4 @settitle T-gnus 6.15 Manual
10 * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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281 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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290 Copyright \copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
291 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
294 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
295 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
296 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
297 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
298 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
299 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
300 License'' in the Emacs manual.
302 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
303 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
304 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
306 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
307 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
308 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
309 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
317 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
319 Copyright (C) 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
320 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
322 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
323 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
324 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
325 Invariant Sections being none, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
326 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
327 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
328 License'' in the Emacs manual.
330 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
331 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
332 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
334 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
335 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
336 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
337 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
343 @title T-gnus 6.15 Manual
345 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
348 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
349 Copyright @copyright{} 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
350 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
352 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
353 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.1 or
354 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no
355 Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU
356 Manual'', and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the
357 license is included in the section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation
358 License'' in the Emacs manual.
360 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
361 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
362 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
364 This document is part of a collection distributed under the GNU Free
365 Documentation License. If you want to distribute this document
366 separately from the collection, you can do so by adding a copy of the
367 license to the document, as described in section 6 of the license.
376 @top The gnus Newsreader
380 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
381 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
382 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
385 T-gnus provides @sc{mime} features based on @sc{semi} API. So T-gnus
386 supports your right to read strange messages including big images or
387 other various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
388 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
389 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
390 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
392 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.15.
403 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
404 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
406 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
407 being accused of plagiarism:
409 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
410 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
411 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
412 can even read news with it!
414 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
415 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
416 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
417 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
418 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
424 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
425 * Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
426 * Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
427 * Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
428 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
429 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
430 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
431 * Various:: General purpose settings.
432 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
433 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
434 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
435 * Key Index:: Key Index.
438 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
442 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
443 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
444 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
445 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
446 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
447 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
448 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
449 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
450 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
451 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
452 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
456 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
457 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
458 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
462 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
463 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
464 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
465 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
466 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
467 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
468 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
469 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
470 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
471 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
472 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
473 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
474 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
475 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
476 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
477 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
478 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
482 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
483 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
484 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
488 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
489 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
490 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
491 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
492 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
496 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
497 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
498 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
499 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
500 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
504 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
505 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
506 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
507 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
508 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
510 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
511 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
512 * Threading:: How threads are made.
513 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
514 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
515 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
516 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
517 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
518 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
519 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
520 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
521 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
522 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
523 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
524 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
525 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
526 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
527 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
528 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
529 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
530 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
531 or reselecting the current group.
532 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
533 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
534 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
535 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
537 Summary Buffer Format
539 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
540 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
541 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
542 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
546 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
547 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
549 Reply, Followup and Post
551 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
552 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
553 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
554 * Canceling and Superseding::
558 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
559 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
560 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
562 * Generic Marking Commands::
563 * Setting Process Marks::
567 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
568 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
569 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
573 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
574 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
576 Customizing Threading
578 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
579 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
580 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
581 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
585 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
586 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
587 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
588 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
589 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
590 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
594 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
595 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
596 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
600 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
601 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
602 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
603 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
604 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
605 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
606 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
607 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
608 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
609 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
611 Alternative Approaches
613 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
614 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
616 Various Summary Stuff
618 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
619 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
620 * Summary Generation Commands::
621 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
625 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
626 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
627 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
628 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
629 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
633 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
634 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
635 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
636 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
637 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
638 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
639 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
640 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
644 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
645 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
646 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
647 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
648 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
649 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
650 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
651 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
655 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
656 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
657 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
658 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
659 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
660 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
661 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
665 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
666 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
670 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
671 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
672 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
676 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
677 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
678 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
679 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
680 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
681 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
682 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
683 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
684 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
685 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
686 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
687 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
688 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
692 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
693 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
694 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
696 Choosing a Mail Back End
698 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
699 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
700 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
701 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
702 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
703 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
708 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
709 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
710 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
711 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
712 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
713 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
717 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
718 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
719 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
723 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
724 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
725 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
726 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
727 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
731 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
735 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
736 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
737 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
741 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
742 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
746 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
747 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
748 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
749 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
750 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
751 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
752 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
753 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
754 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
755 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
756 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
760 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
761 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
762 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
766 * Group Agent Commands::
767 * Summary Agent Commands::
768 * Server Agent Commands::
772 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
773 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
774 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
775 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
776 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
777 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
778 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
779 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
780 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
781 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
782 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
783 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
784 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
785 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
786 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
787 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
788 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
792 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
793 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
794 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
795 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
799 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
800 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
801 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
805 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
806 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
807 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
808 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
809 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
810 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
811 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
812 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
813 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
814 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
815 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
816 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
817 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
818 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
819 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
820 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
821 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
822 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
823 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
827 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
828 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
829 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
830 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
831 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
832 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
833 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
834 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
838 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
839 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
840 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
841 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
842 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
846 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
847 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
848 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
849 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
850 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
854 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
855 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
856 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
860 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
861 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
862 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
863 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
864 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
865 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
866 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
867 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
868 * Frequently Asked Questions::
872 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
873 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
874 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
875 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
876 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
877 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
878 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
879 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
880 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
884 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
885 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
886 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
887 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
888 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
892 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
893 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
894 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
895 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
899 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
900 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
901 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
902 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
903 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
904 * Group Info:: The group info format.
905 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
906 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
907 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
911 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
912 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
913 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
914 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
915 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
916 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
920 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
921 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
925 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
926 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
932 @chapter Starting gnus
937 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
938 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
941 @findex gnus-other-frame
942 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
943 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
944 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
946 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
947 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
948 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
950 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
951 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
954 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
955 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
956 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
957 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
958 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
959 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
960 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
961 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
962 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
963 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
964 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
968 @node Finding the News
969 @section Finding the News
972 @vindex gnus-select-method
974 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
975 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
976 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
977 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
980 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
981 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
984 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
987 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
990 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
993 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
994 certainly be much faster. But do not use the local spool if your
995 server is running Leafnode; in this case, use @code{(nntp "localhost")}.
997 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
999 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
1000 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
1001 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
1002 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
1003 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
1004 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
1006 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1007 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
1008 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
1009 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
1011 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
1012 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
1013 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
1014 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
1015 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
1016 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
1017 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
1018 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
1019 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
1022 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
1024 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
1025 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
1026 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
1027 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
1028 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
1029 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
1031 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
1033 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
1034 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
1035 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
1036 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
1037 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
1038 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
1041 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} back end to read your mail,
1042 you would typically set this variable to
1045 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
1049 @node The First Time
1050 @section The First Time
1051 @cindex first time usage
1053 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
1054 be subscribed by default.
1056 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
1057 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
1058 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
1059 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1062 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1063 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1064 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1066 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1067 help you with most common problems.
1069 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1070 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1074 @node The Server is Down
1075 @section The Server is Down
1076 @cindex server errors
1078 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1079 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1080 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1082 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1083 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1084 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1085 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1086 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1087 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1088 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1090 @findex gnus-no-server
1091 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1093 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1094 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1095 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1096 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1097 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1098 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1099 levels.) Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
1103 @section Slave Gnusae
1106 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1107 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1108 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1109 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1111 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1112 @code{.newsrc} file.
1114 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1115 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1116 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1117 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1118 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1119 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1120 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1122 Anyway, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1123 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1124 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1125 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1126 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1127 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1128 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1129 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1131 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1132 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1134 If the @code{.newsrc*} files have not been saved in the master when the
1135 slave starts, you may be prompted as to whether to read an auto-save
1136 file. If you answer "yes", the unsaved changes to the master will be
1137 incorporated into the slave. If you answer "no", the slave may see some
1138 messages as unread that have been read in the master.
1140 @node Fetching a Group
1141 @section Fetching a Group
1142 @cindex fetching a group
1144 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1145 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1146 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1147 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1148 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1149 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1155 @cindex subscription
1157 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1158 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1159 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1160 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1161 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1162 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1163 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1164 @code{always}, then Gnus will query the back ends for new groups even
1165 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1168 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1169 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
1170 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
1174 @node Checking New Groups
1175 @subsection Checking New Groups
1177 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1178 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1179 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1180 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1181 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1182 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1183 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1184 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1185 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1186 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1188 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1189 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1190 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1191 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1192 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1193 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1194 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1195 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1196 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1197 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1198 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1200 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1201 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1202 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1203 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1204 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1205 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1208 @node Subscription Methods
1209 @subsection Subscription Methods
1211 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1212 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1213 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1215 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1216 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1218 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1222 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1223 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1224 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1225 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1226 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1228 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1229 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1230 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1231 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1233 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1234 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1235 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1237 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1238 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1239 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1240 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1241 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1242 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1243 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1244 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1245 up. Or something like that.
1247 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1248 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1249 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1250 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1251 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1253 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1254 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1255 Kill all new groups.
1257 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1258 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1259 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1260 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1261 topic parameter that looks like
1267 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1270 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1275 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1276 A closely related variable is
1277 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1278 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1279 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1280 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1283 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1284 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1285 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1286 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1289 @node Filtering New Groups
1290 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1292 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1293 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1294 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1297 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1300 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1301 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1302 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1303 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1304 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1305 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1306 subscribing these groups.
1307 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1308 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1310 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1311 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1312 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1313 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1314 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1315 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1316 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1317 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1319 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1320 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1321 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1322 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1323 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1324 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1325 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1326 that come from mail back ends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1327 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, @code{nnmh}, and @code{nnmaildir})
1328 subscribed. If you don't like that, just set this variable to
1331 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1332 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1335 @node Changing Servers
1336 @section Changing Servers
1337 @cindex changing servers
1339 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1340 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1341 very flaky and you want to use another.
1343 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1344 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1348 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1349 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1350 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1351 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1354 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1355 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1356 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1357 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1359 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1360 @findex gnus-change-server
1361 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1362 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1363 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1364 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1365 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1367 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1368 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1369 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1370 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1371 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1373 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1374 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1375 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1376 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1377 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1378 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1380 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data
1381 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
1382 Clear the data from the current group only---nix out marks and the
1383 list of read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
1385 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1386 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1387 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1388 @code{gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} will ask you if you want
1389 to have it done automatically; for @code{gnus-group-clear-data}, you
1390 can use @kbd{M-x gnus-cache-move-cache} (but beware, it will move the
1391 cache for all groups).
1395 @section Startup Files
1396 @cindex startup files
1401 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1402 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1404 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1405 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1406 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1407 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1408 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1409 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1410 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1412 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1413 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1414 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1415 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1416 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1417 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1419 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1420 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1421 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1422 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1423 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1424 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1425 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1426 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1427 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1428 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1430 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1431 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1432 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1433 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1434 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1435 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1436 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1437 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1438 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1439 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1440 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1441 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1443 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1444 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1445 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1446 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1448 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1449 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1450 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1451 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1452 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1453 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1454 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1455 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1456 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1457 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1460 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1461 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1463 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1464 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1467 @vindex gnus-init-file
1468 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1469 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1470 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1471 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1472 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1473 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1474 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1475 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1476 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1482 @cindex dribble file
1485 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1486 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1487 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1488 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1489 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1492 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1493 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1496 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1497 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1498 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1500 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1501 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1502 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1503 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1504 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1505 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1507 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1508 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1509 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1512 @node The Active File
1513 @section The Active File
1515 @cindex ignored groups
1517 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1518 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1519 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1521 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1522 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1523 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1524 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1525 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1526 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1527 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1530 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1531 @c if you set it to anything else.
1533 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1535 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1536 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1537 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1539 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1540 you actually subscribe to.
1542 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1543 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1544 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1545 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1547 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1548 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1549 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1550 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1551 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1552 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1554 Some news servers (old versions of Leafnode and old versions of INN, for
1555 instance) do not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these
1556 servers, @code{nil} is probably the most efficient value for this
1559 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1560 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1561 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1562 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1563 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1564 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1566 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1567 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1569 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1570 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1572 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1573 secondary select methods.
1576 @node Startup Variables
1577 @section Startup Variables
1581 @item gnus-load-hook
1582 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1583 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1584 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1585 times you start gnus.
1587 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1588 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1589 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1591 @item gnus-startup-hook
1592 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1593 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1595 @item gnus-started-hook
1596 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1597 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1600 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1601 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1602 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1603 generating the group buffer.
1605 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1606 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1607 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1608 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1609 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1610 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1611 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1612 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1614 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1615 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1616 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1617 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1618 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1619 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1621 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1622 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1623 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1625 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1626 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1627 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1629 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1630 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1631 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1632 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1638 @chapter Group Buffer
1639 @cindex group buffer
1641 @c Alex Schroeder suggests to rearrange this as follows:
1643 @c <kensanata> ok, just save it for reference. I'll go to bed in a minute.
1644 @c 1. Selecting a Group, 2. (new) Finding a Group, 3. Group Levels,
1645 @c 4. Subscription Commands, 5. Group Maneuvering, 6. Group Data,
1646 @c 7. Group Score, 8. Group Buffer Format
1647 @c <kensanata> Group Levels should have more information on levels 5 to 9. I
1648 @c suggest to split the 4th paragraph ("Gnus considers groups...") as follows:
1649 @c <kensanata> First, "Gnus considers groups... (default 9)."
1650 @c <kensanata> New, a table summarizing what levels 1 to 9 mean.
1651 @c <kensanata> Third, "Gnus treats subscribed ... reasons of efficiency"
1652 @c <kensanata> Then expand the next paragraph or add some more to it.
1653 @c This short one sentence explains levels 1 and 2, therefore I understand
1654 @c that I should keep important news at 3 and boring news at 4.
1655 @c Say so! Then go on to explain why I should bother with levels 6 to 9.
1656 @c Maybe keep those that you don't want to read temporarily at 6,
1657 @c those that you never want to read at 8, those that offend your
1658 @c human rights at 9...
1661 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1662 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1663 long as gnus is active.
1667 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1668 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group,height=9cm}}
1669 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1670 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1671 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1672 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1673 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1674 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1680 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1681 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1682 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1683 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1684 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1685 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1686 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1687 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1688 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1689 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1690 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1691 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1692 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1693 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1694 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1695 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1696 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1700 @node Group Buffer Format
1701 @section Group Buffer Format
1704 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1705 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1706 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1710 @node Group Line Specification
1711 @subsection Group Line Specification
1712 @cindex group buffer format
1714 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1715 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1717 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1720 25: news.announce.newusers
1721 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1726 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1727 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1728 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1729 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1731 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1732 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1733 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1734 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1735 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1736 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1738 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1740 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1741 the colon after performing an operation. @xref{Positioning
1742 Point}. Nothing else is required---not even the group name. All
1743 displayed text is just window dressing, and is never examined by Gnus.
1744 Gnus stores all real information it needs using text properties.
1746 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1747 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1748 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1750 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1755 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1758 Whether the group is subscribed.
1761 Level of subscribedness.
1764 Number of unread articles.
1767 Number of dormant articles.
1770 Number of ticked articles.
1773 Number of read articles.
1776 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1777 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1779 Gnus uses this estimation because the @sc{nntp} protocol provides
1780 efficient access to @var{max-number} and @var{min-number} but getting
1781 the true unread message count is not possible efficiently. For
1782 hysterical raisins, even the mail back ends, where the true number of
1783 unread messages might be available efficiently, use the same limited
1784 interface. To remove this restriction from Gnus means that the back
1785 end interface has to be changed, which is not an easy job. If you
1786 want to work on this, please contact the Gnus mailing list.
1789 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1792 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1801 Group comment (@pxref{Group Parameters}) or group name if there is no
1802 comment element in the group parameters.
1805 Newsgroup description.
1808 @samp{m} if moderated.
1811 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1820 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1824 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1827 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1828 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1829 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1830 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1831 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1834 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1836 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1840 @samp{#} (@code{gnus-process-mark}) if the group is process marked.
1843 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1847 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1848 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1849 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1850 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1851 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1852 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1857 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1858 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1859 group, or a bogus native group.
1862 @node Group Modeline Specification
1863 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1864 @cindex group modeline
1866 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1867 The mode line can be changed by setting
1868 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1869 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1873 The native news server.
1875 The native select method.
1879 @node Group Highlighting
1880 @subsection Group Highlighting
1881 @cindex highlighting
1882 @cindex group highlighting
1884 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1885 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1886 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1887 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1888 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1890 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1894 (cond (window-system
1895 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1896 (defface my-group-face-1
1897 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1898 (defface my-group-face-2
1899 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1900 (defface my-group-face-3
1901 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1902 (defface my-group-face-4
1903 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1904 (defface my-group-face-5
1905 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1907 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1908 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1909 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1910 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1911 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1912 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1915 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1917 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1924 The number of unread articles in the group.
1928 Whether the group is a mail group.
1930 The level of the group.
1932 The score of the group.
1934 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1936 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1937 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1939 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1940 topic being inserted.
1943 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1944 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1945 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1947 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1948 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1949 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1950 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1951 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1954 @node Group Maneuvering
1955 @section Group Maneuvering
1956 @cindex group movement
1958 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1959 expected, hopefully.
1965 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1966 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1967 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1973 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1974 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1975 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1979 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1980 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1984 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1985 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1989 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1990 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1991 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1995 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1996 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1997 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
2000 Three commands for jumping to groups:
2006 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
2007 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
2008 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
2013 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
2014 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
2015 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
2019 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
2020 Jump to the first group with unread articles
2021 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
2024 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
2025 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
2026 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
2027 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
2031 @node Selecting a Group
2032 @section Selecting a Group
2033 @cindex group selection
2038 @kindex SPACE (Group)
2039 @findex gnus-group-read-group
2040 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
2041 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
2042 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
2043 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
2044 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
2045 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
2046 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
2047 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
2049 Thus, @kbd{SPC} enters the group normally, @kbd{C-u SPC} offers old
2050 articles, @kbd{C-u 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 newest articles, and @kbd{C-u
2051 - 4 2 SPC} fetches the 42 oldest ones.
2053 When you are in the group (in the Summary buffer), you can type
2054 @kbd{M-g} to fetch new articles, or @kbd{C-u M-g} to also show the old
2059 @findex gnus-group-select-group
2060 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
2061 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
2062 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
2063 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
2067 @kindex M-RET (Group)
2068 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
2069 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
2070 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
2071 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
2072 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
2073 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
2074 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
2075 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
2076 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
2079 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
2080 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
2081 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
2082 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
2083 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
2086 @kindex C-M-RET (Group)
2087 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
2088 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
2089 doing any processing of its contents
2090 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
2091 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
2092 manner will have no permanent effects.
2096 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
2097 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
2098 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
2099 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
2100 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
2101 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
2102 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
2103 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
2106 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
2107 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
2108 If @code{gnus-auto-select-first} is non-@code{nil}, select an article
2109 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
2110 Which article this is is controlled by the
2111 @code{gnus-auto-select-subject} variable. Valid values for this
2117 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article.
2120 Place point on the subject line of the first article.
2123 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article.
2125 @item unseen-or-unread
2126 Place point on the subject line of the first unseen article, and if
2127 there is no such article, place point on the subject line of the first
2131 Place point on the subject line of the highest-scored unread article.
2135 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function
2136 will be called to place point on a subject line.
2138 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2139 binary group with Huge articles) you can set the
2140 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} variable to @code{nil} in
2141 @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2145 @node Subscription Commands
2146 @section Subscription Commands
2147 @cindex subscription
2155 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2156 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2157 Toggle subscription to the current group
2158 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2164 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2165 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2166 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2167 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2173 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2174 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2175 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2181 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2182 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2185 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2186 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2187 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2188 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2189 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2195 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2196 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2200 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2201 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2204 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2205 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2206 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2207 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2208 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2209 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2210 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2211 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2212 @file{.newsrc} file.
2216 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2226 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2227 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2228 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2229 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2230 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2231 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2236 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2237 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2238 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2242 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2243 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2244 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2246 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2247 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2248 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2249 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2250 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2251 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2258 @section Group Levels
2262 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2263 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2264 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2265 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2266 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2268 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2274 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2275 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2276 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2277 prompted for a level.
2280 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2281 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2282 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2283 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2284 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2285 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2286 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2287 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2288 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2289 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2290 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2291 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2292 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2293 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2294 reasons of efficiency.
2296 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2297 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2299 Maybe the following description of the default behavior of Gnus helps to
2300 understand what these levels are all about. By default, Gnus shows you
2301 subscribed nonempty groups, but by hitting @kbd{L} you can have it show
2302 empty subscribed groups and unsubscribed groups, too. Type @kbd{l} to
2303 go back to showing nonempty subscribed groups again. Thus, unsubscribed
2304 groups are hidden, in a way.
2306 Zombie and killed groups are similar to unsubscribed groups in that they
2307 are hidden by default. But they are different from subscribed and
2308 unsubscribed groups in that Gnus doesn't ask the news server for
2309 information (number of messages, number of unread messages) on zombie
2310 and killed groups. Normally, you use @kbd{C-k} to kill the groups you
2311 aren't interested in. If most groups are killed, Gnus is faster.
2313 Why does Gnus distinguish between zombie and killed groups? Well, when
2314 a new group arrives on the server, Gnus by default makes it a zombie
2315 group. This means that you are normally not bothered with new groups,
2316 but you can type @kbd{A z} to get a list of all new groups. Subscribe
2317 the ones you like and kill the ones you don't want. (@kbd{A k} shows a
2318 list of killed groups.)
2320 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2321 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2322 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2324 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2325 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2326 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2327 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2328 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2329 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2330 relevant valid ranges.
2332 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2333 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2334 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2335 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2336 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2337 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2340 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2341 one with the best level.
2343 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2344 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2345 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2348 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2349 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2350 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2351 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2354 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2355 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2356 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2357 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2359 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2360 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2361 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2362 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2363 to 5. The default is 6.
2367 @section Group Score
2372 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2373 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2374 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2377 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2378 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2379 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2380 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2381 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2382 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2383 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2384 least significant part.))
2386 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2387 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2388 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2389 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2390 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2391 action after each summary exit, you can add
2392 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2393 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2394 slow things down somewhat.
2397 @node Marking Groups
2398 @section Marking Groups
2399 @cindex marking groups
2401 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2402 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2403 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2404 bidding on those groups.
2406 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2407 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2408 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2416 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2417 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2423 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2424 Remove the mark from the current group
2425 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2429 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2430 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2434 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2435 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2439 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2440 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2444 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2445 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2446 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2449 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2451 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2452 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2453 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2454 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2455 the command to be executed.
2458 @node Foreign Groups
2459 @section Foreign Groups
2460 @cindex foreign groups
2462 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2463 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2464 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2465 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2472 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2473 @cindex making groups
2474 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2475 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2476 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2480 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2481 @cindex renaming groups
2482 Rename the current group to something else
2483 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2484 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2490 @findex gnus-group-customize
2491 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2495 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2496 @cindex renaming groups
2497 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2498 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2502 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2503 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2504 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2508 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2509 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2510 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2514 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2516 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2517 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2522 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2523 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2527 @cindex (ding) archive
2528 @cindex archive group
2529 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2530 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2531 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2532 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2533 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2534 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2535 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2539 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2541 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2542 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2543 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2544 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2548 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2550 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2551 @code{nneething} back end (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2552 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2556 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2557 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2559 Make a group based on some file or other
2560 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2561 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2562 Currently supported types are @code{mbox}, @code{babyl},
2563 @code{digest}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward},
2564 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts},
2565 @code{standard-digest}, @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs},
2566 @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook}, @code{oe-dbx}, and @code{mailman}. If
2567 you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2568 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2572 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2573 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2574 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2575 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2579 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2583 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2584 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2585 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2586 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2587 include @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}.
2588 @xref{Web Searches}.
2590 If you use the @code{google} search engine, you can limit the search
2591 to a particular group by using a match string like
2592 @samp{shaving group:alt.sysadmin.recovery}.
2595 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2596 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2597 This function will delete the current group
2598 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2599 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2600 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2601 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2602 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2606 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2607 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2608 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2612 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2613 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2614 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2617 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2620 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2621 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2622 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2623 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2624 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2625 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2629 @node Group Parameters
2630 @section Group Parameters
2631 @cindex group parameters
2633 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2634 Here's an example group parameter list:
2637 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2641 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2642 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2643 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2644 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2646 Some parameters have correspondant customizable variables, each of which
2647 is an alist of regexps and values.
2649 The following group parameters can be used:
2654 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2657 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2660 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2661 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2662 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2663 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2664 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2666 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2667 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2668 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2669 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2670 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2671 list address instead.
2673 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-address-alist}.
2677 Address used when doing @kbd{a} in that group.
2680 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2683 It is totally ignored
2684 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2685 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2687 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2688 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2689 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2690 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2691 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2693 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2694 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2695 sending the message.
2697 @findex gnus-mailing-list-mode
2698 @cindex Mail List Groups
2699 If this variable is set, @code{gnus-mailing-list-mode} is turned on when
2700 entering summary buffer.
2702 See also @code{gnus-parameter-to-list-alist}.
2707 If this parameter is set to @code{t}, Gnus will consider the
2708 to-address and to-list parameters for this group as addresses of
2709 mailing lists you are subscribed to. Giving Gnus this information is
2710 (only) a first step in getting it to generate correct Mail-Followup-To
2711 headers for your posts to these lists. Look here @pxref{(message)Mailing
2712 Lists} for a complete treatment of available MFT support.
2714 See also @code{gnus-find-subscribed-addresses}, the function that
2715 directly uses this group parameter.
2719 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2720 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2721 of whether it has any unread articles.
2723 @item broken-reply-to
2724 @cindex broken-reply-to
2725 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2726 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2727 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2728 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2729 broken behavior. So there!
2733 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2734 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2738 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2739 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2740 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2745 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2746 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2747 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2748 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2749 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2750 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2751 (@pxref{Archived Messages}). CAVEAT:: It yields an error putting
2752 @code{(gcc-self . t)} in groups of a @code{nntp} server or so, because
2753 a @code{nntp} server doesn't accept artciles.
2757 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2758 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2759 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2761 See also @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups}.
2764 @cindex total-expire
2765 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2766 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2767 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2768 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2771 See also @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups}.
2775 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2776 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2777 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2778 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2779 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2780 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2783 @cindex score file group parameter
2784 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2785 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2786 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2789 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2790 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2791 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2792 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2795 @cindex admin-address
2796 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2797 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2798 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2799 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2803 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2804 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2808 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2811 Display the last INTEGER articles in the group. This is the same as
2812 entering the group with C-u INTEGER.
2815 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2819 Display articles that satisfy a predicate.
2821 Here are some examples:
2825 Display only unread articles.
2828 Display everything except expirable articles.
2830 @item [and (not reply) (not expire)]
2831 Display everything except expirable and articles you've already
2835 The available operators are @code{not}, @code{and} and @code{or}.
2836 Predicates include @code{tick}, @code{unsend}, @code{undownload},
2837 @code{unread}, @code{dormant}, @code{expire}, @code{reply},
2838 @code{killed}, @code{bookmark}, @code{score}, @code{save},
2839 @code{cache}, @code{forward}, @code{unseen} and @code{recent}.
2843 The @code{display} parameter works by limiting the summary buffer to
2844 the subset specified. You can pop the limit by using the @kbd{/ w}
2845 command (@pxref{Limiting}).
2849 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")} are
2850 arbitrary comments on the group. You can display comments in the
2851 group line (@pxref{Group Line Specification}).
2855 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2856 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2857 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2859 See also @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}.
2861 @item ignored-charsets
2862 @cindex ignored-charset
2863 Elements that look like @code{(ignored-charsets x-unknown iso-8859-1)}
2864 will make @code{iso-8859-1} and @code{x-unknown} ignored; that is, the
2865 default charset will be used for decoding articles.
2867 See also @code{gnus-group-ignored-charsets-alist}.
2870 @cindex posting-style
2871 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2872 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2873 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2874 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2875 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2877 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2878 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2879 like this in the group parameters:
2884 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2889 If it is set, the value is used as the method for posting message
2890 instead of @code{gnus-post-method}.
2894 An item like @code{(banner . "regex")} causes any part of an article
2895 that matches the regular expression "regex" to be stripped. Instead of
2896 "regex", you can also use the symbol @code{signature} which strips the
2897 last signature or any of the elements of the alist
2898 @code{gnus-article-banner-alist}.
2902 This parameter contains a Sieve test that should match incoming mail
2903 that should be placed in this group. From this group parameter, a
2904 Sieve @samp{IF} control structure is generated, having the test as the
2905 condition and @samp{fileinto "group.name";} as the body.
2907 For example, if the INBOX.list.sieve group has the @code{(sieve
2908 address "sender" "sieve-admin@@extundo.com")} group parameter, when
2909 translating the group parameter into a Sieve script (@pxref{Sieve
2910 Commands}) the following Sieve code is generated:
2913 if address \"sender\" \"sieve-admin@@extundo.com\" @{
2914 fileinto \"INBOX.list.sieve\";
2918 The Sieve language is described in RFC 3028. @xref{Top, , Top, sieve,
2921 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2922 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2923 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2924 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2925 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2926 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2927 @code{eval}ed there.
2929 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
2930 A use for this feature, is to remove a mailing list identifier tag in
2931 the subject fields of articles. E.g. if the news group
2932 @samp{nntp+news.gnus.org:gmane.text.docbook.apps} has the tag
2933 @samp{DOC-BOOK-APPS:} in the subject of all articles, this tag can be
2934 removed from the article subjects in the summary buffer for the group by
2935 putting @code{(gnus-list-identifiers "DOCBOOK-APPS:")} into the group
2936 parameters for the group.
2939 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2940 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2941 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2942 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2943 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2947 Use the @kbd{G p} or the @kbd{G c} command to edit group parameters of a
2948 group. (@kbd{G p} presents you with a Lisp-based interface, @kbd{G c}
2949 presents you with a Customize-like interface. The latter helps avoid
2950 silly Lisp errors.) You might also be interested in reading about topic
2951 parameters (@pxref{Topic Parameters}).
2953 Group parameters can be set via the @code{gnus-parameters} variable too.
2954 But some variables, such as @code{visible}, have no effect. For
2958 (setq gnus-parameters
2960 (gnus-show-threads nil)
2961 (gnus-use-scoring nil)
2962 (gnus-summary-line-format
2963 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%d:%ub%-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
2967 ("^nnimap:\\(foo.bar\\)$"
2971 (gnus-use-scoring t))
2975 (broken-reply-to . t))))
2978 String value of parameters will be subjected to regexp substitution, as
2979 the @code{to-group} example shows.
2982 @node Listing Groups
2983 @section Listing Groups
2984 @cindex group listing
2986 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2994 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2995 List all groups that have unread articles
2996 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2997 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2998 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2999 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
3006 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
3007 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
3008 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
3009 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
3010 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
3011 unsubscribed groups).
3015 @findex gnus-group-list-level
3016 List all unread groups on a specific level
3017 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
3018 with no unread articles.
3022 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
3023 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
3024 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
3025 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
3030 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
3031 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
3035 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
3036 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
3037 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
3041 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
3042 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
3046 @findex gnus-group-list-active
3047 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
3048 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
3049 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
3050 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
3051 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
3052 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
3053 Take the output with some grains of salt.
3057 @findex gnus-group-apropos
3058 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
3059 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
3063 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
3064 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
3065 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
3069 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
3070 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
3074 @findex gnus-group-list-dormant
3075 List all groups with dormant articles (@code{gnus-group-list-dormant}).
3079 @findex gnus-group-list-limit
3080 List groups limited within the current selection
3081 (@code{gnus-group-list-limit}).
3085 @findex gnus-group-list-flush
3086 Flush groups from the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-flush}).
3090 @findex gnus-group-list-plus
3091 List groups plus the current selection (@code{gnus-group-list-plus}).
3095 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3096 @cindex visible group parameter
3097 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
3098 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
3099 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
3100 get the same effect.
3102 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
3103 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
3104 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
3105 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
3106 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
3109 @node Sorting Groups
3110 @section Sorting Groups
3111 @cindex sorting groups
3113 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
3114 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
3115 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
3116 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
3117 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
3118 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
3123 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3124 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
3125 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
3127 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3128 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
3129 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
3131 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
3132 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
3133 Sort by group level.
3135 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
3136 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
3137 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
3139 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3140 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
3141 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
3142 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
3144 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3145 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
3146 Sort by number of unread articles.
3148 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
3149 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
3150 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
3152 @item gnus-group-sort-by-server
3153 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-server
3154 Sort alphabetically on the Gnus server name.
3159 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
3160 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
3164 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
3165 some sorting criteria:
3169 @kindex G S a (Group)
3170 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3171 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
3172 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3175 @kindex G S u (Group)
3176 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
3177 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
3178 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3181 @kindex G S l (Group)
3182 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
3183 Sort the group buffer by group level
3184 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
3187 @kindex G S v (Group)
3188 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
3189 Sort the group buffer by group score
3190 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3193 @kindex G S r (Group)
3194 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
3195 Sort the group buffer by group rank
3196 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3199 @kindex G S m (Group)
3200 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
3201 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by back end name
3202 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
3206 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
3207 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3209 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
3210 commands will sort in reverse order.
3212 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
3216 @kindex G P a (Group)
3217 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
3218 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
3219 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
3222 @kindex G P u (Group)
3223 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
3224 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
3225 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
3228 @kindex G P l (Group)
3229 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
3230 Sort the groups by group level
3231 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
3234 @kindex G P v (Group)
3235 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
3236 Sort the groups by group score
3237 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3240 @kindex G P r (Group)
3241 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
3242 Sort the groups by group rank
3243 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3246 @kindex G P m (Group)
3247 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
3248 Sort the groups alphabetically by back end name
3249 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
3252 @kindex G P s (Group)
3253 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups
3254 Sort the groups according to @code{gnus-group-sort-function}.
3258 And finally, note that you can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} to manually
3262 @node Group Maintenance
3263 @section Group Maintenance
3264 @cindex bogus groups
3269 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
3270 Find bogus groups and delete them
3271 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
3275 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
3276 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
3277 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
3278 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
3279 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
3283 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
3284 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
3285 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
3286 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}). That is, delete
3287 all expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
3288 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3291 @kindex C-c C-M-x (Group)
3292 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
3293 Run all expirable articles in all groups through the expiry process
3294 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
3299 @node Browse Foreign Server
3300 @section Browse Foreign Server
3301 @cindex foreign servers
3302 @cindex browsing servers
3307 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
3308 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
3309 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
3310 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
3313 @findex gnus-browse-mode
3314 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
3315 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
3316 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
3318 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
3323 @findex gnus-group-next-group
3324 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3328 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3329 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3332 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3333 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3334 Enter the current group and display the first article
3335 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3338 @kindex RET (Browse)
3339 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3340 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3344 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3345 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3346 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3352 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3353 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3357 @findex gnus-browse-describe-group
3358 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-browse-describe-group}).
3362 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3363 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3364 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3369 @section Exiting gnus
3370 @cindex exiting gnus
3372 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3377 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3378 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3379 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3380 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3384 @findex gnus-group-exit
3385 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3386 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3390 @findex gnus-group-quit
3391 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3392 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3395 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3396 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3397 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3398 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3399 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3404 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3405 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3406 trying to customize meta-variables.
3411 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3412 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3413 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3419 @section Group Topics
3422 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3423 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3424 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3425 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3426 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3427 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3431 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3432 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=ps/group-topic,height=9cm}}
3443 2: alt.religion.emacs
3446 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3448 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3449 13: comp.sources.unix
3452 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3454 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3455 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3456 is a toggling command.)
3458 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3459 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and
3460 now press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3461 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3464 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3465 the hook for the group mode. Put the following line in your
3466 @file{~/.gnus} file:
3469 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3473 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3474 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3475 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3476 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3477 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3481 @node Topic Commands
3482 @subsection Topic Commands
3483 @cindex topic commands
3485 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3486 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3487 definitions slightly.
3489 In general, the following kinds of operations are possible on topics.
3490 First of all, you want to create topics. Secondly, you want to put
3491 groups in topics and to move them around until you have an order you
3492 like. The third kind of operation is to show/hide parts of the whole
3493 shebang. You might want to hide a topic including its subtopics and
3494 groups, to get a better overview of the other groups.
3496 Here is a list of the basic keys that you might need to set up topics
3503 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3504 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3505 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3509 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3511 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3512 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3513 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3514 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3517 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3518 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3519 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3520 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3524 The following two keys can be used to move groups and topics around.
3525 They work like the well-known cut and paste. @kbd{C-k} is like cut and
3526 @kbd{C-y} is like paste. Of course, this being Emacs, we use the terms
3527 kill and yank rather than cut and paste.
3533 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3534 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3535 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3539 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3540 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3541 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3544 So, to move a topic to the beginning of the list of topics, just hit
3545 @kbd{C-k} on it. This is like the `cut' part of cut and paste. Then,
3546 move the cursor to the beginning of the buffer (just below the `Gnus'
3547 topic) and hit @kbd{C-y}. This is like the `paste' part of cut and
3548 paste. Like I said -- E-Z.
3550 You can use @kbd{C-k} and @kbd{C-y} on groups as well as on topics. So
3551 you can move topics around as well as groups.
3555 After setting up the topics the way you like them, you might wish to
3556 hide a topic, or to show it again. That's why we have the following
3563 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3565 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3566 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3567 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3568 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3569 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3570 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3574 Now for a list of other commands, in no particular order.
3580 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3581 Move the current group to some other topic
3582 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3583 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3587 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3588 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3592 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3593 Copy the current group to some other topic
3594 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3595 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3599 @findex gnus-topic-hide-topic
3600 Hide the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-hide-topic}). If given
3601 a prefix, hide the topic permanently.
3605 @findex gnus-topic-show-topic
3606 Show the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-show-topic}). If given
3607 a prefix, show the topic permanently.
3611 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3612 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3613 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3614 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3615 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3616 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3617 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3620 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3621 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3625 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3626 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3627 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3631 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3632 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3633 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3637 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3638 Toggle hiding empty topics
3639 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3643 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3644 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3645 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3648 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3649 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3650 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3651 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3654 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3655 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3656 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the
3657 expiry process (if any)
3658 (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}). (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
3662 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3663 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3666 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3667 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3668 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3672 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3673 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3674 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3677 @kindex T M-n (Topic)
3678 @findex gnus-topic-goto-next-topic
3679 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-next-topic}).
3682 @kindex T M-p (Topic)
3683 @findex gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic
3684 Go to the next topic (@code{gnus-topic-goto-previous-topic}).
3688 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3689 @cindex group parameters
3690 @cindex topic parameters
3692 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3693 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3698 @node Topic Variables
3699 @subsection Topic Variables
3700 @cindex topic variables
3702 The previous section told you how to tell Gnus which topics to display.
3703 This section explains how to tell Gnus what to display about each topic.
3705 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3706 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3707 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3720 Number of groups in the topic.
3722 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3724 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3727 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3728 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3729 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3732 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3733 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3735 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3736 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3737 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3741 @subsection Topic Sorting
3742 @cindex topic sorting
3744 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3750 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3751 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3752 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3753 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3756 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3757 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3758 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3759 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3762 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3763 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3764 Sort the current topic by group level
3765 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3768 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3769 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3770 Sort the current topic by group score
3771 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3774 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3775 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3776 Sort the current topic by group rank
3777 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3780 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3781 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3782 Sort the current topic alphabetically by back end name
3783 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3786 @kindex T S e (Topic)
3787 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server
3788 Sort the current topic alphabetically by server name
3789 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-server}).
3793 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups
3794 Sort the current topic according to the function(s) given by the
3795 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable
3796 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups}).
3800 When given a prefix argument, all these commands will sort in reverse
3801 order. @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group
3805 @node Topic Topology
3806 @subsection Topic Topology
3807 @cindex topic topology
3810 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3816 2: alt.religion.emacs
3819 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3821 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3822 13: comp.sources.unix
3825 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3826 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3827 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3832 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3833 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3837 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3838 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3839 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3840 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3841 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3842 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3844 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3845 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3846 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3849 @node Topic Parameters
3850 @subsection Topic Parameters
3851 @cindex topic parameters
3853 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3854 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3855 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3857 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3862 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3863 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3864 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3867 @item subscribe-level
3868 When subscribing new groups by topic (see the @code{subscribe} parameter),
3869 the group will be subscribed with the level specified in the
3870 @code{subscribe-level} instead of @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}.
3874 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3875 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3876 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3877 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3883 2: alt.religion.emacs
3887 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3889 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3890 13: comp.sources.unix
3894 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3895 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3896 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3897 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3898 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3899 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3901 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3902 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3903 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3904 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3905 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3907 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3908 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3909 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3910 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3911 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3912 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3913 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3914 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3917 @node Misc Group Stuff
3918 @section Misc Group Stuff
3921 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3922 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
3923 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3924 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
3925 * Sieve Commands:: Managing Sieve scripts.
