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9 @c * Gnus: (gnus). The newsreader Gnus.
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265 \gnusauthor{by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen}
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274 Copyright \copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
276 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
277 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
278 are preserved on all copies.
280 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
281 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
282 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
283 permission notice identical to this one.
285 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
286 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
295 This file documents gnus, the GNU Emacs newsreader.
297 Copyright (C) 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
299 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
300 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
301 are preserved on all copies.
304 Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the
305 results, provided the printed document carries copying permission
306 notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph
307 (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual).
310 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
311 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the
312 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
313 permission notice identical to this one.
315 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
316 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
322 @title T-gnus 6.14 Manual
324 @author by Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen
327 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
328 Copyright @copyright{} 1995,96,97,98,99 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
330 Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of
331 this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice
332 are preserved on all copies.
334 Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this
335 manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that the
336 entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
337 permission notice identical to this one.
339 Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual
340 into another language, under the above conditions for modified versions.
349 @top The gnus Newsreader
353 You can read news (and mail) from within Emacs by using gnus. The news
354 can be gotten by any nefarious means you can think of---@sc{nntp}, local
355 spool or your mbox file. All at the same time, if you want to push your
358 T-gnus provides MIME features based on SEMI API. So T-gnus supports
359 your right to read strange messages including big images or other
360 various kinds of formats. T-gnus also supports
361 internationalization/localization and multiscript features based on MULE
362 API. So T-gnus does not discriminate various language communities.
363 Oh, if you are a Klingon, please wait Unicode Next Generation.
365 This manual corresponds to T-gnus 6.14.
376 Gnus is the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible
377 unreal-time newsreader for GNU Emacs.
379 Oops. That sounds oddly familiar, so let's start over again to avoid
380 being accused of plagiarism:
382 Gnus is a message-reading laboratory. It will let you look at just
383 about anything as if it were a newsgroup. You can read mail with it,
384 you can browse directories with it, you can @code{ftp} with it---you
385 can even read news with it!
387 Gnus tries to empower people who read news the same way Emacs empowers
388 people who edit text. Gnus sets no limits to what the user should be
389 allowed to do. Users are encouraged to extend gnus to make it behave
390 like they want it to behave. A program should not control people;
391 people should be empowered to do what they want by using (or abusing)
397 * Starting Up:: Finding news can be a pain.
398 * The Group Buffer:: Selecting, subscribing and killing groups.
399 * The Summary Buffer:: Reading, saving and posting articles.
400 * The Article Buffer:: Displaying and handling articles.
401 * Composing Messages:: Information on sending mail and news.
402 * Select Methods:: Gnus reads all messages from various select methods.
403 * Scoring:: Assigning values to articles.
404 * Various:: General purpose settings.
405 * The End:: Farewell and goodbye.
406 * Appendices:: Terminology, Emacs intro, FAQ, History, Internals.
407 * Index:: Variable, function and concept index.
408 * Key Index:: Key Index.
411 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
415 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
416 * The First Time:: What does Gnus do the first time you start it?
417 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
418 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one Gnus active at a time.
419 * Fetching a Group:: Starting Gnus just to read a group.
420 * New Groups:: What is Gnus supposed to do with new groups?
421 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
422 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
423 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
424 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
425 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
429 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
430 * Subscription Methods:: What Gnus should do with new groups.
431 * Filtering New Groups:: Making Gnus ignore certain new groups.
435 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
436 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
437 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
438 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
439 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
440 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
441 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
442 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
443 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
444 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
445 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
446 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
447 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
448 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
449 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
450 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
451 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
455 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
456 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
457 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
461 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
462 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
463 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
464 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
465 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
469 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking Gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
470 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and Gnus.
471 * Group Timestamp:: Making Gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
472 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the Gnus files.
476 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
477 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
478 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
479 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
480 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
481 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
482 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
483 * Threading:: How threads are made.
