
19867 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
19871 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
19875 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
19878 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
19879 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
19882 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
19885 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
19886 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
19889 @include gnus-faq.texi