3932 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3933 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3934 @xref{Server Buffer}.
3938 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3939 Start composing a message (a news by default)
3940 (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a prefix, post to the group
3941 under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
3942 Contrary to what the name of this function suggests, the prepared
3943 article might be a mail instead of a news, if a mail group is specified
3944 with the prefix argument. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3948 @findex gnus-group-mail
3949 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}). If given a prefix,
3950 use the posting style of the group under the point. If the prefix is 1,
3951 prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
3952 @xref{Composing Messages}.
3956 @findex gnus-group-news
3957 Start composing a news (@code{gnus-group-news}). If given a prefix,
3958 post to the group under the point. If the prefix is 1, prompt
3959 for group to post to. @xref{Composing Messages}.
3961 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
3962 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
3963 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
3964 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
3965 for this to work though.
3969 Variables for the group buffer:
3973 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3974 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3975 is called after the group buffer has been
3978 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3979 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3980 is called after the group buffer is
3981 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3984 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3985 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3986 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3987 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3989 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3990 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3991 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3992 whether they are empty or not.
3994 @item gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3995 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
3996 An alist of method and the charset for group names. It is used to show
3997 non-ASCII group names.
4001 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-method-alist
4002 '(((nntp "news.com.cn") . cn-gb-2312)))
4005 @item gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4006 @cindex UTF-8 group names
4007 @vindex gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4008 An alist of regexp of group name and the charset for group names. It
4009 is used to show non-ASCII group names. @code{((".*" utf-8))} is the
4010 default value if UTF-8 is supported, otherwise the default is nil.
4014 (setq gnus-group-name-charset-group-alist
4015 '(("\\.com\\.cn:" . cn-gb-2312)))
4020 @node Scanning New Messages
4021 @subsection Scanning New Messages
4022 @cindex new messages
4023 @cindex scanning new news
4029 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
4030 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
4031 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
4032 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
4033 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
4034 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
4039 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
4040 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
4041 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
4042 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
4043 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
4044 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
4045 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
4047 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
4048 @cindex activating groups
4050 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
4051 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
4056 @findex gnus-group-restart
4057 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
4058 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
4059 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
4063 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
4064 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
4066 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
4067 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
4071 @node Group Information
4072 @subsection Group Information
4073 @cindex group information
4074 @cindex information on groups
4081 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
4082 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
4085 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
4086 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
4087 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
4088 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
4089 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
4090 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
4091 for fetching the file.
4093 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
4094 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
4098 @findex gnus-group-fetch-charter
4099 @vindex gnus-group-charter-alist
4101 Try to open the charter for the current group in a web browser
4102 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-charter}). Gnus will use
4103 @code{gnus-group-charter-alist} to find the location of the charter.
4104 If no location is known, Gnus will fetch the control messages for the
4105 group, which in some cases includes the charter.
4109 @findex gnus-group-fetch-control
4110 @vindex gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url
4111 @cindex control message
4112 Fetch the control messages for the group from the archive at
4113 @code{ftp.isc.org} (@code{gnus-group-fetch-control}).
4115 If @code{gnus-group-fetch-control-use-browse-url} is non-nil, Gnus
4116 will open the control messages in a browser using @code{browse-url}.
4117 Otherwise they are fetched using @code{ange-ftp} and displayed in an
4120 Note that the control messages are compressed. To use this command
4121 you need to turn on @code{auto-compression-mode}
4122 (@pxref{(emacs)Compressed Files}).
4126 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
4128 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
4129 @cindex describing groups
4130 @cindex group description
4131 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
4132 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
4133 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
4137 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
4138 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
4139 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
4146 @findex gnus-version
4147 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
4151 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
4152 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
4155 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
4158 @findex gnus-info-find-node
4159 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
4163 @node Group Timestamp
4164 @subsection Group Timestamp
4166 @cindex group timestamps
4168 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
4169 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
4170 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
4173 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
4176 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
4178 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
4179 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
4182 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4183 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
4186 This will result in lines looking like:
4189 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
4190 0: custom 19961002T012713
4193 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
4194 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
4198 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4199 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
4202 If you would like greater control of the time format, you can use a
4203 user-defined format spec. Something like the following should do the
4207 (setq gnus-group-line-format
4208 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %ud\n")
4209 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
4210 (let ((time (gnus-group-timestamp gnus-tmp-group)))
4212 (format-time-string "%b %d %H:%M" time)
4218 @subsection File Commands
4219 @cindex file commands
4225 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
4226 @vindex gnus-init-file
4227 @cindex reading init file
4228 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
4229 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
4233 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
4234 @cindex saving .newsrc
4235 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
4236 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
4237 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
4240 @c @kindex Z (Group)
4241 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
4242 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
4247 @node Sieve Commands
4248 @subsection Sieve Commands
4249 @cindex group sieve commands
4251 Sieve is a server-side mail filtering language. In Gnus you can use
4252 the @code{sieve} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to specify
4253 sieve rules that should apply to each group. Gnus provides two
4254 commands to translate all these group parameters into a proper Sieve
4255 script that can be transfered to the server somehow.
4257 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4258 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-start
4259 @vindex gnus-sieve-region-end
4260 The generated Sieve script is placed in @code{gnus-sieve-file} (by
4261 default @file{~/.sieve}). The Sieve code that Gnus generate is placed
4262 between two delimiters, @code{gnus-sieve-region-start} and
4263 @code{gnus-sieve-region-end}, so you may write additional Sieve code
4264 outside these delimiters that will not be removed the next time you
4265 regenerate the Sieve script.
4267 @vindex gnus-sieve-crosspost
4268 The variable @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} controls how the Sieve script
4269 is generated. If it is non-nil (the default) articles is placed in
4270 all groups that have matching rules, otherwise the article is only
4271 placed in the group with the first matching rule. For example, the
4272 group parameter @samp{(sieve address "sender"
4273 "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu")} will generate the following piece of Sieve
4274 code if @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is nil. (When
4275 @code{gnus-sieve-crosspost} is non-nil, it looks the same except that
4276 the line containing the call to @code{stop} is removed.)
4279 if address "sender" "owner-ding@@hpc.uh.edu" @{
4280 fileinto "INBOX.ding";
4285 @xref{Top, ,Top, sieve, Emacs Sieve}.
4291 @findex gnus-sieve-generate
4292 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4293 @cindex generating sieve script
4294 Regenerate a Sieve script from the @code{sieve} group parameters and
4295 put you into the @code{gnus-sieve-file} without saving it.
4299 @findex gnus-sieve-update
4300 @vindex gnus-sieve-file
4301 @cindex updating sieve script
4302 Regenerates the Gnus managed part of @code{gnus-sieve-file} using the
4303 @code{sieve} group parameters, save the file and upload it to the
4304 server using the @code{sieveshell} program.
4309 @node Summary Buffer
4310 @chapter Summary Buffer
4311 @cindex summary buffer
4313 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
4314 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
4316 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
4317 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
4319 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
4322 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
4323 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
4324 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
4325 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
4326 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
4327 * Delayed Articles::
4328 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
4329 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
4330 * Threading:: How threads are made.
4331 * Sorting the Summary Buffer:: How articles and threads are sorted.
4332 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
4333 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
4334 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
4335 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
4336 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
4337 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
4338 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
4339 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
4340 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
4341 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
4342 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
4343 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
4344 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
4345 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
4346 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
4347 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
4348 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer,
4349 or reselecting the current group.
4350 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
4351 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
4352 * Security:: Decrypt and Verify.
4353 * Mailing List:: Mailing list minor mode.
4357 @node Summary Buffer Format
4358 @section Summary Buffer Format
4359 @cindex summary buffer format
4363 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
4364 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary,width=7.5cm}}
4365 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-article,width=7.5cm}}}
4371 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
4372 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
4373 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
4374 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
4377 @findex mail-extract-address-components
4378 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
4379 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
4380 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
4381 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
4382 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
4383 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
4384 fast, and too simplistic solution;
4385 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
4386 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
4387 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
4388 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
4389 other function instead:
4392 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
4393 'mail-extract-address-components)
4396 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
4397 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
4398 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
4399 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
4402 @node Summary Buffer Lines
4403 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
4405 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4406 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
4407 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
4408 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
4409 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
4411 There should always be a colon or a point position marker on the line;
4412 the cursor always moves to the point position marker or the colon after
4413 performing an operation. (Of course, Gnus wouldn't be Gnus if it wasn't
4414 possible to change this. Just write a new function
4415 @code{gnus-goto-colon} which does whatever you like with the cursor.)
4416 @xref{Positioning Point}.
4418 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n}.
4420 The following format specification characters and extended format
4421 specification(s) are understood:
4427 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
4428 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
4430 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
4431 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
4432 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
4434 Full @code{From} header.
4436 The name (from the @code{From} header).
4438 The name, @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header (@pxref{To
4441 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
4442 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
4443 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
4444 may be more thorough.
4446 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
4449 Number of lines in the article.
4451 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported
4452 in some methods (like nnfolder).
4454 Pretty-printed version of the number of characters in the article;
4455 for example, @samp{1.2k} or @samp{0.4M}.
4457 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4459 A complex trn-style thread tree, showing response-connecting trace
4462 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
4463 pushes everything after it off the screen).
4465 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
4466 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
4468 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
4469 for adopted articles.
4471 One space for each thread level.
4473 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
4475 Unread. @xref{Read Articles}.
4478 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
4479 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
4480 or has been saved. @xref{Other Marks}.
4483 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
4485 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
4486 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
4487 default level. If the difference between
4488 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
4489 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
4497 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
4499 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
4505 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
4506 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
4508 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
4509 article has any children.
4515 Age sensitive date format. Various date format is defined in
4516 @code{gnus-user-date-format-alist}.
4518 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
4519 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
4520 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
4521 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
4522 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
4523 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
4526 Text between @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} will be highlighted with
4527 @code{gnus-mouse-face} when the mouse point is placed inside the area.
4528 There can only be one such area.
4530 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
4531 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
4532 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
4533 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
4534 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
4535 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
4537 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
4538 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
4540 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
4543 @node To From Newsgroups
4544 @subsection To From Newsgroups
4548 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
4549 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
4550 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
4551 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
4552 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
4556 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
4557 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
4558 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
4562 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4563 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
4566 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
4567 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
4570 @findex gnus-extra-header
4571 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
4572 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
4573 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
4576 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
4580 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4581 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
4582 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
4583 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
4584 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
4585 headers are used instead.
4589 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4590 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4591 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4592 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4593 this variable, by entering the server buffer using `^', and then `g' on
4594 the appropriate mail server (e.g. nnml) to cause regeneration.
4596 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4597 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4598 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4599 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4601 In summary, you'd typically put something like the following in
4605 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4607 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4608 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4609 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23f%]%) %s\n")
4610 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4614 (The values listed above are the default values in Gnus. Alter them
4617 A note for news server administrators, or for users who wish to try to
4618 convince their news server administrator to provide some additional
4621 The above is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4622 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4623 nntp admin to add (in the usual implementation, notably INN):
4629 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4630 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4633 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4634 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4636 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4637 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4638 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4639 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4641 Here are the elements you can play with:
4647 Unprefixed group name.
4649 Current article number.
4651 Current article score.
4655 Number of unread articles in this group.
4657 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4660 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4661 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4662 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4663 and no unselected ones.
4665 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4666 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4668 Subject of the current article.
4670 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4672 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4674 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4676 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4678 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4680 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4684 @node Summary Highlighting
4685 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4689 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4690 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4691 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4692 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4693 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4695 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4696 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4697 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4698 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4700 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4701 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4702 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4703 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4705 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4706 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4707 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4708 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4709 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4710 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4713 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4714 ((> score default) . bold))
4716 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4717 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4721 @node Summary Maneuvering
4722 @section Summary Maneuvering
4723 @cindex summary movement
4725 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4726 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4728 None of these commands select articles.
4733 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4734 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4735 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4736 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4737 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4741 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4742 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4743 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4744 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4745 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4748 @kindex G g (Summary)
4749 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4750 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4751 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4754 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4755 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4756 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4757 to the group buffer.
4759 Variables related to summary movement:
4763 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4764 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4765 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4766 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4767 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4768 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4769 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4770 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4771 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
4772 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4773 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4774 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4775 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4776 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4778 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4779 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4780 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4781 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4782 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4783 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4784 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4786 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4788 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4789 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4790 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4791 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4792 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4794 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4795 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4796 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4797 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4798 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4799 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4800 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4801 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4804 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4805 the given number of lines from the top.
4810 @node Choosing Articles
4811 @section Choosing Articles
4812 @cindex selecting articles
4815 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4816 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4820 @node Choosing Commands
4821 @subsection Choosing Commands
4823 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4824 and they all select and display an article.
4826 If you want to fetch new articles or redisplay the group, see
4827 @ref{Exiting the Summary Buffer}.
4831 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4832 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4833 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4834 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4839 @kindex G n (Summary)
4840 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4841 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4842 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4847 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4848 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4849 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4854 @kindex G N (Summary)
4855 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4856 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4861 @kindex G P (Summary)
4862 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4863 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4866 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4867 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4868 Go to the next article with the same subject
4869 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4872 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4873 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4874 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4875 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4879 @kindex G f (Summary)
4881 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4882 Go to the first unread article
4883 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4887 @kindex G b (Summary)
4889 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4890 Go to the unread article with the highest score
4891 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}). If given a prefix argument,
4892 go to the first unread article that has a score over the default score.
4897 @kindex G l (Summary)
4898 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4899 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4902 @kindex G o (Summary)
4903 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4905 @cindex article history
4906 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4907 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4908 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4909 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4910 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4911 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4916 @kindex G j (Summary)
4917 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4918 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4919 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4924 @node Choosing Variables
4925 @subsection Choosing Variables
4927 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4930 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4931 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4932 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4933 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4934 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4935 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4937 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4938 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4939 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4940 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4942 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4943 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4944 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4945 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4946 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4947 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4948 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4949 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4950 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4951 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4952 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4953 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4954 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4955 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4960 @node Paging the Article
4961 @section Scrolling the Article
4962 @cindex article scrolling
4967 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4968 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4969 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4970 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4971 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4974 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4975 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4976 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4979 @kindex RET (Summary)
4980 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4981 Scroll the current article one line forward
4982 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4985 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4986 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4987 Scroll the current article one line backward
4988 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4992 @kindex A g (Summary)
4994 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4995 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4996 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4997 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4998 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4999 the way it came from the server.
5001 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
5002 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
5003 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
5006 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
5011 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
5016 @kindex A < (Summary)
5017 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
5018 Scroll to the beginning of the article
5019 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
5024 @kindex A > (Summary)
5025 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
5026 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
5030 @kindex A s (Summary)
5032 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
5033 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
5034 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
5038 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
5039 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
5044 @node Reply Followup and Post
5045 @section Reply, Followup and Post
5048 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
5049 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
5050 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
5051 * Canceling and Superseding::
5055 @node Summary Mail Commands
5056 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
5058 @cindex composing mail
5060 Commands for composing a mail message:
5066 @kindex S r (Summary)
5068 @findex gnus-summary-reply
5069 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
5070 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
5071 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
5072 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
5077 @kindex S R (Summary)
5078 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
5079 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
5080 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5081 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
5082 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5085 @kindex S w (Summary)
5086 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
5087 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
5088 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
5089 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5090 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
5093 @kindex S W (Summary)
5094 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
5095 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
5096 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
5097 the process/prefix convention.
5100 @kindex S v (Summary)
5101 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply
5102 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article
5103 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{very wide reply} is a reply
5104 that goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
5105 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers in all the process/prefixed
5106 articles. This command uses the process/prefix convention.
5109 @kindex S V (Summary)
5110 @findex gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original
5111 Mail a very wide reply to the author of the current article and include the
5112 original message (@code{gnus-summary-very-wide-reply-with-original}). This
5113 command uses the process/prefix convention.
5116 @kindex S B r (Summary)
5117 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to
5118 Mail a reply to the author of the current article but ignore the
5119 @code{Reply-To} field (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to}).
5122 @kindex S B R (Summary)
5123 @findex gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original
5124 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
5125 original message but ignore the @code{Reply-To} field
5126 (@code{gnus-summary-reply-broken-reply-to-with-original}).
5130 @kindex S o m (Summary)
5131 @kindex C-c C-f (Summary)
5132 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
5133 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
5134 Forward the current article to some other person
5135 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5136 headers of the forwarded article.
5141 @kindex S m (Summary)
5142 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
5143 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
5144 Prepare a mail (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}). By default, use
5145 the posting style of the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5146 If the prefix is 1, prompt for a group name to find the posting style.
5151 @kindex S i (Summary)
5152 @findex gnus-summary-news-other-window
5153 Prepare a news (@code{gnus-summary-news-other-window}). By default,
5154 post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that. If the
5155 prefix is 1, prompt for a group to post to.
5157 This function actually prepares a news even when using mail groups.
5158 This is useful for "posting" messages to mail groups without actually
5159 sending them over the network: they're just saved directly to the group
5160 in question. The corresponding back end must have a request-post method
5161 for this to work though.
5164 @kindex S D b (Summary)
5165 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
5166 @cindex bouncing mail
5167 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
5168 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
5169 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
5170 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
5171 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
5172 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
5173 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
5174 very well fail, though.
5177 @kindex S D r (Summary)
5178 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
5179 Not to be confused with the previous command,
5180 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
5181 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
5182 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
5183 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
5184 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
5185 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
5186 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
5188 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
5189 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
5190 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
5191 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
5192 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muss sein!
5194 This command understands the process/prefix convention
5195 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5198 @kindex S O m (Summary)
5199 @findex gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward
5200 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
5201 result using mail (@code{gnus-summary-digest-mail-forward}). This
5202 command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5205 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
5206 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
5207 @cindex crossposting
5208 @cindex excessive crossposting
5209 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
5210 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
5212 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
5213 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
5214 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
5215 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
5216 command understands the process/prefix convention
5217 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
5221 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5222 Manual}, for more information.
5225 @node Summary Post Commands
5226 @subsection Summary Post Commands
5228 @cindex composing news
5230 Commands for posting a news article:
5236 @kindex S p (Summary)
5237 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
5238 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
5239 Prepare for posting an article (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}). By
5240 default, post to the current group. If given a prefix, disable that.
5241 If the prefix is 1, prompt for another group instead.
5246 @kindex S f (Summary)
5247 @findex gnus-summary-followup
5248 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
5249 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
5253 @kindex S F (Summary)
5255 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
5256 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
5257 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
5258 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
5259 process/prefix convention.
5262 @kindex S n (Summary)
5263 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
5264 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5265 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
5268 @kindex S N (Summary)
5269 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
5270 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
5271 message through mail and include the original message
5272 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
5273 the process/prefix convention.
5276 @kindex S o p (Summary)
5277 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
5278 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
5279 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
5280 headers of the forwarded article.
5283 @kindex S O p (Summary)
5284 @findex gnus-summary-digest-post-forward
5286 @cindex making digests
5287 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
5288 (@code{gnus-summary-digest-post-forward}). This command uses the
5289 process/prefix convention.
5292 @kindex S u (Summary)
5293 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
5294 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
5295 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
5296 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
5299 Also @xref{Header Commands, ,Header Commands, message, The Message
5300 Manual}, for more information.
5303 @node Summary Message Commands
5304 @subsection Summary Message Commands
5308 @kindex S y (Summary)
5309 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
5310 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
5311 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
5312 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
5313 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5318 @node Canceling and Superseding
5319 @subsection Canceling Articles
5320 @cindex canceling articles
5321 @cindex superseding articles
5323 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
5324 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
5326 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
5328 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
5330 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
5331 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
5332 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
5333 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
5334 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
5335 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5337 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
5338 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
5341 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
5342 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
5343 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
5345 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
5346 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
5347 your original article.
5349 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
5351 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
5352 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
5353 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
5356 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
5357 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
5358 have posted almost the same article twice.
5360 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
5361 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
5362 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
5363 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
5364 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
5365 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
5366 header by substituting one of those words for the word
5367 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
5368 you would do normally. The previous article will be
5369 canceled/superseded.
5371 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
5373 @node Delayed Articles
5374 @section Delayed Articles
5375 @cindex delayed sending
5376 @cindex send delayed
5378 Sometimes, you might wish to delay the sending of a message. For
5379 example, you might wish to arrange for a message to turn up just in time
5380 to remind your about the birthday of your Significant Other. For this,
5381 there is the @code{gnus-delay} package. Setup is simple:
5384 (gnus-delay-initialize)
5387 @findex gnus-delay-article
5388 Normally, to send a message you use the @kbd{C-c C-c} command from
5389 Message mode. To delay a message, use @kbd{C-c C-j}
5390 (@code{gnus-delay-article}) instead. This will ask you for how long the
5391 message should be delayed. Possible answers are:
5395 A time span. Consists of an integer and a letter. For example,
5396 @code{42d} means to delay for 42 days. Available letters are @code{m}
5397 (minutes), @code{h} (hours), @code{d} (days), @code{w} (weeks), @code{M}
5398 (months) and @code{Y} (years).
5401 A specific date. Looks like @code{YYYYY-MM-DD}. The message will be
5402 delayed until that day, at a specific time (eight o'clock by default).
5403 See also @code{gnus-delay-default-hour}.
5406 A specific time of day. Given in @code{hh:mm} format, 24h, no am/pm
5407 stuff. The deadline will be at that time today, except if that time has
5408 already passed, then it's at the given time tomorrow. So if it's ten
5409 o'clock in the morning and you specify @code{11:15}, then the deadline
5410 is one hour and fifteen minutes hence. But if you specify @code{9:20},
5411 that means a time tomorrow.
5414 The action of the @code{gnus-delay-article} command is influenced by a
5415 couple of variables:
5418 @item gnus-delay-default-hour
5419 @vindex gnus-delay-default-hour
5420 When you specify a specific date, the message will be due on that hour
5421 on the given date. Possible values are integers 0 through 23.
5423 @item gnus-delay-default-delay
5424 @vindex gnus-delay-default-delay
5425 This is a string and gives the default delay. It can be of any of the
5426 formats described above.
5428 @item gnus-delay-group
5429 @vindex gnus-delay-group
5430 Delayed articles will be kept in this group on the drafts server until
5431 they are due. You probably don't need to change this. The default
5432 value is @code{"delayed"}.
5434 @item gnus-delay-header
5435 @vindex gnus-delay-header
5436 The deadline for each article will be stored in a header. This variable
5437 is a string and gives the header name. You probably don't need to
5438 change this. The default value is @code{"X-Gnus-Delayed"}.
5441 The way delaying works is like this: when you use the
5442 @code{gnus-delay-article} command, you give a certain delay. Gnus
5443 calculates the deadline of the message and stores it in the
5444 @code{X-Gnus-Delayed} header and puts the message in the
5445 @code{nndraft:delayed} group.
5447 And whenever you get new news, Gnus looks through the group for articles
5448 which are due and sends them. It uses the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue}
5449 function for this. By default, this function is added to the hook
5450 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But of course, you can change this.
5451 Maybe you want to use the demon to send drafts? Just tell the demon to
5452 execute the @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} function.
5455 @item gnus-delay-initialize
5456 @findex gnus-delay-initialize
5457 By default, this function installs the @kbd{C-c C-j} key binding in
5458 Message mode and @code{gnus-delay-send-queue} in
5459 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. But it accepts two optional arguments,
5460 @code{no-keymap} and @code{no-check}. If @code{no-keymap} is non-nil,
5461 the @kbd{C-c C-j} binding is not intalled. If @code{no-check} is
5462 non-nil, @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is not changed.
5464 For example, @code{(gnus-delay-initialize nil t)} means to change the
5465 keymap but not to change @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook}. Presumably, you
5466 want to use the demon for sending due delayed articles. Just don't
5467 forget to set that up :-)
5471 @node Marking Articles
5472 @section Marking Articles
5473 @cindex article marking
5474 @cindex article ticking
5477 There are several marks you can set on an article.
5479 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
5480 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
5481 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
5483 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
5486 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
5487 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
5488 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
5492 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
5496 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
5497 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
5498 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
5502 @node Unread Articles
5503 @subsection Unread Articles
5505 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
5510 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
5511 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
5513 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
5514 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
5515 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
5516 tick it. However, articles can be expired (from news servers by the
5517 news server software, Gnus itself never expires ticked messages), so if
5518 you want to keep an article forever, you'll have to make it persistent
5519 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
5522 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
5523 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
5525 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
5526 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
5527 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
5528 Otherwise (except for the visibility issue), they are just like ticked
5532 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
5533 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
5535 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
5540 @subsection Read Articles
5541 @cindex expirable mark
5543 All the following marks mark articles as read.
5548 @vindex gnus-del-mark
5549 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
5550 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
5553 @vindex gnus-read-mark
5554 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
5557 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
5558 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
5559 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
5562 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
5563 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
5566 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
5567 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
5570 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
5571 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
5574 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
5575 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
5578 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
5579 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
5582 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
5583 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
5586 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
5587 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
5591 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
5592 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
5593 (@code{gnus-duplicate-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
5597 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
5598 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
5600 One more special mark, though:
5604 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
5605 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
5607 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
5608 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
5609 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
5610 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
5616 @subsection Other Marks
5617 @cindex process mark
5620 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
5626 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
5627 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
5628 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
5629 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
5630 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
5633 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
5634 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
5635 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
5636 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
5639 @vindex gnus-forwarded-mark
5640 All articles that you have forwarded will be marked with an @samp{F} in
5641 the second column (@code{gnus-forwarded-mark}).
5644 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
5645 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
5646 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5649 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
5650 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
5651 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
5652 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
5655 @vindex gnus-recent-mark
5656 Articles that according to the back end haven't been seen by the user
5657 before are marked with a @samp{N} in the second column
5658 (@code{gnus-recent-mark}). Note that not all back ends support this
5659 mark, in which case it simply never appears.
5662 @vindex gnus-unseen-mark
5663 Articles that haven't been seen by the user before are marked with a
5664 @samp{.} in the second column (@code{gnus-unseen-mark}).
5667 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
5668 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
5669 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
5670 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
5671 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
5674 @vindex gnus-process-mark
5675 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
5676 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
5677 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
5678 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
5679 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
5683 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
5684 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
5685 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
5687 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
5688 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
5689 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
5693 @subsection Setting Marks
5694 @cindex setting marks
5696 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
5701 @kindex M c (Summary)
5702 @kindex M-u (Summary)
5703 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
5704 @cindex mark as unread
5705 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
5706 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
5712 @kindex M t (Summary)
5713 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
5714 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
5715 @xref{Article Caching}.
5720 @kindex M ? (Summary)
5721 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
5722 Mark the current article as dormant
5723 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
5727 @kindex M d (Summary)
5729 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
5730 Mark the current article as read
5731 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
5735 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
5736 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
5737 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
5742 @kindex M k (Summary)
5743 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
5744 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
5745 and then select the next unread article
5746 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
5750 @kindex M K (Summary)
5751 @kindex C-k (Summary)
5752 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
5753 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
5754 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
5757 @kindex M C (Summary)
5758 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
5759 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
5760 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
5763 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
5764 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
5765 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
5766 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
5769 @kindex M H (Summary)
5770 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5771 Catchup the current group to point (before the point)
5772 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5775 @kindex M h (Summary)
5776 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-from-here
5777 Catchup the current group from point (after the point)
5778 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-from-here}).
5781 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5782 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5783 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5784 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5787 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5788 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5789 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5790 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5794 @kindex M e (Summary)
5796 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5797 Mark the current article as expirable
5798 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5801 @kindex M b (Summary)
5802 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5803 Set a bookmark in the current article
5804 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5807 @kindex M B (Summary)
5808 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5809 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5810 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5813 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5814 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5815 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5816 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5819 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5820 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5821 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5822 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5825 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5826 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5827 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5828 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5829 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5832 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5833 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5834 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5835 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5836 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5837 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5838 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5839 The default is @code{t}.
5842 @node Generic Marking Commands
5843 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5845 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5846 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5847 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5848 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5849 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5852 Multiply these five behaviors with five different marking commands, and
5853 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5856 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5857 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5858 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5859 to list in this manual.
5861 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5862 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5863 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5864 article, you could say something like:
5867 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5868 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5869 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5875 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5876 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5880 @node Setting Process Marks
5881 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5882 @cindex setting process marks
5889 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5890 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5891 Mark the current article with the process mark
5892 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5893 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5897 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5898 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5899 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5900 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5903 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5904 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5905 Remove the process mark from all articles
5906 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5909 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5910 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5911 Invert the list of process marked articles
5912 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5915 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5916 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5917 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5918 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5921 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5922 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5923 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5924 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5927 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5928 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5929 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5933 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-region
5934 Unmark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-region}).
5937 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5938 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5939 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5940 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5943 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5944 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5945 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5946 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5949 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5950 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5951 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5952 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5955 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5956 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5957 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5960 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5961 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5962 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5963 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5966 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5967 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5968 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5971 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5972 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5973 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5974 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5977 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5978 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5979 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5980 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5983 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5984 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5985 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5986 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5989 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5990 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5991 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5992 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5996 Also see the @kbd{&} command in @pxref{Searching for Articles} for how to
5997 set process marks based on article body contents.
6004 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
6005 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
6006 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
6009 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
6010 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
6011 additional articles.
6017 @kindex / / (Summary)
6018 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
6019 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
6020 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}). If given a prefix, exclude
6024 @kindex / a (Summary)
6025 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
6026 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
6027 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}). If given a prefix, exclude
6031 @kindex / x (Summary)
6032 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
6033 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
6034 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
6035 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}). If given a prefix, exclude
6040 @kindex / u (Summary)
6042 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
6043 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
6044 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
6045 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
6046 dormant articles will also be excluded.
6049 @kindex / m (Summary)
6050 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
6051 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
6052 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
6055 @kindex / t (Summary)
6056 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
6057 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
6058 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
6059 articles younger than that number of days.
6062 @kindex / n (Summary)
6063 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
6064 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
6065 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
6066 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
6069 @kindex / w (Summary)
6070 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
6071 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
6072 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
6076 @kindex / . (Summary)
6077 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen
6078 Limit the summary buffer to the unseen articles
6079 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unseen}).
6082 @kindex / v (Summary)
6083 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
6084 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
6085 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
6088 @kindex / p (Summary)
6089 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate
6090 Limit the summary buffer to articles that satisfy the @code{display}
6091 group parameter predicate
6092 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-display-predicate}). See @pxref{Group
6093 Parameters} for more on this predicate.
6097 @kindex M S (Summary)
6098 @kindex / E (Summary)
6099 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
6100 Include all expunged articles in the limit
6101 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
6104 @kindex / D (Summary)
6105 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
6106 Include all dormant articles in the limit
6107 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
6110 @kindex / * (Summary)
6111 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
6112 Include all cached articles in the limit
6113 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
6116 @kindex / d (Summary)
6117 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
6118 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
6119 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
6122 @kindex / M (Summary)
6123 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
6124 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
6127 @kindex / T (Summary)
6128 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
6129 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
6132 @kindex / c (Summary)
6133 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
6134 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
6135 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
6138 @kindex / C (Summary)
6139 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
6140 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
6141 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
6142 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
6145 @kindex / N (Summary)
6146 @findex gnus-summary-insert-new-articles
6147 Insert all new articles in the summary buffer. It scans for new emails
6148 if @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} is non-@code{nil}.
6151 @kindex / o (Summary)
6152 @findex gnus-summary-insert-old-articles
6153 Insert all old articles in the summary buffer. If given a numbered
6154 prefix, fetch this number of articles.
6162 @cindex article threading
6164 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
6165 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
6166 hierarchical fashion.
6168 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
6169 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
6170 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
6171 or simply missing. Weird news propagation exacerbates the problem,
6172 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
6173 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
6174 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
6176 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
6180 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
6183 A tree-like article structure.
6186 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
6189 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
6190 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
6191 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
6192 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
6193 called loose threads.
6195 @item thread gathering
6196 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
6198 @item sparse threads
6199 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
6200 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
6206 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
6207 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
6211 @node Customizing Threading
6212 @subsection Customizing Threading
6213 @cindex customizing threading
6216 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
6217 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
6218 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
6219 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
6224 @subsubsection Loose Threads
6227 @cindex loose threads
6230 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
6231 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
6232 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
6233 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
6234 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
6235 read or killed the root in a previous session.
6237 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
6238 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
6239 There are four possible values:
6243 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
6244 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-adopt,width=7.5cm}}
6245 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-empty,width=7.5cm}}}
6246 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-none,width=7.5cm}}}
6247 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=ps/summary-dummy,width=7.5cm}}}
6252 @cindex adopting articles
6257 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
6258 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
6259 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
6260 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
6263 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
6264 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
6265 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
6266 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
6267 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
6268 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
6269 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
6272 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
6273 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
6274 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
6278 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
6279 display them after one another.
6282 Don't gather loose threads.
6285 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6286 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
6287 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
6288 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
6289 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
6290 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
6291 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
6292 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
6293 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
6294 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
6295 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
6297 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
6298 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
6299 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
6302 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6303 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
6304 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
6305 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
6306 simplification is used.
6308 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6309 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6310 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
6311 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
6313 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
6315 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
6321 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
6322 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
6323 "answer" "reference" "announce"
6324 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
6329 (mapconcat 'identity
6330 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
6332 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
6335 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
6338 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6339 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
6340 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
6341 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
6342 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
6343 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
6345 Useful functions to put in this list include:
6348 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
6349 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
6350 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
6352 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6353 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
6356 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
6357 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
6358 Remove excessive whitespace.
6360 @item gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6361 @findex gnus-simplify-all-whitespace
6362 Remove all whitespace.
6365 You may also write your own functions, of course.
6368 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6369 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
6370 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
6371 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
6372 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
6373 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
6374 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
6375 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
6377 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6378 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6379 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
6380 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
6381 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
6382 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
6383 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
6384 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
6385 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
6389 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6390 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
6391 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
6392 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
6394 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6395 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
6396 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
6399 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
6403 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
6404 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
6410 @node Filling In Threads
6411 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
6414 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
6415 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
6416 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
6417 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
6418 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
6419 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
6420 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
6421 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
6422 fetching old headers only works if the back end you are using carries
6423 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool},
6424 @code{nnml}, and @code{nnmaildir}. Also remember that if the root of
6425 the thread has been expired by the server, there's not much Gnus can do
6428 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
6429 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
6430 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
6432 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
6433 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
6434 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
6435 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
6436 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
6437 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
6438 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
6439 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
6440 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
6441 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
6442 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
6443 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
6444 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
6445 @code{nil} by default.
6447 @item gnus-read-all-available-headers
6448 @vindex gnus-read-all-available-headers
6449 This is a rather obscure variable that few will find useful. It's
6450 intended for those non-news newsgroups where the back end has to fetch
6451 quite a lot to present the summary buffer, and where it's impossible to
6452 go back to parents of articles. This is mostly the case in the
6453 web-based groups, like the @code{nnultimate} groups.
6455 If you don't use those, then it's safe to leave this as the default
6456 @code{nil}. If you want to use this variable, it should be a regexp
6457 that matches the group name, or @code{t} for all groups.
6462 @node More Threading
6463 @subsubsection More Threading
6466 @item gnus-show-threads
6467 @vindex gnus-show-threads
6468 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
6469 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
6470 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
6471 slower and more awkward.
6473 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6474 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6475 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
6478 This can also be a predicate specifier (@pxref{Predicate Specifiers}).
6479 Avaliable predicates are @code{gnus-article-unread-p} and
6480 @code{gnus-article-unseen-p}).
6485 (setq gnus-thread-hide-subtree
6486 '(or gnus-article-unread-p
6487 gnus-article-unseen-p))
6490 (It's a pretty nonsensical example, since all unseen articles are also
6491 unread, but you get my drift.)
6494 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
6495 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
6496 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
6497 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
6498 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
6499 threads are expunged.
6501 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
6502 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
6503 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
6506 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6507 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
6508 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
6509 this variable is non-@code{nil}, which is the default, the subject
6510 change is ignored. If it is @code{nil}, a change in the subject will
6511 result in a new thread.
6513 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
6514 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
6515 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
6518 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6519 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
6520 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
6521 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
6522 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
6523 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
6524 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
6525 Setting this variable to an alternate value
6526 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
6527 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
6528 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
6533 @node Low-Level Threading
6534 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
6538 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
6539 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
6540 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
6541 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
6542 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
6543 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
6545 @item gnus-alter-header-function
6546 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
6547 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
6548 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
6549 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
6550 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
6551 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
6552 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
6553 meaningful. Here's one example:
6556 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
6558 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
6559 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
6561 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
6563 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
6570 @node Thread Commands
6571 @subsection Thread Commands
6572 @cindex thread commands
6578 @kindex T k (Summary)
6579 @kindex C-M-k (Summary)
6580 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
6581 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
6582 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
6583 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
6588 @kindex T l (Summary)
6589 @kindex C-M-l (Summary)
6590 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
6591 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
6592 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
6595 @kindex T i (Summary)
6596 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
6597 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
6598 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
6601 @kindex T # (Summary)
6602 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
6603 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
6604 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
6607 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
6608 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
6609 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
6610 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
6613 @kindex T T (Summary)
6614 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
6615 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
6618 @kindex T s (Summary)
6619 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
6620 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
6621 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
6624 @kindex T h (Summary)
6625 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
6626 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
6629 @kindex T S (Summary)
6630 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
6631 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
6634 @kindex T H (Summary)
6635 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
6636 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
6639 @kindex T t (Summary)
6640 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
6641 Re-thread the current article's thread
6642 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
6643 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
6646 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
6647 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
6648 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
6649 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
6653 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
6654 understand the numeric prefix.
6659 @kindex T n (Summary)
6661 @kindex C-M-n (Summary)
6663 @kindex M-down (Summary)
6664 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
6665 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
6668 @kindex T p (Summary)
6670 @kindex C-M-p (Summary)
6672 @kindex M-up (Summary)
6673 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
6674 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
6677 @kindex T d (Summary)
6678 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
6679 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
6682 @kindex T u (Summary)
6683 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
6684 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
6687 @kindex T o (Summary)
6688 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
6689 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
6692 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
6693 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
6694 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
6695 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
6696 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
6697 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
6698 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
6699 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
6700 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
6701 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
6702 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
6703 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
6707 @node Sorting the Summary Buffer
6708 @section Sorting the Summary Buffer
6710 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
6711 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
6712 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
6713 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6714 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
6715 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6716 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-random
6717 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
6718 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-thread
6719 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
6720 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
6721 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
6722 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
6724 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
6725 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
6726 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
6727 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score},
6728 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-number},
6729 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-most-recent-date},
6730 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-random} and
6731 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
6733 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
6734 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
6735 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
6737 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
6738 last function in the list. You should probably always include
6739 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
6740 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
6741 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
6742 ascending article order.
6744 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
6745 by number, you could do something like:
6748 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6749 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
6750 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
6751 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
6754 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
6755 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
6756 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
6757 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
6758 which the articles arrived.
6760 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
6764 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
6766 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
6767 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
6770 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
6771 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
6772 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
6773 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
6776 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
6777 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
6778 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
6779 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
6780 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
6781 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-random
6782 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
6783 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or
6784 other, you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions}
6785 variable. It is very similar to the
6786 @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that it uses slightly
6787 different functions for article comparison. Available sorting
6788 predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
6789 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author},
6790 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date},
6791 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-random}, and
6792 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
6794 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
6798 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
6799 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
6800 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
6805 @node Asynchronous Fetching
6806 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
6807 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
6808 @cindex article pre-fetch
6811 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
6812 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
6813 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
6814 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
6815 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
6817 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
6818 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
6820 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
6821 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
6822 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
6823 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
6824 connection is blocked.
6826 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
6827 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
6828 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
6829 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
6831 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
6832 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
6833 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
6834 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
6837 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
6840 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
6841 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
6842 happen automatically.
6844 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
6845 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
6846 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
6847 that when you read an article in the group, the back end will pre-fetch
6848 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the back end will
6849 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
6850 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
6852 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
6853 @findex gnus-async-read-p
6854 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6855 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6856 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6857 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6858 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6859 data structure as the only parameter.
6861 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6864 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6865 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6866 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6867 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6870 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6873 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6874 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6875 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6877 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6878 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6879 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6880 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6884 Remove articles when they are read.