484 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
485 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
486 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
487 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
488 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
489 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
490 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
491 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
492 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
493 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
494 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
495 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
496 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
497 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
498 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
499 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
500 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
501 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
502 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
503 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
505 Summary Buffer Format
507 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
508 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
509 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
510 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
514 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
515 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
517 Reply, Followup and Post
519 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
520 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
521 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
522 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
526 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
527 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
528 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
532 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
533 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
534 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
538 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
539 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
541 Customizing Threading
543 * Loose Threads:: How Gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
544 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
545 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
546 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
550 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
551 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
552 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
553 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
554 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
555 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
559 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
560 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
561 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
565 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
566 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
567 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
568 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
569 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
570 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
571 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
572 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
574 Alternative Approaches
576 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
577 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
579 Various Summary Stuff
581 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
582 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
583 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
584 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
588 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
589 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
590 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
591 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
592 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
596 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
597 * Post:: Posting and following up.
598 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
599 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
600 * Archived Messages:: Where Gnus stores the messages you've sent.
601 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
602 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
603 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
607 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
608 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
609 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
610 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
611 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
612 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
613 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
617 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
618 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
619 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
620 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
621 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
622 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
623 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
627 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
628 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
632 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
633 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
634 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
635 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
636 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
637 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
638 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
639 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
640 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
641 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
642 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
643 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
644 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
648 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
649 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
650 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
652 Choosing a Mail Backend
654 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
655 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
656 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
657 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
658 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
659 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
663 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
664 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
665 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
666 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
670 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
671 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
672 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
673 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
674 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
675 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
679 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
683 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
684 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
685 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
689 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
690 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
691 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
695 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
696 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
700 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
701 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
702 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
703 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
704 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
705 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
706 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
707 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
708 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
712 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
713 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
714 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
718 * Group Agent Commands::
719 * Summary Agent Commands::
720 * Server Agent Commands::
724 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
725 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
726 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
727 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
728 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
729 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
730 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
731 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
732 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
733 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
734 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
735 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
736 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
737 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
738 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
739 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
743 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
744 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
745 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
746 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
750 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
751 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
752 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
756 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
757 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
758 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
759 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
760 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
761 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
762 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
763 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
764 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
765 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
766 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
767 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
768 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
769 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
770 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
771 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
772 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
773 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
777 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
778 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
779 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
780 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
781 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
785 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
786 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
787 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
788 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
792 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
793 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
794 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
795 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
796 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
800 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
801 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
802 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
803 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
804 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
805 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
806 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
807 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
811 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
812 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
813 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
814 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
815 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
816 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
817 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
818 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
819 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
820 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
824 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
825 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
826 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
827 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
831 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
832 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
833 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
834 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
838 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
839 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
840 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
841 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
842 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
843 * Group Info:: The group info format.
844 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
845 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
846 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
850 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
851 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
852 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
853 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
854 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
855 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
859 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
860 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
864 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
865 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
871 @chapter Starting gnus
876 If your system administrator has set things up properly, starting gnus
877 and reading news is extremely easy---you just type @kbd{M-x gnus} in
880 @findex gnus-other-frame
881 @kindex M-x gnus-other-frame
882 If you want to start gnus in a different frame, you can use the command
883 @kbd{M-x gnus-other-frame} instead.
885 If things do not go smoothly at startup, you have to twiddle some
886 variables in your @file{~/.gnus} file. This file is similar to
887 @file{~/.emacs}, but is read when gnus starts.
889 If you puzzle at any terms used in this manual, please refer to the
890 terminology section (@pxref{Terminology}).
893 * Finding the News:: Choosing a method for getting news.
894 * The First Time:: What does gnus do the first time you start it?
895 * The Server is Down:: How can I read my mail then?
896 * Slave Gnusae:: You can have more than one gnus active at a time.
897 * Fetching a Group:: Starting gnus just to read a group.
898 * New Groups:: What is gnus supposed to do with new groups?
899 * Startup Files:: Those pesky startup files---@file{.newsrc}.
900 * Auto Save:: Recovering from a crash.
901 * The Active File:: Reading the active file over a slow line Takes Time.
902 * Changing Servers:: You may want to move from one server to another.
903 * Startup Variables:: Other variables you might change.
907 @node Finding the News
908 @section Finding the News
911 @vindex gnus-select-method
913 The @code{gnus-select-method} variable says where gnus should look for
914 news. This variable should be a list where the first element says
915 @dfn{how} and the second element says @dfn{where}. This method is your
916 native method. All groups not fetched with this method are
919 For instance, if the @samp{news.somewhere.edu} @sc{nntp} server is where
920 you want to get your daily dosage of news from, you'd say:
923 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.somewhere.edu"))
926 If you want to read directly from the local spool, say:
929 (setq gnus-select-method '(nnspool ""))
932 If you can use a local spool, you probably should, as it will almost
933 certainly be much faster.
935 @vindex gnus-nntpserver-file
937 @cindex @sc{nntp} server
938 If this variable is not set, gnus will take a look at the
939 @code{NNTPSERVER} environment variable. If that variable isn't set,
940 gnus will see whether @code{gnus-nntpserver-file}
941 (@file{/etc/nntpserver} by default) has any opinions on the matter. If
942 that fails as well, gnus will try to use the machine running Emacs as an @sc{nntp} server. That's a long shot, though.
944 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
945 If @code{gnus-nntp-server} is set, this variable will override
946 @code{gnus-select-method}. You should therefore set
947 @code{gnus-nntp-server} to @code{nil}, which is what it is by default.
949 @vindex gnus-secondary-servers
950 @vindex gnus-nntp-server
951 You can also make gnus prompt you interactively for the name of an
952 @sc{nntp} server. If you give a non-numerical prefix to @code{gnus}
953 (i.e., @kbd{C-u M-x gnus}), gnus will let you choose between the servers
954 in the @code{gnus-secondary-servers} list (if any). You can also just
955 type in the name of any server you feel like visiting. (Note that this
956 will set @code{gnus-nntp-server}, which means that if you then @kbd{M-x
957 gnus} later in the same Emacs session, Gnus will contact the same
960 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
962 However, if you use one @sc{nntp} server regularly and are just
963 interested in a couple of groups from a different server, you would be
964 better served by using the @kbd{B} command in the group buffer. It will
965 let you have a look at what groups are available, and you can subscribe
966 to any of the groups you want to. This also makes @file{.newsrc}
967 maintenance much tidier. @xref{Foreign Groups}.
969 @vindex gnus-secondary-select-methods
971 A slightly different approach to foreign groups is to set the
972 @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods} variable. The select methods
973 listed in this variable are in many ways just as native as the
974 @code{gnus-select-method} server. They will also be queried for active
975 files during startup (if that's required), and new newsgroups that
976 appear on these servers will be subscribed (or not) just as native
979 For instance, if you use the @code{nnmbox} backend to read your mail, you
980 would typically set this variable to
983 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnmbox "")))
988 @section The First Time
989 @cindex first time usage
991 If no startup files exist, gnus will try to determine what groups should
992 be subscribed by default.
994 @vindex gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups
995 If the variable @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is set, gnus
996 will subscribe you to just those groups in that list, leaving the rest
997 killed. Your system administrator should have set this variable to
1000 Since she hasn't, gnus will just subscribe you to a few arbitrarily
1001 picked groups (i.e., @samp{*.newusers}). (@dfn{Arbitrary} is defined
1002 here as @dfn{whatever Lars thinks you should read}.)
1004 You'll also be subscribed to the gnus documentation group, which should
1005 help you with most common problems.