6887 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6890 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6892 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6893 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6894 @c from the next group.
6897 @node Article Caching
6898 @section Article Caching
6899 @cindex article caching
6902 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6903 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6904 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6905 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6906 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6908 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6910 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6911 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6912 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6913 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6914 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6915 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6916 cache is flat or hierarchical is controlled by the
6917 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6919 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6920 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6921 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6922 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6923 as dormant, and don't worry.
6925 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6927 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6928 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6929 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6930 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6931 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6932 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6933 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6934 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6935 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6936 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6938 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6939 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6940 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6941 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6942 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6943 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6944 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6945 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6946 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6947 not then be downloaded by this command.
6949 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6950 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6951 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6952 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6953 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6954 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6956 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6957 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6958 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6959 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6960 variables, the group is not cached.
6962 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6963 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6964 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6965 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6966 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6967 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
6968 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6969 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6970 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6973 @findex gnus-cache-move-cache
6974 @code{gnus-cache-move-cache} will move your whole
6975 @code{gnus-cache-directory} to some other location. You get asked to
6976 where, isn't that cool?
6978 @node Persistent Articles
6979 @section Persistent Articles
6980 @cindex persistent articles
6982 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6983 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6984 useful in my opinion.
6986 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6987 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6988 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6989 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6990 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6991 the expiry going on at the news server.
6993 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6994 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6995 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
7001 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
7002 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
7005 @kindex M-* (Summary)
7006 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
7007 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
7008 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
7012 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
7014 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
7015 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
7016 interested in persistent articles:
7019 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
7023 @node Article Backlog
7024 @section Article Backlog
7026 @cindex article backlog
7028 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
7029 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
7030 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
7031 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
7032 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
7033 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
7034 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
7035 increase memory usage some.
7037 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
7038 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
7039 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
7040 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
7041 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
7042 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
7043 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
7045 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
7048 @node Saving Articles
7049 @section Saving Articles
7050 @cindex saving articles
7052 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
7053 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
7054 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
7055 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
7056 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
7058 For the commands listed here, the target is a file. If you want to
7059 save to a group, see the @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article})
7060 command (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
7062 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
7063 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
7064 unwanted headers before saving the article.
7066 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
7067 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
7068 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
7069 deleted before saving.
7075 @kindex O o (Summary)
7077 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
7078 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
7079 Save the current article using the default article saver
7080 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
7083 @kindex O m (Summary)
7084 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
7085 Save the current article in mail format
7086 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
7089 @kindex O r (Summary)
7090 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
7091 Save the current article in rmail format
7092 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
7095 @kindex O f (Summary)
7096 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
7097 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
7098 Save the current article in plain file format
7099 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
7102 @kindex O F (Summary)
7103 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
7104 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
7105 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
7108 @kindex O b (Summary)
7109 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
7110 Save the current article body in plain file format
7111 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
7114 @kindex O h (Summary)
7115 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
7116 Save the current article in mh folder format
7117 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
7120 @kindex O v (Summary)
7121 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
7122 Save the current article in a VM folder
7123 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
7127 @kindex O p (Summary)
7129 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
7130 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
7131 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
7134 @kindex O P (Summary)
7135 @findex gnus-summary-muttprint
7136 @vindex gnus-summary-muttprint-program
7137 Save the current article into muttprint. That is, print it using the
7138 external program Muttprint (see
7139 @uref{http://muttprint.sourceforge.net/}). The program name and
7140 options to use is controlled by the variable
7141 @code{gnus-summary-muttprint-program}. (@code{gnus-summary-muttprint}).
7145 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
7146 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
7147 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
7148 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
7149 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
7150 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
7151 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
7152 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
7153 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
7154 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
7155 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
7156 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
7160 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
7161 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
7162 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
7163 functions below, or you can create your own.
7167 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7168 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
7169 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
7170 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7171 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
7172 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7173 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7175 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7176 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
7177 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
7178 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
7179 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7180 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
7182 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
7183 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
7184 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
7185 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7186 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
7187 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7188 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7190 @item gnus-summary-write-to-file
7191 @findex gnus-summary-write-to-file
7192 Write the article straight to an ordinary file. The file is
7193 overwritten if it exists. Uses the function in the
7194 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7195 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7197 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7198 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
7199 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
7200 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
7201 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
7203 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7204 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
7205 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
7206 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
7207 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
7210 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
7211 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
7212 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
7213 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
7214 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
7216 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7217 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
7218 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
7219 reader to use this setting.
7222 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
7223 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
7224 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
7225 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
7228 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
7229 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
7230 available functions that generate names:
7234 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
7235 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
7236 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7238 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
7239 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
7240 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
7242 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
7243 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
7244 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7246 @item gnus-plain-save-name
7247 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
7248 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
7250 @item gnus-sender-save-name
7251 @findex gnus-sender-save-name
7252 File names like @file{~/News/larsi}.
7255 @vindex gnus-split-methods
7256 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
7257 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
7258 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
7259 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
7263 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
7264 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
7265 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
7266 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
7269 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
7270 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
7271 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
7272 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
7273 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
7274 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
7275 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
7276 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
7277 called returns a string or a list of strings.
7279 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
7280 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
7281 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
7282 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
7284 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
7285 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
7286 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
7289 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
7290 lots of mail groups called things like
7291 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
7292 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
7293 following will do just that:
7296 (defun my-save-name (group)
7297 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
7298 (substring group (match-end 0))))
7300 (setq gnus-split-methods
7301 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
7306 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
7307 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
7308 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
7309 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
7310 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
7311 all the files in the top level directory
7312 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
7313 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
7314 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
7315 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
7317 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
7318 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
7319 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
7320 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
7321 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
7324 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
7328 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
7329 (setq gnus-default-article-saver
7330 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
7333 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
7334 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
7335 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
7336 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
7339 @node Decoding Articles
7340 @section Decoding Articles
7341 @cindex decoding articles
7343 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
7344 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
7347 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
7348 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
7349 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
7350 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
7351 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
7352 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
7356 @cindex article series
7357 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
7358 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
7359 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
7360 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
7361 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
7363 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
7364 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
7365 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
7367 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
7368 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
7369 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
7371 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
7372 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
7373 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
7376 @node Uuencoded Articles
7377 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
7379 @cindex uuencoded articles
7384 @kindex X u (Summary)
7385 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
7386 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
7387 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
7390 @kindex X U (Summary)
7391 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
7392 Uudecodes and saves the current series
7393 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7396 @kindex X v u (Summary)
7397 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
7398 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
7401 @kindex X v U (Summary)
7402 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
7403 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
7404 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
7408 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
7409 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
7410 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
7411 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
7412 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
7414 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
7415 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
7416 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
7417 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
7420 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
7421 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
7422 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
7423 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
7424 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
7425 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
7429 @node Shell Archives
7430 @subsection Shell Archives
7432 @cindex shell archives
7433 @cindex shared articles
7435 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
7436 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
7437 some commands to deal with these:
7442 @kindex X s (Summary)
7443 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
7444 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
7447 @kindex X S (Summary)
7448 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
7449 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
7452 @kindex X v s (Summary)
7453 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
7454 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
7457 @kindex X v S (Summary)
7458 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
7459 Unshars, views and saves the current series
7460 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
7464 @node PostScript Files
7465 @subsection PostScript Files
7471 @kindex X p (Summary)
7472 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
7473 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
7476 @kindex X P (Summary)
7477 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
7478 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
7479 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
7482 @kindex X v p (Summary)
7483 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
7484 View the current PostScript series
7485 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
7488 @kindex X v P (Summary)
7489 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
7490 View and save the current PostScript series
7491 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
7496 @subsection Other Files
7500 @kindex X o (Summary)
7501 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
7502 Save the current series
7503 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
7506 @kindex X b (Summary)
7507 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
7508 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
7509 doesn't really work yet.
7513 @node Decoding Variables
7514 @subsection Decoding Variables
7516 Adjective, not verb.
7519 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
7520 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
7521 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
7525 @node Rule Variables
7526 @subsubsection Rule Variables
7527 @cindex rule variables
7529 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
7530 variables are of the form
7533 (list '(regexp1 command2)
7540 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7541 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7543 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
7544 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
7547 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
7548 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
7551 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7552 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
7553 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
7554 user and default view rules.
7556 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7557 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
7558 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
7563 @node Other Decode Variables
7564 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
7567 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7569 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
7570 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
7571 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
7572 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
7573 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
7577 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
7578 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
7581 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
7582 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
7583 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
7586 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7587 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
7588 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
7589 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
7590 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
7593 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7594 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
7595 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
7597 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7598 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
7599 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
7600 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
7601 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
7604 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7605 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
7606 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
7608 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7609 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
7610 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
7611 looking for files to display.
7613 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
7614 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
7615 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
7618 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7619 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
7620 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
7623 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7624 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
7625 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
7628 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7629 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
7630 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
7633 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7634 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
7635 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
7636 decoded articles as unread.
7638 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7639 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
7640 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
7641 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
7643 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7644 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
7645 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
7647 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7648 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
7650 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
7651 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
7652 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
7653 @code{metamail} for viewing.
7655 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7656 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
7657 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
7658 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
7659 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
7660 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
7661 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
7662 simply dropped them.
7667 @node Uuencoding and Posting
7668 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
7672 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7673 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
7674 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
7675 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
7676 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
7677 for you when you post the article.
7679 @item gnus-uu-post-length
7680 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
7681 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
7682 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
7684 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
7685 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
7686 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
7687 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
7688 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
7689 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
7690 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
7692 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7693 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
7694 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
7695 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
7696 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
7697 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
7698 Default is @code{t}.
7704 @subsection Viewing Files
7705 @cindex viewing files
7706 @cindex pseudo-articles
7708 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
7709 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
7710 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
7711 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
7712 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
7713 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
7714 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
7716 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
7717 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
7718 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
7719 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
7721 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
7722 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
7723 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
7725 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
7726 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
7727 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
7728 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
7729 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
7731 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
7732 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
7733 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
7734 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
7735 a list of parameters to that command.
7737 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
7738 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
7739 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
7741 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
7742 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
7743 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
7746 @node Article Treatment
7747 @section Article Treatment
7749 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
7750 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
7751 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
7752 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
7753 these articles easier.
7756 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
7757 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
7758 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
7759 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
7760 * Article Header:: Doing various header transformations.
7761 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
7762 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
7763 * Article Display:: Display various stuff---X-Face, Picons, Smileys
7764 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
7765 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
7769 @node Article Highlighting
7770 @subsection Article Highlighting
7771 @cindex highlighting
7773 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
7774 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
7779 @kindex W H a (Summary)
7780 @findex gnus-article-highlight
7781 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
7782 Do much highlighting of the current article
7783 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
7784 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
7787 @kindex W H h (Summary)
7788 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
7789 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
7790 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
7791 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
7792 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
7793 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
7794 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
7795 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
7796 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
7797 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
7798 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
7801 @kindex W H c (Summary)
7802 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
7803 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
7805 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
7808 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7810 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
7811 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
7812 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
7814 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
7815 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
7816 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
7818 @item gnus-cite-face-list
7819 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
7820 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
7821 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
7822 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
7823 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
7825 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
7826 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
7827 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
7829 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7830 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
7831 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
7833 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7834 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
7835 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
7836 that it's a citation.
7838 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7839 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
7840 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
7842 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7843 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
7844 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
7846 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
7847 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
7848 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
7849 cited text belonging to the attribution.
7855 @kindex W H s (Summary)
7856 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7857 @vindex gnus-signature-face
7858 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
7859 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
7860 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
7861 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
7862 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
7867 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
7870 @node Article Fontisizing
7871 @subsection Article Fontisizing
7873 @cindex article emphasis
7875 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
7876 @kindex W e (Summary)
7877 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
7878 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
7879 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
7880 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
7882 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
7883 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
7884 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
7885 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7886 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7887 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7888 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7889 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7893 (setq gnus-emphasis-alist
7894 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7895 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7904 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7905 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7906 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7907 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7908 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7909 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7910 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7911 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7912 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7913 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7914 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7915 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7916 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7918 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7919 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7920 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7924 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7927 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7929 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7930 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7931 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7932 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7934 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7937 @node Article Hiding
7938 @subsection Article Hiding
7939 @cindex article hiding
7941 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7942 too much cruft in most articles.
7947 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7948 @findex gnus-article-hide
7949 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7950 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7951 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7954 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7955 @findex gnus-article-hide-headers
7956 Hide headers (@code{gnus-article-hide-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7960 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7961 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7962 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7963 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7966 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7967 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7968 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7972 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7973 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7974 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7975 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}. These
7976 are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of all
7977 @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any leading
7978 @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping. @code{gnus-list-identifiers}
7979 may not contain @code{\\(..\\)}.
7983 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7984 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7985 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7986 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7991 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7992 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7993 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7994 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7995 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7996 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7997 articles that have signatures in them do:
7999 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
8001 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
8003 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
8004 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
8006 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
8009 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
8014 @kindex W W P (Summary)
8015 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
8016 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
8017 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
8020 @kindex W W B (Summary)
8021 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
8024 @cindex stripping advertisements
8025 @cindex advertisements
8026 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
8027 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
8028 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
8029 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
8030 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
8031 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
8032 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
8033 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
8034 signature should be removed, or other symbol, meaning that the
8035 corresponding regular expression in @code{gnus-article-banner-alist} is
8039 @kindex W W c (Summary)
8040 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
8041 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
8042 customizing the hiding:
8046 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8047 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8048 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
8049 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
8050 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
8051 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
8052 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
8057 Starting point of the hidden text.
8059 Ending point of the hidden text.
8061 Number of characters in the hidden region.
8063 Number of lines of hidden text.
8066 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
8067 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
8068 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
8069 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
8070 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
8075 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
8076 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
8078 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
8079 following two variables:
8082 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8083 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
8084 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
8085 50), hide the cited text.
8087 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8088 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
8089 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
8094 @kindex W W C (Summary)
8095 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
8096 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
8097 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
8098 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
8099 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
8103 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
8104 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
8105 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
8107 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
8108 citation customization.
8110 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
8114 @node Article Washing
8115 @subsection Article Washing
8117 @cindex article washing
8119 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
8120 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
8122 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
8123 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
8126 @xref{Customizing Articles}, if you want to change how Gnus displays
8127 articles by default.
8132 This is not really washing, it's sort of the opposite of washing. If
8133 you type this, you see the article exactly as it exists on disk or on
8137 @kindex W l (Summary)
8138 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
8139 Remove page breaks from the current article
8140 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
8144 @kindex W r (Summary)
8145 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
8146 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
8147 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
8148 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
8149 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
8150 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
8152 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
8153 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
8154 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
8155 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
8159 @kindex W t (Summary)
8161 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
8162 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
8163 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
8166 @kindex W v (Summary)
8167 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-headers
8168 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
8169 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-headers}).
8172 @kindex W m (Summary)
8173 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
8174 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
8175 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
8178 @kindex W o (Summary)
8179 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
8180 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
8183 @kindex W d (Summary)
8184 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
8185 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
8187 @cindex M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s
8189 Treat M****s*** sm*rtq**t*s according to
8190 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
8191 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
8192 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
8195 Sm*rtq**t*s are M****s***'s unilateral extension to the character map in
8196 an attempt to provide more quoting characters. If you see something
8197 like @code{\222} or @code{\264} where you're expecting some kind of
8198 apostrophe or quotation mark, then try this wash.
8201 @kindex W k (Summary)
8202 @findex gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article
8203 @cindex Outlook Express
8204 Deuglify broken Outlook (Express) articles and redisplay
8205 (@code{gnus-article-outlook-deuglify-article}).
8208 @kindex W w (Summary)
8209 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
8210 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
8212 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
8216 @kindex W Q (Summary)
8217 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
8218 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
8221 @kindex W C (Summary)
8222 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
8223 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
8224 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
8227 @kindex W c (Summary)
8228 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
8229 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
8230 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
8231 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
8232 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
8235 @kindex W 6 (Summary)
8236 @findex gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable
8237 Treat base64 (@code{gnus-article-de-base64-unreadable}).
8238 Base64 is one common @sc{mime} encoding employed when sending non-ASCII
8239 (i. e., 8-bit) articles. Note that this is usually done
8240 automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8241 @code{Content-Transfer-Encoding} header that says that this encoding has
8243 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8246 @kindex W Z (Summary)
8247 @findex gnus-article-decode-HZ
8248 Treat HZ or HZP (@code{gnus-article-decode-HZ}). HZ (or HZP) is one
8249 common encoding employed when sending Chinese articles. It typically
8250 makes strings look like @samp{~@{<:Ky2;S@{#,NpJ)l6HK!#~@}}.
8253 @kindex W u (Summary)
8254 @findex gnus-article-unsplit-urls
8255 Remove newlines from within URLs. Some mailers insert newlines into
8256 outgoing email messages to keep lines short. This reformatting can
8257 split long URLs onto multiple lines. Repair those URLs by removing
8258 the newlines (@code{gnus-article-unsplit-urls}).
8261 @kindex W h (Summary)
8262 @findex gnus-article-wash-html
8263 Treat @sc{html} (@code{gnus-article-wash-html}). Note that this is
8264 usually done automatically by Gnus if the message in question has a
8265 @code{Content-Type} header that says that the message is @sc{html}.
8267 If a prefix is given, a charset will be asked for.
8269 @vindex gnus-article-wash-function
8270 The default is to use the function specified by
8271 @code{mm-inline-text-html-renderer} (@pxref{Customization, , , emacs-mime})
8272 to convert the @sc{html}, but this is controlled by the
8273 @code{gnus-article-wash-function} variable. Pre-defined functions you
8281 Use emacs-w3m (see @uref{http://emacs-w3m.namazu.org/} for more
8285 Use Links (see @uref{http://artax.karlin.mff.cuni.cz/~mikulas/links/}).
8288 Use Lynx (see @uref{http://lynx.browser.org/}).
8291 Use html2text -- a simple @sc{html} converter included with Gnus.
8296 @kindex W b (Summary)
8297 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
8298 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
8299 @xref{Article Buttons}.
8302 @kindex W B (Summary)
8303 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
8304 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
8305 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
8308 @kindex W p (Summary)
8309 @findex gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig
8310 Verify a signed control message (@code{gnus-article-verify-x-pgp-sig}).
8311 Control messages such as @code{newgroup} and @code{checkgroups} are
8312 usually signed by the hierarchy maintainer. You need to add the PGP
8313 public key of the maintainer to your keyring to verify the
8314 message.@footnote{PGP keys for many hierarchies are available at
8315 @uref{ftp://ftp.isc.org/pub/pgpcontrol/README.html}}
8318 @kindex W s (Summary)
8319 @findex gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt
8320 Verify a signed (PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}) message
8321 (@code{gnus-summary-force-verify-and-decrypt}). @xref{Security}.
8324 @kindex W a (Summary)
8325 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body
8326 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
8327 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-in-body}).
8330 @kindex W E l (Summary)
8331 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
8332 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
8333 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
8336 @kindex W E m (Summary)
8337 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
8338 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
8339 lines with a single empty line.
8340 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
8343 @kindex W E t (Summary)
8344 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
8345 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
8346 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
8349 @kindex W E a (Summary)
8350 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
8351 Do all the three commands above
8352 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
8355 @kindex W E A (Summary)
8356 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
8357 Remove all blank lines
8358 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
8361 @kindex W E s (Summary)
8362 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
8363 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
8364 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
8367 @kindex W E e (Summary)
8368 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
8369 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
8370 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
8374 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
8377 @node Article Header
8378 @subsection Article Header
8380 These commands perform various transformations of article header.
8385 @kindex W G u (Summary)
8386 @findex gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers
8387 Unfold folded header lines (@code{gnus-article-treat-unfold-headers}).
8390 @kindex W G n (Summary)
8391 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups
8392 Fold the @code{Newsgroups} and @code{Followup-To} headers
8393 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-newsgroups}).
8396 @kindex W G f (Summary)
8397 @findex gnus-article-treat-fold-headers
8398 Fold all the message headers
8399 (@code{gnus-article-treat-fold-headers}).
8403 @findex gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace
8404 Remove excessive whitespace from all headers
8405 (@code{gnus-article-remove-leading-whitespace}).
8410 @node Article Buttons
8411 @subsection Article Buttons
8414 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
8415 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
8416 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
8417 button on these references.
8419 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
8420 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
8421 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
8426 @item gnus-button-alist
8427 @vindex gnus-button-alist
8428 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
8431 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8437 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
8438 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
8439 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}. This can also be a variable containing a
8440 regexp, useful variables to use include @code{gnus-button-url-regexp}.
8443 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
8444 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
8445 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
8448 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
8449 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
8450 avoid false matches.
8453 This function will be called when you click on this button.
8456 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
8457 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
8461 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
8464 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
8467 @item gnus-header-button-alist
8468 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
8469 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
8470 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
8471 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
8474 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
8477 @var{header} is a regular expression.
8479 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
8480 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
8481 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
8482 default values of the variables above.
8484 @item gnus-article-button-face
8485 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
8486 Face used on buttons.
8488 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
8489 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
8490 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
8494 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
8498 @subsection Article Date
8500 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
8501 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
8502 when the article was sent.
8507 @kindex W T u (Summary)
8508 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
8509 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
8510 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
8513 @kindex W T i (Summary)
8514 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
8516 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
8517 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
8520 @kindex W T l (Summary)
8521 @findex gnus-article-date-local
8522 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
8525 @kindex W T p (Summary)
8526 @findex gnus-article-date-english
8527 Display the date in a format that's easily pronounceable in English
8528 (@code{gnus-article-date-english}).
8531 @kindex W T s (Summary)
8532 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
8533 @findex gnus-article-date-user
8534 @findex format-time-string
8535 Display the date using a user-defined format
8536 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
8537 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
8538 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
8539 for a list of possible format specs.
8542 @kindex W T e (Summary)
8543 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
8544 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
8545 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
8546 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
8547 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
8550 X-Sent: 6 weeks, 4 days, 1 hour, 3 minutes, 8 seconds ago
8553 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
8554 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
8557 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
8558 into wonderful absurdities.
8560 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
8563 (gnus-start-date-timer)
8566 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
8567 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
8571 @kindex W T o (Summary)
8572 @findex gnus-article-date-original
8573 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
8574 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
8575 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
8576 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
8577 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
8581 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
8582 preferred format automatically.
8585 @node Article Display
8586 @subsection Article Display
8591 These commands add various frivolous display gimmics to the article
8592 buffer in Emacs versions that support them.
8594 @code{X-Face} headers are small black-and-white images supplied by the
8595 message headers (@pxref{X-Face}).
8597 Picons, on the other hand, reside on your own system, and Gnus will
8598 try to match the headers to what you have (@pxref{Picons}).
8600 Smileys are those little @samp{:-)} symbols that people like to litter
8601 their messages with (@pxref{Smileys}).
8603 All these functions are toggles--if the elements already exist,
8608 @kindex W D x (Summary)
8609 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
8610 Display an @code{X-Face} in the @code{From} header.
8611 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}).
8614 @kindex W D s (Summary)
8615 @findex gnus-treat-smiley
8616 Display smileys (@code{gnus-treat-smiley}).
8619 @kindex W D f (Summary)
8620 @findex gnus-treat-from-picon
8621 Piconify the @code{From} header (@code{gnus-treat-from-picon}).
8624 @kindex W D m (Summary)
8625 @findex gnus-treat-mail-picon
8626 Piconify all mail headers (i. e., @code{Cc}, @code{To})
8627 (@code{gnus-treat-mail-picon}).
8630 @kindex W D n (Summary)
8631 @findex gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon
8632 Piconify all news headers (i. e., @code{Newsgroups} and
8633 @code{Followup-To}) (@code{gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon}).
8636 @kindex W D D (Summary)
8637 @findex gnus-article-remove-images
8638 Remove all images from the article buffer
8639 (@code{gnus-article-remove-images}).
8645 @node Article Signature
8646 @subsection Article Signature
8648 @cindex article signature
8650 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
8651 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
8652 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
8653 that says what is to be considered a signature is
8654 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
8655 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
8656 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
8657 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
8658 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
8661 (setq gnus-signature-separator
8662 '("^-- $" ; The standard
8663 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
8664 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
8665 ; line of dashes. Shame!
8666 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
8667 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
8668 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
8671 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
8674 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
8675 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
8676 signature when displaying articles.
8680 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
8683 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
8686 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
8687 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
8689 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
8690 in question is not a signature.
8693 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
8694 listed above. Here's an example:
8697 (setq gnus-signature-limit
8698 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
8701 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
8702 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
8703 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
8704 signature after all.
8707 @node Article Miscellania
8708 @subsection Article Miscellania
8712 @kindex A t (Summary)
8713 @findex gnus-article-babel
8714 Translate the article from one language to another
8715 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
8721 @section MIME Commands
8722 @cindex MIME decoding
8724 @cindex viewing attachments
8726 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
8727 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
8733 @kindex K v (Summary)
8734 View the @sc{mime} part.
8737 @kindex K o (Summary)
8738 Save the @sc{mime} part.
8741 @kindex K c (Summary)
8742 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
8745 @kindex K e (Summary)
8746 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
8749 @kindex K i (Summary)
8750 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
8753 @kindex K | (Summary)
8754 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
8757 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
8762 @kindex K b (Summary)
8763 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in front of them. This is
8764 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
8768 @kindex K m (Summary)
8769 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
8770 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
8771 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
8772 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
8773 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
8776 @kindex X m (Summary)
8777 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
8778 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
8779 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
8780 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8783 @kindex M-t (Summary)
8784 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized
8785 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
8786 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
8789 @kindex W M w (Summary)
8790 @findex gnus-article-decode-mime-words
8791 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
8792 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
8795 @kindex W M c (Summary)
8796 @findex gnus-article-decode-charset
8797 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
8798 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
8800 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
8801 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
8802 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
8803 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not
8804 include @sc{mime} headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic
8805 parameter to the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
8808 @kindex W M v (Summary)
8809 @findex gnus-mime-view-all-parts
8810 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
8811 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
8818 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
8819 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
8820 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8821 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
8824 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
8827 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
8831 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8832 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
8833 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8834 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8835 displayed or this variable is overriden by
8836 @code{gnus-buttonized-mime-types}. The default value is
8839 @item gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8840 @vindex gnus-buttonized-mime-types
8841 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
8842 this list will have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
8843 displayed. This variable overrides
8844 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types}. The default value is @code{nil}.
8846 To see e.g. security buttons but no other buttons, you could set this
8847 variable to @code{("multipart/signed")} and leave
8848 @code{gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types} to the default value.
8850 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
8851 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
8852 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
8853 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
8854 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
8855 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
8856 save all jpegs into some directory).
8858 Here's an example function the does the latter:
8861 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
8862 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
8864 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
8865 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
8866 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
8867 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
8868 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
8871 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8872 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
8873 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
8875 @vindex mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8876 @item mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8877 List of functions used for rewriting file names of @sc{mime} parts.
8878 Each function takes a file name as input and returns a file name.
8880 Ready-made functions include@*
8881 @code{mm-file-name-delete-whitespace},
8882 @code{mm-file-name-trim-whitespace},
8883 @code{mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace}, and
8884 @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace}. The later uses the value of
8885 the variable @code{mm-file-name-replace-whitespace} to replace each
8886 whitespace character in a file name with that string; default value
8887 is @code{"_"} (a single underscore).
8888 @findex mm-file-name-delete-whitespace
8889 @findex mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8890 @findex mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8891 @findex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8892 @vindex mm-file-name-replace-whitespace
8894 The standard functions @code{capitalize}, @code{downcase},
8895 @code{upcase}, and @code{upcase-initials} may be useful, too.
8897 Everybody knows that whitespace characters in file names are evil,
8898 except those who don't know. If you receive lots of attachments from
8899 such unenlightened users, you can make live easier by adding
8902 (setq mm-file-name-rewrite-functions
8903 '(mm-file-name-trim-whitespace
8904 mm-file-name-collapse-whitespace
8905 mm-file-name-replace-whitespace))
8909 to your @file{.gnus} file.
8918 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
8919 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
8920 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
8921 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
8922 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
8923 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
8924 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
8926 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
8927 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
8928 variable, which is an alist of regexps (use the first item to match full
8929 group names) and default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
8931 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
8932 aren't. These blithely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1}
8933 even if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
8934 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
8935 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be
8936 set on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
8937 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit x-unknown)},
8938 which includes values some agents insist on having in there.
8940 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
8941 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
8942 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
8943 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
8944 quoted-printable header encoding.
8946 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
8947 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
8948 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
8952 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
8955 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
8956 means encode all charsets),
8958 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
8959 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
8960 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
8967 @cindex coding system aliases
8968 @cindex preferred charset
8970 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
8972 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
8973 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
8976 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
8977 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
8980 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
8981 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
8983 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
8986 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
8989 This will almost do the right thing.
8991 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
8995 (codepage-setup 1251)
8996 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
9000 @node Article Commands
9001 @section Article Commands
9008 @kindex A P (Summary)
9009 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
9010 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
9011 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
9012 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will
9013 be run just before printing the buffer. An alternative way to print
9014 article is to use Muttprint (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
9019 @node Summary Sorting
9020 @section Summary Sorting
9021 @cindex summary sorting
9023 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
9024 can't really see why you'd want that.
9029 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
9030 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
9031 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
9034 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
9035 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
9036 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
9039 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
9040 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
9041 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
9044 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
9045 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
9046 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
9049 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
9050 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
9051 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
9054 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
9055 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
9056 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
9059 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
9060 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
9061 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
9064 @kindex C-c C-s C-r (Summary)
9065 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-random
9066 Randomize (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-random}).
9069 @kindex C-c C-s C-o (Summary)
9070 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-original
9071 Sort using the default sorting method
9072 (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-original}).
9075 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
9076 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
9077 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
9078 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
9079 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
9083 @node Finding the Parent
9084 @section Finding the Parent
9085 @cindex parent articles
9086 @cindex referring articles
9091 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
9092 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
9093 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
9094 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
9095 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
9096 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
9097 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
9098 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
9099 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
9101 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
9102 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
9103 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
9104 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
9105 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
9109 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
9110 @kindex A R (Summary)
9111 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
9112 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
9115 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
9116 @kindex A T (Summary)
9117 Display the full thread where the current article appears
9118 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
9119 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
9120 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
9121 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
9122 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
9123 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
9125 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
9126 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
9127 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
9128 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
9129 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
9130 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
9133 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
9134 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
9136 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
9137 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
9138 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
9139 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
9140 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
9141 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
9142 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
9145 The current select method will be used when fetching by
9146 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
9147 by giving this command a prefix.
9149 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
9150 If the group you are reading is located on a back end that does not
9151 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
9152 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
9153 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
9154 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
9157 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
9158 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
9159 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
9162 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
9163 then ask Google if that fails:
9166 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
9168 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type google))))
9171 Most of the mail back ends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but
9172 do not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox},
9173 @code{nnbabyl}, and @code{nnmaildir} are able to locate articles from
9174 any groups, while @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and @code{nnimap} are
9175 only able to locate articles that have been posted to the current group.
9176 (Anything else would be too time consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not
9177 support this at all.
9180 @node Alternative Approaches
9181 @section Alternative Approaches
9183 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
9184 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
9187 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
9188 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
9193 @subsection Pick and Read
9194 @cindex pick and read
9196 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
9197 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
9198 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
9199 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
9201 @findex gnus-pick-mode
9202 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
9203 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
9204 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
9205 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
9206 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
9208 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
9213 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
9214 Pick the article or thread on the current line
9215 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9216 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
9217 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
9218 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
9219 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
9220 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
9223 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
9224 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
9225 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
9226 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
9230 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
9231 Unpick the thread or article
9232 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
9233 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
9234 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
9235 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
9236 the thread or article at that line.
9240 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
9241 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
9242 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
9243 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
9244 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
9245 will still be visible when you are reading.
9249 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
9250 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
9251 which is mapped to the same function
9252 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
9254 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
9257 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
9260 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
9261 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
9263 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
9264 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
9265 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
9267 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
9268 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
9269 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
9270 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
9271 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
9272 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
9273 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
9277 @subsection Binary Groups
9278 @cindex binary groups
9280 @findex gnus-binary-mode
9281 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
9282 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
9283 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
9284 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
9285 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
9286 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
9289 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
9290 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
9291 command, when you have turned on this mode
9292 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
9294 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
9295 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
9299 @section Tree Display
9302 @vindex gnus-use-trees
9303 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
9304 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
9305 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
9308 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
9311 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
9312 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
9313 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
9315 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9316 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
9317 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
9318 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
9319 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
9321 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
9322 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
9323 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
9324 default is @code{modeline}.
9326 @item gnus-tree-line-format
9327 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
9328 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
9329 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
9330 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
9331 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
9332 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
9338 The name of the poster.
9340 The @code{From} header.
9342 The number of the article.
9344 The opening bracket.
9346 The closing bracket.
9351 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
9353 Variables related to the display are:
9356 @item gnus-tree-brackets
9357 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
9358 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
9359 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
9360 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
9361 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
9363 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9364 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
9365 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
9366 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
9370 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
9371 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
9372 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
9373 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
9374 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
9375 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
9376 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
9377 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
9378 other windows displayed next to it.
9380 You may also wish to add the following hook to keep the window minimized
9384 (add-hook 'gnus-configure-windows-hook
9385 'gnus-tree-perhaps-minimize)
9388 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
9389 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
9390 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9391 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
9392 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
9393 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
9394 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
9398 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
9401 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
9411 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
9415 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
9416 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
9418 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
9420 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
9425 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
9426 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
9427 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
9430 (setq gnus-use-trees t
9431 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
9432 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
9433 (gnus-add-configuration
9437 (summary 0.75 point)
9442 @xref{Window Layout}.
9445 @node Mail Group Commands
9446 @section Mail Group Commands
9447 @cindex mail group commands
9449 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
9450 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
9452 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
9453 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9458 @kindex B e (Summary)
9459 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
9460 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
9461 process (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}). That is, delete all
9462 expirable articles in the group that have been around for a while.
9463 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
9466 @kindex B C-M-e (Summary)
9467 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
9468 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
9469 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
9470 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
9471 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
9474 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
9475 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
9476 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
9477 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
9478 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
9479 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
9482 @kindex B m (Summary)
9484 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
9485 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
9486 Move the article from one mail group to another
9487 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9488 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9491 @kindex B c (Summary)
9493 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
9494 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
9495 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
9496 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
9497 @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
9500 @kindex B B (Summary)
9501 @cindex crosspost mail
9502 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
9503 Crosspost the current article to some other group
9504 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
9505 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
9506 be properly updated.
9509 @kindex B i (Summary)
9510 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
9511 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
9512 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
9513 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9516 @kindex B I (Summary)
9517 @findex gnus-summary-create-article
9518 Create an empty article in the current mail newsgroups
9519 (@code{gnus-summary-create-article}). You will be prompted for a
9520 @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
9523 @kindex B r (Summary)
9524 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
9525 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
9526 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
9527 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
9528 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
9529 Marks will be preserved if @code{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
9530 (which is the default).
9534 @kindex B w (Summary)
9536 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
9537 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
9538 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article-done
9539 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
9540 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
9541 (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
9542 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
9545 @kindex B q (Summary)
9546 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
9547 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
9548 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
9549 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
9552 @kindex B t (Summary)
9553 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
9554 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
9555 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
9558 @kindex B p (Summary)
9559 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
9560 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
9561 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
9562 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
9563 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
9564 article from your news server (or rather, from
9565 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
9566 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
9567 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
9568 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
9569 just not have arrived yet.
9572 @kindex K E (Summary)
9573 @findex gnus-article-encrypt-body
9574 @vindex gnus-article-encrypt-protocol
9575 Encrypt the body of an article (@code{gnus-article-encrypt-body}).
9576 The body is encrypted with the encryption protocol specified by the
9577 variable @code{gnus-article-encrypt-protocol}.
9581 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
9582 @cindex moving articles
9583 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
9584 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
9585 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
9586 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
9587 suggestions you find reasonable. (Note that
9588 @code{gnus-move-split-methods} uses group names where
9589 @code{gnus-split-methods} uses file names.)
9592 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
9593 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
9594 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
9595 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
9599 @node Various Summary Stuff
9600 @section Various Summary Stuff
9603 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
9604 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
9605 * Summary Generation Commands::
9606 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
9610 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
9611 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
9612 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
9614 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
9615 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
9616 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
9617 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
9618 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
9619 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
9622 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9623 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
9624 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
9625 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
9626 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
9628 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9629 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
9630 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
9633 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9634 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
9635 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
9636 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
9637 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
9638 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
9639 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
9640 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
9641 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
9642 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
9644 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9645 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
9646 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
9647 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
9648 list of articles to be selected.
9650 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
9651 the list in one particular group:
9654 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
9655 (if (string= group "some.group")
9656 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
9660 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-variables
9661 @item gnus-newsgroup-variables
9662 A list of newsgroup (summary buffer) local variables, or cons of
9663 variables and their default values (when the default values are not
9664 nil), that should be made global while the summary buffer is active.
9665 These variables can be used to set variables in the group parameters
9666 while still allowing them to affect operations done in other
9667 buffers. For example:
9670 (setq gnus-newsgroup-variables
9671 '(message-use-followup-to
9672 (gnus-visible-headers .
9673 "^From:\\|^Newsgroups:\\|^Subject:\\|^Date:\\|^To:")))
9679 @node Summary Group Information
9680 @subsection Summary Group Information
9685 @kindex H f (Summary)
9686 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
9687 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
9688 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
9689 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
9690 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
9691 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
9692 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
9693 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
9694 be used for fetching the file.
9697 @kindex H d (Summary)
9698 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
9699 Give a brief description of the current group
9700 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
9701 rereading the description from the server.
9704 @kindex H h (Summary)
9705 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
9706 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
9707 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
9710 @kindex H i (Summary)
9711 @findex gnus-info-find-node
9712 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
9716 @node Searching for Articles
9717 @subsection Searching for Articles
9722 @kindex M-s (Summary)
9723 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
9724 Search through all subsequent (raw) articles for a regexp
9725 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
9728 @kindex M-r (Summary)
9729 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
9730 Search through all previous (raw) articles for a regexp
9731 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
9735 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
9736 This command will prompt you for a header, a regular expression to match
9737 on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
9738 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If the header is an empty
9739 string, the match is done on the entire article. If given a prefix,
9740 search backward instead.
9742 For instance, @kbd{& RET some.*string #} will put the process mark on
9743 all articles that have heads or bodies that match @samp{some.*string}.
9746 @kindex M-& (Summary)
9747 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
9748 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
9749 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
9752 @node Summary Generation Commands
9753 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
9758 @kindex Y g (Summary)
9759 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
9760 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
9763 @kindex Y c (Summary)
9764 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
9765 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
9766 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
9771 @node Really Various Summary Commands
9772 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
9778 @kindex C-d (Summary)
9779 @kindex A D (Summary)
9780 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
9781 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
9782 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
9783 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
9784 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
9785 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
9786 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
9787 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
9791 @kindex C-M-d (Summary)
9792 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
9793 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
9794 several documents into one biiig group
9795 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
9796 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
9797 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
9798 command understands the process/prefix convention
9799 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
9802 @kindex C-t (Summary)
9803 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
9804 Toggle truncation of summary lines
9805 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
9806 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
9807 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
9811 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
9812 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
9813 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
9816 @kindex C-M-e (Summary)
9817 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
9818 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9819 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
9822 @kindex C-M-a (Summary)
9823 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
9824 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
9825 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
9830 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
9831 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
9832 @cindex summary exit
9833 @cindex exiting groups
9835 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
9836 group and return you to the group buffer.
9842 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
9844 @findex gnus-summary-exit
9845 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
9846 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
9847 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
9848 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
9849 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
9850 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
9851 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
9852 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
9853 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
9854 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
9858 @kindex Z E (Summary)
9860 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
9861 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
9862 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
9866 @kindex Z c (Summary)
9868 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
9869 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
9870 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
9871 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
9874 @kindex Z C (Summary)
9875 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
9876 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
9877 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
9880 @kindex Z n (Summary)
9881 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
9882 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
9883 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
9886 @kindex Z R (Summary)
9887 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
9888 Exit this group, and then enter it again
9889 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
9890 all articles, both read and unread.
9894 @kindex Z G (Summary)
9895 @kindex M-g (Summary)
9896 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
9897 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
9898 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
9899 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
9900 articles, both read and unread.