1007 If @code{gnus-default-subscribed-newsgroups} is @code{t}, gnus will just
1008 use the normal functions for handling new groups, and not do anything
1012 @node The Server is Down
1013 @section The Server is Down
1014 @cindex server errors
1016 If the default server is down, gnus will understandably have some
1017 problems starting. However, if you have some mail groups in addition to
1018 the news groups, you may want to start gnus anyway.
1020 Gnus, being the trusting sort of program, will ask whether to proceed
1021 without a native select method if that server can't be contacted. This
1022 will happen whether the server doesn't actually exist (i.e., you have
1023 given the wrong address) or the server has just momentarily taken ill
1024 for some reason or other. If you decide to continue and have no foreign
1025 groups, you'll find it difficult to actually do anything in the group
1026 buffer. But, hey, that's your problem. Blllrph!
1028 @findex gnus-no-server
1029 @kindex M-x gnus-no-server
1031 If you know that the server is definitely down, or you just want to read
1032 your mail without bothering with the server at all, you can use the
1033 @code{gnus-no-server} command to start gnus. That might come in handy
1034 if you're in a hurry as well. This command will not attempt to contact
1035 your primary server---instead, it will just activate all groups on level
1036 1 and 2. (You should preferably keep no native groups on those two
1041 @section Slave Gnusae
1044 You might want to run more than one Emacs with more than one gnus at the
1045 same time. If you are using different @file{.newsrc} files (e.g., if you
1046 are using the two different gnusae to read from two different servers),
1047 that is no problem whatsoever. You just do it.
1049 The problem appears when you want to run two Gnusae that use the same
1050 @code{.newsrc} file.
1052 To work around that problem some, we here at the Think-Tank at the gnus
1053 Towers have come up with a new concept: @dfn{Masters} and
1054 @dfn{slaves}. (We have applied for a patent on this concept, and have
1055 taken out a copyright on those words. If you wish to use those words in
1056 conjunction with each other, you have to send $1 per usage instance to
1057 me. Usage of the patent (@dfn{Master/Slave Relationships In Computer
1058 Applications}) will be much more expensive, of course.)
1060 Anyways, you start one gnus up the normal way with @kbd{M-x gnus} (or
1061 however you do it). Each subsequent slave gnusae should be started with
1062 @kbd{M-x gnus-slave}. These slaves won't save normal @file{.newsrc}
1063 files, but instead save @dfn{slave files} that contain information only
1064 on what groups have been read in the slave session. When a master gnus
1065 starts, it will read (and delete) these slave files, incorporating all
1066 information from them. (The slave files will be read in the sequence
1067 they were created, so the latest changes will have precedence.)
1069 Information from the slave files has, of course, precedence over the
1070 information in the normal (i.e., master) @code{.newsrc} file.
1073 @node Fetching a Group
1074 @section Fetching a Group
1075 @cindex fetching a group
1077 @findex gnus-fetch-group
1078 It is sometimes convenient to be able to just say ``I want to read this
1079 group and I don't care whether gnus has been started or not''. This is
1080 perhaps more useful for people who write code than for users, but the
1081 command @code{gnus-fetch-group} provides this functionality in any case.
1082 It takes the group name as a parameter.
1088 @cindex subscription
1090 @vindex gnus-check-new-newsgroups
1091 If you are satisfied that you really never want to see any new groups,
1092 you can set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil}. This will
1093 also save you some time at startup. Even if this variable is
1094 @code{nil}, you can always subscribe to the new groups just by pressing
1095 @kbd{U} in the group buffer (@pxref{Group Maintenance}). This variable
1096 is @code{ask-server} by default. If you set this variable to
1097 @code{always}, then gnus will query the backends for new groups even
1098 when you do the @kbd{g} command (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
1101 * Checking New Groups:: Determining what groups are new.
1102 * Subscription Methods:: What gnus should do with new groups.
1103 * Filtering New Groups:: Making gnus ignore certain new groups.