9903 @kindex Z N (Summary)
9904 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
9905 Exit the group and go to the next group
9906 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
9909 @kindex Z P (Summary)
9910 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
9911 Exit the group and go to the previous group
9912 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
9915 @kindex Z s (Summary)
9916 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
9917 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
9918 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
9919 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
9920 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
9923 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
9924 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
9925 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
9926 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
9928 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
9929 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
9930 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
9931 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
9932 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
9933 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
9934 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
9935 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
9936 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
9937 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
9938 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
9939 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
9941 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
9943 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
9944 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
9945 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
9946 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
9947 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
9948 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
9949 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
9950 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
9951 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
9954 @node Crosspost Handling
9955 @section Crosspost Handling
9959 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
9960 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
9961 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
9962 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
9963 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
9964 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
9967 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
9968 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
9969 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
9970 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
9971 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
9973 @cindex cross-posting
9976 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
9977 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
9978 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
9979 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
9980 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
9981 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
9982 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
9983 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
9984 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
9985 the cross reference mechanism.
9987 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
9988 @cindex overview.fmt
9989 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
9990 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
9991 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
9992 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
9993 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
9994 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
9997 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
9998 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
9999 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
10004 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
10007 @node Duplicate Suppression
10008 @section Duplicate Suppression
10010 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
10011 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
10012 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
10013 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
10018 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
10019 is evil and not very common.
10022 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
10023 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
10026 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
10027 different @sc{nntp} servers.
10030 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
10033 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
10034 well, but these four are the most common situations.
10036 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
10037 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
10038 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
10039 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
10040 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
10041 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
10042 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
10045 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
10046 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
10047 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
10048 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
10049 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
10050 saw the article in.
10053 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
10054 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
10055 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
10057 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
10058 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
10059 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
10060 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
10061 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
10062 session are suppressed.
10064 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
10065 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
10066 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
10067 suppression list. The default is 10000.
10069 @item gnus-duplicate-file
10070 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
10071 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
10072 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
10075 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
10076 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
10077 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
10078 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
10079 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
10080 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
10081 to you to figure out, I think.
10086 Gnus is able to verify signed messages or decrypt encrypted messages.
10087 The formats that are supported are PGP, @sc{pgp/mime} and @sc{s/mime},
10088 however you need some external programs to get things to work:
10092 To handle PGP messages, you have to install mailcrypt or gpg.el as
10093 well as a OpenPGP implementation (such as GnuPG).
10096 To handle @sc{s/mime} message, you need to install OpenSSL. OpenSSL 0.9.6
10097 or newer is recommended.
10101 More information on how to set things up can be found in the message
10102 manual (@pxref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}).
10105 @item mm-verify-option
10106 @vindex mm-verify-option
10107 Option of verifying signed parts. @code{never}, not verify;
10108 @code{always}, always verify; @code{known}, only verify known
10109 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10111 @item mm-decrypt-option
10112 @vindex mm-decrypt-option
10113 Option of decrypting encrypted parts. @code{never}, no decryption;
10114 @code{always}, always decrypt; @code{known}, only decrypt known
10115 protocols. Otherwise, ask user.
10120 @section Mailing List
10122 @kindex A M (summary)
10123 @findex gnus-mailing-list-insinuate
10124 Gnus understands some mailing list fields of RFC 2369. To enable it,
10125 either add a `to-list' group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}),
10126 possibly using @kbd{A M} (@code{gnus-mailing-list-insinuate}) in the
10127 summary buffer, or say:
10130 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'turn-on-gnus-mailing-list-mode)
10133 That enables the following commands to the summary buffer:
10138 @kindex C-c C-n h (Summary)
10139 @findex gnus-mailing-list-help
10140 Send a message to fetch mailing list help, if List-Help field exists.
10143 @kindex C-c C-n s (Summary)
10144 @findex gnus-mailing-list-subscribe
10145 Send a message to subscribe the mailing list, if List-Subscribe field exists.
10148 @kindex C-c C-n u (Summary)
10149 @findex gnus-mailing-list-unsubscribe
10150 Send a message to unsubscribe the mailing list, if List-Unsubscribe
10154 @kindex C-c C-n p (Summary)
10155 @findex gnus-mailing-list-post
10156 Post to the mailing list, if List-Post field exists.
10159 @kindex C-c C-n o (Summary)
10160 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10161 Send a message to the mailing list owner, if List-Owner field exists.
10164 @kindex C-c C-n a (Summary)
10165 @findex gnus-mailing-list-owner
10166 Browse the mailing list archive, if List-Archive field exists.
10170 @node Article Buffer
10171 @chapter Article Buffer
10172 @cindex article buffer
10174 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
10175 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
10176 tell gnus otherwise.
10179 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
10180 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
10181 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
10182 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
10183 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
10187 @node Hiding Headers
10188 @section Hiding Headers
10189 @cindex hiding headers
10190 @cindex deleting headers
10192 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
10193 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
10195 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
10196 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
10197 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
10198 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
10199 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
10200 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
10201 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
10202 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
10203 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
10205 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
10209 @item gnus-visible-headers
10210 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
10211 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
10212 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
10213 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
10215 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
10216 the article and the subject, you'd say:
10219 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
10222 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10225 @item gnus-ignored-headers
10226 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
10227 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
10228 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
10229 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
10230 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
10232 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
10233 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
10236 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
10239 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
10242 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
10243 variable will have no effect.
10247 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
10248 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
10249 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
10250 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
10251 the headers are to be displayed.
10253 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
10254 and then the subject, you might say something like:
10257 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
10260 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
10261 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
10263 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
10264 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
10265 You can hide further boring headers by setting
10266 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
10267 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
10268 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
10269 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
10272 These conditions are:
10275 Remove all empty headers.
10277 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
10278 @code{Newsgroups} header.
10280 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
10281 @code{From} header.
10283 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
10286 Remove the @code{To} header if it only contains the address identical to
10287 the current groups's @code{to-address} parameter.
10289 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
10292 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
10294 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
10297 To include these three elements, you could say something like:
10300 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
10301 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
10304 This is also the default value for this variable.
10308 @section Using MIME
10311 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
10312 while people stand around yawning.
10314 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
10315 while all newsreaders die of fear.
10317 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
10318 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
10319 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
10321 @vindex gnus-show-mime
10322 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
10323 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
10324 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
10325 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
10326 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
10327 calls the @sc{semi} MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
10328 information on @sc{semi} MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is
10329 not existed yet, sorry).
10331 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
10332 @sc{mime} all the time. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime} set, then
10333 you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article buffer.
10334 These can't be avoided.
10336 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
10337 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
10338 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
10339 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
10340 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
10341 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
10342 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
10343 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
10344 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
10347 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
10349 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
10350 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
10351 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
10352 buffer when there are nobody else.
10354 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
10357 @node Customizing Articles
10358 @section Customizing Articles
10359 @cindex article customization
10361 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
10362 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
10363 called automatically when you select the articles.
10365 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
10366 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
10367 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
10368 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
10370 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
10371 for sensible values.
10375 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
10378 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
10381 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
10384 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
10387 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
10391 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
10392 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
10393 regexps in the list.
10396 A list where the first element is not a string:
10398 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
10399 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
10400 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
10404 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
10408 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
10413 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
10414 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
10415 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
10416 considered to contain just a single part.
10418 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
10419 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
10420 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
10421 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
10422 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
10423 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
10424 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
10426 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
10427 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
10428 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
10429 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
10432 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
10433 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
10435 @xref{Article Buttons}.
10437 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
10438 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
10439 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
10440 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
10441 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
10442 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
10443 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
10444 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
10445 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
10446 @item gnus-treat-unsplit-urls (t, integer)
10447 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset (t, integer)
10449 @xref{Article Washing}.
10451 @item gnus-treat-date-english (head)
10452 @item gnus-treat-date-iso8601 (head)
10453 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
10454 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
10455 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
10456 @item gnus-treat-date-user-defined (head)
10457 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
10459 @xref{Article Date}.
10461 @item gnus-treat-from-picon (head)
10462 @item gnus-treat-mail-picon (head)
10463 @item gnus-treat-newsgroups-picon (head)
10467 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
10469 @item gnus-treat-body-boundary (head)
10471 @vindex gnus-body-boundary-delimiter
10472 Adds a delimiter between header and body, the string used as delimiter
10473 is controlled by @code{gnus-body-boundary-delimiter}.
10477 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
10481 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
10482 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
10483 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
10484 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
10485 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
10486 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation-maybe (t, integer)
10487 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
10488 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
10490 @xref{Article Hiding}.
10492 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
10493 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
10494 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
10496 @xref{Article Highlighting}.
10498 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
10499 @item gnus-treat-translate
10500 @item gnus-treat-x-pgp-sig (head)
10502 @item gnus-treat-unfold-headers (head)
10503 @item gnus-treat-fold-headers (head)
10504 @item gnus-treat-fold-newsgroups (head)
10505 @item gnus-treat-leading-whitespace (head)
10507 @xref{Article Header}.
10512 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
10513 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
10514 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
10515 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
10516 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
10520 @node Article Keymap
10521 @section Article Keymap
10523 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
10524 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
10525 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
10526 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
10529 A few additional keystrokes are available:
10534 @kindex SPACE (Article)
10535 @findex gnus-article-next-page
10536 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
10539 @kindex DEL (Article)
10540 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
10541 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
10544 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
10545 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
10546 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
10547 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
10548 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
10551 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
10552 @findex gnus-article-mail
10553 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
10554 given a prefix, include the mail.
10557 @kindex s (Article)
10558 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
10559 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
10560 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
10563 @kindex ? (Article)
10564 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
10565 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
10566 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
10569 @kindex TAB (Article)
10570 @findex gnus-article-next-button
10571 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
10572 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
10575 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
10576 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
10577 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
10580 @kindex R (Article)
10581 @findex gnus-article-reply-with-original
10582 Send a reply to the current article and yank the current article
10583 (@code{gnus-article-reply-with-original}). If given a prefix, make a
10584 wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10588 @kindex F (Article)
10589 @findex gnus-article-followup-with-original
10590 Send a followup to the current article and yank the current article
10591 (@code{gnus-article-followup-with-original}). If given a prefix, make
10592 a wide reply. If the region is active, only yank the text in the
10600 @section Misc Article
10604 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
10605 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
10606 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
10607 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
10610 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
10611 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
10613 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
10614 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
10616 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
10617 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
10618 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
10619 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
10620 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
10621 the contents of the article buffer.
10623 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
10624 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
10625 Hook called in article mode buffers.
10627 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10628 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
10629 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
10630 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
10632 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
10633 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
10634 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
10635 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
10636 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
10642 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
10643 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
10644 performed. The characters and their meaning:
10649 Displayed when cited text may be hidden in the article buffer.
10652 Displayed when headers are hidden in the article buffer.
10655 Displayed when article is digitally signed or encrypted, and Gnus has
10656 hidden the security headers. (N.B. does not tell anything about
10657 security status, i.e. good or bad signature.)
10660 Displayed when the signature has been hidden in the Article buffer.
10663 Displayed when Gnus has treated overstrike characters in the article buffer.
10666 Displayed when Gnus has treated emphasised strings in the article buffer.
10671 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
10675 @vindex gnus-break-pages
10677 @item gnus-break-pages
10678 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
10679 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
10680 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
10681 paging will not be done.
10683 @item gnus-page-delimiter
10684 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
10685 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
10690 @node Composing Messages
10691 @chapter Composing Messages
10692 @cindex composing messages
10695 @cindex sending mail
10700 @cindex using s/mime
10701 @cindex using smime
10703 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
10704 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
10705 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
10706 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Overview, message,
10707 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
10708 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
10711 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
10712 * Posting Server:: What server should you post and mail via?
10713 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
10714 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
10715 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
10716 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
10717 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
10718 * Signing and encrypting:: How to compose secure messages.
10721 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
10722 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
10728 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
10731 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
10732 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
10733 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
10734 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
10736 @item gnus-add-to-list
10737 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
10738 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
10739 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
10741 @item gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10742 @vindex gnus-confirm-mail-reply-to-news
10743 If non-@code{nil}, Gnus requests confirmation when replying to news.
10744 If you find yourself never wanting to reply to mail, but occasionally
10745 press R anyway, this variable might be for you.
10750 @node Posting Server
10751 @section Posting Server
10753 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
10754 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
10756 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
10758 It can be quite complicated.
10760 @vindex gnus-post-method
10761 When posting news, Message usually invokes @code{message-send-news}
10762 (@pxref{News Variables, , News Variables, message, Message Manual}).
10763 Normally, Gnus will post using the same select method as you're
10764 reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
10765 groups from different private servers). However. If the server
10766 you're reading from doesn't allow posting, just reading, you probably
10767 want to use some other server to post your (extremely intelligent and
10768 fabulously interesting) articles. You can then set the
10769 @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
10772 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
10775 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
10776 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
10777 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
10778 the ``current'' server, to get back the default behavior, for posting.
10780 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
10781 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
10783 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
10784 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
10787 Finally, if you want to always post using the native select method,
10788 you can set this variable to @code{native}.
10790 When sending mail, Message invokes @code{message-send-mail-function}.
10791 The default function, @code{message-send-mail-with-sendmail}, pipes
10792 your article to the @code{sendmail} binary for further queuing and
10793 sending. When your local system is not configured for sending mail
10794 using @code{sendmail}, and you have access to a remote @sc{smtp}
10795 server, you can set @code{message-send-mail-function} to
10796 @code{smtpmail-send-it} and make sure to setup the @code{smtpmail}
10797 package correctly. An example:
10800 (setq message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it
10801 smtpmail-default-smtp-server "YOUR SMTP HOST")
10804 To the thing similar to this, there is @code{message-smtpmail-send-it}.
10805 It is useful if your ISP requires the POP-before-SMTP authentication.
10806 See the documentation for the function @code{mail-source-touch-pop}.
10808 Other possible choises for @code{message-send-mail-function} includes
10809 @code{message-send-mail-with-mh}, @code{message-send-mail-with-qmail},
10810 and @code{feedmail-send-it}.
10812 @node Mail and Post
10813 @section Mail and Post
10815 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
10819 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
10820 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
10821 @cindex mailing lists
10823 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
10824 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
10825 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
10826 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
10827 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
10828 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
10829 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
10830 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
10831 still a pain, though.
10835 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
10836 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
10837 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
10840 @findex ispell-message
10842 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
10845 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
10846 you're in, you could say something like the following:
10849 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
10853 "^de\\." (gnus-group-real-name gnus-newsgroup-name))
10854 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
10856 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
10859 Modify to suit your needs.
10862 @node Archived Messages
10863 @section Archived Messages
10864 @cindex archived messages
10865 @cindex sent messages
10867 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
10868 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
10869 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
10870 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
10873 For archiving interesting messages in a group you read, see the
10874 @kbd{B c} (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}) command (@pxref{Mail
10877 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
10878 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
10879 use to store sent messages. The default is:
10882 (nnfolder "archive"
10883 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
10884 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
10885 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
10886 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
10889 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
10890 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likable select method
10891 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
10892 directory chosen, you could say something like:
10895 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
10896 '(nnfolder "archive"
10897 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
10898 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
10899 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
10902 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
10904 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
10905 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
10906 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
10908 This variable can be used to do the following:
10913 Messages will be saved in that group.
10915 Note that you can include a select method in the group name, then the
10916 message will not be stored in the select method given by
10917 @code{gnus-message-archive-method}, but in the select method specified
10918 by the group name, instead. Suppose @code{gnus-message-archive-method}
10919 has the default value shown above. Then setting
10920 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{"foo"} means that outgoing
10921 messages are stored in @samp{nnfolder+archive:foo}, but if you use the
10922 value @code{"nnml:foo"}, then outgoing messages will be stored in
10926 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
10928 an alist of regexps, functions and forms
10929 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
10932 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
10937 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
10939 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
10942 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
10944 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
10947 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
10949 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10950 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
10951 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
10952 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
10955 More complex stuff:
10957 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10958 '((if (message-news-p)
10963 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
10964 messages in one file per month:
10967 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
10968 '((if (message-news-p)
10970 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
10973 @c (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
10974 @c use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
10976 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
10977 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
10978 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
10979 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
10980 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
10981 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
10982 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
10983 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
10984 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
10985 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
10987 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
10988 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
10989 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
10990 this will disable archiving.
10993 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
10994 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
10995 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
10996 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
10997 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
11000 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
11001 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
11002 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
11005 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
11006 but the latter is the preferred method.
11008 @item gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11009 @vindex gnus-gcc-mark-as-read
11010 If non-@code{nil}, automatically mark @code{Gcc} articles as read.
11012 @item gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11013 @vindex gnus-gcc-externalize-attachments
11014 If @code{nil}, attach files as normal parts in Gcc copies; if a regexp
11015 and matches the Gcc group name, attach files as external parts; if it is
11016 @code{all}, attach local files as external parts; if it is other
11017 non-@code{nil}, the behavior is the same as @code{all}, but it may be
11018 changed in the future.
11023 @node Posting Styles
11024 @section Posting Styles
11025 @cindex posting styles
11028 All them variables, they make my head swim.
11030 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
11031 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
11032 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
11035 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
11036 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
11037 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
11038 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
11039 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
11044 (signature "Peace and happiness")
11045 (organization "What me?"))
11047 (signature "Death to everybody"))
11048 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
11049 (organization "Emacs is it")))
11052 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
11053 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
11054 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
11055 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
11056 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
11057 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
11058 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
11059 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
11061 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
11062 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
11063 If it is the form @code{(header MATCH REGEXP)}, then Gnus will look in
11064 the original article for a header whose name is MATCH and compare that
11065 REGEXP. MATCH and REGEXP are strings. If it's a function symbol, that
11066 function will be called with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol,
11067 then the variable will be referenced. If it's a list, then that list
11068 will be @code{eval}ed. In any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil}
11069 value, then the style is said to @dfn{match}.
11071 Each style may contain an arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
11072 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} @var{value})} pair. The
11073 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
11074 @code{x-face-file}, @code{address} (overriding
11075 @code{user-mail-address}), @code{name} (overriding
11076 @code{(user-full-name)}) or @code{body}. The attribute name can also
11077 be a string or a symbol. In that case, this will be used as a header
11078 name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the article; if
11079 the value is @code{nil}, the header name will be removed. If the
11080 attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated, and the result
11083 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
11084 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
11085 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
11086 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
11087 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
11088 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable, which
11089 is a vector of the following headers: number subject from date id
11090 references chars lines xref extra.
11092 @vindex message-reply-headers
11094 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
11095 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
11096 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
11098 @findex message-mail-p
11099 @findex message-news-p
11101 So here's a new example:
11104 (setq gnus-posting-styles
11106 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11108 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11109 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11111 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
11112 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly") ;; A form
11113 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
11114 (message-news-p ;; A function symbol
11115 (signature my-news-signature))
11116 (window-system ;; A value symbol
11117 ("X-Window-System" (format "%s" window-system)))
11118 ;; If I'm replying to Larsi, set the Organization header.
11119 ((header "from" "larsi.*org")
11120 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
11121 ((posting-from-work-p) ;; A user defined function
11122 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
11123 (address "user@@bar.foo")
11124 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
11125 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
11127 (From (save-excursion
11128 (set-buffer gnus-article-buffer)
11129 (message-fetch-field "to"))))
11131 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
11134 The @samp{nnml:.*} rule means that you use the @code{To} address as the
11135 @code{From} address in all your outgoing replies, which might be handy
11136 if you fill many roles.
11138 Setting the @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} variable will make
11139 posting-styles allow to have distinctive names.
11140 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} is an alist which maps the names to
11141 styles. Once a posting-style is added to the alist, we can import it
11142 from @code{gnus-posting-styles}. If an attribute whose name is
11143 @code{import} is found, Gnus will look for the attribute value in
11144 @code{gnus-named-posting-styles} and expand it in place.
11149 (setq gnus-named-posting-styles
11151 (signature-file "~/.signature")
11153 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
11154 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
11157 (organization "The Church of Emacs"))))
11160 The posting-style named "Emacs" will inherit all the attributes from
11161 "Default" except @code{organization}. You can specify an arbitrary
11162 posting-style when article posting with @kbd{S P} in the summary buffer.
11169 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
11170 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
11171 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
11172 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
11173 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
11175 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
11176 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
11177 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
11178 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
11179 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
11183 @vindex nndraft-directory
11184 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
11185 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
11186 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
11187 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
11188 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
11189 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
11191 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
11192 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
11195 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
11196 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
11197 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
11198 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
11199 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
11200 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
11201 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
11202 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
11203 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
11204 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
11205 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
11206 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
11207 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
11208 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
11210 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
11211 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
11212 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
11214 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
11215 @kindex D e (Draft)
11216 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
11217 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
11218 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
11220 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
11223 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
11224 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
11225 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
11226 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
11227 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
11228 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
11229 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
11232 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
11233 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
11234 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
11237 @node Rejected Articles
11238 @section Rejected Articles
11239 @cindex rejected articles
11241 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
11242 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
11243 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
11244 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
11246 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
11247 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
11248 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
11249 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
11250 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
11252 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
11253 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
11254 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
11256 @node Signing and encrypting
11257 @section Signing and encrypting
11259 @cindex using s/mime
11260 @cindex using smime
11262 Gnus can digitally sign and encrypt your messages, using vanilla PGP
11263 format or @sc{pgp/mime} or @sc{s/mime}. For decoding such messages,
11264 see the @code{mm-verify-option} and @code{mm-decrypt-option} options
11265 (@pxref{Security}).
11267 For PGP, Gnus supports two external libraries, @sc{gpg.el} and
11268 @sc{Mailcrypt}, you need to install at least one of them. The
11269 @sc{s/mime} support in Gnus requires the external program OpenSSL.
11271 Often, you would like to sign replies to people who send you signed
11272 messages. Even more often, you might want to encrypt messages which
11273 are in reply to encrypted messages. Gnus offers
11274 @code{gnus-message-replysign} to enable the former, and
11275 @code{gnus-message-replyencrypt} for the latter. In addition, setting
11276 @code{gnus-message-replysignencrypted} (on by default) will sign
11277 automatically encrypted messages.
11279 Instructing MML to perform security operations on a @sc{mime} part is
11280 done using the @kbd{C-c C-m s} key map for signing and the @kbd{C-c
11281 C-m c} key map for encryption, as follows.
11286 @kindex C-c C-m s s
11287 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-smime
11289 Digitally sign current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11292 @kindex C-c C-m s o
11293 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11295 Digitally sign current message using PGP.
11298 @kindex C-c C-m s p
11299 @findex mml-secure-message-sign-pgp
11301 Digitally sign current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11304 @kindex C-c C-m c s
11305 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-smime
11307 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{s/mime}.
11310 @kindex C-c C-m c o
11311 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgp
11313 Digitally encrypt current message using PGP.
11316 @kindex C-c C-m c p
11317 @findex mml-secure-message-encrypt-pgpmime
11319 Digitally encrypt current message using @sc{pgp/mime}.
11322 @kindex C-c C-m C-n
11323 @findex mml-unsecure-message
11324 Remove security related MML tags from message.
11328 Also @xref{Security, ,Security, message, Message Manual}.
11330 @node Select Methods
11331 @chapter Select Methods
11332 @cindex foreign groups
11333 @cindex select methods
11335 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
11336 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
11337 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
11338 personal mail group.
11340 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
11341 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
11342 list where the first element says what back end to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
11343 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
11344 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
11345 value may have special meaning for the back end in question.
11347 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
11348 we do just that (@pxref{Server Buffer}).
11350 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the back end will recognize the
11353 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
11354 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
11355 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
11356 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
11357 back end just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
11359 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
11362 * Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
11363 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
11364 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
11365 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
11366 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
11367 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
11368 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
11369 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
11373 @node Server Buffer
11374 @section Server Buffer
11376 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
11377 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
11378 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
11379 one back end or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
11380 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
11381 back end represents a virtual server.
11383 For instance, the @code{nntp} back end may be used to connect to several
11384 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
11385 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which back end to
11386 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
11388 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
11389 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
11390 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
11391 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
11392 Anyway, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
11393 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
11394 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
11396 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
11397 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
11400 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
11401 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
11402 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
11403 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
11404 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
11405 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
11406 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
11409 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
11410 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
11413 @node Server Buffer Format
11414 @subsection Server Buffer Format
11415 @cindex server buffer format
11417 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
11418 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
11419 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
11420 variable, with some simple extensions:
11425 How the news is fetched---the back end name.
11428 The name of this server.
11431 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
11434 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
11437 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
11438 The mode line can also be customized by using the
11439 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
11440 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
11450 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
11453 @node Server Commands
11454 @subsection Server Commands
11455 @cindex server commands
11461 @findex gnus-server-add-server
11462 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
11466 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
11467 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
11470 @kindex SPACE (Server)
11471 @findex gnus-server-read-server
11472 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
11476 @findex gnus-server-exit
11477 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
11481 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
11482 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
11486 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
11487 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
11491 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
11492 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
11496 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
11497 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
11501 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
11502 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
11503 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
11508 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
11509 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
11510 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
11511 a mail back end that has gotten out of sync.
11516 @node Example Methods
11517 @subsection Example Methods
11519 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
11522 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
11525 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
11531 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
11532 back end, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
11535 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
11536 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
11538 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
11539 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
11543 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
11546 You should read the documentation to each back end to find out what
11547 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
11549 @code{nnmh} is a mail back end that reads a spool-like structure. Say
11550 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
11551 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
11555 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
11558 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
11561 Here's the method for a public spool:
11565 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
11566 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
11572 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
11573 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
11574 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
11575 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
11576 should probably look something like this:
11580 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet)
11581 (nntp-via-address "the.firewall.machine")
11582 (nntp-address "the.real.nntp.host")
11583 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11586 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
11587 compressed connection over the modem line, you could add the following
11588 configuration to the example above:
11591 (nntp-via-rlogin-command "ssh")
11594 See also @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches}.
11596 If you're behind a firewall, but have direct access to the outside world
11597 through a wrapper command like "runsocks", you could open a socksified
11598 telnet connection to the news server as follows:
11602 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
11603 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-via-telnet)
11604 (nntp-address "the.news.server")
11605 (nntp-end-of-line "\n"))
11608 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
11609 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
11610 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
11611 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
11614 @node Creating a Virtual Server
11615 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
11617 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
11618 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
11620 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
11621 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
11622 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
11624 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
11626 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
11627 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
11628 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
11629 will contain the following:
11639 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
11640 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
11641 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
11644 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
11645 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
11646 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
11649 @node Server Variables
11650 @subsection Server Variables
11652 One sticky point when defining variables (both on back ends and in Emacs
11653 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
11654 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
11655 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
11656 won't change the "derived" variables.
11658 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
11659 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
11660 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
11661 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
11662 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
11663 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
11664 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
11665 variables for each back end, see each back end's section later in this
11666 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
11670 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
11671 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
11672 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
11676 @node Servers and Methods
11677 @subsection Servers and Methods
11679 Wherever you would normally use a select method
11680 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
11681 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
11682 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
11686 @node Unavailable Servers
11687 @subsection Unavailable Servers
11689 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
11690 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
11691 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
11692 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
11693 actually the case or not.
11695 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
11696 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
11697 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
11698 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
11699 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
11700 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
11701 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
11702 it will regard that server as ``down''.
11704 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
11705 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
11707 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{Server Buffer}) and poke it
11708 with the following commands:
11714 @findex gnus-server-open-server
11715 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
11716 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
11720 @findex gnus-server-close-server
11721 Close the connection (if any) to the server
11722 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
11726 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
11727 Mark the current server as unreachable
11728 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
11731 @kindex M-o (Server)
11732 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
11733 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
11734 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
11737 @kindex M-c (Server)
11738 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
11739 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
11740 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
11744 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
11745 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
11746 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
11750 @findex gnus-server-offline-server
11751 Set server status to offline (@code{gnus-server-offline-server}).
11757 @section Getting News
11758 @cindex reading news
11759 @cindex news back ends
11761 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
11762 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
11763 or it can read from a local spool.
11766 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
11767 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
11775 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
11776 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
11777 server as the, uhm, address.
11779 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
11780 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
11781 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
11782 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11784 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
11785 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
11786 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
11788 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
11793 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
11794 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
11795 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
11797 @cindex authentification
11798 @cindex nntp authentification
11799 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11800 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
11801 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
11802 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
11803 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
11804 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
11805 present in this hook.
11807 @item nntp-authinfo-function
11808 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
11809 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
11810 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
11811 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
11812 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
11813 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
11814 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
11815 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
11816 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
11817 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
11818 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
11822 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
11825 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs.
11827 The valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
11828 @samp{default}. In addition Gnus introduces two new tokens, not present
11829 in the original @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} syntax, namely @samp{port} and
11830 @samp{force}. (This is the only way the @file{.authinfo} file format
11831 deviates from the @file{.netrc} file format.) @samp{port} is used to
11832 indicate what port on the server the credentials apply to and
11833 @samp{force} is explained below.
11837 Here's an example file:
11840 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
11841 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
11844 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
11845 have to be first, for instance.
11847 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
11848 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
11849 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
11850 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
11851 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
11852 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
11853 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
11855 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
11856 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
11862 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
11863 previously mentioned.
11865 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
11867 @item nntp-server-action-alist
11868 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
11869 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
11870 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
11871 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
11874 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
11875 '(("innd" (ding))))
11878 You probably don't want to do that, though.
11880 The default value is
11883 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
11884 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook
11885 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
11888 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
11889 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
11891 @item nntp-maximum-request
11892 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
11893 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this back end
11894 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
11895 speed things up, the back end sends lots of these commands without
11896 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
11897 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
11898 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
11900 @item nntp-connection-timeout
11901 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
11902 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
11903 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
11904 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
11905 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
11906 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
11907 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} back end should wait for a
11908 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
11909 no timeouts are done.
11911 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
11912 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
11913 @c @cindex PPP connections
11914 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
11915 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
11916 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
11917 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
11918 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
11919 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
11920 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
11921 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
11922 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
11923 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
11925 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
11926 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
11927 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
11928 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
11929 @c described above.
11931 @item nntp-server-hook
11932 @vindex nntp-server-hook
11933 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
11936 @item nntp-buggy-select
11937 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
11938 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
11940 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
11941 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
11942 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
11943 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
11946 @item nntp-xover-commands
11947 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
11950 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
11951 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
11955 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
11956 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
11957 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
11958 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
11959 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
11960 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
11961 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
11962 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
11963 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
11964 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
11965 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
11967 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
11968 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
11969 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
11971 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11972 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
11973 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
11974 server closes connection.
11976 @item nntp-record-commands
11977 @vindex nntp-record-commands
11978 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
11979 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestamp) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
11980 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
11981 that doesn't seem to work.
11983 @item nntp-open-connection-function
11984 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
11985 It is possible to customize how the connection to the nntp server will
11986 be opened. If you specify an @code{nntp-open-connection-function}
11987 parameter, Gnus will use that function to establish the connection.
11988 Five pre-made functions are supplied. These functions can be grouped in
11989 two categories: direct connection functions (three pre-made), and
11990 indirect ones (two pre-made).
11992 @item nntp-prepare-post-hook
11993 @vindex nntp-prepare-post-hook
11994 A hook run just before posting an article. If there is no
11995 @code{Message-ID} header in the article and the news server provides the
11996 recommended ID, it will be added to the article before running this
11997 hook. It is useful to make @code{Cancel-Lock} headers even if you
11998 inhibit Gnus to add a @code{Message-ID} header, you could say:
12001 (add-hook 'nntp-prepare-post-hook 'canlock-insert-header)
12004 Note that not all servers support the recommended ID. This works for
12005 INN versions 2.3.0 and later, for instance.
12007 @item nntp-list-options
12008 @vindex nntp-list-options
12009 List of newsgroup name used for a option of the LIST command to restrict
12010 the listing output to only the specified newsgroups. Each newsgroup name
12011 can be a shell-style wildcard, for instance, @dfn{fj.*}, @dfn{japan.*},
12012 etc. Fortunately, if the server can accept such a option, it will
12013 probably make gnus run faster. You may use it as a server variable as
12017 (setq gnus-select-method
12018 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12019 (nntp-list-options ("fj.*" "japan.*"))))
12022 @item nntp-options-subscribe
12023 @vindex nntp-options-subscribe
12024 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will be subscribed
12025 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12026 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12027 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12028 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12031 (setq gnus-select-method
12032 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12033 (nntp-options-subscribe "^fj\\.\\|^japan\\.")))
12036 @item nntp-options-not-subscribe
12037 @vindex nntp-options-not-subscribe
12038 Regexp matching the newsgroup names which will not be subscribed
12039 unconditionally. Use @dfn{ } instead of @dfn{$} for a regexp string.
12040 It may be effective as well as @code{nntp-list-options} even though the
12041 server could not accept a shell-style wildcard as a option of the LIST
12042 command. You may use it as a server variable as follows:
12045 (setq gnus-select-method
12046 '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"
12047 (nntp-options-not-subscribe "\\.binaries\\.")))
12052 * Direct Functions:: Connecting directly to the server.
12053 * Indirect Functions:: Connecting indirectly to the server.
12054 * Common Variables:: Understood by several connection functions.
12058 @node Direct Functions
12059 @subsubsection Direct Functions
12060 @cindex direct connection functions
12062 These functions are called direct because they open a direct connection
12063 between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server. The behavior of these
12064 functions is also affected by commonly understood variables
12065 (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12068 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
12069 @item nntp-open-network-stream
12070 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
12073 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
12074 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
12075 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use
12076 this you must have OpenSSL (@uref{http://www.openssl.org}) or SSLeay
12077 installed (@uref{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also
12078 need @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distribution, for instance). You then
12079 define a server as follows:
12082 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
12084 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
12085 ;; however, openssl s_client -port doesn't like named ports
12087 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
12088 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
12089 (nntp-port-number 563)
12090 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
12093 @findex nntp-open-telnet-stream
12094 @item nntp-open-telnet-stream
12095 Opens a connection to an @sc{nntp} server by simply @samp{telnet}'ing
12096 it. You might wonder why this function exists, since we have the
12097 default @code{nntp-open-network-stream} which would do the job. (One
12098 of) the reason(s) is that if you are behind a firewall but have direct
12099 connections to the outside world thanks to a command wrapper like
12100 @code{runsocks}, you can use it like this:
12104 (nntp-pre-command "runsocks")
12105 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-telnet-stream)
12106 (nntp-address "the.news.server"))
12109 With the default method, you would need to wrap your whole Emacs
12110 session, which is not a good idea.
12114 @node Indirect Functions
12115 @subsubsection Indirect Functions
12116 @cindex indirect connection functions
12118 These functions are called indirect because they connect to an
12119 intermediate host before actually connecting to the @sc{nntp} server.
12120 All of these functions and related variables are also said to belong to
12121 the "via" family of connection: they're all prefixed with "via" to make
12122 things cleaner. The behavior of these functions is also affected by
12123 commonly understood variables (@pxref{Common Variables}).
12126 @item nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12127 @findex nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet
12128 Does an @samp{rlogin} on a remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet}
12129 to the real @sc{nntp} server from there. This is useful for instance if
12130 you need to connect to a firewall machine first.
12132 @code{nntp-open-via-rlogin-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12135 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command
12136 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command
12137 Command used to log in on the intermediate host. The default is
12138 @samp{rsh}, but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
12140 @item nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12141 @vindex nntp-via-rlogin-command-switches
12142 List of strings to be used as the switches to
12143 @code{nntp-via-rlogin-command}. The default is @code{nil}. If you use
12144 @samp{ssh} for `nntp-via-rlogin-command', you may set this to
12145 @samp{("-C")} in order to compress all data connections, otherwise set
12146 this to @samp{("-t")} or @samp{("-C" "-t")} if the telnet command
12147 requires a pseudo-tty allocation on an intermediate host.
12150 @item nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12151 @findex nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet
12152 Does essentially the same, but uses @samp{telnet} instead of
12153 @samp{rlogin} to connect to the intermediate host.
12155 @code{nntp-open-via-telnet-and-telnet}-specific variables:
12158 @item nntp-via-telnet-command
12159 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-command
12160 Command used to @code{telnet} the intermediate host. The default is
12163 @item nntp-via-telnet-switches
12164 @vindex nntp-via-telnet-switches
12165 List of strings to be used as the switches to the
12166 @code{nntp-via-telnet-command} command. The default is @samp{("-8")}.
12168 @item nntp-via-user-password
12169 @vindex nntp-via-user-password
12170 Password to use when logging in on the intermediate host.
12172 @item nntp-via-envuser
12173 @vindex nntp-via-envuser
12174 If non-@code{nil}, the intermediate @code{telnet} session (client and
12175 server both) will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for
12176 login name. This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
12178 @item nntp-via-shell-prompt
12179 @vindex nntp-via-shell-prompt
12180 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the intermediate host. The default
12181 is @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
12188 Here are some additional variables that are understood by all the above
12193 @item nntp-via-user-name
12194 @vindex nntp-via-user-name
12195 User name to use when connecting to the intermediate host.
12197 @item nntp-via-address
12198 @vindex nntp-via-address
12199 Address of the intermediate host to connect to.
12204 @node Common Variables
12205 @subsubsection Common Variables
12207 The following variables affect the behavior of all, or several of the
12208 pre-made connection functions. When not specified, all functions are
12213 @item nntp-pre-command
12214 @vindex nntp-pre-command
12215 A command wrapper to use when connecting through a non native connection
12216 function (all except @code{nntp-open-network-stream} and
12217 @code{nntp-open-ssl-stream}. This is where you would put a @samp{SOCKS}
12218 wrapper for instance.
12221 @vindex nntp-address
12222 The address of the @sc{nntp} server.
12224 @item nntp-port-number
12225 @vindex nntp-port-number
12226 Port number to connect to the @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{nntp}.
12227 If you use @sc{nntp} over @sc{ssl}, you may want to use integer ports rather
12228 than named ports (i.e, use @samp{563} instead of @samp{snews}), because
12229 external SSL tools may not work with named ports.
12231 @item nntp-end-of-line
12232 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
12233 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
12234 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
12235 using a non native connection function.
12237 @item nntp-telnet-command
12238 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
12239 Command to use when connecting to the @sc{nntp} server through
12240 @samp{telnet}. This is NOT for an intermediate host. This is just for
12241 the real @sc{nntp} server. The default is @samp{telnet}.
12243 @item nntp-telnet-switches
12244 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
12245 A list of switches to pass to @code{nntp-telnet-command}. The default
12252 @subsection News Spool
12256 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
12257 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
12258 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
12261 Anyway, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
12262 anything else) as the address.
12264 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
12265 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
12266 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
12267 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
12271 @item nnspool-inews-program
12272 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
12273 Program used to post an article.
12275 @item nnspool-inews-switches
12276 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
12277 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
12279 @item nnspool-spool-directory
12280 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
12281 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
12282 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
12284 @item nnspool-nov-directory
12285 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
12286 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
12287 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
12289 @item nnspool-lib-dir
12290 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
12291 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
12293 @item nnspool-active-file
12294 @vindex nnspool-active-file
12295 The path to the active file.
12297 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
12298 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
12299 The path to the group descriptions file.
12301 @item nnspool-history-file
12302 @vindex nnspool-history-file
12303 The path to the news history file.
12305 @item nnspool-active-times-file
12306 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
12307 The path to the active date file.
12309 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
12310 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
12311 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
12314 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12315 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
12317 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
12318 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
12319 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
12325 @section Getting Mail
12326 @cindex reading mail
12329 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
12333 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
12334 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
12335 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
12336 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
12337 * Mail Back End Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
12338 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
12339 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
12340 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
12341 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
12342 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
12343 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
12344 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail back ends for reading other files.
12345 * Choosing a Mail Back End:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
12349 @node Mail in a Newsreader
12350 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
12352 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
12353 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
12354 of a culture shock.
12356 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
12357 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
12359 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
12360 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
12361 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
12362 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
12364 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
12366 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
12367 deleted? How awful!
12369 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
12370 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
12371 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
12372 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
12375 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
12376 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
12377 they want to treat a message.
12379 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
12380 via @sc{smtp}, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
12381 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
12382 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
12383 archived somewhere else.
12385 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
12386 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
12387 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
12388 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
12389 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
12391 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
12392 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
12393 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
12395 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
12396 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
12399 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
12400 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
12401 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
12402 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
12403 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
12405 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
12406 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
12407 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
12408 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
12409 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
12410 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
12414 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
12415 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
12417 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
12418 mail back end of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
12419 and things will happen automatically.
12421 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
12422 mail" back end), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
12425 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
12428 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this back end will be queried for new
12429 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
12430 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
12431 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
12432 like any other group.
12434 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
12437 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12438 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12439 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12443 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
12444 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
12445 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
12448 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
12449 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
12450 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Back End} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
12453 @node Splitting Mail
12454 @subsection Splitting Mail
12455 @cindex splitting mail
12456 @cindex mail splitting
12458 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
12459 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
12460 to be split into groups.
12463 (setq nnmail-split-methods
12464 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
12465 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
12466 ("mail.other" "")))
12469 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
12470 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
12471 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
12472 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
12473 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
12474 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
12475 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
12478 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
12481 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
12482 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
12483 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
12484 mail belongs in that group.
12486 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
12487 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
12488 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
12489 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
12490 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
12491 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
12493 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
12494 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
12495 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
12496 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
12497 thinks should carry this mail message.
12499 Note that the mail back ends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
12500 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
12501 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
12502 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
12504 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
12505 The mail back ends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
12506 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
12507 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
12508 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
12510 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
12513 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
12514 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
12515 links. If that's the case for you, set
12516 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
12517 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
12519 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
12520 @kindex nnmail-split-history
12521 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
12522 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command. If you wish to see
12523 where re-spooling messages would put the messages, you can use
12524 @code{gnus-summary-respool-trace} and related commands (@pxref{Mail
12527 @vindex nnmail-split-header-length-limit
12528 Header lines longer than the value of
12529 @code{nnmail-split-header-length-limit} are excluded from the split
12532 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-charset
12533 @vindex nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes
12534 By default the splitting codes MIME decodes headers so you can match
12535 on non-ASCII strings. The @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-charset}
12536 variable specifies the default charset for decoding. The behaviour
12537 can be turned off completely by binding
12538 @code{nnmail-mail-splitting-decodes} to nil, which is useful if you
12539 want to match articles based on the raw header data.
12541 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
12542 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
12543 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
12544 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
12545 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
12546 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
12547 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
12548 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
12549 month's rent money.
12553 @subsection Mail Sources
12555 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
12556 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
12560 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
12561 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
12562 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
12566 @node Mail Source Specifiers
12567 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
12569 @cindex mail server
12572 @cindex mail source
12574 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
12575 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
12580 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
12583 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
12584 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
12585 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
12588 The following mail source types are available:
12592 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
12598 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
12599 environment variable or the value of @code{rmail-spool-directory}
12600 (usually something like @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}).
12603 An example file mail source:
12606 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
12609 Or using the default path:
12615 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
12616 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not use ange-ftp
12617 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
12620 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
12624 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
12627 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
12631 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
12634 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
12636 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
12639 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
12643 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used
12644 when you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
12645 That is, mail from the file @file{foo.bar.spool} will be put in the
12646 group @code{foo.bar}. (You can change the suffix to be used instead
12647 of @code{.spool}.) Setting
12648 @code{nnmail-scan-directory-mail-source-once} to non-nil forces Gnus
12649 to scan the mail source only once. This is particularly useful if you
12650 want to scan mail groups at a specified level.
12652 There is also the variable @code{nnmail-resplit-incoming}, if you set
12653 that to a non-nil value, then the normal splitting process is applied
12654 to all the files from the directory.
12660 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
12664 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
12668 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
12669 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
12670 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
12671 predicate are considered.
12675 Script run before/after fetching mail.
12679 An example directory mail source:
12682 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
12687 Get mail from a POP server.
12693 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
12694 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12697 The port number of the POP server. This can be a number (eg,
12698 @samp{:port 1234}) or a string (eg, @samp{:port "pop3"}). If it is a
12699 string, it should be a service name as listed in @file{/etc/services} on
12700 Unix systems. The default is @samp{"pop3"}. On some systems you might
12701 need to specify it as @samp{"pop-3"} instead.
12704 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
12708 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
12712 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This should be
12713 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
12716 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
12719 The valid format specifier characters are:
12723 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
12724 included in this string.
12727 The name of the server.
12730 The port number of the server.
12733 The user name to use.
12736 The password to use.
12739 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12740 corresponding keywords.
12743 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12744 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12747 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
12748 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
12751 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
12752 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
12755 @item :authentication
12756 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
12757 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
12761 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this can be the symbol
12762 @code{ssl}, the symbol @code{tls} or others. The default is @code{nil}
12763 and use insecure connections. Note that for SSL/TLS, you need external
12764 programs and libraries:
12768 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL@. Requires OpenSSL (the program
12769 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
12770 library @samp{ssl.el}.
12772 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to SSL)@.
12773 Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
12778 Non-@code{nil} if mail is to be left on the server and UIDL used for
12779 message retrieval. The default is @code{nil}.
12783 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
12784 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
12786 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
12787 default user name, and default fetcher:
12793 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
12796 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
12797 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
12800 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
12803 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
12807 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
12808 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
12809 contains exactly one mail.
12815 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
12816 taken from the @code{MAILDIR} environment variable or
12819 The subdirectories of the Maildir. The default is
12820 @samp{("new" "cur")}.
12822 @c If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
12823 @c them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
12824 @c @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
12827 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
12828 from locking problems).
12832 Two example maildir mail sources:
12835 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/"
12836 :subdirs ("cur" "new"))
12840 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/"
12845 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap}
12846 as intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for
12847 some reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server
12848 and fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox. @xref{IMAP}, for
12851 Note that for the Kerberos, GSSAPI, SSL/TLS and STARTTLS support you
12852 may need external programs and libraries, @xref{IMAP}.
12858 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
12859 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
12862 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
12863 @samp{993} for SSL/TLS connections.
12866 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
12870 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
12874 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
12875 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
12876 @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{starttls}, @samp{ssl},
12877 @samp{shell} or the default @samp{network}.
12879 @item :authentication
12880 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is
12881 one of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now,
12882 this means @samp{gssapi}, @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{digest-md5},
12883 @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default @samp{login}.
12886 When using the `shell' :stream, the contents of this variable is
12887 mapped into the `imap-shell-program' variable. This should be a
12888 @code{format}-like string (or list of strings). Here's an example:
12894 The valid format specifier characters are:
12898 The name of the server.
12901 User name from `imap-default-user'.
12904 The port number of the server.
12907 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
12908 corresponding keywords.
12911 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
12912 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
12915 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
12916 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
12917 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
12918 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{1:*}.
12919 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
12920 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 section 6.4.4.
12923 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{\Deleted}
12924 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{\Seen} which
12925 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
12926 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 section 2.3.2.
12929 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
12930 after finishing the fetch.
12934 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
12937 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com"
12939 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
12943 Get mail from a webmail server, such as @uref{www.hotmail.com},
12944 @uref{webmail.netscape.com}, @uref{www.netaddress.com},
12945 @uref{mail.yahoo..com}.
12947 NOTE: Webmail largely depends cookies. A "one-line-cookie" patch is
12948 required for url "4.0pre.46".
12950 WARNING: Mails may be lost. NO WARRANTY.
12956 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
12957 alternatives are @code{netscape}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
12960 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
12964 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
12968 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
12969 folder after finishing the fetch.
12973 An example webmail source:
12976 (webmail :subtype 'hotmail
12978 :password "secret")
12983 @item Common Keywords
12984 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
12990 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
12991 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
12995 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
13000 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
13001 useful when you use local mail and news.
13006 @subsubsection Function Interface
13008 Some of the above keywords specify a Lisp function to be executed.
13009 For each keyword @code{:foo}, the Lisp variable @code{foo} is bound to
13010 the value of the keyword while the function is executing. For example,
13011 consider the following mail-source setting:
13014 (setq mail-sources '((pop :user "jrl"
13015 :server "pophost" :function fetchfunc)))
13018 While the function @code{fetchfunc} is executing, the symbol @code{user}
13019 is bound to @code{"jrl"}, and the symbol @code{server} is bound to
13020 @code{"pophost"}. The symbols @code{port}, @code{password},
13021 @code{program}, @code{prescript}, @code{postscript}, @code{function},
13022 and @code{authentication} are also bound (to their default values).
13024 See above for a list of keywords for each type of mail source.
13027 @node Mail Source Customization
13028 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
13030 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
13031 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
13035 @item mail-source-crash-box
13036 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
13037 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
13038 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
13040 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
13041 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
13042 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
13044 @item mail-source-directory
13045 @vindex mail-source-directory
13046 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
13047 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
13048 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
13051 @item mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13052 @vindex mail-source-incoming-file-prefix
13053 Prefix for file name for storing incoming mail. The default is
13054 @file{Incoming}, in which case files will end up with names like
13055 @file{Incoming30630D_} or @file{Incoming298602ZD}. This is really only
13056 relevant if @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} is @code{nil}.
13058 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
13059 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
13060 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
13062 @item mail-source-movemail-program
13063 @vindex mail-source-movemail-program
13064 If non-nil, name of program for fetching new mail. If nil,
13065 @code{movemail} in @var{exec-directory}.
13070 @node Fetching Mail
13071 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
13073 @vindex mail-sources
13074 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
13075 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
13076 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
13077 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
13079 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
13080 @code{nil}, the mail back ends will never attempt to fetch mail by
13083 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
13084 mail server, you'd say something like:
13089 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13090 :password "secret")))
13093 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
13097 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
13098 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
13101 :password "secret")))
13105 When you use a mail back end, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
13106 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
13107 mail if you're not using a mail back end---you have to do a lot of magic
13108 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
13109 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
13110 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
13114 @node Mail Back End Variables
13115 @subsection Mail Back End Variables
13117 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
13121 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13122 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
13123 The mail back ends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
13124 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
13126 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
13127 @item nnmail-split-hook
13128 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
13129 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
13130 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
13131 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
13132 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
13133 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
13134 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
13135 in the buffer will show up in any files.
13136 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
13139 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13140 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13141 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13142 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13143 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
13144 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
13145 starting to handle the new mail) and
13146 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
13147 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
13148 default file modes the new mail files get:
13151 (add-hook 'nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
13152 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
13154 (add-hook 'nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
13155 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
13158 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
13159 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
13160 If non-@code{nil}, the mail back ends will use long file and directory
13161 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
13162 (assuming use of @code{nnml} back end) or files (assuming use of
13163 @code{nnfolder} back end) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
13164 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
13166 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
13167 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
13168 @findex delete-file
13169 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
13171 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13172 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13173 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
13174 the back end (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
13175 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
13177 @item nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13178 @vindex nnmail-cache-ignore-groups
13179 This can be a regular expression or a list of regular expressions.
13180 Group names that match any of the regular expressions will never be
13181 recorded in the @code{Message-ID} cache.
13183 This can be useful, for example, when using Fancy Splitting
13184 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}) together with the function
13185 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent}.
13190 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
13191 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
13192 @cindex mail splitting
13193 @cindex fancy mail splitting
13195 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
13196 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
13197 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
13198 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
13199 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
13200 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
13202 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
13205 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
13206 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
13207 ;; from real errors.
13208 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
13210 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
13211 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
13212 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
13213 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
13214 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
13215 ;; Other mailing lists...
13216 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
13217 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
13218 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
13219 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
13220 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
13221 ;; message was really cross-posted.
13222 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
13223 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
13225 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
13226 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
13230 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
13231 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
13232 the five possible split syntaxes:
13237 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
13238 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
13242 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
13243 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
13244 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
13245 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
13246 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
13247 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
13248 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
13249 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
13252 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13253 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
13254 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
13255 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
13258 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13259 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
13262 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
13263 (i.e., delete) this message. Use with extreme caution.
13266 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
13267 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
13268 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
13269 function should return a @var{split}.
13272 For instance, the following function could be used to split based on the
13273 body of the messages:
13276 (defun split-on-body ()
13278 (set-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
13279 (goto-char (point-min))
13280 (when (re-search-forward "Some.*string" nil t)
13284 The @samp{" *nnmail incoming*"} is narrowed to the message in question
13285 when the @code{:} function is run.
13288 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
13289 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
13290 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
13294 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
13298 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
13299 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
13300 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
13301 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
13302 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
13304 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
13305 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
13306 are expanded as specified by the variable
13307 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
13308 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
13311 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
13312 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
13313 when all this splitting is performed.
13315 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
13316 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
13317 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
13320 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
13323 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
13324 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
13326 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
13327 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
13328 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
13329 groupings 1 through 9.
13331 @findex nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent
13332 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} is a function which allows you to
13333 split followups into the same groups their parents are in. Sometimes
13334 you can't make splitting rules for all your mail. For example, your
13335 boss might send you personal mail regarding different projects you are
13336 working on, and as you can't tell your boss to put a distinguishing
13337 string into the subject line, you have to resort to manually moving the
13338 messages into the right group. With this function, you only have to do
13339 it once per thread.
13341 To use this feature, you have to set @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} and
13342 @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} to a non-nil value. And then
13343 you can include @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} using the colon
13346 (setq nnmail-treat-duplicates 'warn ; or 'delete
13347 nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids t
13349 '(| (: nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent)
13350 ;; other splits go here
13354 This feature works as follows: when @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} is
13355 non-nil, Gnus records the message id of every message it sees in the
13356 file specified by the variable @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file},
13357 together with the group it is in (the group is omitted for non-mail
13358 messages). When mail splitting is invoked, the function
13359 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent} then looks at the References (and
13360 In-Reply-To) header of each message to split and searches the file
13361 specified by @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file} for the message ids.
13362 When it has found a parent, it returns the corresponding group name
13363 unless the group name matches the regexp
13364 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-with-parent-ignore-groups}. It is recommended
13365 that you set @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length} to a somewhat higher
13366 number than the default so that the message ids are still in the cache.
13367 (A value of 5000 appears to create a file some 300 kBytes in size.)
13368 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
13369 When @code{nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus
13370 also records the message ids of moved articles, so that the followup
13371 messages goes into the new group.
13373 Also see the variable @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} if you don't
13374 want certain groups to be recorded in the cache. For example, if all
13375 outgoing messages are written to an `outgoing' group, you could set
13376 @code{nnmail-cache-ignore-groups} to match that group name.
13377 Otherwise, answers to all your messages would end up in the
13381 @node Group Mail Splitting
13382 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
13383 @cindex mail splitting
13384 @cindex group mail splitting
13386 @findex gnus-group-split
13387 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
13388 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
13389 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
13390 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
13391 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
13392 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
13393 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
13394 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
13396 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
13397 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
13398 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
13399 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
13401 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
13402 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
13403 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
13404 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
13405 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
13406 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
13407 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
13409 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
13410 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
13411 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
13412 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
13413 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
13414 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
13415 @code{gnus-group-split}.
13417 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
13418 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
13419 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
13420 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
13421 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
13422 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
13423 that group is used as the catch-all group. Even though this variable is
13424 often used just to name a group, it may also be set to an arbitrarily
13425 complex fancy split (after all, a group name is a fancy split), and this
13426 may be useful to split mail that doesn't go to any mailing list to
13427 personal mail folders. Note that this fancy split is added as the last
13428 element of a @code{|} split list that also contains a @code{&} split
13429 with the rules extracted from group parameters.
13431 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
13436 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
13437 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
13439 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
13440 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
13441 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
13442 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
13444 ((split-spec . catch-all))
13447 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
13448 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
13449 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
13452 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
13453 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
13454 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
13458 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
13459 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
13460 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
13464 (: gnus-group-split-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
13467 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
13468 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
13469 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
13470 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} is the fallback
13471 fancy split, used like @var{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}.
13472 If @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
13473 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
13474 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
13475 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
13477 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
13478 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
13479 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
13480 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
13481 used to enable @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
13482 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
13483 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
13484 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
13485 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
13487 @findex gnus-group-split-update
13488 However, if you change group parameters, you'd have to update
13489 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
13490 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
13491 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
13492 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
13495 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
13498 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
13499 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
13500 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
13501 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional, equivalent to @code{nil}),
13502 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
13505 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
13506 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
13507 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
13508 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
13510 @node Incorporating Old Mail
13511 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
13512 @cindex incorporating old mail
13513 @cindex import old mail
13515 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
13516 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
13517 back ends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
13520 Doing so can be quite easy.
13522 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
13523 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
13524 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
13525 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
13526 your @code{nnml} groups.
13532 Go to the group buffer.
13535 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
13536 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
13539 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
13542 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
13543 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
13546 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
13547 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
13550 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
13551 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
13552 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
13553 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
13554 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
13556 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
13557 back end to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
13558 using the new mail back end.
13561 @node Expiring Mail
13562 @subsection Expiring Mail
13563 @cindex article expiry
13565 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
13566 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
13567 different approach to mail reading.
13569 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
13570 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
13571 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
13572 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
13573 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
13574 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
13577 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
13578 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
13579 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
13580 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
13581 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
13582 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
13583 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
13584 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
13586 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13587 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
13588 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
13589 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
13590 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
13591 column in the summary buffer.
13593 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
13594 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
13595 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
13596 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
13599 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
13601 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
13602 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
13603 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
13606 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
13607 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
13608 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
13609 articles expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
13610 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
13612 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
13613 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
13616 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
13617 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
13620 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
13621 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
13623 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
13624 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
13625 don't really mix very well.
13627 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
13628 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
13629 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
13630 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
13633 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
13634 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
13635 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
13636 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
13639 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13641 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
13643 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
13645 ((string= group "mail.junk")
13647 ((string= group "important")
13653 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
13654 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
13656 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
13657 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
13658 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
13661 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
13662 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
13664 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
13665 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
13666 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them
13667 to other groups instead of deleting them. The variable
13668 @code{nnmail-expiry-target} (and the @code{expiry-target} group
13669 parameter) controls this. The variable supplies a default value for
13670 all groups, which can be overridden for specific groups by the group
13671 parameter. default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a
13672 string (which should be the name of the group the message should be
13673 moved to), or a function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to
13674 the message in question, and with the name of the group being moved
13675 from as its parameter) which should return a target -- either a group
13676 name or @code{delete}.
13678 Here's an example for specifying a group name:
13680 (setq nnmail-expiry-target "nnml:expired")
13683 @findex nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13684 @vindex nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13685 Gnus provides a function @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-target} which will
13686 expire mail to groups according to the variable
13687 @code{nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets}. Here's an example:
13690 (setq nnmail-expiry-target 'nnmail-fancy-expiry-target
13691 nnmail-fancy-expiry-targets
13692 '((to-from "boss" "nnfolder:Work")
13693 ("subject" "IMPORTANT" "nnfolder:IMPORTANT.%Y.%b")
13694 ("from" ".*" "nnfolder:Archive-%Y")))
13697 With this setup, any mail that has @code{IMPORTANT} in its Subject
13698 header and was sent in the year @code{YYYY} and month @code{MMM}, will
13699 get expired to the group @code{nnfolder:IMPORTANT.YYYY.MMM}. If its
13700 From or To header contains the string @code{boss}, it will get expired
13701 to @code{nnfolder:Work}. All other mail will get expired to
13702 @code{nnfolder:Archive-YYYY}.
13704 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
13705 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
13706 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
13707 easier for procmail users.
13709 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
13710 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
13711 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
13712 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
13713 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
13714 caution. Even more dangerous is the
13715 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
13716 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
13717 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
13718 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
13719 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
13720 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
13721 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
13724 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
13726 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
13727 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
13728 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
13729 auto-expire turned on.
13733 @subsection Washing Mail
13734 @cindex mail washing
13735 @cindex list server brain damage
13736 @cindex incoming mail treatment
13738 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
13739 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
13740 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
13741 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
13742 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
13743 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
13745 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
13746 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
13747 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
13750 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
13751 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
13752 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
13753 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
13756 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13757 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
13758 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
13759 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
13760 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
13763 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13764 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
13765 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
13766 Emacs running on MS machines.
13770 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13771 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
13772 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
13773 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
13776 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13777 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
13778 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
13779 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
13781 (Note that this function works on both the header on the body of all
13782 messages, so it is a potentially dangerous function to use (if a body
13783 of a message contains something that looks like a header line). So
13784 rather than fix the bug, it is of course the right solution to make it
13785 into a feature by documenting it.)
13787 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13788 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
13789 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
13790 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
13791 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
13792 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
13793 also be a list of regexp. @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} may not contain
13796 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
13797 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
13800 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
13801 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
13804 This can also be done non-destructively with
13805 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
13807 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
13808 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
13809 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
13811 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13812 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
13814 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
13815 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
13816 @code{References} headers.
13820 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13821 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
13822 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
13826 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
13827 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
13828 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
13835 @subsection Duplicates
13837 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
13838 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
13839 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
13840 @cindex duplicate mails
13841 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
13842 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
13843 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
13844 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
13845 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
13846 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
13847 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
13848 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
13849 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
13850 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
13851 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
13852 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
13853 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
13855 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
13856 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
13857 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
13858 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
13860 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
13863 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
13864 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
13868 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
13869 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
13870 ("gnus-warning" "duplicat\\(e\\|ion\\) of message" "duplicate")
13871 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
13872 (any mail "mail.misc")
13879 (setq nnmail-split-methods
13880 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:.*duplicate")
13885 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
13886 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
13887 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
13888 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
13889 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
13892 @node Not Reading Mail
13893 @subsection Not Reading Mail
13895 If you start using any of the mail back ends, they have the annoying
13896 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
13897 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
13899 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
13900 @code{nil}, none of the back ends will ever attempt to read incoming
13901 mail, which should help.
13903 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
13904 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13905 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
13906 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
13907 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
13908 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
13909 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
13910 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All back ends have
13911 variables called back-end-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
13912 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
13913 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
13915 All the mail back ends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
13916 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
13920 @node Choosing a Mail Back End
13921 @subsection Choosing a Mail Back End
13923 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
13924 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
13925 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
13927 There are six different mail back ends in the standard Gnus, and more
13928 back ends are available separately. The mail back end most people use
13929 (because it is possibly the fastest) is @code{nnml} (@pxref{Mail
13930 Spool}). You might notice that only five back ends are listed below;
13931 @code{nnmaildir}'s documentation has not yet been completely
13932 incorporated into this manual. Until it is, you can find it at
13933 @uref{http://multivac.cwru.edu./nnmaildir/}.
13936 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
13937 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
13938 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
13939 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like back end.
13940 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
13941 * Comparing Mail Back Ends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
13945 @node Unix Mail Box
13946 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
13948 @cindex unix mail box
13950 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13951 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13952 The @dfn{nnmbox} back end will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
13953 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
13954 which group it belongs in.
13956 Virtual server settings:
13959 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
13960 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
13961 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory. Default is
13964 @item nnmbox-active-file
13965 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
13966 The name of the active file for the mail box. Default is
13967 @file{~/.mbox-active}.
13969 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
13970 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
13971 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
13972 into groups. Default is @code{t}.
13977 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
13981 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13982 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13983 The @dfn{nnbabyl} back end will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
13984 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
13985 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
13987 Virtual server settings:
13990 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
13991 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
13992 The name of the rmail mbox file. The default is @file{~/RMAIL}
13994 @item nnbabyl-active-file
13995 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
13996 The name of the active file for the rmail box. The default is
13997 @file{~/.rmail-active}
13999 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14000 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
14001 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail. Default is
14007 @subsubsection Mail Spool
14009 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
14011 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
14012 format. It should be used with some caution.
14014 @vindex nnml-directory
14015 If you use this back end, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
14016 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
14017 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
14018 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
14020 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
14023 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
14024 in your account, you should not use this back end. As each mail gets its
14025 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
14026 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
14027 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
14028 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
14029 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
14030 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
14032 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest back end when it comes to article
14033 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
14034 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it possibly the
14035 fastest back end when it comes to reading mail.
14037 @cindex self contained nnml servers
14039 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnml}
14040 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14041 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14042 proper @code{nnml} server) and have all your marks be preserved. Marks
14043 for a group is usually stored in the @code{.marks} file (but see
14044 @code{nnml-marks-file-name}) within each @code{nnml} group's directory.
14045 Individual @code{nnml} groups are also possible to backup, use @kbd{G m}
14046 to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the nnml
14049 If for some reason you believe your @file{.marks} files are screwed
14050 up, you can just delete them all. Gnus will then correctly regenerate
14051 them next time it starts.
14053 Virtual server settings:
14056 @item nnml-directory
14057 @vindex nnml-directory
14058 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
14059 The default is the value of `message-directory' (whose default value is
14062 @item nnml-active-file
14063 @vindex nnml-active-file
14064 The active file for the @code{nnml} server. The default is
14065 @file{~/Mail/active"}.
14067 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
14068 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
14069 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14070 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}.
14072 @item nnml-get-new-mail
14073 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
14074 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail. The default is
14077 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
14078 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
14079 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14080 default is @code{nil}.
14082 @item nnml-nov-file-name
14083 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
14084 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
14086 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14087 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
14088 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
14090 @item nnml-marks-is-evil
14091 @vindex nnml-marks-is-evil
14092 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14093 default is @code{nil}.
14095 @item nnml-marks-file-name
14096 @vindex nnml-marks-file-name
14097 The name of the @dfn{marks} files. The default is @file{.marks}.
14099 @item nnml-use-compressed-files
14100 @vindex nnml-use-compressed-files
14101 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will allow using compressed message
14106 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
14107 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
14108 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
14109 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
14110 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
14111 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
14112 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
14117 @subsubsection MH Spool
14119 @cindex mh-e mail spool
14121 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
14122 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file or marks file.
14123 This makes @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower back end than @code{nnml},
14124 but it also makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
14126 Virtual server settings:
14129 @item nnmh-directory
14130 @vindex nnmh-directory
14131 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory. The
14132 default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14135 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
14136 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
14137 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail. The default is
14141 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
14142 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
14143 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
14144 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
14145 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
14146 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
14147 to set this variable to @code{t}. The default is @code{nil}.
14152 @subsubsection Mail Folders
14154 @cindex mbox folders
14155 @cindex mail folders
14157 @code{nnfolder} is a back end for storing each mail group in a separate
14158 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
14159 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
14162 @cindex self contained nnfolder servers
14164 When the marks file is used (which it is by default), @code{nnfolder}
14165 servers have the property that you may backup them using @code{tar} or
14166 similar, and later be able to restore them into Gnus (by adding the
14167 proper @code{nnfolder} server) and have all your marks be preserved.
14168 Marks for a group is usually stored in a file named as the mbox file
14169 with @code{.mrk} concatenated to it (but see
14170 @code{nnfolder-marks-file-suffix}) within the @code{nnfolder} directory.
14171 Individual @code{nnfolder} groups are also possible to backup, use
14172 @kbd{G m} to restore the group (after restoring the backup into the
14173 @code{nnfolder} directory).
14175 Virtual server settings:
14178 @item nnfolder-directory
14179 @vindex nnfolder-directory
14180 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
14181 The default is the value of @code{message-directory} (whose default is
14184 @item nnfolder-active-file
14185 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
14186 The name of the active file. The default is @file{~/Mail/active}.
14188 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14189 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
14190 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
14191 Format}. The default is @file{~/Mail/newsgroups"}
14193 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
14194 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
14195 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail. The default
14198 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14199 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
14200 @cindex backup files
14201 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
14202 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
14203 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
14204 your @file{.emacs} file:
14207 (defun turn-off-backup ()
14208 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
14210 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
14213 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14214 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
14215 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
14216 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
14217 extract some information from it before removing it.
14219 @item nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14220 @vindex nnfolder-nov-is-evil
14221 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{nov} files. The
14222 default is @code{nil}.
14224 @item nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14225 @vindex nnfolder-nov-file-suffix
14226 The extension for @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.nov}.
14228 @item nnfolder-nov-directory
14229 @vindex nnfolder-nov-directory
14230 The directory where the @sc{nov} files should be stored. If nil,
14231 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14233 @item nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14234 @vindex nnfolder-marks-is-evil
14235 If non-@code{nil}, this back end will ignore any @sc{marks} files. The
14236 default is @code{nil}.
14238 @item nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14239 @vindex nnfolder-marks-file-suffix
14240 The extension for @sc{marks} files. The default is @file{.mrk}.
14242 @item nnfolder-marks-directory
14243 @vindex nnfolder-marks-directory
14244 The directory where the @sc{marks} files should be stored. If nil,
14245 @code{nnfolder-directory} is used.
14250 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
14251 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
14252 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
14253 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
14254 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
14255 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
14258 @node Comparing Mail Back Ends
14259 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Back Ends
14261 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{back end} is the common word for a
14262 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
14263 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
14264 and so selection of a suitable back end is required in order to get that
14265 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
14267 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
14268 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
14269 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
14270 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
14271 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
14272 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
14273 @code{nnspool} back ends, to select between these methods, if one happens
14274 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
14277 The goal in selecting a mail back end is to pick one which
14278 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
14279 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
14280 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
14285 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
14286 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
14287 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
14288 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
14289 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
14290 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
14291 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
14292 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
14293 this back end, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
14294 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
14295 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
14296 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
14297 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
14302 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
14303 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
14304 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
14305 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
14306 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
14307 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
14308 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
14309 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
14310 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
14311 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
14312 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
14313 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
14314 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
14315 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
14317 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
14318 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
14323 @code{nnml} is the back end which smells the most as though you were
14324 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
14325 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
14326 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
14327 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
14328 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
14329 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
14330 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
14331 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
14332 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
14333 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
14334 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
14335 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
14336 provided by the active file and overviews.
14338 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
14339 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
14340 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
14341 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
14342 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
14345 It is also problematic using this back end if you are living in a
14346 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
14351 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
14352 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
14353 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
14354 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
14355 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
14356 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
14357 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
14361 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
14362 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
14363 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
14364 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
14365 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
14366 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
14367 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
14368 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
14369 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
14371 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
14372 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
14373 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
14374 friendly mail back end all over.
14378 @code{nnmaildir} is largely similar to @code{nnml}, with some notable
14379 differences. Each message is stored in a separate file, but the
14380 filename is unrelated to the article number in Gnus. @code{nnmaildir}
14381 also stores the equivalent of @code{nnml}'s overview files in one file
14382 per article, so it uses about twice as many inodes as @code{nnml}. (Use
14383 @code{df -i} to see how plentiful your inode supply is.) If this slows
14384 you down or takes up very much space, consider switching to ReiserFS
14385 (@uref{http://www.namesys.com/}) or another non-block-structured
14388 Since maildirs don't require locking for delivery, the maildirs you use
14389 as groups can also be the maildirs your mail is directly delivered to.
14390 This means you can skip Gnus's mail splitting if your mail is already
14391 organized into different mailboxes during delivery. A @code{directory}
14392 entry in @code{mail-sources} would have a similar effect, but would
14393 require one set of mailboxes for spooling deliveries (in mbox format,
14394 thus damaging message bodies), and another set to be used as groups (in
14395 whatever format you like). A maildir has a built-in spool, in the
14396 @code{new/} subdirectory. Beware that currently, mail moved from
14397 @code{new/} to @code{cur/} instead of via mail splitting will undergo
14398 treatment such as duplicate checking.
14400 An article will not necessarily keep the same number across Gnus
14401 sessions; articles are renumbered starting from 1 for each Gnus session
14402 (more precisely, each time you open the @code{nnmaildir} server). This
14403 way, you don't get gaps in your article number ranges, and when entering
14404 large groups, Gnus is likely to give a more accurate article count. The
14405 price is that @code{nnmaildir} doesn't work with the cache or agent.
14406 This will probably be changed in the future.
14408 @code{nnmaildir} stores article marks for a given group in the
14409 corresponding maildir, in a way designed so that it's easy to manipulate
14410 them from outside Gnus. You can tar up a maildir, unpack it somewhere
14411 else, and still have your marks. @code{nnml} also stores marks, but
14412 it's not as easy to work with them from outside Gnus as with
14415 For configuring expiry and other things, @code{nnmaildir} uses group
14416 parameters slightly different from those of other mail backends.
14418 @code{nnmaildir} uses a significant amount of memory to speed things up.
14419 (It keeps in memory some of the things that @code{nnml} stores in files
14420 and that @code{nnmh} repeatedly parses out of message files.) If this
14421 is a problem for you, you can set the @code{nov-cache-size} group
14422 parameter to somthing small (0 would probably not work, but 1 probably
14423 would) to make it use less memory.
14425 Startup and shutdown are likely to be slower with @code{nnmaildir} than
14426 with other backends. Everything in between is likely to be faster,
14427 depending in part on your filesystem.
14429 @code{nnmaildir} does not use @code{nnoo}, so you cannot use @code{nnoo}
14430 to write an @code{nnmaildir}-derived backend.
14435 @node Browsing the Web
14436 @section Browsing the Web
14438 @cindex browsing the web
14442 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
14443 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
14444 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
14445 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
14446 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
14447 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
14448 even know what a news group is.
14450 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
14451 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
14452 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
14453 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
14454 you mad in the end.
14456 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
14459 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of back ends for providing
14460 interfaces to these sources.
14464 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
14465 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
14466 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
14467 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
14468 * RSS:: Reading RDF site summary.
14469 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
14472 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
14474 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
14475 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
14476 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus back end
14477 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these back ends,
14478 though, you should be ok.
14480 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
14481 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
14482 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
14483 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
14484 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
14486 @node Archiving Mail
14487 @subsection Archiving Mail
14488 @cindex archiving mail
14489 @cindex backup of mail
14491 Some of the back ends, notably @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, and
14492 @code{nnmaildir}, now actually store the article marks with each group.
14493 For these servers, archiving and restoring a group while preserving
14494 marks is fairly simple.
14496 (Preserving the group level and group parameters as well still
14497 requires ritual dancing and sacrifices to the @file{.newsrc.eld} deity
14500 To archive an entire @code{nnml}, @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir}
14501 server, take a recursive copy of the server directory. There is no need
14502 to shut down Gnus, so archiving may be invoked by @code{cron} or
14503 similar. You restore the data by restoring the directory tree, and
14504 adding a server definition pointing to that directory in Gnus. The
14505 @ref{Article Backlog}, @ref{Asynchronous Fetching} and other things
14506 might interfer with overwriting data, so you may want to shut down Gnus
14507 before you restore the data.
14509 It is also possible to archive individual @code{nnml},
14510 @code{nnfolder}, or @code{nnmaildir} groups, while preserving marks.
14511 For @code{nnml} or @code{nnmaildir}, you copy all files in the group's
14512 directory. For @code{nnfolder} you need to copy both the base folder
14513 file itself (@file{FOO}, say), and the marks file (@file{FOO.mrk} in
14514 this example). Restoring the group is done with @kbd{G m} from the Group
14515 buffer. The last step makes Gnus notice the new directory.
14516 @code{nnmaildir} notices the new directory automatically, so @kbd{G m}
14517 is unnecessary in that case.
14520 @subsection Web Searches
14525 @cindex Usenet searches
14526 @cindex searching the Usenet
14528 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
14529 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
14530 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
14531 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
14532 searches without having to use a browser.
14534 The @code{nnweb} back end allows an easy interface to the mighty search
14535 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
14536 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
14537 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
14538 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
14540 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
14541 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
14542 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
14543 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
14544 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
14545 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
14546 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
14547 engines (Google, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
14548 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
14549 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
14552 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
14553 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
14554 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
14555 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
14556 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
14557 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
14559 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
14560 to use @code{nnweb}.
14562 Virtual server variables:
14567 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
14568 are @code{google}, @code{dejanews}, and @code{gmane}. Note that
14569 @code{dejanews} is an alias to @code{google}.
14572 @vindex nnweb-search
14573 The search string to feed to the search engine.
14575 @item nnweb-max-hits
14576 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
14577 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
14580 @item nnweb-type-definition
14581 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
14582 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
14583 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
14588 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
14592 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
14595 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
14598 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
14602 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
14609 @subsection Slashdot
14613 Slashdot (@uref{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
14614 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
14615 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
14617 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
14618 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
14621 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14622 '((nnslashdot "")))
14625 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} back end for new comments
14626 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
14627 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
14628 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
14629 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
14632 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
14633 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
14635 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
14636 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
14637 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
14638 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
14639 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
14640 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
14643 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
14646 @item nnslashdot-threaded
14647 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
14648 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
14649 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
14650 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
14651 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
14652 but much, much slower than untreaded.
14654 @item nnslashdot-login-name
14655 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
14656 The login name to use when posting.
14658 @item nnslashdot-password
14659 @vindex nnslashdot-password
14660 The password to use when posting.
14662 @item nnslashdot-directory
14663 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
14664 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default is
14665 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
14667 @item nnslashdot-active-url
14668 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
14669 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
14670 news articles and comments. The default is
14671 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
14673 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
14674 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
14675 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
14677 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
14679 @item nnslashdot-article-url
14680 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
14681 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
14683 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
14685 @item nnslashdot-threshold
14686 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
14687 The score threshold. The default is -1.
14689 @item nnslashdot-group-number
14690 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
14691 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
14692 updated. The default is 0.
14699 @subsection Ultimate
14701 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
14703 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@uref{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
14704 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
14705 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
14706 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
14708 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
14709 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
14710 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
14711 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
14712 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
14713 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
14714 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
14716 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
14719 @item nnultimate-directory
14720 @vindex nnultimate-directory
14721 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
14722 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
14727 @subsection Web Archive
14729 @cindex Web Archive
14731 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
14732 @uref{http://www.egroups.com/} and
14733 @uref{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
14734 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14737 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
14738 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
14739 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
14740 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
14741 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
14742 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
14743 back end by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
14745 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
14748 @item nnwarchive-directory
14749 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
14750 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
14751 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
14753 @item nnwarchive-login
14754 @vindex nnwarchive-login
14755 The account name on the web server.
14757 @item nnwarchive-passwd
14758 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
14759 The password for your account on the web server.
14767 Some sites have RDF site summary (RSS)
14768 @uref{http://purl.org/rss/1.0/spec}. It has a quite regular and nice
14769 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
14772 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnrss} is to say something
14773 like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnrss RET RET}, then
14776 The following @code{nnrss} variables can be altered:
14779 @item nnrss-directory
14780 @vindex nnrss-directory
14781 The directory where @code{nnrss} stores its files. The default is
14782 @samp{~/News/rss/}.
14786 The following code may be helpful, if you want to show the description in
14787 the summary buffer.
14790 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-description-field)
14791 (setq gnus-summary-line-format "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-15,15f%]%) %s%uX\n")
14793 (defun gnus-user-format-function-X (header)
14795 (assq nnrss-description-field (mail-header-extra header))))
14796 (if descr (concat "\n\t" (cdr descr)) "")))
14799 The following code may be useful to open an nnrss url directly from the
14802 (require 'browse-url)
14804 (defun browse-nnrss-url( arg )
14806 (let ((url (assq nnrss-url-field
14809 (assq (gnus-summary-article-number)
14810 gnus-newsgroup-data))))))
14812 (browse-url (cdr url))
14813 (gnus-summary-scroll-up arg))))
14815 (eval-after-load "gnus"
14816 #'(define-key gnus-summary-mode-map
14817 (kbd "<RET>") 'browse-nnrss-url))
14818 (add-to-list 'nnmail-extra-headers nnrss-url-field)
14821 @node Customizing w3
14822 @subsection Customizing w3
14828 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
14829 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
14830 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
14832 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
14833 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
14834 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
14837 (eval-after-load "w3"
14839 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
14840 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
14841 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
14842 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
14844 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
14847 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
14848 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
14857 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
14858 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap}
14859 server is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just
14860 specify the network address of the server.
14862 @sc{imap} has two properties. First, @sc{imap} can do everything that
14863 POP can, it can hence be viewed as a POP++. Secondly, @sc{imap} is a
14864 mail storage protocol, similar to @sc{nntp} being a news storage
14865 protocol -- however, @sc{imap} offers more features than @sc{nntp}
14866 because news is more or less read-only whereas mail is read-write.
14868 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a POP++, use an imap entry in
14869 @code{mail-sources}. With this, Gnus will fetch mails from the
14870 @sc{imap} server and store them on the local disk. This is not the
14871 usage described in this section--@xref{Mail Sources}.
14873 If you want to use @sc{imap} as a mail storage protocol, use an nnimap
14874 entry in @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods}. With this, Gnus will
14875 manipulate mails stored on the @sc{imap} server. This is the kind of
14876 usage explained in this section.
14878 A server configuration in @code{~/.gnus} with a few @sc{imap} servers
14879 might look something like the following. (Note that for SSL/TLS, you
14880 need external programs and libraries, see below.)