1107 @node Checking New Groups
1108 @subsection Checking New Groups
1110 Gnus normally determines whether a group is new or not by comparing the
1111 list of groups from the active file(s) with the lists of subscribed and
1112 dead groups. This isn't a particularly fast method. If
1113 @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} is @code{ask-server}, gnus will ask the
1114 server for new groups since the last time. This is both faster and
1115 cheaper. This also means that you can get rid of the list of killed
1116 groups altogether, so you may set @code{gnus-save-killed-list} to
1117 @code{nil}, which will save time both at startup, at exit, and all over.
1118 Saves disk space, too. Why isn't this the default, then?
1119 Unfortunately, not all servers support this command.
1121 I bet I know what you're thinking now: How do I find out whether my
1122 server supports @code{ask-server}? No? Good, because I don't have a
1123 fail-safe answer. I would suggest just setting this variable to
1124 @code{ask-server} and see whether any new groups appear within the next
1125 few days. If any do, then it works. If none do, then it doesn't
1126 work. I could write a function to make gnus guess whether the server
1127 supports @code{ask-server}, but it would just be a guess. So I won't.
1128 You could @code{telnet} to the server and say @code{HELP} and see
1129 whether it lists @samp{NEWGROUPS} among the commands it understands. If
1130 it does, then it might work. (But there are servers that lists
1131 @samp{NEWGROUPS} without supporting the function properly.)
1133 This variable can also be a list of select methods. If so, gnus will
1134 issue an @code{ask-server} command to each of the select methods, and
1135 subscribe them (or not) using the normal methods. This might be handy
1136 if you are monitoring a few servers for new groups. A side effect is
1137 that startup will take much longer, so you can meditate while waiting.
1138 Use the mantra ``dingnusdingnusdingnus'' to achieve permanent bliss.
1141 @node Subscription Methods
1142 @subsection Subscription Methods
1144 @vindex gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method
1145 What gnus does when it encounters a new group is determined by the
1146 @code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} variable.
1148 This variable should contain a function. This function will be called
1149 with the name of the new group as the only parameter.
1151 Some handy pre-fab functions are:
1155 @item gnus-subscribe-zombies
1156 @vindex gnus-subscribe-zombies
1157 Make all new groups zombies. This is the default. You can browse the
1158 zombies later (with @kbd{A z}) and either kill them all off properly
1159 (with @kbd{S z}), or subscribe to them (with @kbd{u}).
1161 @item gnus-subscribe-randomly
1162 @vindex gnus-subscribe-randomly
1163 Subscribe all new groups in arbitrary order. This really means that all
1164 new groups will be added at ``the top'' of the group buffer.
1166 @item gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1167 @vindex gnus-subscribe-alphabetically
1168 Subscribe all new groups in alphabetical order.
1170 @item gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1171 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchically
1172 Subscribe all new groups hierarchically. The difference between this
1173 function and @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} is slight.
1174 @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically} will subscribe new groups in a strictly
1175 alphabetical fashion, while this function will enter groups into its
1176 hierarchy. So if you want to have the @samp{rec} hierarchy before the
1177 @samp{comp} hierarchy, this function will not mess that configuration
1178 up. Or something like that.
1180 @item gnus-subscribe-interactively
1181 @vindex gnus-subscribe-interactively
1182 Subscribe new groups interactively. This means that gnus will ask
1183 you about @strong{all} new groups. The groups you choose to subscribe
1184 to will be subscribed hierarchically.
1186 @item gnus-subscribe-killed
1187 @vindex gnus-subscribe-killed
1188 Kill all new groups.
1190 @item gnus-subscribe-topics
1191 @vindex gnus-subscribe-topics
1192 Put the groups into the topic that has a matching @code{subscribe} topic
1193 parameter (@pxref{Topic Parameters}). For instance, a @code{subscribe}
1194 topic parameter that looks like
1200 will mean that all groups that match that regex will be subscribed under
1203 If no topics match the groups, the groups will be subscribed in the
1208 @vindex gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive
1209 A closely related variable is
1210 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. (That's quite a
1211 mouthful.) If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will ask you in a
1212 hierarchical fashion whether to subscribe to new groups or not. Gnus
1213 will ask you for each sub-hierarchy whether you want to descend the
1216 One common mistake is to set the variable a few paragraphs above
1217 (@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method}) to
1218 @code{gnus-subscribe-hierarchical-interactive}. This is an error. This
1219 will not work. This is ga-ga. So don't do it.
1222 @node Filtering New Groups
1223 @subsection Filtering New Groups
1225 A nice and portable way to control which new newsgroups should be
1226 subscribed (or ignored) is to put an @dfn{options} line at the start of
1227 the @file{.newsrc} file. Here's an example:
1230 options -n !alt.all !rec.all sci.all
1233 @vindex gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method
1234 This line obviously belongs to a serious-minded intellectual scientific
1235 person (or she may just be plain old boring), because it says that all
1236 groups that have names beginning with @samp{alt} and @samp{rec} should
1237 be ignored, and all groups with names beginning with @samp{sci} should
1238 be subscribed. Gnus will not use the normal subscription method for
1239 subscribing these groups.
1240 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method} is used instead. This
1241 variable defaults to @code{gnus-subscribe-alphabetically}.
1243 @vindex gnus-options-not-subscribe
1244 @vindex gnus-options-subscribe
1245 If you don't want to mess with your @file{.newsrc} file, you can just
1246 set the two variables @code{gnus-options-subscribe} and
1247 @code{gnus-options-not-subscribe}. These two variables do exactly the
1248 same as the @file{.newsrc} @samp{options -n} trick. Both are regexps,
1249 and if the new group matches the former, it will be unconditionally
1250 subscribed, and if it matches the latter, it will be ignored.
1252 @vindex gnus-auto-subscribed-groups
1253 Yet another variable that meddles here is
1254 @code{gnus-auto-subscribed-groups}. It works exactly like
1255 @code{gnus-options-subscribe}, and is therefore really superfluous, but I
1256 thought it would be nice to have two of these. This variable is more
1257 meant for setting some ground rules, while the other variable is used
1258 more for user fiddling. By default this variable makes all new groups
1259 that come from mail backends (@code{nnml}, @code{nnbabyl},
1260 @code{nnfolder}, @code{nnmbox}, and @code{nnmh}) subscribed. If you
1261 don't like that, just set this variable to @code{nil}.
1263 New groups that match this regexp are subscribed using
1264 @code{gnus-subscribe-options-newsgroup-method}.
1267 @node Changing Servers
1268 @section Changing Servers
1269 @cindex changing servers
1271 Sometimes it is necessary to move from one @sc{nntp} server to another.
1272 This happens very rarely, but perhaps you change jobs, or one server is
1273 very flaky and you want to use another.
1275 Changing the server is pretty easy, right? You just change
1276 @code{gnus-select-method} to point to the new server?
1280 Article numbers are not (in any way) kept synchronized between different
1281 @sc{nntp} servers, and the only way Gnus keeps track of what articles
1282 you have read is by keeping track of article numbers. So when you
1283 change @code{gnus-select-method}, your @file{.newsrc} file becomes
1286 Gnus provides a few functions to attempt to translate a @file{.newsrc}
1287 file from one server to another. They all have one thing in
1288 common---they take a looong time to run. You don't want to use these
1289 functions more than absolutely necessary.
1291 @kindex M-x gnus-change-server
1292 @findex gnus-change-server
1293 If you have access to both servers, Gnus can request the headers for all
1294 the articles you have read and compare @code{Message-ID}s and map the
1295 article numbers of the read articles and article marks. The @kbd{M-x
1296 gnus-change-server} command will do this for all your native groups. It
1297 will prompt for the method you want to move to.