14883 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
14884 '((nnimap "simpleserver") ; no special configuration
14885 ; perhaps a ssh port forwarded server:
14887 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14888 (nnimap-server-port 1430))
14889 ; a UW server running on localhost
14891 (nnimap-server-port 143)
14892 (nnimap-address "localhost")
14893 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "mail/*")))
14894 ; anonymous public cyrus server:
14895 (nnimap "cyrus.andrew.cmu.edu"
14896 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous)
14897 (nnimap-list-pattern "archive.*")
14898 (nnimap-stream network))
14899 ; a ssl server on a non-standard port:
14901 (nnimap-address "vic20.somewhere.com")
14902 (nnimap-server-port 9930)
14903 (nnimap-stream ssl))))
14906 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
14911 @item nnimap-address
14912 @vindex nnimap-address
14914 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
14915 server name if not specified.
14917 @item nnimap-server-port
14918 @vindex nnimap-server-port
14919 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
14921 Note that this should be an integer, example server specification:
14924 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14925 (nnimap-server-port 4711))
14928 @item nnimap-list-pattern
14929 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
14930 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
14931 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
14932 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
14933 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
14934 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
14936 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
14937 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
14938 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
14941 Example server specification:
14944 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14945 (nnimap-list-pattern ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*"
14946 ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))))
14949 @item nnimap-stream
14950 @vindex nnimap-stream
14951 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
14952 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
14953 of SSL/TLS. (@sc{imap} over SSL/TLS is being replaced by STARTTLS, which
14954 can be automatically detected, but it's not widely deployed yet.)
14956 Example server specification:
14959 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
14960 (nnimap-stream ssl))
14963 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-stream} is a symbol!
14967 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually Kerberos 5). Requires the
14968 @samp{imtest} program.
14970 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with Kerberos 4. Requires the @samp{imtest} program.
14972 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
14973 SSL). Requires the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
14976 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Requires OpenSSL (the program
14977 @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}) as well as the external
14978 library @samp{ssl.el}.
14980 @dfn{shell:} Use a shell command to start @sc{imap} connection.
14982 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
14985 @vindex imap-kerberos4-program
14986 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD. If you're
14987 using @samp{imtest} from Cyrus IMAPD < 2.0.14 (which includes version
14988 1.5.x and 1.6.x) you need to frob @code{imap-process-connection-type}
14989 to make @code{imap.el} use a pty instead of a pipe when communicating
14990 with @samp{imtest}. You will then suffer from a line length
14991 restrictions on @sc{imap} commands, which might make Gnus seem to hang
14992 indefinitely if you have many articles in a mailbox. The variable
14993 @code{imap-kerberos4-program} contain parameters to pass to the imtest
14996 @vindex imap-ssl-program
14997 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
14998 @uref{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
14999 and nnimap support it too - altough the most recent versions of
15000 SSLeay, 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it
15001 useless. Earlier versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to
15002 work. The variable @code{imap-ssl-program} contain parameters to pass
15003 to OpenSSL/SSLeay. You also need @samp{ssl.el} (from the W3
15004 distribution, for instance).
15006 @vindex imap-shell-program
15007 @vindex imap-shell-host
15008 For @sc{imap} connections using the @code{shell} stream, the variable
15009 @code{imap-shell-program} specify what program to call.
15011 @item nnimap-authenticator
15012 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
15014 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
15015 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
15017 Example server specification:
15020 (nnimap "mail.server.com"
15021 (nnimap-authenticator anonymous))
15024 Please note that the value of @code{nnimap-authenticator} is a symbol!
15028 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Requires
15029 external program @code{imtest}.
15031 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos 4 authentication. Requires external program
15034 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Requires
15035 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
15037 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
15039 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
15041 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
15044 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
15046 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
15047 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
15048 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
15049 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
15050 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
15051 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{B DEL} or
15054 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
15055 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
15056 running in circles yet?
15058 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
15059 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
15062 The possible options are:
15067 The default behavior, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
15070 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
15071 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
15072 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
15073 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
15075 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
15080 @item nnimap-importantize-dormant
15081 @vindex nnimap-importantize-dormant
15083 If non-nil (the default), marks dormant articles as ticked (as well),
15084 for other @sc{imap} clients. Within Gnus, dormant articles will
15085 naturally still (only) be marked as dormant. This is to make dormant
15086 articles stand out, just like ticked articles, in other @sc{imap}
15087 clients. (In other words, Gnus has two ``Tick'' marks and @sc{imap}
15090 Probably the only reason for frobing this would be if you're trying
15091 enable per-user persistant dormant flags, using something like:
15094 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-flag-alist)
15095 (format "gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15096 (setcdr (assq 'dormant nnimap-mark-to-predicate-alist)
15097 (format "KEYWORD gnus-dormant-%s" (user-login-name)))
15100 In this case, you would not want the per-user dormant flag showing up
15101 as ticked for other users.
15103 @item nnimap-expunge-search-string
15105 @vindex nnimap-expunge-search-string
15107 This variable contain the @sc{imap} search command sent to server when
15108 searching for articles eligible for expiring. The default is
15109 @code{"UID %s NOT SINCE %s"}, where the first @code{%s} is replaced by
15110 UID set and the second @code{%s} is replaced by a date.
15112 Probably the only useful value to change this to is
15113 @code{"UID %s NOT SENTSINCE %s"}, which makes nnimap use the Date: in
15114 messages instead of the internal article date. See section 6.4.4 of
15115 RFC 2060 for more information on valid strings.
15117 @item nnimap-authinfo-file
15118 @vindex nnimap-authinfo-file
15120 A file containing credentials used to log in on servers. The format is
15121 (almost) the same as the @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file. See the
15122 variable @code{nntp-authinfo-file} for exact syntax; also see
15128 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
15129 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
15130 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
15135 @node Splitting in IMAP
15136 @subsection Splitting in IMAP
15137 @cindex splitting imap mail
15139 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
15140 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
15141 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
15142 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
15143 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
15147 Here are the variables of interest:
15151 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
15152 @cindex splitting, crosspost
15154 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
15156 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
15157 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
15159 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
15161 @item nnimap-split-inbox
15162 @cindex splitting, inbox
15164 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
15166 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
15167 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
15171 (setq nnimap-split-inbox
15172 '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
15175 No nnmail equivalent.
15177 @item nnimap-split-rule
15178 @cindex Splitting, rules
15179 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
15181 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
15184 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
15185 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
15186 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
15187 Neither did I, we need examples.
15190 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15192 "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
15193 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
15194 ("INBOX.private" "")))
15197 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
15198 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
15199 into INBOX.junk and everything else in INBOX.private.
15201 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
15202 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
15206 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
15209 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
15210 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
15211 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
15212 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
15214 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
15215 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
15216 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
15217 of your inbox. (This might affect performance if you keep lots of
15218 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
15219 them every time you fetch new mail.)
15221 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
15222 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
15223 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
15225 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
15226 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
15227 thinks the article should be split to. See @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15229 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it needs to.
15231 To allow for different split rules on different virtual servers, and
15232 even different split rules in different inboxes on the same server,
15233 the syntax of this variable have been extended along the lines of:
15236 (setq nnimap-split-rule
15237 '(("my1server" (".*" (("ding" "ding@@gnus.org")
15238 ("junk" "From:.*Simon")))
15239 ("my2server" ("INBOX" nnimap-split-fancy))
15240 ("my[34]server" (".*" (("private" "To:.*Simon")
15241 ("junk" my-junk-func)))))
15244 The virtual server name is in fact a regexp, so that the same rules
15245 may apply to several servers. In the example, the servers
15246 @code{my3server} and @code{my4server} both use the same rules.
15247 Similarly, the inbox string is also a regexp. The actual splitting
15248 rules are as before, either a function, or a list with group/regexp or
15249 group/function elements.
15251 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
15253 @item nnimap-split-predicate
15255 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
15257 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
15258 split, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
15260 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
15261 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
15262 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
15265 @item nnimap-split-fancy
15266 @cindex splitting, fancy
15267 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
15268 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
15270 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15271 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
15272 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
15274 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
15275 nnimap back ends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
15276 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
15277 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
15282 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
15283 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
15286 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
15290 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
15291 @subsection Editing IMAP ACLs
15292 @cindex editing imap acls
15293 @cindex Access Control Lists
15294 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
15296 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
15298 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
15299 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
15300 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
15303 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
15304 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
15305 editing window with detailed instructions.
15307 Some possible uses:
15311 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
15312 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
15313 follow the list without subscribing to it.
15315 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
15316 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
15317 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
15321 @node Expunging mailboxes
15322 @subsection Expunging mailboxes
15326 @cindex Manual expunging
15328 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
15330 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-on-close},
15331 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
15332 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
15334 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
15339 @node Other Sources
15340 @section Other Sources
15342 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
15343 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
15347 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
15348 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
15349 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
15350 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
15351 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
15355 @node Directory Groups
15356 @subsection Directory Groups
15358 @cindex directory groups
15360 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
15361 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
15364 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
15365 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
15366 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
15367 back end to read directories. Big deal.
15369 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
15370 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
15371 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
15372 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
15373 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
15375 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
15377 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' back end---you can't delete or expire
15378 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
15379 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
15380 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
15383 @node Anything Groups
15384 @subsection Anything Groups
15387 From the @code{nndir} back end (which reads a single spool-like
15388 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
15389 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
15392 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
15393 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
15394 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
15395 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
15396 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
15397 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
15398 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
15399 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
15400 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
15401 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
15404 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
15405 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
15406 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
15407 in the article buffer, just as usual.
15409 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
15410 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
15411 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
15412 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
15414 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
15415 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
15416 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
15417 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
15418 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
15419 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
15420 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
15421 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
15426 @item nneething-map-file-directory
15427 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
15428 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
15429 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
15431 @item nneething-exclude-files
15432 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
15433 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
15434 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
15436 @item nneething-include-files
15437 @vindex nneething-include-files
15438 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
15439 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
15441 @item nneething-map-file
15442 @vindex nneething-map-file
15443 Name of the map files.
15447 @node Document Groups
15448 @subsection Document Groups
15450 @cindex documentation group
15453 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
15454 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
15461 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
15466 The standard Unix mbox file.
15468 @cindex MMDF mail box
15470 The MMDF mail box format.
15473 Several news articles appended into a file.
15476 @cindex rnews batch files
15477 The rnews batch transport format.
15478 @cindex forwarded messages
15481 Forwarded articles.
15484 Netscape mail boxes.
15487 @sc{mime} multipart messages.
15489 @item standard-digest
15490 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
15493 A @sc{mime} digest of messages.
15495 @item lanl-gov-announce
15496 Announcement messages from LANL Gov Announce.
15498 @item rfc822-forward
15499 A message forwarded according to RFC822.
15502 The Outlook mail box.
15505 The Outlook Express dbx mail box.
15508 A bounce message from the Exim MTA.
15511 A message forwarded according to informal rules.
15514 An RFC934-forwarded message.
15520 A digest of Clarinet brief news items.
15523 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
15529 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
15530 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
15531 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
15534 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
15535 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
15536 group. And that's it.
15538 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
15539 new & spiffy Gnus mail back end, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
15540 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
15541 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
15542 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
15543 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
15544 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
15545 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
15546 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
15547 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
15549 Virtual server variables:
15552 @item nndoc-article-type
15553 @vindex nndoc-article-type
15554 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
15555 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
15556 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
15557 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail}, @code{outlook},
15558 @code{oe-dbx}, @code{mailman}, and @code{mail-in-mail} or @code{guess}.
15560 @item nndoc-post-type
15561 @vindex nndoc-post-type
15562 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
15563 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
15568 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
15572 @node Document Server Internals
15573 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
15575 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
15576 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
15577 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
15578 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
15580 First, here's an example document type definition:
15584 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
15585 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
15588 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
15589 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
15590 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
15591 types can be defined with very few settings:
15594 @item first-article
15595 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
15596 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
15599 @item article-begin
15600 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
15601 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
15603 @item head-begin-function
15604 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
15607 @item nndoc-head-begin
15608 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
15611 @item nndoc-head-end
15612 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
15613 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
15615 @item body-begin-function
15616 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
15620 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
15623 @item body-end-function
15624 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
15628 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
15631 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
15632 regexp will be totally ignored.
15636 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
15637 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
15638 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
15639 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
15640 something that's palatable for Gnus:
15643 @item prepare-body-function
15644 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
15645 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
15646 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
15648 @item article-transform-function
15649 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
15650 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
15651 body of the article.
15653 @item generate-head-function
15654 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
15655 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
15656 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
15657 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
15661 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
15666 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15667 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
15668 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
15669 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
15670 (head-end . "^ ?$")
15671 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
15672 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
15673 (subtype digest guess))
15676 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
15677 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
15678 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
15679 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
15680 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
15682 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
15683 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
15684 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
15685 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
15686 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
15687 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
15688 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
15689 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
15690 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
15691 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
15699 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
15700 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
15701 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
15703 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
15704 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
15705 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
15708 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
15709 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
15710 that interested in doing things properly.
15712 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
15713 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
15716 First some terminology:
15721 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
15722 get news and/or mail from.
15725 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
15726 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
15729 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
15733 @item message packets
15734 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
15735 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
15736 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15738 @item response packets
15739 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
15740 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
15741 default, where @var{x} is a number.
15751 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
15752 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
15753 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
15754 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
15757 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
15760 You put the packet in your home directory.
15763 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} back end as
15764 the native or secondary server.
15767 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
15768 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
15771 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
15775 You transfer this packet to the server.
15778 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
15781 You then repeat until you die.
15785 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
15786 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
15789 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
15790 * SOUP Groups:: A back end for reading @sc{soup} packets.
15791 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
15795 @node SOUP Commands
15796 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
15798 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
15802 @kindex G s b (Group)
15803 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
15804 Pack all unread articles in the current group
15805 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
15806 process/prefix convention.
15809 @kindex G s w (Group)
15810 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
15811 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
15814 @kindex G s s (Group)
15815 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
15816 Send all replies from the replies packet
15817 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
15820 @kindex G s p (Group)
15821 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
15822 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
15825 @kindex G s r (Group)
15826 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
15827 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
15830 @kindex O s (Summary)
15831 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
15832 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
15833 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
15834 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
15839 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
15844 @item gnus-soup-directory
15845 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
15846 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
15847 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
15849 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
15850 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
15851 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
15852 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
15854 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
15855 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
15856 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
15857 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
15859 @item gnus-soup-packer
15860 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
15861 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15862 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
15864 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
15865 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
15866 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
15867 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15869 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
15870 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
15871 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
15873 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15874 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
15875 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
15876 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
15882 @subsubsection SOUP Groups
15885 @code{nnsoup} is the back end for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
15886 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
15887 you can read them at leisure.
15889 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
15893 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
15894 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
15895 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
15896 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
15898 @item nnsoup-directory
15899 @vindex nnsoup-directory
15900 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
15901 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
15903 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
15904 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
15905 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
15906 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
15908 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
15909 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
15910 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
15911 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
15912 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
15914 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
15915 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
15916 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
15917 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
15919 @item nnsoup-active-file
15920 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
15921 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
15922 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
15923 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
15924 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
15926 @item nnsoup-packer
15927 @vindex nnsoup-packer
15928 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
15929 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
15931 @item nnsoup-unpacker
15932 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
15933 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
15934 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
15936 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
15937 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
15938 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
15941 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
15942 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
15943 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
15946 @item nnsoup-always-save
15947 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
15948 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
15954 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
15956 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
15957 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
15958 more for that to happen.
15960 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
15961 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
15962 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
15965 In specific, this is what it does:
15968 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
15969 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
15972 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
15973 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
15974 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
15977 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
15978 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
15979 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
15982 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
15983 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
15984 The @code{nngateway} back end provides the interface.
15986 Note that you can't read anything from this back end---it can only be
15992 @item nngateway-address
15993 @vindex nngateway-address
15994 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
15996 @item nngateway-header-transformation
15997 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
15998 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
15999 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
16000 transformation should be called, and defaults to
16001 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
16002 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
16005 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
16006 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
16007 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
16010 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
16013 will get this @code{To} header inserted:
16016 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
16019 The following pre-defined functions exist:
16021 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16024 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
16025 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16026 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
16028 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16030 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
16031 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
16032 @code{nngateway-address}.
16037 (setq gnus-post-method
16039 "mail2news@@replay.com"
16040 (nngateway-header-transformation
16041 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
16049 So, to use this, simply say something like:
16052 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
16057 @node Combined Groups
16058 @section Combined Groups
16060 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
16064 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
16065 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
16069 @node Virtual Groups
16070 @subsection Virtual Groups
16072 @cindex virtual groups
16073 @cindex merging groups
16075 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
16078 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
16079 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
16080 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
16082 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
16083 regexp to match component groups.
16085 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
16086 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
16087 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it
16088 came. (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be
16089 shown in the virtual group.). To create an empty virtual group, run
16090 @kbd{G V} (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}) in the group buffer
16091 and edit the method regexp with @kbd{M-e}
16092 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method})
16094 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
16095 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
16098 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
16101 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
16102 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
16104 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
16105 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
16106 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
16107 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
16110 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
16113 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
16114 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
16115 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
16117 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
16118 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
16119 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
16120 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
16121 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
16123 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
16124 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
16125 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
16127 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
16128 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
16129 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
16130 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
16131 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
16132 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
16133 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
16134 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
16135 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
16136 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
16137 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
16139 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
16140 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
16141 has to ask the back end of the component group the article comes from
16142 whether it is a news or mail back end. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
16143 there is typically no sure way for the component back end to know this,
16144 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
16145 not-news back end. (Just to be on the safe side.)
16147 @kbd{C-c C-n} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
16148 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
16150 @code{nnvirtual} groups do not inherit anything but articles and marks
16151 from component groups---group parameters, for instance, are not
16155 @node Kibozed Groups
16156 @subsection Kibozed Groups
16160 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
16161 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a back end that will do this for
16162 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
16163 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
16165 @kindex G k (Group)
16166 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
16169 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
16170 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
16171 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
16172 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
16174 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
16175 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
16176 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
16178 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
16179 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
16180 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
16181 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
16182 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
16183 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
16184 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
16185 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
16187 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
16188 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
16189 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
16190 Stranger things have happened.
16192 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
16193 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
16195 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
16196 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
16197 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
16198 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
16199 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
16200 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
16202 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
16203 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
16206 @node Gnus Unplugged
16207 @section Gnus Unplugged
16212 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
16214 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
16215 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
16216 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
16217 read news. Believe it or not.
16219 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
16220 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
16221 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
16222 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
16223 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
16225 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
16226 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
16227 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
16228 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
16229 reading news on a machine.
16231 Setting up Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple. In
16232 fact, you don't even have to configure anything.
16234 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
16237 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
16238 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
16239 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
16240 * Agent as Cache:: The Agent is a big cache too.
16241 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
16242 * Agent and IMAP:: How to use the Agent with IMAP.
16243 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
16244 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
16245 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
16246 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
16247 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
16252 @subsection Agent Basics
16254 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
16256 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
16257 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
16258 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
16259 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
16261 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
16262 connected to the net continuously.
16264 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
16265 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
16267 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
16272 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
16273 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
16274 already fetched while in this mode.
16277 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
16278 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
16279 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged} and use @kbd{g} to check for new mail
16280 as usual. To check for new mail in unplugged mode, see (@pxref{Mail
16281 Source Specifiers}).
16284 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
16285 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{g}
16286 to check if there are any new news and then @kbd{J
16287 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
16288 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
16291 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
16292 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
16293 then you read the news offline.
16296 And then you go to step 2.
16299 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
16305 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
16306 back end, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
16307 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
16308 @kbd{J a} on the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
16309 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}), or @kbd{J r} on automatically
16310 added servers you do not wish to have covered by the Agent. By default,
16311 all @code{nntp} and @code{nnimap} groups in @code{gnus-select-method} and
16312 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} are agentized.
16315 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
16322 @node Agent Categories
16323 @subsection Agent Categories
16325 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
16326 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
16327 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
16328 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
16329 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
16330 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
16331 you're interested in the articles anyway.
16333 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
16334 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
16335 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
16336 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
16337 managing categories.
16340 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
16341 * Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
16342 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
16346 @node Category Syntax
16347 @subsubsection Category Syntax
16349 A category consists of two things.
16353 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
16354 are eligible for downloading; and
16357 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
16358 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
16359 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
16362 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
16363 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
16364 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
16365 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
16367 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
16368 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
16369 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as described below.
16371 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
16372 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
16373 operators sprinkled in between.
16375 Perhaps some examples are in order.
16377 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
16378 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
16384 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
16385 short (for some value of ``short'').
16387 Here's a more complex predicate:
16396 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
16397 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
16400 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
16401 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
16402 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
16404 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
16405 you want to do, you can write your own.
16409 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
16410 lines; default 100.
16413 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
16414 lines; default 200.
16417 True iff the article has a download score less than
16418 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
16421 True iff the article has a download score greater than
16422 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
16425 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
16426 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
16427 checksum and sees whether articles match.
16436 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
16437 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
16438 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
16441 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
16442 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
16443 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
16444 something along the lines of the following:
16447 (defun my-article-old-p ()
16448 "Say whether an article is old."
16449 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
16450 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
16453 with the predicate then defined as:
16456 (not my-article-old-p)
16459 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
16460 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
16464 (require 'gnus-agent)
16465 (setq gnus-category-predicate-alist
16466 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
16467 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
16470 and simply specify your predicate as:
16476 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
16477 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
16478 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
16479 just don't give a damn.
16481 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
16482 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
16483 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
16484 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
16485 parameters like so:
16488 (agent-predicate . short)
16491 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
16492 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
16493 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
16495 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
16498 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
16501 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
16502 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
16503 predicate is assumed to be a list.
16506 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
16507 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
16508 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
16509 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
16510 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
16511 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
16513 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
16514 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
16515 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
16516 if it's to be specific to that group.
16518 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
16525 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
16526 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
16532 Category specification
16536 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16542 Group Parameter specification
16545 (agent-score ("from"
16546 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
16551 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
16557 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
16564 Category specification
16567 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
16573 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
16577 Group Parameter specification
16580 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
16583 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
16588 Use @code{normal} score files
16590 If you don't want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
16591 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
16592 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
16593 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
16595 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
16596 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
16597 files for a group, *filtering out* those sections that do not
16598 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
16602 Category Specification
16609 Group Parameter specification
16612 (agent-score . file)
16617 @node Category Buffer
16618 @subsubsection Category Buffer
16620 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
16621 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
16622 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
16624 The following commands are available in this buffer:
16628 @kindex q (Category)
16629 @findex gnus-category-exit
16630 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
16633 @kindex k (Category)
16634 @findex gnus-category-kill
16635 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
16638 @kindex c (Category)
16639 @findex gnus-category-copy
16640 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
16643 @kindex a (Category)
16644 @findex gnus-category-add
16645 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
16648 @kindex p (Category)
16649 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
16650 Edit the predicate of the current category
16651 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
16654 @kindex g (Category)
16655 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
16656 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
16657 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
16660 @kindex s (Category)
16661 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
16662 Edit the download score rule of the current category
16663 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
16666 @kindex l (Category)
16667 @findex gnus-category-list
16668 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
16672 @node Category Variables
16673 @subsubsection Category Variables
16676 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
16677 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
16678 Hook run in category buffers.
16680 @item gnus-category-line-format
16681 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
16682 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
16683 Variables}). Valid elements are:
16687 The name of the category.
16690 The number of groups in the category.
16693 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
16694 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
16695 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
16697 @item gnus-agent-short-article
16698 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
16699 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
16701 @item gnus-agent-long-article
16702 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
16703 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
16705 @item gnus-agent-low-score
16706 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
16707 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
16710 @item gnus-agent-high-score
16711 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
16712 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
16718 @node Agent Commands
16719 @subsection Agent Commands
16721 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
16722 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged}) command works in all modes, and
16723 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
16727 * Group Agent Commands::
16728 * Summary Agent Commands::
16729 * Server Agent Commands::
16732 You can run a complete batch command from the command line with the
16733 following incantation:
16735 @cindex gnus-agent-batch
16737 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch
16742 @node Group Agent Commands
16743 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
16747 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
16748 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
16749 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
16750 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
16753 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
16754 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
16755 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
16758 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
16759 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
16760 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
16761 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
16764 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
16765 @findex gnus-group-send-queue
16766 Send all sendable messages in the queue group
16767 (@code{gnus-group-send-queue}). @xref{Drafts}.
16770 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
16771 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
16772 Add the current group to an Agent category
16773 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
16774 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16777 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
16778 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
16779 Remove the current group from its category, if any
16780 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
16781 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
16784 @kindex J Y (Agent Group)
16785 @findex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16786 Synchronize flags changed while unplugged with remote server, if any.
16792 @node Summary Agent Commands
16793 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
16797 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
16798 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
16799 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
16802 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
16803 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
16804 Remove the downloading mark from the article
16805 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
16808 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
16809 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
16810 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
16813 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
16814 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
16815 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
16818 @kindex J u (Agent Summary)
16819 @findex gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group
16820 Download all downloadable articles in the current group
16821 (@code{gnus-agent-summary-fetch-group}).
16826 @node Server Agent Commands
16827 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
16831 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
16832 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
16833 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
16834 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
16837 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
16838 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
16839 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
16840 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
16845 @node Agent as Cache
16846 @subsection Agent as Cache
16848 When Gnus is plugged, it is not efficient to download headers or
16849 articles from the server again, if they are already stored in the
16850 Agent. So, Gnus normally only downloads headers once, and stores them
16851 in the Agent. These headers are later used when generating the summary
16852 buffer, regardless of whether you are plugged or unplugged. Articles
16853 are not cached in the Agent by default though (that would potentially
16854 consume lots of disk space), but if you have already downloaded an
16855 article into the Agent, Gnus will not download the article from the
16856 server again but use the locally stored copy instead.
16858 This behaviour can be controlled by @code{gnus-agent-cache}
16859 (@pxref{Agent Variables}).
16862 @subsection Agent Expiry
16864 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
16865 @findex gnus-agent-expire
16866 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
16867 @cindex Agent expiry
16868 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
16871 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
16872 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
16873 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
16874 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
16875 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
16876 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
16878 @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} can also be a list of regexp/day pairs.
16879 The regexps will be matched against group names to allow differing
16880 expiry in different groups.
16883 (setq gnus-agent-expire-days
16889 If you use the list form, the last element must always be the default
16890 method---it must always match all groups.
16892 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
16893 If @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
16894 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
16895 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
16896 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
16898 @findex gnus-agent-regenerate
16899 If you find that some articles eligible for expiry are never expired,
16900 perhaps some Gnus Agent files are corrupted. There's a special
16901 @code{gnus-agent-regenerate} command to fix possible problems.
16903 @node Agent and IMAP
16904 @subsection Agent and IMAP
16906 The Agent work with any Gnus back end, including nnimap. However,
16907 since there are some conceptual differences between @sc{nntp} and
16908 @sc{imap}, this section (should) provide you with some information to
16909 make Gnus Agent work smoother as a @sc{imap} Disconnected Mode client.
16911 The first thing to keep in mind is that all flags (read, ticked, etc)
16912 are kept on the @sc{imap} server, rather than in @code{.newsrc} as is the
16913 case for nntp. Thus Gnus need to remember flag changes when
16914 disconnected, and synchronize these flags when you plug back in.
16916 Gnus keeps track of flag changes when reading nnimap groups under the
16917 Agent. When you plug back in, Gnus will check if you have any changed
16918 any flags and ask if you wish to synchronize these with the server.
16919 The behavior is customizable by @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags}.
16921 @vindex gnus-agent-synchronize-flags
16922 If @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} is @code{nil}, the Agent will
16923 never automatically synchronize flags. If it is @code{ask}, which is
16924 the default, the Agent will check if you made any changes and if so
16925 ask if you wish to synchronize these when you re-connect. If it has
16926 any other value, all flags will be synchronized automatically.
16928 If you do not wish to synchronize flags automatically when you
16929 re-connect, you can do it manually with the
16930 @code{gnus-agent-synchronize-flags} command that is bound to @kbd{J Y}
16931 in the group buffer.
16933 Some things are currently not implemented in the Agent that you'd might
16934 expect from a disconnected @sc{imap} client, including:
16939 Copying/moving articles into nnimap groups when unplugged.
16942 Creating/deleting nnimap groups when unplugged.
16946 Technical note: the synchronization algorithm does not work by "pushing"
16947 all local flags to the server, but rather incrementally update the
16948 server view of flags by changing only those flags that were changed by
16949 the user. Thus, if you set one flag on a article, quit the group and
16950 re-select the group and remove the flag; the flag will be set and
16951 removed from the server when you "synchronize". The queued flag
16952 operations can be found in the per-server @code{flags} file in the Agent
16953 directory. It's emptied when you synchronize flags.
16956 @node Outgoing Messages
16957 @subsection Outgoing Messages
16959 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
16960 stored in the draft group ``queue'' (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view
16961 them there after posting, and edit them at will.
16963 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
16964 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
16965 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
16966 messages in the draft group.
16970 @node Agent Variables
16971 @subsection Agent Variables
16974 @item gnus-agent-directory
16975 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
16976 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
16977 @file{~/News/agent/}.
16979 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
16980 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
16981 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
16982 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
16983 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
16986 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16987 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
16988 Hook run when connecting to the network.
16990 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16991 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
16992 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
16994 @item gnus-agent-fetched-hook
16995 @vindex gnus-agent-fetched-hook
16996 Hook run when after finishing fetching articles.
16998 @item gnus-agent-cache
16999 @vindex gnus-agent-cache
17000 Variable to control whether use the locally stored @sc{nov} and
17001 articles when plugged, e.g. essentially using the Agent as a cache.
17002 The default is non-nil, which means to use the Agent as a cache.
17004 @item gnus-agent-go-online
17005 @vindex gnus-agent-go-online
17006 If @code{gnus-agent-go-online} is @code{nil}, the Agent will never
17007 automatically switch offline servers into online status. If it is
17008 @code{ask}, the default, the Agent will ask if you wish to switch
17009 offline servers into online status when you re-connect. If it has any
17010 other value, all offline servers will be automatically switched into
17016 @node Example Setup
17017 @subsection Example Setup
17019 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
17020 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
17021 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
17024 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
17025 ;;; from your ISP's server.
17026 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
17028 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
17029 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
17030 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
17032 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
17033 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
17035 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
17036 ;;; (gnus-agentize) ; The obsolete setting.
17037 ;;; (setq gnus-agent t) ; Now the default.
17040 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
17041 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
17044 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
17045 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
17046 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
17047 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
17048 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
17051 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
17052 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
17053 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
17054 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
17055 back all the killed groups.)
17057 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
17058 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
17059 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
17062 @node Batching Agents
17063 @subsection Batching Agents
17065 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
17066 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
17067 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
17071 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
17075 @node Agent Caveats
17076 @subsection Agent Caveats
17078 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
17079 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
17083 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the Agent?
17087 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
17089 @strong{No}, unless @code{gnus-agent-cache} is `nil'.
17093 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
17094 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP and also uses the
17095 locally stored articles.
17102 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
17103 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
17104 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
17107 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
17108 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
17109 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
17110 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
17111 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
17113 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
17114 before generating the summary buffer.
17116 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
17117 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
17118 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
17120 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
17121 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
17122 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
17123 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
17126 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
17127 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
17128 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
17129 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
17130 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
17131 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
17132 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
17133 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
17134 * Scoring On Other Headers:: Scoring on non-standard headers.
17135 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
17136 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
17137 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
17138 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
17139 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
17140 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
17141 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
17142 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
17146 @node Summary Score Commands
17147 @section Summary Score Commands
17148 @cindex score commands
17150 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
17151 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
17152 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
17153 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
17154 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
17156 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
17157 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
17158 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
17159 score file the current one.
17161 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
17166 @kindex V s (Summary)
17167 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
17168 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
17171 @kindex V S (Summary)
17172 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
17173 Display the score of the current article
17174 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
17177 @kindex V t (Summary)
17178 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
17179 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
17180 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
17183 @kindex V w (Summary)
17184 @findex gnus-score-find-favourite-words
17185 List words used in scoring (@code{gnus-score-find-favourite-words}).
17188 @kindex V R (Summary)
17189 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
17190 Run the current summary through the scoring process
17191 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
17192 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
17193 effect you're having.
17196 @kindex V c (Summary)
17197 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
17198 Make a different score file the current
17199 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
17202 @kindex V e (Summary)
17203 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
17204 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
17205 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
17209 @kindex V f (Summary)
17210 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
17211 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
17212 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
17215 @kindex V F (Summary)
17216 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17217 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
17218 after editing score files.
17221 @kindex V C (Summary)
17222 @findex gnus-score-customize
17223 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
17224 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
17228 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
17233 @kindex V m (Summary)
17234 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
17235 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
17236 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
17239 @kindex V x (Summary)
17240 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
17241 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
17242 expunge all articles below this score
17243 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
17246 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
17247 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
17250 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
17251 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
17255 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
17256 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
17258 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
17259 keys are available:
17263 Score on the author name.
17266 Score on the subject line.
17269 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
17272 Score on the @code{References} line.
17278 Score on the number of lines.
17281 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
17284 Score on an "extra" header, that is, one of those in gnus-extra-headers,
17285 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks additional header data in overviews.
17288 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
17289 the followups to this author. (Using this key leads to the creation of
17290 @file{ADAPT} files.)
17299 Score on thread. (Using this key leads to the creation of @file{ADAPT}
17305 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
17306 what headers you are scoring on.
17318 Substring matching.
17321 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
17350 Greater than number.
17355 The fourth and usually final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e.,
17356 expiring) score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry,
17357 or whether it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score
17362 Temporary score entry.
17365 Permanent score entry.
17368 Immediately scoring.
17372 If you are scoring on `e' (extra) headers, you will then be prompted for
17373 the header name on which you wish to score. This must be a header named
17374 in gnus-extra-headers, and @samp{TAB} completion is available.
17378 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
17379 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
17380 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
17381 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
17383 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
17384 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
17385 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
17386 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
17387 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
17389 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
17390 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
17391 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
17392 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
17393 current score file.
17395 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
17396 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
17397 pretend they are keymaps or not.
17400 @node Group Score Commands
17401 @section Group Score Commands
17402 @cindex group score commands
17404 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
17409 @kindex W f (Group)
17410 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
17411 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
17412 all the time. This command will flush the cache
17413 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
17417 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
17419 @findex gnus-batch-score
17420 @cindex batch scoring
17422 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
17426 @node Score Variables
17427 @section Score Variables
17428 @cindex score variables
17432 @item gnus-use-scoring
17433 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
17434 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
17435 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
17437 @item gnus-kill-killed
17438 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
17439 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
17440 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
17441 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
17442 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
17443 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
17444 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
17446 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
17447 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
17448 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
17449 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
17450 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
17452 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
17453 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
17454 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
17455 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
17457 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17458 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
17459 @cindex score cache
17460 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
17461 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
17462 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
17463 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
17464 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
17465 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
17468 @item gnus-save-score
17469 @vindex gnus-save-score
17470 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
17471 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
17472 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17474 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
17475 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
17476 across group visits.
17478 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17479 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
17480 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
17481 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
17482 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
17483 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
17484 manually entered data.
17486 @item gnus-summary-default-score
17487 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
17488 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
17490 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
17491 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
17492 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
17493 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
17494 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
17495 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
17497 @item gnus-score-over-mark
17498 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
17499 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
17500 default. Default is @samp{+}.
17502 @item gnus-score-below-mark
17503 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
17504 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
17505 default. Default is @samp{-}.
17507 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17508 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
17509 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
17510 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
17512 Predefined functions available are:
17515 @item gnus-score-find-single
17516 @findex gnus-score-find-single
17517 Only apply the group's own score file.
17519 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
17520 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
17521 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
17522 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
17523 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
17524 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
17525 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
17526 then a regexp match is done.
17528 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
17529 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
17531 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
17532 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
17533 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
17534 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
17536 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17537 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
17538 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
17539 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
17540 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE} for each
17544 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all
17545 these functions will be called with the group name as argument, and
17546 all the returned lists of score files will be applied. These
17547 functions can also return lists of lists of score alists directly. In
17548 that case, the functions that return these non-file score alists
17549 should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file functions, to
17550 ensure that the last score file returned is the local score file.
17553 For example, to do hierarchical scoring but use a non-server-specific
17554 overall score file, you could use the value
17556 (list (lambda (group) ("all.SCORE"))
17557 'gnus-score-find-hierarchical)
17560 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
17561 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
17562 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
17563 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
17564 are expired. It's 7 by default.
17566 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17567 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
17568 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, temporary score entries that have
17569 been triggered (matched) will have their dates updated. (This is how Gnus
17570 controls expiry---all non-matched-entries will become too old while
17571 matched entries will stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this
17572 variable to @code{nil}, even matched entries will grow old and will
17573 have to face that oh-so grim reaper.
17575 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17576 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
17577 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
17579 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
17580 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
17581 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
17582 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
17583 threading---according to the current value of
17584 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
17585 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
17586 simplified in this manner.
17591 @node Score File Format
17592 @section Score File Format
17593 @cindex score file format
17595 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
17596 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
17597 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
17599 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
17603 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
17605 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
17607 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
17609 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
17614 (mark-and-expunge -10)
17618 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
17619 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
17620 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
17621 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
17625 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
17626 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
17628 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
17629 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
17630 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
17632 Six keys are supported by this alist:
17637 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
17638 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
17639 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
17640 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
17641 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
17642 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
17643 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
17644 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
17645 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
17646 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
17647 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
17648 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
17649 to articles that matches these score entries.
17651 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
17652 score entry has one to four elements.
17656 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
17657 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
17661 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
17662 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
17663 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
17664 is successful. If this element is not present, the
17665 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
17666 instead. This is 1000 by default.
17669 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
17670 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
17671 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
17672 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
17673 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
17676 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
17677 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
17678 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
17679 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
17682 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
17683 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
17684 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
17685 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
17686 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
17687 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
17688 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
17689 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
17690 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
17691 instead, if you feel like.
17694 Just as for the standard string overview headers, if you are using
17695 gnus-extra-headers, you can score on these headers' values. In this
17696 case, there is a 5th element in the score entry, being the name of the
17697 header to be scored. The following entry is useful in your
17698 @file{all.SCORE} file in case of spam attacks from a single origin host,
17699 if your @sc{nntp} server tracks NNTP-Posting-Host in overviews:
17702 ("111.222.333.444" -1000 nil s "NNTP-Posting-Host")
17706 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
17707 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
17709 These predicates are true if
17712 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
17715 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
17716 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
17723 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
17724 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
17725 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
17726 it's not. I think.)
17728 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some back ends (like
17729 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
17730 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
17731 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
17734 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
17735 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
17736 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
17737 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
17738 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
17739 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
17740 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
17744 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
17745 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
17746 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
17747 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
17748 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
17749 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
17750 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
17751 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
17754 @item Head, Body, All
17755 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
17759 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
17760 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
17761 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
17762 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
17763 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
17764 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
17765 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
17769 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
17770 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
17771 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
17772 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
17773 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
17774 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
17775 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
17776 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
17777 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
17778 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
17779 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
17783 @cindex Score File Atoms
17785 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17786 lower than this number will be marked as read.
17789 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17790 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
17792 @item mark-and-expunge
17793 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
17794 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
17797 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
17798 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
17799 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
17800 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
17801 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
17804 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
17805 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
17808 @item exclude-files
17809 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
17810 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
17814 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
17815 ignored when handling global score files.
17818 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
17819 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
17820 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
17821 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
17824 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
17825 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
17826 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
17827 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
17829 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
17833 (mark-and-expunge -100)
17836 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
17837 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
17838 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
17839 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
17840 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
17842 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where a few
17843 interesting threads which can't be found automatically by ordinary
17844 scoring rules exist.
17847 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
17848 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
17849 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
17850 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
17851 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
17852 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
17853 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17854 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
17855 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
17856 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
17857 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
17861 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
17862 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
17863 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
17864 file for a number of groups.
17867 @cindex local variables
17868 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
17869 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
17870 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
17871 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
17872 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
17876 @node Score File Editing
17877 @section Score File Editing
17879 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
17880 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
17881 with a mode for that.
17883 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
17884 additional commands:
17889 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
17890 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
17891 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
17892 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
17895 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
17896 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
17897 Insert the current date in numerical format
17898 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
17899 you were wondering.