1299 @kindex M-x gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1300 @findex gnus-group-move-group-to-server
1301 You can also move individual groups with the @kbd{M-x
1302 gnus-group-move-group-to-server} command. This is useful if you want to
1303 move a (foreign) group from one server to another.
1305 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1306 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
1307 If you don't have access to both the old and new server, all your marks
1308 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use the @kbd{M-x
1309 gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups} command to clear out all data
1310 that you have on your native groups. Use with caution.
1312 After changing servers, you @strong{must} move the cache hierarchy away,
1313 since the cached articles will have wrong article numbers, which will
1314 affect which articles Gnus thinks are read.
1318 @section Startup Files
1319 @cindex startup files
1324 Now, you all know about the @file{.newsrc} file. All subscription
1325 information is traditionally stored in this file.
1327 Things got a bit more complicated with @sc{gnus}. In addition to
1328 keeping the @file{.newsrc} file updated, it also used a file called
1329 @file{.newsrc.el} for storing all the information that didn't fit into
1330 the @file{.newsrc} file. (Actually, it also duplicated everything in
1331 the @file{.newsrc} file.) @sc{gnus} would read whichever one of these
1332 files was the most recently saved, which enabled people to swap between
1333 @sc{gnus} and other newsreaders.
1335 That was kinda silly, so Gnus went one better: In addition to the
1336 @file{.newsrc} and @file{.newsrc.el} files, Gnus also has a file called
1337 @file{.newsrc.eld}. It will read whichever of these files that are most
1338 recent, but it will never write a @file{.newsrc.el} file. You should
1339 never delete the @file{.newsrc.eld} file---it contains much information
1340 not stored in the @file{.newsrc} file.
1342 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-file
1343 @vindex gnus-read-newsrc-file
1344 You can turn off writing the @file{.newsrc} file by setting
1345 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-file} to @code{nil}, which means you can delete
1346 the file and save some space, as well as exiting from gnus faster.
1347 However, this will make it impossible to use other newsreaders than
1348 gnus. But hey, who would want to, right? Similarly, setting
1349 @code{gnus-read-newsrc-file} to @code{nil} makes gnus ignore the
1350 @file{.newsrc} file and any @file{.newsrc-SERVER} files, which is
1351 convenient if you have a tendency to use Netscape once in a while.
1353 @vindex gnus-save-killed-list
1354 If @code{gnus-save-killed-list} (default @code{t}) is @code{nil}, Gnus
1355 will not save the list of killed groups to the startup file. This will
1356 save both time (when starting and quitting) and space (on disk). It
1357 will also mean that Gnus has no record of what groups are new or old,
1358 so the automatic new groups subscription methods become meaningless.
1359 You should always set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{nil} or
1360 @code{ask-server} if you set this variable to @code{nil} (@pxref{New
1361 Groups}). This variable can also be a regular expression. If that's
1362 the case, remove all groups that do not match this regexp before
1363 saving. This can be useful in certain obscure situations that involve
1364 several servers where not all servers support @code{ask-server}.
1366 @vindex gnus-startup-file
1367 The @code{gnus-startup-file} variable says where the startup files are.
1368 The default value is @file{~/.newsrc}, with the Gnus (El Dingo) startup
1369 file being whatever that one is, with a @samp{.eld} appended.