17902 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
17903 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
17904 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
17905 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
17906 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
17911 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
17913 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
17914 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
17916 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
17917 e} to begin editing score files.
17920 @node Adaptive Scoring
17921 @section Adaptive Scoring
17922 @cindex adaptive scoring
17924 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
17925 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
17926 stupidity, to be precise.
17928 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
17929 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
17930 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
17931 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
17932 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
17933 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
17934 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
17935 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
17936 variable to @code{(word line)}.
17938 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17939 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
17940 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
17941 might look something like this:
17944 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
17945 '((gnus-unread-mark)
17946 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
17947 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
17948 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
17949 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
17950 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
17951 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
17952 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
17953 (gnus-ancient-mark)
17954 (gnus-low-score-mark)
17955 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
17958 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
17959 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
17960 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
17961 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
17962 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
17963 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
17966 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
17967 will be applied to each article.
17969 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
17970 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
17971 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
17972 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
17974 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
17975 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
17976 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
17977 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
17979 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
17980 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
17981 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
17982 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
17984 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
17985 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
17986 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
17987 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
17988 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
17989 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
17991 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
17992 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
17993 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
17994 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
17995 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
17996 aspirins afterwards.)
17998 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
17999 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
18000 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
18002 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
18003 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
18004 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
18006 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
18007 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
18008 let you use different rules in different groups.
18010 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
18011 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
18012 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
18015 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
18016 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
18017 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
18018 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
18019 the length of the match is less than
18020 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
18021 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
18024 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18025 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
18026 headers. If you adapt on words, the
18027 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
18028 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
18031 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
18032 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
18033 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
18034 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
18035 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
18038 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
18039 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
18040 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
18041 score with 30 points.
18043 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
18044 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
18045 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
18046 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
18047 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
18049 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit
18050 Some may feel that short words shouldn't count when doing adaptive
18051 scoring. If so, you may set @code{gnus-adaptive-word-length-limit} to
18052 an integer. Words shorter than this number will be ignored. This
18053 variable defaults til @code{nil}.
18055 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
18056 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
18057 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
18058 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
18060 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
18061 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
18062 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
18063 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
18065 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
18066 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
18067 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
18068 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
18069 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
18071 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
18072 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
18073 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
18075 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
18076 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
18077 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
18078 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
18081 @node Home Score File
18082 @section Home Score File
18084 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
18085 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
18086 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
18087 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
18089 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
18090 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
18091 could perhaps use the same home score file.
18093 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
18094 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
18099 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
18103 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
18104 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
18108 A list. The elements in this list can be:
18112 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
18113 group name, the @var{file-name} will be used as the home score file.
18116 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
18117 the home score file.
18120 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
18123 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
18128 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
18131 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18132 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
18135 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
18136 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
18138 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
18140 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18141 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
18144 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
18145 Other functions include
18148 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
18149 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
18150 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
18151 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
18155 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
18156 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
18157 their own home score files:
18160 (setq gnus-home-score-file
18161 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
18162 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
18163 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
18164 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
18167 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
18168 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
18169 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
18170 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
18171 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
18173 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
18174 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
18175 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
18176 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
18177 precedence over this variable.
18180 @node Followups To Yourself
18181 @section Followups To Yourself
18183 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
18184 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
18185 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
18186 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
18187 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
18188 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
18192 @item gnus-score-followup-article
18193 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
18194 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
18197 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
18198 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
18199 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
18203 @vindex message-sent-hook
18204 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
18205 @code{message-sent-hook}, like this:
18207 (add-hook 'message-sent-hook 'gnus-score-followup-thread)
18211 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
18212 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
18216 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18217 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
18220 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
18221 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
18226 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore\\.no>"
18230 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
18231 is system-dependent.
18234 @node Scoring On Other Headers
18235 @section Scoring On Other Headers
18236 @cindex scoring on other headers
18238 Gnus is quite fast when scoring the ``traditional''
18239 headers---@samp{From}, @samp{Subject} and so on. However, scoring
18240 other headers requires writing a @code{head} scoring rule, which means
18241 that Gnus has to request every single article from the back end to find
18242 matches. This takes a long time in big groups.
18244 Now, there's not much you can do about this for news groups, but for
18245 mail groups, you have greater control. In the @pxref{To From
18246 Newsgroups} section of the manual, it's explained in greater detail what
18247 this mechanism does, but here's a cookbook example for @code{nnml} on
18248 how to allow scoring on the @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} headers.
18250 Put the following in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
18253 (setq gnus-extra-headers '(To Cc Newsgroups Keywords)
18254 nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
18257 Restart Gnus and rebuild your @code{nnml} overview files with the
18258 @kbd{M-x nnml-generate-nov-databases} command. This will take a long
18259 time if you have much mail.
18261 Now you can score on @samp{To} and @samp{Cc} as ``extra headers'' like
18262 so: @kbd{I e s p To RET <your name> RET}.
18268 @section Scoring Tips
18269 @cindex scoring tips
18275 @cindex scoring crossposts
18276 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
18277 the @code{Xref} header.
18279 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
18282 @item Multiple crossposts
18283 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
18284 more than, say, 3 groups:
18287 ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+"
18291 @item Matching on the body
18292 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
18293 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
18294 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
18295 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
18296 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
18297 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
18298 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
18301 @item Marking as read
18302 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
18303 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
18304 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
18308 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
18310 @item Negated character classes
18311 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
18312 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
18313 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
18317 @node Reverse Scoring
18318 @section Reverse Scoring
18319 @cindex reverse scoring
18321 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
18322 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
18323 like this in your score file:
18327 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
18332 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
18333 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
18336 @node Global Score Files
18337 @section Global Score Files
18338 @cindex global score files
18340 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
18341 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
18342 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
18344 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
18345 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
18346 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
18348 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
18349 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
18350 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
18351 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
18352 files are applicable to which group.
18354 To use the score file
18355 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
18356 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory,
18360 (setq gnus-global-score-files
18361 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
18362 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
18365 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
18367 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
18368 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
18369 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
18370 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
18372 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
18373 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
18375 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
18376 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
18377 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
18378 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
18379 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
18380 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
18382 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
18388 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
18390 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
18392 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
18394 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
18395 lowered out of existence.
18397 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
18398 articles completely.
18401 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
18402 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
18403 old articles for a long time.
18406 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
18407 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
18408 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
18409 holding our breath yet?
18413 @section Kill Files
18416 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
18417 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
18418 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
18420 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
18421 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
18422 files into score files.
18424 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
18425 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
18426 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
18427 that isn't a very good idea.
18429 Normal kill files look like this:
18432 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18433 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
18437 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
18438 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
18440 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
18441 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
18444 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
18449 @kindex M-k (Summary)
18450 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
18451 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
18454 @kindex M-K (Summary)
18455 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
18456 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
18459 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
18464 @kindex M-k (Group)
18465 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
18466 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
18469 @kindex M-K (Group)
18470 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
18471 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
18474 Kill file variables:
18477 @item gnus-kill-file-name
18478 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
18479 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
18480 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
18481 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
18482 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
18483 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
18485 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18486 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
18487 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
18488 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
18491 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
18492 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
18493 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
18494 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
18495 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
18496 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
18497 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
18498 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
18499 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
18501 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18502 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
18503 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
18508 @node Converting Kill Files
18509 @section Converting Kill Files
18511 @cindex converting kill files
18513 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
18514 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
18515 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
18518 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
18519 You can fetch it from
18520 @uref{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-various/gnus-kill-to-score.el}.
18522 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
18523 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
18524 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
18532 GroupLens (@uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/}) is a
18533 collaborative filtering system that helps you work together with other
18534 people to find the quality news articles out of the huge volume of
18535 news articles generated every day.
18537 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
18538 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
18539 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
18540 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
18541 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
18542 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
18543 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
18544 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
18547 @sc{Note:} Unfortunately the GroupLens system seems to have shut down,
18548 so this section is mostly of historical interest.
18551 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
18552 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
18553 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
18554 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
18558 @node Using GroupLens
18559 @subsection Using GroupLens
18561 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
18563 @uref{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
18564 better bit in town at the moment.
18566 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
18570 @item gnus-use-grouplens
18571 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
18572 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
18573 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
18575 @item grouplens-pseudonym
18576 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
18577 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
18578 with the Better Bit Bureau.
18580 @item grouplens-newsgroups
18581 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
18582 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
18586 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
18587 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
18588 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
18589 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
18590 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
18591 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
18594 @node Rating Articles
18595 @subsection Rating Articles
18597 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
18598 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
18599 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
18600 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
18603 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
18608 @kindex r (GroupLens)
18609 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
18610 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
18613 @kindex k (GroupLens)
18614 @findex grouplens-score-thread
18615 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
18616 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
18617 threads in rec.humor.
18621 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
18622 the score of the article you're reading.
18627 @kindex n (GroupLens)
18628 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
18629 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
18632 @kindex , (GroupLens)
18633 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
18634 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
18638 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
18639 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
18642 @node Displaying Predictions
18643 @subsection Displaying Predictions
18645 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
18646 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
18647 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
18648 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
18649 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
18651 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
18652 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
18653 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
18654 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
18655 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
18656 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
18657 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
18658 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
18659 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
18660 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
18661 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
18662 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
18663 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
18665 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
18666 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
18667 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
18668 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
18670 The following are valid values for that variable.
18673 @item prediction-spot
18674 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
18677 @item confidence-interval
18678 A numeric confidence interval.
18680 @item prediction-bar
18681 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
18683 @item confidence-bar
18684 Numerical confidence.
18686 @item confidence-spot
18687 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
18689 @item prediction-num
18690 Plain-old numeric value.
18692 @item confidence-plus-minus
18693 Prediction +/- confidence.
18698 @node GroupLens Variables
18699 @subsection GroupLens Variables
18703 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
18704 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
18705 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
18706 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-23,23n%]%)
18709 @item grouplens-bbb-host
18710 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
18713 @item grouplens-bbb-port
18714 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
18716 @item grouplens-score-offset
18717 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
18718 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
18721 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
18722 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
18723 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
18728 @node Advanced Scoring
18729 @section Advanced Scoring
18731 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
18732 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
18733 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
18734 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
18735 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
18737 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
18741 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
18742 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
18743 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
18747 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
18748 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
18750 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
18751 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
18752 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
18753 non-@code{nil} value.
18755 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
18756 operator, and various match operators.
18763 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18764 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
18765 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
18770 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
18771 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
18772 then this operator will return @code{false}.
18777 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
18778 logical negation of the value of its argument.
18782 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
18783 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
18784 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
18785 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
18786 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
18787 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
18788 the ancestry you want to go.
18790 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
18791 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
18792 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
18793 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
18794 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
18797 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
18798 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
18800 Please note that the following examples are score file rules. To
18801 make a complete score file from them, surround them with another pair
18804 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
18805 when he's talking about Gnus:
18809 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18810 ("subject" "Gnus"))
18816 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
18820 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18827 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
18828 really don't want to read what he's written:
18832 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
18833 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
18837 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
18838 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
18839 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
18846 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
18847 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
18848 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
18849 ("body" "white.*socks"))
18853 The possibilities are endless.
18856 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
18857 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
18859 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
18860 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
18861 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
18862 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
18863 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
18864 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
18865 @samp{subject}) first.
18867 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
18868 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
18879 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
18880 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
18886 ("subject" "Gnus")))
18893 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
18894 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
18899 @section Score Decays
18900 @cindex score decays
18903 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
18904 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
18905 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
18906 use them in any sensible way.
18908 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
18909 @findex gnus-decay-score
18910 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
18911 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
18912 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
18913 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
18914 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
18915 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
18916 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
18917 definition of that function:
18920 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
18922 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
18923 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
18926 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
18928 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
18930 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
18933 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
18934 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
18935 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
18936 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
18940 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
18943 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
18946 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
18950 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
18951 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
18952 the new score, which should be an integer.
18954 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
18955 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
18960 @include message.texi
18961 @chapter Emacs MIME
18962 @include emacs-mime.texi
18964 @include sieve.texi
18972 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
18973 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
18974 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
18975 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
18976 * Window Layout:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
18977 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
18978 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
18979 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
18980 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
18981 * Buttons:: Get tendinitis in ten easy steps!
18982 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
18983 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
18984 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
18985 * Predicate Specifiers:: Specifying predicates.
18986 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
18987 * Image Enhancements:: Modern versions of Emacs/XEmacs can display images.
18988 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
18989 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
18990 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
18994 @node Process/Prefix
18995 @section Process/Prefix
18996 @cindex process/prefix convention
18998 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
18999 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
19001 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
19002 command to be performed on.
19006 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
19007 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
19008 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
19009 with the current one.
19011 @vindex transient-mark-mode
19012 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
19013 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
19015 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
19016 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
19019 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
19020 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
19022 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
19025 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
19026 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
19027 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
19028 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19030 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
19031 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
19032 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
19033 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
19034 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
19035 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
19036 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
19037 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
19039 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
19040 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
19041 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
19042 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
19043 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
19047 @section Interactive
19048 @cindex interaction
19052 @item gnus-novice-user
19053 @vindex gnus-novice-user
19054 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
19055 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
19056 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
19057 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
19060 @item gnus-expert-user
19061 @vindex gnus-expert-user
19062 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
19063 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
19064 matter how strange.
19066 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
19067 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
19068 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
19069 is @code{t} by default.
19071 @item gnus-interactive-exit
19072 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
19073 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
19078 @node Symbolic Prefixes
19079 @section Symbolic Prefixes
19080 @cindex symbolic prefixes
19082 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
19083 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
19084 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
19085 rule of 900 to the current article.
19087 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
19088 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
19089 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
19090 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
19091 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
19092 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
19093 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
19095 @kindex M-i (Summary)
19096 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
19097 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
19098 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
19099 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
19100 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a C-M-u} means ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u}
19101 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b C-M-u} means
19102 ``feed the @kbd{C-M-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
19103 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
19105 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
19106 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
19107 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
19109 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
19113 @node Formatting Variables
19114 @section Formatting Variables
19115 @cindex formatting variables
19117 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
19118 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
19119 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
19120 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
19121 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
19124 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
19125 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
19126 lots of percentages everywhere.
19129 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
19130 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
19131 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
19132 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
19133 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
19134 * Positioning Point:: Moving point to a position after an operation.
19135 * Tabulation:: Tabulating your output.
19136 * Wide Characters:: Dealing with wide characters.
19139 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
19140 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
19141 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
19142 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
19143 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
19144 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
19145 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
19146 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
19148 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
19149 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
19151 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
19152 @findex gnus-update-format
19153 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
19154 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
19155 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
19156 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
19160 @node Formatting Basics
19161 @subsection Formatting Basics
19163 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
19164 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
19165 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
19167 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
19168 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
19169 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
19170 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
19171 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
19174 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
19175 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
19176 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
19177 less than 4 characters wide.
19179 Also Gnus supports some extended format specifications, such as
19180 @samp{%&user-date;}.
19183 @node Mode Line Formatting
19184 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
19186 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
19187 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
19188 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
19189 with the following two differences:
19194 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
19197 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
19198 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
19199 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
19200 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
19201 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
19202 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
19203 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
19208 @node Advanced Formatting
19209 @subsection Advanced Formatting
19211 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
19212 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
19213 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
19214 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
19216 These are the valid modifiers:
19221 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
19225 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
19230 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
19233 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
19238 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
19241 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
19244 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
19247 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
19253 "~(form (current-time-string))@@"
19258 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
19259 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
19260 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
19261 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
19262 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
19263 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
19264 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
19266 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
19267 last operation, padding.
19269 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
19270 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
19271 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
19272 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
19273 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
19274 the look of your lines.
19275 @xref{Compilation}.
19278 @node User-Defined Specs
19279 @subsection User-Defined Specs
19281 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
19282 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
19283 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
19284 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
19285 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
19286 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
19287 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
19288 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
19289 should protect against that.
19291 Also Gnus supports extended user-defined specs, such as @samp{%u&foo;}.
19292 Gnus will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{foo}.
19294 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
19295 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
19296 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
19297 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
19301 @node Formatting Fonts
19302 @subsection Formatting Fonts
19304 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
19305 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
19306 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
19307 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
19310 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
19311 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
19312 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
19313 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
19314 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
19315 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
19317 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
19318 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
19319 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
19320 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
19321 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
19322 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
19323 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
19324 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
19326 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
19329 ;; Create three face types.
19330 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
19331 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
19333 ;; We want the article count to be in
19334 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
19335 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
19336 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
19338 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
19339 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
19341 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
19342 (setq gnus-group-line-format
19343 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
19346 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
19347 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
19349 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
19350 mode-line variables.
19352 @node Positioning Point
19353 @subsection Positioning Point
19355 Gnus usually moves point to a pre-defined place on each line in most
19356 buffers. By default, point move to the first colon character on the
19357 line. You can customize this behaviour in three different ways.
19359 You can move the colon character to somewhere else on the line.
19361 @findex gnus-goto-colon
19362 You can redefine the function that moves the point to the colon. The
19363 function is called @code{gnus-goto-colon}.
19365 But perhaps the most convenient way to deal with this, if you don't want
19366 to have a colon in your line, is to use the @samp{%C} specifier. If you
19367 put a @samp{%C} somewhere in your format line definition, Gnus will
19372 @subsection Tabulation
19374 You can usually line up your displays by padding and cutting your
19375 strings. However, when combining various strings of different size, it
19376 can often be more convenient to just output the strings, and then worry
19377 about lining up the following text afterwards.
19379 To do that, Gnus supplies tabulator specs--@samp{%=}. There are two
19380 different types---@dfn{hard tabulators} and @dfn{soft tabulators}.
19382 @samp{%50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19383 50. If the text is already past column 50, nothing will be inserted.
19384 This is the soft tabulator.
19386 @samp{%-50=} will insert space characters to pad the line up to column
19387 50. If the text is already past column 50, the excess text past column
19388 50 will be removed. This is the hard tabulator.
19391 @node Wide Characters
19392 @subsection Wide Characters
19394 Proportional fonts in most countries have characters of the same width.
19395 Some countries, however, use Latin characters mixed with wider
19396 characters---most notable East Asian countries.
19398 The problem is that when formatting, Gnus assumes that if a string is 10
19399 characters wide, it'll be 10 Latin characters wide on the screen. In
19400 these coutries, that's not true.
19402 @vindex gnus-use-correct-string-widths
19403 To help fix this, you can set @code{gnus-use-correct-string-widths} to
19404 @code{t}. This makes buffer generation slower, but the results will be
19405 prettieer. The default value is @code{t}.
19409 @node Window Layout
19410 @section Window Layout
19411 @cindex window layout
19413 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
19415 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
19416 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
19417 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
19418 @code{t} by default.
19420 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
19421 glitches. Use at your own peril.
19423 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
19424 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
19425 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
19428 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
19429 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
19430 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19434 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
19435 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
19436 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
19437 possible names is listed below.
19439 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
19440 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
19443 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
19447 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
19448 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
19449 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
19450 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
19451 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
19452 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
19453 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
19454 size spec per split.
19456 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
19457 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
19458 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
19459 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
19460 present) gets focus.
19462 Here's a more complicated example:
19465 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
19466 (summary 0.25 point)
19467 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
19471 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
19472 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
19473 occupy, not a percentage.
19475 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
19476 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
19477 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
19478 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
19479 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
19482 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
19485 (article (horizontal 1.0
19490 (summary 0.25 point)
19495 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
19496 @code{horizontal} thingie?
19498 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
19499 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
19500 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
19501 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
19502 the screen is to be given to this strip.
19504 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
19505 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
19506 lines from the splits.
19508 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
19512 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
19513 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
19514 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
19515 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
19516 buffer = "(" buf-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
19517 size = number | frame-params
19518 buf-name = group | article | summary ...
19521 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
19522 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
19523 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
19524 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
19526 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
19527 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
19528 @cindex window height
19529 @cindex window width
19530 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
19531 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
19532 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
19533 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
19534 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
19535 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
19537 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
19538 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
19539 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
19540 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
19542 @findex gnus-configure-frame
19543 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
19544 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
19545 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
19546 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
19547 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
19548 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
19549 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
19550 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
19551 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
19552 configuration list.
19555 (gnus-configure-frame
19559 (article 0.3 point))
19567 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
19568 @code{frame} split:
19571 (gnus-configure-frame
19574 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
19576 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
19577 (user-position . t)
19578 (left . -1) (top . 1))
19583 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
19584 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
19585 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
19586 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
19587 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
19588 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
19589 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
19590 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
19592 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
19593 be found in its default value.
19595 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
19596 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
19597 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
19601 (message (horizontal 1.0
19602 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
19604 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
19609 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
19610 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
19611 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
19616 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
19617 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
19618 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
19619 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
19620 (name . "Message"))
19621 (message 1.0 point))))
19624 @findex gnus-add-configuration
19625 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
19626 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
19627 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
19628 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
19631 (gnus-add-configuration
19632 '(article (vertical 1.0
19634 (summary .25 point)
19638 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
19639 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
19640 Gnus has been loaded.
19642 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
19643 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
19644 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
19645 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
19646 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
19648 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
19649 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
19650 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
19653 @subsection Example Window Configurations
19657 Narrow left hand side occupied by group buffer. Right hand side split
19658 between summary buffer (top one-sixth) and article buffer (bottom).
19673 (gnus-add-configuration
19676 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19678 (summary 0.16 point)
19681 (gnus-add-configuration
19684 (vertical 25 (group 1.0))
19685 (vertical 1.0 (summary 1.0 point)))))
19691 @node Faces and Fonts
19692 @section Faces and Fonts
19697 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
19698 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
19699 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
19704 @section Compilation
19705 @cindex compilation
19706 @cindex byte-compilation
19708 @findex gnus-compile
19710 Remember all those line format specification variables?
19711 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
19712 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
19713 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
19714 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
19715 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
19716 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
19717 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
19720 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
19721 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
19722 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
19723 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
19724 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
19727 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
19728 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
19729 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
19730 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
19731 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
19736 @section Mode Lines
19739 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
19740 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
19741 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
19742 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
19743 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
19744 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
19745 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
19748 @cindex display-time
19750 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
19751 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
19752 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
19753 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
19754 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
19755 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
19756 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
19757 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
19760 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
19762 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
19763 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
19765 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
19766 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
19767 (length display-time-string)))))
19770 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
19771 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
19772 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
19773 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
19774 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
19777 @node Highlighting and Menus
19778 @section Highlighting and Menus
19780 @cindex highlighting
19783 @vindex gnus-visual
19784 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
19785 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
19786 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
19789 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
19790 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
19793 @item group-highlight
19794 Do highlights in the group buffer.
19795 @item summary-highlight
19796 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
19797 @item article-highlight
19798 Do highlights in the article buffer.
19800 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
19802 Create menus in the group buffer.
19804 Create menus in the summary buffers.
19806 Create menus in the article buffer.
19808 Create menus in the browse buffer.
19810 Create menus in the server buffer.
19812 Create menus in the score buffers.
19814 Create menus in all buffers.
19817 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
19818 buffers, you could say something like:
19821 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
19824 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
19827 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
19830 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
19831 in all Gnus buffers.
19833 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
19836 @item gnus-mouse-face
19837 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
19838 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
19839 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
19843 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
19847 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
19848 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
19849 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
19851 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
19852 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
19853 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
19855 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
19856 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
19857 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
19859 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
19860 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
19861 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
19863 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
19864 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
19865 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
19867 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
19868 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
19869 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
19880 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
19881 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
19882 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
19883 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
19884 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
19888 @vindex gnus-carpal
19889 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
19890 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
19891 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
19896 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19897 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
19898 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
19900 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
19901 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
19902 Face used on buttons.
19904 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
19905 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
19906 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
19908 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19909 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
19910 Buttons in the group buffer.
19912 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19913 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
19914 Buttons in the summary buffer.
19916 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19917 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
19918 Buttons in the server buffer.
19920 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19921 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
19922 Buttons in the browse buffer.
19925 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
19926 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
19927 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
19935 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
19936 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
19937 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
19938 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
19939 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
19941 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
19942 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
19943 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
19945 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
19946 been idle for thirty minutes:
19949 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
19952 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
19956 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
19959 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
19960 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
19961 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19963 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
19964 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
19965 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
19966 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
19968 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
19969 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
19970 @var{idle} minutes.
19972 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
19973 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
19976 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
19977 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
19978 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
19980 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
19981 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
19982 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
19983 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
19985 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
19986 your @file{.gnus} file:
19988 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
19990 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
19993 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
19994 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
19995 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
19996 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
19997 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
19998 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
19999 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
20000 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
20001 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
20002 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
20003 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
20005 @findex gnus-demon-init
20006 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
20007 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
20008 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
20009 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
20010 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
20012 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
20013 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
20014 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
20023 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
20024 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
20026 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
20027 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
20028 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
20029 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
20032 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
20033 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
20034 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
20035 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
20037 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
20038 this will make spam disappear.
20040 There are some variables to customize, of course:
20043 @item gnus-use-nocem
20044 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
20045 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
20048 @item gnus-nocem-groups
20049 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
20050 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
20051 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
20052 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
20054 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
20055 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
20056 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
20057 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
20058 "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" "cosmo.roadkill" "SpamHippo"
20059 "hweede@@snafu.de")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
20061 Known despammers that you can put in this list are listed at
20062 @uref{http://www.xs4all.nl/~rosalind/nocemreg/nocemreg.html}.
20064 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
20065 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
20066 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
20067 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
20068 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
20069 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
20070 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
20071 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
20072 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
20073 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
20075 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
20076 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
20079 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
20082 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
20083 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
20086 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
20089 The specs are applied left-to-right.
20092 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
20093 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
20095 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
20096 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
20097 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
20098 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
20100 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
20101 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
20104 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
20106 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
20114 This might be dangerous, though.
20116 @item gnus-nocem-directory
20117 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
20118 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
20119 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
20121 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20122 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
20123 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
20124 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
20125 might then see old spam.
20127 @item gnus-nocem-check-from
20128 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-from
20129 Non-@code{nil} means check for valid issuers in message bodies.
20130 Otherwise don't bother fetching articles unless their author matches a
20131 valid issuer; that is much faster if you are selective about the
20134 @item gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20135 @vindex gnus-nocem-check-article-limit
20136 If non-@code{nil}, the maximum number of articles to check in any NoCeM
20137 group. NoCeM groups can be huge and very slow to process.
20141 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
20142 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
20143 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
20144 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
20151 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
20152 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
20153 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
20155 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
20156 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
20157 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
20158 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
20159 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
20160 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
20161 @code{undo} function.
20163 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
20164 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
20165 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
20166 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
20167 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
20168 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
20169 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
20170 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
20171 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
20172 never be totally undoable.
20174 @findex gnus-undo-mode
20175 @vindex gnus-use-undo
20177 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
20178 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
20179 default. The @kbd{C-M-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo}
20180 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
20184 @node Predicate Specifiers
20185 @section Predicate Specifiers
20186 @cindex predicate specifiers
20188 Some Gnus variables are @dfn{predicate specifiers}. This is a special
20189 form that allows flexible specification of predicates without having
20190 to type all that much.
20192 These specifiers are lists consisting of functions, symbols and lists.
20197 (or gnus-article-unseen-p
20198 gnus-article-unread-p)
20201 The available symbols are @code{or}, @code{and} and @code{not}. The
20202 functions all take one parameter.
20204 @findex gnus-make-predicate
20205 Internally, Gnus calls @code{gnus-make-predicate} on these specifiers
20206 to create a function that can be called. This input parameter to this
20207 function will be passed along to all the functions in the predicate
20212 @section Moderation
20215 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
20216 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
20217 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
20220 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
20224 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
20227 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
20229 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
20234 You split your incoming mail by matching on
20235 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
20236 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
20239 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
20240 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
20243 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
20244 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
20248 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
20251 (setq gnus-moderated-list
20252 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
20256 @node Image Enhancements
20257 @section Image Enhancements
20259 XEmacs, as well as Emacs 21, is able to display pictures and stuff, so
20260 Gnus has taken advantage of that.
20263 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what you're reading.
20264 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
20265 * X-Face:: Display a funky, teensy black-and-white image.
20266 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
20267 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
20280 So@dots{} You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
20281 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
20282 over your shoulder as you read news.
20285 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
20286 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
20287 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
20288 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
20289 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
20294 @subsubsection Picon Basics
20296 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
20305 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
20306 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
20307 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
20308 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
20309 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
20310 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
20311 @code{GIF} formats.
20314 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20315 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
20316 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
20317 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
20318 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
20320 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20321 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
20322 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
20323 @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
20324 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
20325 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20327 If you are using Debian GNU/Linux, saying @samp{apt-get install
20328 picons.*} will install the picons where Gnus can find them.
20331 @node Picon Requirements
20332 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
20334 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must have @code{x} support
20335 compiled into XEmacs. To display color picons which are much nicer
20336 than the black & white one, you also need one of @code{xpm} or
20337 @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
20339 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20340 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
20341 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
20342 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
20343 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
20344 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20347 @subsubsection Easy Picons
20349 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
20350 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
20353 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
20354 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
20357 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
20358 containing the Picons databases.
20360 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
20363 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20364 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
20369 @subsubsection Hard Picons
20377 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
20378 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
20379 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
20380 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
20381 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
20386 @item gnus-picons-database
20387 @vindex gnus-picons-database
20388 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
20389 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
20390 subdirectories. This is only useful if
20391 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
20392 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
20394 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20395 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
20396 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
20397 engine is @uref{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
20398 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
20399 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
20400 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
20402 @item gnus-picons-display-where
20403 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20404 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
20405 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
20406 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
20407 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
20408 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
20409 routines---@pxref{Window Layout}.
20411 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20412 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
20413 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
20418 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
20419 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
20421 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
20422 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
20425 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
20427 @item gnus-article-display-picons
20428 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
20429 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
20430 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
20432 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20433 @findex gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
20434 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
20435 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the function name, not @code{xface})
20441 @node Picon Useless Configuration
20442 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
20450 The following variables offer further control over how things are
20451 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
20452 don't need to worry about.
20456 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
20457 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
20458 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20459 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
20461 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
20462 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
20463 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
20464 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
20466 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
20467 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
20468 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
20469 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
20470 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
20472 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20473 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
20474 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
20475 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
20476 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
20477 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
20478 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
20479 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20481 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20482 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
20483 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
20484 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
20485 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable name, not @code{xface})
20487 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20488 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
20489 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
20490 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
20491 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
20492 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
20493 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
20495 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20496 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
20497 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
20498 Defaults to @code{nil}.
20500 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
20501 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
20502 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
20503 Defaults to @code{t}.
20505 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20506 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
20507 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
20508 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
20510 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
20511 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
20512 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
20514 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20515 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
20516 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
20517 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
20519 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
20520 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the default.
20522 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20523 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
20524 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
20525 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
20526 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
20527 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
20528 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
20529 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
20540 @subsection Smileys
20545 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/BigFace,height=20cm}}
20550 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
20551 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
20553 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
20554 @file{.gnus.el} file:
20557 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
20560 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
20561 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
20562 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
20563 text and maps that to file names.
20565 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
20566 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
20567 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
20568 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
20569 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
20570 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
20572 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
20573 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
20575 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
20576 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
20577 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
20579 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
20580 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
20584 @item smiley-data-directory
20585 @vindex smiley-data-directory
20586 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
20588 @item smiley-flesh-color
20589 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
20590 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
20592 @item smiley-features-color
20593 @vindex smiley-features-color
20594 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20596 @item smiley-tongue-color
20597 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
20598 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
20600 @item smiley-circle-color
20601 @vindex smiley-circle-color
20602 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
20604 @item smiley-mouse-face
20605 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
20606 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
20615 @code{X-Face} headers describe a 48x48 pixel black-and-white (1 bit
20616 depth) image that's supposed to represent the author of the message.
20617 It seems to be supported by an ever-growing number of mail and news
20621 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
20622 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
20623 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
20624 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
20632 Decoding an @code{X-Face} header either requires an Emacs that has
20633 @samp{compface} support (which most XEmacs versions has), or that you
20634 have @samp{compface} installed on your system. If either is true,
20635 Gnus will default to displaying @code{X-Face} headers.
20637 The variable that controls this is the
20638 @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable. If this variable is a
20639 string, this string will be executed in a sub-shell. If it is a
20640 function, this function will be called with the face as the argument.
20641 If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which is a regexp) matches
20642 the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
20644 The default action under Emacs 20 is to fork off the @code{display}
20645 program@footnote{@code{display} is from the ImageMagick package. For
20646 the @code{uncompface} and @code{icontopbm} programs look for a package
20647 like @code{compface} or @code{faces-xface} on a GNU/Linux system.} to
20650 Under XEmacs or Emacs 21+ with suitable image support, the default
20651 action is to display the face before the @code{From} header. (It's
20652 nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with @code{X-Face} support---that
20653 will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native @code{X-Face}
20654 support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
20655 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and
20656 friends.@footnote{On a GNU/Linux system look for packages with names
20657 like @code{netpbm}, @code{libgr-progs} and @code{compface}.})
20659 (NOTE: @code{x-face} is used in the variable/function names, not
20662 Gnus provides a few convenience functions and variables to allow
20663 easier insertion of X-Face headers in outgoing messages.
20665 @findex gnus-random-x-face
20666 @code{gnus-random-x-face} goes through all the @samp{pbm} files
20667 in @code{gnus-x-face-directory} and picks one at random, and then
20668 converts it to the X-Face format by using the
20669 @code{gnus-convert-pbm-to-x-face-command} shell command. The
20670 @samp{pbm} files should be 48x48 pixels big.
20672 @code{gnus-x-face-from-file} takes a file as the parameter, and then
20673 converts the file to X-Face format by using the
20674 @code{gnus-convert-image-to-x-face-command} shell command.
20676 Here's how you would typically use the former function. Put something
20677 like the folllowing in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
20680 (setq message-required-news-headers
20681 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20682 (list '(X-Face . gnus-random-x-face))))
20685 Using the latter function would be something like this:
20688 (setq message-required-news-headers
20689 (nconc message-required-news-headers
20690 (list '(X-Face . (lambda ()
20691 (gnus-x-face-from-file
20692 "~/My-face.gif"))))))
20697 @subsection Toolbar
20707 @item gnus-use-toolbar
20708 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
20709 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
20710 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
20711 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
20713 @item gnus-group-toolbar
20714 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
20715 The toolbar in the group buffer.
20717 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
20718 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
20719 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
20721 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20722 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
20723 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
20729 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
20732 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20733 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
20734 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
20735 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
20736 unusual directory structure.
20738 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20739 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
20740 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
20741 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
20743 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20744 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
20745 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
20746 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
20747 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
20748 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
20750 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20751 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
20752 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
20766 @node Fuzzy Matching
20767 @section Fuzzy Matching
20768 @cindex fuzzy matching
20770 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
20771 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
20773 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
20774 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
20775 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
20777 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
20778 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
20779 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
20780 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
20781 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
20784 @node Thwarting Email Spam
20785 @section Thwarting Email Spam
20789 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
20791 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
20792 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
20793 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
20794 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
20795 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
20796 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
20797 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
20798 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
20801 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
20802 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
20803 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
20804 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
20805 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
20806 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
20811 * Anti-Spam Basics:: Simple steps to reduce the amount of spam.
20812 * SpamAssassin:: How to use external anti-spam tools.
20813 * Hashcash:: Reduce spam by burning CPU time.
20816 @node Anti-Spam Basics
20817 @subsection Anti-Spam Basics
20821 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
20823 One way of dealing with spam is having Gnus split out all spam into a
20824 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
20826 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
20827 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
20828 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
20829 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
20830 sysadmin whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
20831 part of the mail address.)
20834 (setq message-default-news-headers
20835 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
20838 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
20839 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
20844 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
20845 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
20846 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
20852 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
20853 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
20854 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
20855 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
20857 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @sc{smtp} server
20858 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
20859 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
20860 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
20861 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
20862 your fancy split rule in this way:
20867 (to "larsi" "misc")
20871 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
20872 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
20873 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
20874 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
20875 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
20877 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
20878 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
20879 at @* @uref{http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html}.
20880 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
20881 cosmic balance somewhat.
20883 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
20884 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
20885 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
20886 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
20891 @subsection SpamAssassin, Vipul's Razor, DCC, etc
20892 @cindex SpamAssassin
20893 @cindex Vipul's Razor
20896 The days where the hints in the previous section was sufficient in
20897 avoiding spam is coming to an end. There are many tools out there
20898 that claim to reduce the amount of spam you get. This section could
20899 easily become outdated fast, as new products replace old, but
20900 fortunately most of these tools seem to have similar interfaces. Even
20901 though this section will use SpamAssassin as an example, it should be
20902 easy to adapt it to most other tools.
20904 If the tool you are using is not installed on the mail server, you
20905 need to invoke it yourself. Ideas on how to use the
20906 @code{:postscript} mail source parameter (@pxref{Mail Source
20907 Specifiers}) follows.
20911 '((file :prescript "formail -bs spamassassin < /var/mail/%u")
20914 :postscript "mv %t /tmp/foo; formail -bs spamc < /tmp/foo > %t")))
20917 Once you managed to process your incoming spool somehow, thus making
20918 the mail contain e.g. a header indicating it is spam, you are ready to
20919 filter it out. Using normal split methods (@pxref{Splitting Mail}):
20922 (setq nnmail-split-methods '(("spam" "^X-Spam-Flag: YES")
20926 Or using fancy split methods (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
20929 (setq nnmail-split-methods 'nnmail-split-fancy
20930 nnmail-split-fancy '(| ("X-Spam-Flag" "YES" "spam")
20934 Some people might not like the idea of piping the mail through various
20935 programs using a @code{:prescript} (if some program is buggy, you
20936 might lose all mail). If you are one of them, another solution is to
20937 call the external tools during splitting. Example fancy split method:
20940 (setq nnmail-split-fancy '(| (: kevin-spamassassin)
20942 (defun kevin-spamassassin ()
20944 (let ((buf (or (get-buffer " *nnmail incoming*")
20945 (get-buffer " *nnml move*"))))
20947 (progn (message "Oops, cannot find message buffer") nil)
20949 (if (eq 1 (call-process-region (point-min) (point-max)
20950 "spamc" nil nil nil "-c"))
20954 That is about it. As some spam is likely to get through anyway, you
20955 might want to have a nifty function to call when you happen to read
20956 spam. And here is the nifty function:
20959 (defun my-gnus-raze-spam ()
20960 "Submit SPAM to Vipul's Razor, then mark it as expirable."
20962 (gnus-summary-show-raw-article)
20963 (gnus-summary-save-in-pipe "razor-report -f -d")
20964 (gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable 1))
20968 @subsection Hashcash
20971 A novel technique to fight spam is to require senders to do something
20972 costly for each message they send. This has the obvious drawback that
20973 you cannot rely on that everyone in the world uses this technique,
20974 since it is not part of the internet standards, but it may be useful
20975 in smaller communities.
20977 While the tools in the previous section work well in practice, they
20978 work only because the tools are constantly maintained and updated as
20979 new form of spam appears. This means that a small percentage of spam
20980 will always get through. It also means that somewhere, someone needs
20981 to read lots of spam to update these tools. Hashcash avoids that, but
20982 instead requires that everyone you communicate with supports the
20983 scheme. You can view the two approaches as pragmatic vs dogmatic.
20984 The approaches have their own advantages and disadvantages, but as
20985 often in the real world, a combination of them is stronger than either
20986 one of them separately.
20989 The ``something costly'' is to burn CPU time, more specifically to
20990 compute a hash collision up to a certain number of bits. The
20991 resulting hashcash cookie is inserted in a @samp{X-Hashcash:}
20992 header. For more details, and for the external application
20993 @code{hashcash} you need to install to use this feature, see
20994 @uref{http://www.cypherspace.org/~adam/hashcash/}. Even more
20995 information can be found at @uref{http://www.camram.org/}.
20997 If you wish to call hashcash for each message you send, say something
21001 (require 'hashcash)
21002 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'mail-add-payment)
21005 The @code{hashcash.el} library can be found at
21006 @uref{http://users.actrix.gen.nz/mycroft/hashcash.el}, or in the Gnus
21007 development contrib directory.
21009 You will need to set up some additional variables as well:
21013 @item hashcash-default-payment
21014 @vindex hashcash-default-payment
21015 This variable indicates the default number of bits the hash collision
21016 should consist of. By default this is 0, meaning nothing will be
21017 done. Suggested useful values include 17 to 29.
21019 @item hashcash-payment-alist
21020 @vindex hashcash-payment-alist
21021 Some receivers may require you to spend burn more CPU time than the
21022 default. This variable contains a list of @samp{(ADDR AMOUNT)} cells,
21023 where ADDR is the receiver (email address or newsgroup) and AMOUNT is
21024 the number of bits in the collision that is needed. It can also
21025 contain @samp{(ADDR STRING AMOUNT)} cells, where the STRING is the
21026 string to use (normally the email address or newsgroup name is used).
21030 Where the @code{hashcash} binary is installed.
21034 Currently there is no built in functionality in Gnus to verify
21035 hashcash cookies, it is expected that this is performed by your hand
21036 customized mail filtering scripts. Improvements in this area would be
21037 a useful contribution, however.
21039 @node Various Various
21040 @section Various Various
21046 @item gnus-home-directory
21047 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
21048 defaults to @file{~/}.
21050 @item gnus-directory
21051 @vindex gnus-directory
21052 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
21053 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
21054 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
21056 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
21057 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
21058 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
21059 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
21061 @item gnus-default-directory
21062 @vindex gnus-default-directory
21063 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
21064 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
21065 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
21066 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
21067 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
21068 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
21071 @vindex gnus-verbose
21072 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
21073 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
21074 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
21075 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
21076 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
21078 @item gnus-verbose-backends
21079 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
21080 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
21081 to the Gnus back ends instead of Gnus proper.
21083 @item nnheader-max-head-length
21084 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
21085 When the back ends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
21086 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
21087 the absolute max length the back ends will try to read before giving up
21088 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
21089 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
21090 @code{t}, the back ends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
21091 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
21092 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
21094 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
21095 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
21096 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
21097 read when doing the operation described above.
21099 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21100 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21102 @cindex invalid characters in file names
21103 @cindex characters in file names
21104 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
21105 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
21106 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
21109 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
21113 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
21114 Windows (phooey) systems.
21116 @item gnus-hidden-properties
21117 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
21118 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
21119 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
21120 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
21122 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
21123 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
21124 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
21125 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
21126 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
21128 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
21129 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
21130 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
21132 @item gnus-invalid-group-regexp
21133 @vindex gnus-invalid-group-regexp
21135 Regexp to match ``invalid'' group names when querying user for a group
21136 name. The default value catches some @strong{really} invalid group
21137 names who could possibly mess up Gnus internally (like allowing
21138 @samp{:} in a group name, which is normally used to delimit method and
21141 @sc{imap} users might want to allow @samp{/} in group names though.
21149 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
21150 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
21152 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
21154 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
21160 Not because of victories @*
21163 but for the common sunshine,@*
21165 the largess of the spring.
21169 but for the day's work done@*
21170 as well as I was able;@*
21171 not for a seat upon the dais@*
21172 but at the common table.@*
21177 @chapter Appendices
21180 * XEmacs:: Requirements for installing under XEmacs.
21181 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
21182 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
21183 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
21184 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
21185 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
21186 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
21187 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
21188 * Frequently Asked Questions::
21195 @cindex Installing under XEmacs
21197 XEmacs is distributed as a collection of packages. You should install
21198 whatever packages the Gnus XEmacs package requires. The current
21199 requirements are @samp{gnus}, @samp{w3}, @samp{mh-e},
21200 @samp{mailcrypt}, @samp{rmail}, @samp{eterm}, @samp{mail-lib},
21201 @samp{xemacs-base}, and @samp{fsf-compat}.
21208 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
21209 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
21211 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
21212 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
21213 @uref{http://quimby.gnus.org/}. This is also the primary
21214 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
21215 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
21217 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
21218 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
21219 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
21220 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
21221 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
21222 appropriate name, don't you think?)
21224 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
21225 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
21226 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
21227 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
21230 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
21231 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
21232 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
21233 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
21234 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
21235 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
21236 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
21237 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
21238 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
21242 @node Gnus Versions
21243 @subsection Gnus Versions
21245 @cindex September Gnus
21247 @cindex Quassia Gnus
21248 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
21252 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
21253 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
21254 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
21256 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
21257 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
21259 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
21260 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
21262 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
21263 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
21265 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
21266 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
21269 On the 26th of October 2000, Oort Gnus was begun.
21271 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
21272 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'',
21273 ``Pterodactyl Gnus'', ``Oort Gnus'' -- don't panic. Don't let it know
21274 that you're frightened. Back away. Slowly. Whatever you do, don't
21275 run. Walk away, calmly, until you're out of its reach. Find a proper
21276 released version of Gnus and snuggle up to that instead.
21279 @node Other Gnus Versions
21280 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
21283 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
21284 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
21285 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
21286 @sc{mime} capabilities.
21288 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
21289 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
21290 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
21291 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
21298 What's the point of Gnus?
21300 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
21301 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
21302 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
21303 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
21304 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
21305 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
21306 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
21307 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
21308 keep track of millions of people who post?
21310 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
21311 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
21312 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
21313 to separate the newsreader from the back ends, Gnus now offers a simple
21314 interface for anybody who wants to write new back ends for fetching mail
21315 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
21316 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
21317 every one of you to explore and invent.
21319 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
21320 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
21323 @node Compatibility
21324 @subsection Compatibility
21326 @cindex compatibility
21327 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
21328 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
21329 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
21334 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
21338 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
21341 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
21344 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
21345 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
21346 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
21347 important variables have their values copied into their global
21348 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
21349 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
21351 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
21352 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
21353 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
21354 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
21355 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
21359 @cindex highlighting
21360 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
21361 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
21362 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
21363 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
21364 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
21365 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
21368 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
21369 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
21370 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
21371 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
21373 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
21374 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
21375 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
21376 to stop doing it the old way.
21378 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
21380 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21382 @cindex reporting bugs
21384 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
21385 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
21386 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
21388 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
21389 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
21390 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
21391 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
21396 @subsection Conformity
21398 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
21399 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
21407 There are no known breaches of this standard.
21411 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
21413 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
21414 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
21415 We do have some breaches to this one.
21421 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
21422 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
21423 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
21424 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
21425 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
21430 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
21431 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
21432 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
21433 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
21435 @item MIME - RFC 2045-2049 etc
21437 All the various @sc{mime} RFCs are supported.
21439 @item Disposition Notifications - RFC 2298
21440 Message Mode is able to request notifications from the receiver.
21442 @item PGP - RFC 1991 and RFC 2440
21445 RFC 1991 is the original PGP message specification, published as a
21446 Information RFC. RFC 2440 was the follow-up, now called Open PGP, and
21447 put on the Standards Track. Both document a non-@sc{mime} aware PGP
21448 format. Gnus supports both encoding (signing and encryption) and
21449 decoding (verification and decryption).
21451 @item PGP/MIME - RFC 2015/3156
21452 RFC 2015 (superceded by 3156 which references RFC 2440 instead of RFC
21453 1991) describes the @sc{mime}-wrapping around the RF 1991/2440 format.
21454 Gnus supports both encoding and decoding.
21456 @item S/MIME - RFC 2633
21457 RFC 2633 describes the @sc{s/mime} format.
21459 @item IMAP - RFC 1730/2060, RFC 2195, RFC 2086, RFC 2359, RFC 2595, RFC 1731
21460 RFC 1730 is @sc{imap} version 4, updated somewhat by RFC 2060 (@sc{imap} 4
21461 revision 1). RFC 2195 describes CRAM-MD5 authentication for @sc{imap}. RFC
21462 2086 describes access control lists (ACLs) for @sc{imap}. RFC 2359
21463 describes a @sc{imap} protocol enhancement. RFC 2595 describes the proper
21464 TLS integration (STARTTLS) with @sc{imap}. RFC 1731 describes the
21465 GSSAPI/Kerberos4 mechanisms for @sc{imap}.
21469 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
21470 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
21475 @subsection Emacsen
21481 Gnus should work on :
21489 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
21493 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
21494 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
21495 Emacs versions. However, T-gnus does support ``Mule 2.3 based on Emacs
21496 19.34'' and possibly the versions of XEmacs prior to 21.1.1, e.g. 20.4.
21497 See the file ``README'' in the T-gnus distribution for more details.
21499 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
21500 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
21501 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
21505 @node Gnus Development
21506 @subsection Gnus Development
21508 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
21509 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
21510 propose changes and new features, post patches and new back ends. This
21511 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
21512 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
21513 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
21514 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
21515 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
21517 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
21518 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
21519 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
21520 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
21521 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
21524 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
21525 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
21526 In particular, @code{mail-source-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
21527 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
21528 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
21530 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
21531 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
21532 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
21533 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
21534 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
21535 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
21536 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
21537 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
21538 usually keep up with these rapid changes, while people on the newsgroup
21539 can't be assumed to do so.
21544 @subsection Contributors
21545 @cindex contributors
21547 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
21548 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
21549 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
21550 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
21551 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
21552 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
21553 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
21554 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
21555 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
21556 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
21558 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
21564 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
21567 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
21568 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
21569 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
21570 functionality and stuff.
21573 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
21574 well as numerous other things).
21577 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
21580 Joe Reiss---creator of the smiley faces.
21583 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
21586 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
21589 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
21590 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
21593 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
21596 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
21597 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
21600 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
21603 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
21606 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
21609 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
21612 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
21613 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
21616 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
21619 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
21622 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
21625 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
21629 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
21632 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
21635 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
21638 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
21639 well as autoconf support.
21643 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
21644 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
21646 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
21655 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
21659 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
21669 Alexei V. Barantsev,
21684 Massimo Campostrini,
21689 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
21690 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
21694 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
21697 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
21703 Michael Welsh Duggan,
21708 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
21712 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
21720 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
21722 Michelangelo Grigni,
21726 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
21728 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
21730 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
21737 François Felix Ingrand,
21738 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
21739 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
21741 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
21752 Peter Skov Knudsen,
21753 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
21755 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
21756 Thor Kristoffersen,
21759 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
21777 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
21778 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
21785 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
21790 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
21794 John McClary Prevost,
21800 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
21805 Christian von Roques,
21808 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
21815 Philippe Schnoebelen,
21817 Randal L. Schwartz,
21831 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
21836 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
21852 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
21857 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
21858 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
21859 (550kB and counting).
21861 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
21864 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
21865 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
21869 @subsection New Features
21870 @cindex new features
21873 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
21874 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.2/5.3.
21875 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
21876 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
21877 * Pterodactyl Gnus:: Pentad also starts with P, AKA Gnus 5.8/5.9.
21880 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
21881 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
21882 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
21885 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
21887 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
21892 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
21893 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
21896 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
21897 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
21900 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
21903 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
21904 All the mail back ends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
21905 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
21908 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
21909 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
21910 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
21911 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
21914 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
21915 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21918 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
21919 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
21920 (@pxref{The Active File}).
21923 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
21924 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
21927 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
21928 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
21929 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
21932 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
21933 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
21934 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
21937 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
21938 the @file{.emacs} file.
21941 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
21942 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
21945 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
21946 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
21949 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
21950 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
21953 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
21954 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
21957 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
21958 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
21961 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
21964 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
21965 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
21968 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
21969 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
21972 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
21973 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
21976 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
21979 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
21980 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
21983 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
21987 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
21991 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
21992 configuration (@pxref{Window Layout}).
21995 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
22001 @node September Gnus
22002 @subsubsection September Gnus
22006 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/september,height=20cm}}
22010 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
22015 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
22016 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
22020 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
22021 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
22025 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
22029 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
22030 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
22033 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
22037 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
22040 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
22043 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
22046 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
22050 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
22051 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
22054 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
22058 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
22062 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
22066 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
22070 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
22073 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
22074 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
22077 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
22081 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
22082 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
22085 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
22088 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
22089 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
22090 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
22093 Gnus has a new back end (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
22097 The Gnus cache is much faster.
22100 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
22104 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
22105 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
22108 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
22109 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
22112 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
22113 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
22116 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
22117 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
22118 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
22121 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
22122 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
22125 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
22128 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
22131 All mail back ends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
22134 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
22137 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
22138 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
22141 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Window
22145 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
22148 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fseptember,height=5cm}}
22153 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
22156 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
22160 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
22163 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
22167 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
22170 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
22173 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
22174 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
22177 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
22178 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
22182 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
22183 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
22186 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
22190 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
22191 buffer to allow easier treatment.
22194 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
22197 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
22201 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
22205 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
22206 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
22209 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
22213 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
22214 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
22217 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
22218 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
22221 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
22225 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
22228 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
22231 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
22237 @subsubsection Red Gnus
22239 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
22243 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=ps/red,height=20cm}}
22250 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
22253 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
22254 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
22257 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
22258 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
22262 Article washing status can be displayed in the
22263 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
22266 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
22269 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
22270 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
22273 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
22277 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
22278 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
22282 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
22283 Server Internals}).
22286 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
22290 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
22293 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
22294 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
22297 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
22298 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
22299 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
22302 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
22303 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
22306 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
22307 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
22310 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{C-M-_}
22314 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
22315 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22318 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
22319 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
22322 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
22326 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
22329 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
22333 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
22334 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22337 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
22338 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
22341 A new command for reading collections of documents
22342 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{C-M-d}
22343 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
22346 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
22350 A new mail-to-news back end makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
22351 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
22354 A new back end for reading searches from Web search engines
22355 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
22356 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
22359 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
22360 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
22364 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
22368 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
22372 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=ps/fred,width=3cm}}
22377 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
22381 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
22385 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
22386 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
22389 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
22395 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
22397 New features in Gnus 5.6:
22402 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
22403 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
22404 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
22407 The @code{nndraft} back end has returned, but works differently than
22408 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
22409 group, which is created automatically.
22412 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
22416 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
22419 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
22420 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
22423 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
22427 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
22430 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
22431 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
22434 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
22437 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
22438 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
22441 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
22442 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
22445 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
22446 control over simplification.
22449 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
22452 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
22456 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
22459 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
22462 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
22463 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
22464 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
22467 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
22468 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
22471 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
22475 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
22476 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
22479 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
22480 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
22483 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
22487 A history of where mails have been split is available.
22490 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
22493 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
22494 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
22497 A new function for citing in Message has been
22498 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
22501 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
22504 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
22508 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
22509 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
22512 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
22513 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
22516 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} back end.
22519 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
22523 @node Pterodactyl Gnus
22524 @subsubsection Pterodactyl Gnus
22526 New features in Gnus 5.8:
22531 The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
22532 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
22534 If you used procmail like in
22537 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
22538 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
22539 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
22540 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
22543 this now has changed to
22547 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
22551 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
22552 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
22555 Gnus is now a @sc{mime}-capable reader. This affects many parts of
22556 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
22559 Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too
22560 many parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables.
22563 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} can now be a function to be
22564 called to position point.
22567 The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
22568 summary buffers and @sc{nov} files.
22571 @code{gnus-article-display-hook} has been removed. Instead, a number
22572 of variables starting with @code{gnus-treat-} have been added.
22575 The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now works in a
22576 subtly different manner.
22579 New web-based back ends have been added: @code{nnslashdot},
22580 @code{nnwarchive} and @code{nnultimate}. nnweb has been revamped,
22581 again, to keep up with ever-changing layouts.
22584 Gnus can now read @sc{imap} mail via @code{nnimap}.
22592 @section The Manual
22596 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
22597 either @code{texi2dvi}
22599 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
22600 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
22602 to get what you hold in your hands now.
22604 The following conventions have been used:
22609 This is a @samp{string}
22612 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
22615 This is a @file{file}
22618 This is a @code{symbol}
22622 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
22626 (setq flargnoze "yes")
22629 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
22632 (setq flumphel 'yes)
22635 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
22636 ever get them confused.
22640 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
22641 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
22642 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
22643 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
22644 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
22645 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
22646 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
22652 @node On Writing Manuals
22653 @section On Writing Manuals
22655 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
22656 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
22657 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
22658 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
22659 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
22660 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
22663 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
22664 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
22665 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
22668 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
22669 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
22674 @section Terminology
22676 @cindex terminology
22681 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
22682 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
22683 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
22684 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
22685 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
22689 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
22690 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
22691 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
22692 not posting, and replying is not following up.
22696 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
22700 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
22705 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of back ends, both news and mail
22706 back ends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
22707 is all done by the back ends.
22711 Gnus will always use one method (and back end) as the @dfn{native}, or
22712 default, way of getting news.
22716 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
22717 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary back ends for getting
22722 Secondary back ends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
22723 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
22727 A message that has been posted as news.
22730 @cindex mail message
22731 A message that has been mailed.
22735 A mail message or news article
22739 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
22744 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
22749 A line from the head of an article.
22753 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
22754 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
22758 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the back end for the headers of all
22759 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
22760 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
22761 normal @sc{head} format.
22765 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
22766 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
22767 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
22768 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
22769 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
22770 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
22772 @item killed groups
22773 @cindex killed groups
22774 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
22775 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
22777 @item zombie groups
22778 @cindex zombie groups
22779 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
22782 @cindex active file
22783 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
22784 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
22785 is rather large, as you might surmise.
22788 @cindex bogus groups
22789 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
22790 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
22791 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
22794 @cindex activating groups
22795 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
22796 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
22797 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
22801 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
22803 @item select method
22804 @cindex select method
22805 A structure that specifies the back end, the server and the virtual
22808 @item virtual server
22809 @cindex virtual server
22810 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
22811 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
22812 whole is a virtual server.
22816 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
22817 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
22820 @item ephemeral groups
22821 @cindex ephemeral groups
22822 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
22823 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
22824 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
22827 @cindex solid groups
22828 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
22829 group buffer are solid groups.
22831 @item sparse articles
22832 @cindex sparse articles
22833 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
22834 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
22838 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
22839 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
22843 @cindex thread root
22844 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
22845 articles in the thread.
22849 An article that has responses.
22853 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
22857 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
22858 specified by RFC 1153.
22864 @node Customization
22865 @section Customization
22866 @cindex general customization
22868 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
22869 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
22870 for some quite common situations.
22873 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
22874 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
22875 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
22876 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
22880 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
22881 @subsection Slow/Expensive NNTP Connection
22883 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
22884 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
22885 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
22889 @item gnus-read-active-file
22890 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
22891 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
22892 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
22893 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
22894 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
22896 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
22897 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
22898 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
22899 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
22903 @node Slow Terminal Connection
22904 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
22906 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
22907 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
22908 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
22912 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
22913 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
22914 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
22915 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
22916 horizontal and vertical recentering.
22918 @item gnus-visible-headers
22919 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
22920 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
22921 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
22922 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
22924 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
22926 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
22927 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
22928 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
22931 @item gnus-use-full-window
22932 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
22933 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
22934 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
22935 want to read them anyway.
22937 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
22938 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
22942 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
22943 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
22944 lines, which might save some time.
22948 @node Little Disk Space
22949 @subsection Little Disk Space
22952 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
22953 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
22957 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
22958 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
22959 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
22960 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22963 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
22964 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
22965 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
22966 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
22969 @item gnus-save-killed-list
22970 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
22971 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
22972 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
22973 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
22979 @subsection Slow Machine
22980 @cindex slow machine
22982 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
22983 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
22985 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
22986 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
22988 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
22989 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
22990 summary buffer faster.
22994 @node Troubleshooting
22995 @section Troubleshooting
22996 @cindex troubleshooting
22998 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
23006 Make sure your computer is switched on.
23009 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
23010 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
23014 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
23015 like @samp{T-gnus 6.15.* (based on Oort Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*, FLIM
23016 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you get
23017 something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some old
23018 @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
23021 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
23025 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
23026 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
23027 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
23028 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
23029 something like that.
23032 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
23035 @cindex reporting bugs
23037 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
23039 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
23040 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
23041 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
23042 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
23044 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
23045 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
23046 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
23047 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
23050 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
23051 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
23052 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
23053 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
23054 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
23055 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
23057 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
23058 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
23059 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
23063 If you would like to contribute a patch to fix bugs or make
23064 improvements, please produce the patch using @samp{diff -u}.
23066 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
23067 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
23069 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
23070 @cindex ding mailing list
23071 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
23072 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
23076 @node Gnus Reference Guide
23077 @section Gnus Reference Guide
23079 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
23080 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
23081 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
23082 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
23085 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
23086 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
23087 back ends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
23088 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
23089 and general methods of operation.
23092 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
23093 * Back End Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
23094 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
23095 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
23096 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
23097 * Group Info:: The group info format.
23098 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
23099 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
23100 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
23104 @node Gnus Utility Functions
23105 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
23106 @cindex Gnus utility functions
23107 @cindex utility functions
23109 @cindex internal variables
23111 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
23112 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
23113 Below is a list of the most common ones.
23117 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
23118 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
23119 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
23121 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
23122 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
23123 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
23125 @item gnus-group-real-name
23126 @findex gnus-group-real-name
23127 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
23130 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
23131 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
23132 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
23133 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
23135 @item gnus-get-info
23136 @findex gnus-get-info
23137 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
23139 @item gnus-group-unread
23140 @findex gnus-group-unread
23141 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
23145 @findex gnus-active
23146 The active entry for @var{group}.
23148 @item gnus-set-active
23149 @findex gnus-set-active
23150 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
23152 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
23153 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
23154 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
23157 @item gnus-continuum-version
23158 @findex gnus-continuum-version
23159 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
23160 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
23163 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
23164 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
23165 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
23167 @item gnus-news-group-p
23168 @findex gnus-news-group-p
23169 Says whether @var{group} came from a news back end.
23171 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
23172 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
23173 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
23175 @item gnus-server-to-method
23176 @findex gnus-server-to-method
23177 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
23179 @item gnus-server-equal
23180 @findex gnus-server-equal
23181 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
23183 @item gnus-group-native-p
23184 @findex gnus-group-native-p
23185 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
23187 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
23188 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
23189 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
23191 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
23192 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
23193 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
23195 @item group-group-find-parameter
23196 @findex group-group-find-parameter
23197 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
23198 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
23200 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
23201 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
23202 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
23204 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
23205 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
23206 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
23208 @item gnus-check-backend-function
23209 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
23210 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the back end
23211 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
23214 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
23218 @item gnus-read-method
23219 @findex gnus-read-method
23220 Prompts the user for a select method.
23225 @node Back End Interface
23226 @subsection Back End Interface
23228 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
23229 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
23230 server is a @dfn{back end} and some @dfn{back end variables}. As examples
23231 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
23232 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
23233 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
23235 When Gnus asks for information from a back end---say @code{nntp}---on
23236 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
23237 function parameters. (If not, the back end should use the ``current''
23238 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
23239 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
23240 been opened, the function should fail.
23242 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
23243 name. Take this example:
23247 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
23248 (nntp-port-number 4324))
23251 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
23252 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
23254 The back ends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
23255 The standard back ends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
23256 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
23258 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
23259 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
23260 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
23262 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
23263 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
23264 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
23265 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
23266 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
23267 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
23270 Some back ends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} back ends, and
23271 some might be said not to be. The latter are back ends that generally
23272 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
23273 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
23276 Gnus identifies each message by way of group name and article number. A
23277 few remarks about these article numbers might be useful. First of all,
23278 the numbers are positive integers. Secondly, it is normally not
23279 possible for later articles to `re-use' older article numbers without
23280 confusing Gnus. That is, if a group has ever contained a message
23281 numbered 42, then no other message may get that number, or Gnus will get
23282 mightily confused.@footnote{See the function
23283 @code{nnchoke-request-update-info}, @ref{Optional Back End Functions}.}
23284 Third, article numbers must be assigned in order of arrival in the
23285 group; this is not necessarily the same as the date of the message.
23287 The previous paragraph already mentions all the `hard' restrictions that
23288 article numbers must fulfill. But it seems that it might be useful to
23289 assign @emph{consecutive} article numbers, for Gnus gets quite confused
23290 if there are holes in the article numbering sequence. However, due to
23291 the `no-reuse' restriction, holes cannot be avoided altogether. It's
23292 also useful for the article numbers to start at 1 to avoid running out
23293 of numbers as long as possible.
23295 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary back end
23298 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
23301 * Required Back End Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
23302 * Optional Back End Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
23303 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
23304 * Writing New Back Ends:: Extending old back ends.
23305 * Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
23306 * Mail-like Back Ends:: Some tips on mail back ends.
23310 @node Required Back End Functions
23311 @subsubsection Required Back End Functions
23315 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
23317 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
23318 @code{Message-ID}s. Current back ends do not fully support either---only
23319 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most back ends do not support
23320 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
23322 The result data should either be HEADs or @sc{nov} lines, and the result
23323 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
23324 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
23325 of HEADs and @sc{nov} lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
23327 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
23328 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
23329 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
23330 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
23331 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the back end finds it
23332 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
23333 number, do maximum fetches.
23335 Here's an example HEAD:
23338 221 1056 Article retrieved.
23339 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
23340 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
23341 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
23342 Subject: Re: Something very droll
23343 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
23344 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
23346 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
23347 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
23348 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
23352 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
23353 these in the data buffer.
23355 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
23359 head = error / valid-head
23360 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
23361 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
23362 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
23363 header = <text> eol
23366 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
23367 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
23371 nov-buffer = *nov-line
23372 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
23373 field = <text except TAB>
23376 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
23380 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
23382 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
23383 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
23385 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The back end
23386 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
23387 server. In fact, it should do so.
23389 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
23390 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
23393 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
23395 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
23396 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
23399 There should be no data returned.
23402 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
23404 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the back end
23405 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that back end
23406 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
23407 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
23409 There should be no data returned.
23412 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
23414 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
23415 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
23416 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
23417 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
23419 There should be no data returned.
23422 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
23424 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
23426 There should be no data returned.
23429 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
23431 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
23432 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
23433 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
23434 it would be nice if that were possible.
23436 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
23437 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
23438 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
23439 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
23440 into its article buffer.
23442 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
23443 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
23444 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
23445 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
23446 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
23447 on successful article retrieval.
23450 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
23452 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
23453 making @var{group} the current group.
23455 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
23458 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
23461 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
23464 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
23465 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
23466 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
23467 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
23468 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
23469 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
23470 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
23471 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader. If the group contains no
23472 articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1 and the
23476 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
23477 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
23478 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
23482 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
23484 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
23485 a no-op on most back ends.
23487 There should be no data returned.
23490 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
23492 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
23495 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
23498 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
23499 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
23502 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
23503 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag. If the group
23504 contains no articles, the lowest article number should be reported as 1
23505 and the highest as 0.
23508 active-file = *active-line
23509 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
23511 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
23514 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
23515 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
23516 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
23519 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
23521 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
23522 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
23523 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
23524 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
23525 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
23526 clear if the posting could not be completed.
23528 There should be no result data from this function.
23533 @node Optional Back End Functions
23534 @subsubsection Optional Back End Functions
23538 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
23540 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
23541 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
23542 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
23544 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
23545 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
23546 former is in the same format as the data from
23547 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
23548 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
23551 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
23555 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
23557 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the back end for
23558 alterations. This comes in handy if the back end really carries all the
23559 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
23560 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
23561 should return the (altered) group info.
23563 There should be no result data from this function.
23566 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
23568 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
23569 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
23570 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
23571 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
23572 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
23573 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
23574 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
23575 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
23577 There should be no result data from this function.
23580 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
23582 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
23583 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
23584 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some back ends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
23585 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
23586 propagate the mark information to the server.
23588 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
23591 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
23594 RANGE is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. ACTION is
23595 @code{add} or @code{del}, used to add marks or remove marks
23596 (preserving all marks not mentioned). MARK is a list of marks; where
23597 each mark is a symbol. Currently used marks are @code{read},
23598 @code{tick}, @code{reply}, @code{expire}, @code{killed},
23599 @code{dormant}, @code{save}, @code{download}, @code{unsend},
23600 @code{forward} and @code{recent}, but your back end should, if
23601 possible, not limit itself to these.
23603 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
23604 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
23605 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
23606 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
23608 An example action list:
23611 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
23612 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
23613 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
23616 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
23617 mark on (currently not used for anything).
23619 There should be no result data from this function.
23621 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
23623 If the user tries to set a mark that the back end doesn't like, this
23624 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
23625 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
23626 @var{mark}. If the back end doesn't care, it must return the original
23627 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
23629 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
23630 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
23631 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
23634 There should be no result data from this function.
23637 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
23639 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
23640 request that the back end check for incoming articles, in one way or
23641 another. A mail back end will typically read the spool file or query the
23642 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
23643 to be heeded---if the back end decides that it is too much work just
23644 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
23645 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
23647 There should be no result data from this function.
23650 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
23652 The result data from this function should be a description of
23656 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
23658 description = <text>
23661 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
23663 The result data from this function should be the description of all
23664 groups available on the server.
23667 description-buffer = *description-line
23671 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
23673 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
23674 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date format
23675 (i.e., the date format used in mail and news headers, and returned by
23676 the function @code{message-make-date} by default). The data should be
23677 in the active buffer format.
23679 It is okay for this function to return `too many' groups; some back ends
23680 might find it cheaper to return the full list of groups, rather than
23681 just the new groups. But don't do this for back ends with many groups.
23682 Normally, if the user creates the groups herself, there won't be too
23683 many groups, so @code{nnml} and the like are probably safe. But for
23684 back ends like @code{nntp}, where the groups have been created by the
23685 server, it is quite likely that there can be many groups.
23688 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
23690 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
23692 There should be no return data.
23695 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
23697 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
23698 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
23699 numbers.) It is left up to the back end to decide how old articles
23700 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
23701 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
23704 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
23707 There should be no result data returned.
23710 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
23713 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
23714 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
23716 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
23717 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
23718 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
23719 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
23720 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
23721 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
23723 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
23724 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
23727 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
23728 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
23730 There should be no data returned.
23733 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
23735 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
23736 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
23737 this function in short order.
23739 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
23740 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
23742 There should be no data returned.
23745 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
23747 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
23748 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
23750 There should be no data returned.
23753 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
23755 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
23756 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
23757 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
23759 There should be no data returned.
23762 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
23764 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
23765 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
23767 There should be no data returned.
23772 @node Error Messaging
23773 @subsubsection Error Messaging
23775 @findex nnheader-report
23776 @findex nnheader-get-report
23777 The back ends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
23778 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
23779 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the back end
23780 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
23781 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
23782 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
23785 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
23787 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
23790 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
23791 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
23792 recently reported message for the back end in question. This function
23793 takes one argument---the server symbol.
23795 Internally, these functions access @var{back-end}@code{-status-string},
23796 so the @code{nnchoke} back end will have its error message stored in
23797 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
23800 @node Writing New Back Ends
23801 @subsubsection Writing New Back Ends
23803 Many back ends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
23804 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
23805 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
23806 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
23807 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
23810 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
23811 back ends when writing new back ends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
23812 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
23814 All the back ends declare their public variables and functions by using a
23815 package called @code{nnoo}.
23817 To inherit functions from other back ends (and allow other back ends to
23818 inherit functions from the current back end), you should use the
23824 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
23825 parameters. For instance:
23828 (nnoo-declare nndir
23832 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
23833 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
23836 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
23837 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
23838 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
23840 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
23841 variables in the parent back ends to map the variable to when executing
23842 a function in those back ends.
23845 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
23846 "Where nndir will look for groups."
23847 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
23850 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
23851 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
23852 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
23854 @item nnoo-define-basics
23855 This macro defines some common functions that almost all back ends should
23859 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
23863 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
23864 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
23865 function as being public so that other back ends can inherit it.
23867 @item nnoo-map-functions
23868 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current back end to
23869 functions from the parent back ends.
23872 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
23873 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23874 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
23877 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
23878 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
23879 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
23880 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
23883 This macro allows importing functions from back ends. It should be the
23884 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
23885 haven't already been defined.
23891 nnmh-request-newgroups)
23895 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
23896 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
23897 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
23902 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} back end.
23905 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
23906 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
23910 (require 'nnheader)
23914 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
23916 (nnoo-declare nndir
23919 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
23920 "Where nndir will look for groups."
23921 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
23923 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
23924 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
23927 (defvoo nndir-current-group ""
23929 nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
23930 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
23931 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
23933 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
23934 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
23936 ;;; Interface functions.
23938 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
23940 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
23941 (setq nndir-directory
23942 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
23944 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
23945 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
23946 (push `(nndir-current-group
23947 ,(file-name-nondirectory
23948 (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
23950 (push `(nndir-top-directory
23951 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
23953 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
23955 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
23956 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23957 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
23958 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
23959 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
23963 nnmh-status-message
23965 nnmh-request-newgroups))
23971 @node Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
23972 @subsubsection Hooking New Back Ends Into Gnus
23974 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
23975 @findex gnus-declare-backend
23976 Having Gnus start using your new back end is rather easy---you just
23977 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
23978 enter the back end into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
23980 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the back end name and
23981 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
23986 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
23989 The above line would then go in the @file{nnchoke.el} file.
23991 The abilities can be:
23995 This is a mailish back end---followups should (probably) go via mail.
23997 This is a newsish back end---followups should (probably) go via news.
23999 This back end supports both mail and news.
24001 This is neither a post nor mail back end---it's something completely
24004 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
24005 articles and groups.
24007 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
24008 true for almost all back ends.
24009 @item prompt-address
24010 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
24011 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for back ends like
24012 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
24016 @node Mail-like Back Ends
24017 @subsubsection Mail-like Back Ends
24019 One of the things that separate the mail back ends from the rest of the
24020 back ends is the heavy dependence by most of the mail back ends on
24021 common functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the
24022 definition of @code{nnml-request-scan}:
24025 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
24026 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
24027 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
24030 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
24031 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
24034 This function takes four parameters.
24038 This should be a symbol to designate which back end is responsible for
24041 @item exit-function
24042 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
24044 @item temp-directory
24045 Where the temporary files should be stored.
24048 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
24049 performed for one group only.
24052 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{back-end}@code{-save-mail} to
24053 save each article. @var{back-end}@code{-active-number} will be called to
24054 find the article number assigned to this article.
24056 The function also uses the following variables:
24057 @var{back-end}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
24058 this back end); and @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} and
24059 @var{back-end}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
24060 @var{back-end}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
24064 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
24065 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
24069 @node Score File Syntax
24070 @subsection Score File Syntax
24072 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
24073 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
24074 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
24076 Here's a typical score file:
24080 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
24087 BNF definition of a score file:
24090 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
24091 element = rule / atom
24092 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
24093 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
24094 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
24095 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
24097 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
24098 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
24099 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
24100 date-header = "date"
24101 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24102 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24103 score = "nil" / <integer>
24104 date = "nil" / <natural number>
24105 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
24106 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
24107 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
24108 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
24109 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24110 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24111 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
24112 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
24113 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
24114 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
24115 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
24116 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
24117 exclude-files / read-only / touched
24118 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
24119 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
24120 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
24121 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
24122 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
24123 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
24124 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
24125 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
24126 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
24127 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
24128 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
24129 eval = "eval" space <form>
24130 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
24133 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
24136 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
24137 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
24138 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
24139 one looong line, then that's ok.
24141 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
24142 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
24146 @subsection Headers
24148 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
24149 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
24150 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
24151 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
24153 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
24154 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
24155 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
24156 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
24157 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
24158 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
24159 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
24161 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
24162 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
24163 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
24164 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
24165 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
24167 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
24168 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
24174 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
24175 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
24177 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
24178 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
24179 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
24180 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
24182 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
24186 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
24189 is transformed into
24192 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
24195 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
24196 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
24199 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
24202 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
24203 is slightly tricky:
24206 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
24212 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
24215 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
24221 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
24228 and is equal to the previous range.
24230 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
24231 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
24232 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
24236 range = simple-range / normal-range
24237 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
24238 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
24239 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
24240 number *[ " " contents ]
24243 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
24244 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
24245 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
24246 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
24247 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
24252 @subsection Group Info
24254 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
24255 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
24256 describes the group.
24258 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
24259 second is a more complex one:
24262 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
24264 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
24265 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
24267 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
24270 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
24271 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
24272 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
24273 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
24274 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
24275 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
24276 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
24277 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
24278 this section is about.
24280 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
24281 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
24282 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
24284 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
24287 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
24288 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
24289 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
24290 group = quote <string> quote
24291 ralevel = rank / level
24292 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
24293 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
24294 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
24296 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
24297 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
24298 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
24299 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
24302 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
24303 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
24306 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
24307 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
24310 @item gnus-info-group
24311 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
24312 @findex gnus-info-group
24313 @findex gnus-info-set-group
24314 Get/set the group name.
24316 @item gnus-info-rank
24317 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
24318 @findex gnus-info-rank
24319 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
24320 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
24322 @item gnus-info-level
24323 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
24324 @findex gnus-info-level
24325 @findex gnus-info-set-level
24326 Get/set the group level.
24328 @item gnus-info-score
24329 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
24330 @findex gnus-info-score
24331 @findex gnus-info-set-score
24332 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
24334 @item gnus-info-read
24335 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
24336 @findex gnus-info-read
24337 @findex gnus-info-set-read
24338 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
24340 @item gnus-info-marks
24341 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
24342 @findex gnus-info-marks
24343 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
24344 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
24346 @item gnus-info-method
24347 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
24348 @findex gnus-info-method
24349 @findex gnus-info-set-method
24350 Get/set the group select method.
24352 @item gnus-info-params
24353 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
24354 @findex gnus-info-params
24355 @findex gnus-info-set-params
24356 Get/set the group parameters.
24359 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
24360 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
24362 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
24363 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
24364 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
24365 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
24368 @node Extended Interactive
24369 @subsection Extended Interactive
24370 @cindex interactive
24371 @findex gnus-interactive
24373 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
24374 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
24375 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
24378 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
24379 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
24384 The best thing to do would have been to implement
24385 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
24386 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
24387 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
24388 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
24389 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
24390 @code{interactive}.
24392 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
24397 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
24398 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
24402 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
24403 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
24404 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
24407 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
24411 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
24415 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
24421 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
24422 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
24426 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
24427 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
24428 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
24430 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
24431 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
24432 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
24433 Gnus, that's very useful.
24435 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
24436 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
24437 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
24438 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
24439 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
24440 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
24441 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
24442 following function:
24445 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
24449 (,function ,@@args))
24453 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
24454 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
24455 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
24458 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
24459 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
24460 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
24462 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
24463 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
24464 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
24467 @node Various File Formats
24468 @subsection Various File Formats
24471 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
24472 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
24476 @node Active File Format
24477 @subsubsection Active File Format
24479 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
24480 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
24483 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
24486 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
24487 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
24488 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
24489 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
24490 no.general 1000 900 y
24493 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
24496 active = *group-line
24497 group-line = group spc high-number spc low-number spc flag <NEWLINE>
24498 group = <non-white-space string>
24500 high-number = <non-negative integer>
24501 low-number = <positive integer>
24502 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
24505 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
24506 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
24509 @node Newsgroups File Format
24510 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
24512 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
24513 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
24514 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
24517 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
24518 Here's the definition:
24522 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
24523 group = <non-white-space string>
24525 description = <string>
24530 @node Emacs for Heathens
24531 @section Emacs for Heathens
24533 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
24534 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
24535 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{C-M-a}'', ``kill the
24536 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
24537 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
24538 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
24539 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
24543 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
24544 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
24549 @subsection Keystrokes
24553 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
24556 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
24559 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
24560 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
24561 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
24562 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
24563 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
24564 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
24566 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
24567 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
24568 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
24569 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
24570 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
24571 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
24572 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
24574 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
24575 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{C-M-m}
24576 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
24577 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
24578 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
24579 ``Press @kbd{C-M-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
24580 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
24582 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
24583 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
24584 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
24585 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
24586 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
24592 @subsection Emacs Lisp
24594 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
24595 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
24596 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
24597 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
24599 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
24600 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
24601 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
24602 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
24603 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
24604 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
24605 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
24608 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
24609 write the following:
24612 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
24615 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
24616 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
24617 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
24620 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
24621 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
24622 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
24623 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
24624 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
24626 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
24627 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
24628 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
24632 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
24636 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
24639 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
24640 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
24643 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
24646 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
24647 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
24650 @include gnus-faq.texi
24670 @c Local Variables:
24672 @c coding: iso-8859-1
24674 % LocalWords: BNF mucho detailmenu cindex kindex kbd
24675 % LocalWords: findex Gnusae vindex dfn dfn samp nntp setq nnspool nntpserver
24676 % LocalWords: nnmbox newusers Blllrph NEWGROUPS dingnusdingnusdingnus
24677 % LocalWords: pre fab rec comp nnslashdot regex ga ga sci nnml nnbabyl nnmh
24678 % LocalWords: nnfolder emph looong eld newsreaders defun init elc pxref