1371 @vindex gnus-save-newsrc-hook
1372 @vindex gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook
1373 @vindex gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook
1374 @code{gnus-save-newsrc-hook} is called before saving any of the newsrc
1375 files, while @code{gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook} is called just before
1376 saving the @file{.newsrc.eld} file, and
1377 @code{gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook} is called just before saving the
1378 @file{.newsrc} file. The latter two are commonly used to turn version
1379 control on or off. Version control is on by default when saving the
1380 startup files. If you want to turn backup creation off, say something like:
1383 (defun turn-off-backup ()
1384 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
1386 (add-hook 'gnus-save-quick-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1387 (add-hook 'gnus-save-standard-newsrc-hook 'turn-off-backup)
1390 @vindex gnus-init-file
1391 When gnus starts, it will read the @code{gnus-site-init-file}
1392 (@file{.../site-lisp/gnus} by default) and @code{gnus-init-file}
1393 (@file{~/.gnus} by default) files. These are normal Emacs Lisp files
1394 and can be used to avoid cluttering your @file{~/.emacs} and
1395 @file{site-init} files with gnus stuff. Gnus will also check for files
1396 with the same names as these, but with @file{.elc} and @file{.el}
1397 suffixes. In other words, if you have set @code{gnus-init-file} to
1398 @file{~/.gnus}, it will look for @file{~/.gnus.elc}, @file{~/.gnus.el},
1399 and finally @file{~/.gnus} (in this order).
1405 @cindex dribble file
1408 Whenever you do something that changes the gnus data (reading articles,
1409 catching up, killing/subscribing groups), the change is added to a
1410 special @dfn{dribble buffer}. This buffer is auto-saved the normal
1411 Emacs way. If your Emacs should crash before you have saved the
1412 @file{.newsrc} files, all changes you have made can be recovered from
1415 If gnus detects this file at startup, it will ask the user whether to
1416 read it. The auto save file is deleted whenever the real startup file is
1419 @vindex gnus-use-dribble-file
1420 If @code{gnus-use-dribble-file} is @code{nil}, gnus won't create and
1421 maintain a dribble buffer. The default is @code{t}.
1423 @vindex gnus-dribble-directory
1424 Gnus will put the dribble file(s) in @code{gnus-dribble-directory}. If
1425 this variable is @code{nil}, which it is by default, gnus will dribble
1426 into the directory where the @file{.newsrc} file is located. (This is
1427 normally the user's home directory.) The dribble file will get the same
1428 file permissions as the @code{.newsrc} file.
1430 @vindex gnus-always-read-dribble-file
1431 If @code{gnus-always-read-dribble-file} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will
1432 read the dribble file on startup without querying the user.
1435 @node The Active File
1436 @section The Active File
1438 @cindex ignored groups
1440 When gnus starts, or indeed whenever it tries to determine whether new
1441 articles have arrived, it reads the active file. This is a very large
1442 file that lists all the active groups and articles on the server.
1444 @vindex gnus-ignored-newsgroups
1445 Before examining the active file, gnus deletes all lines that match the
1446 regexp @code{gnus-ignored-newsgroups}. This is done primarily to reject
1447 any groups with bogus names, but you can use this variable to make gnus
1448 ignore hierarchies you aren't ever interested in. However, this is not
1449 recommended. In fact, it's highly discouraged. Instead, @pxref{New
1450 Groups} for an overview of other variables that can be used instead.
1453 @c @code{nil} by default, and will slow down active file handling somewhat
1454 @c if you set it to anything else.
1456 @vindex gnus-read-active-file
1458 The active file can be rather Huge, so if you have a slow network, you
1459 can set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{nil} to prevent gnus from
1460 reading the active file. This variable is @code{some} by default.
1462 Gnus will try to make do by getting information just on the groups that
1463 you actually subscribe to.
1465 Note that if you subscribe to lots and lots of groups, setting this
1466 variable to @code{nil} will probably make gnus slower, not faster. At
1467 present, having this variable @code{nil} will slow gnus down
1468 considerably, unless you read news over a 2400 baud modem.
1470 This variable can also have the value @code{some}. Gnus will then
1471 attempt to read active info only on the subscribed groups. On some
1472 servers this is quite fast (on sparkling, brand new INN servers that
1473 support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command), on others this isn't fast
1474 at all. In any case, @code{some} should be faster than @code{nil}, and
1475 is certainly faster than @code{t} over slow lines.
1477 Some news servers (Leafnode and old versions of INN, for instance) do
1478 not support the @code{LIST ACTIVE group}. For these servers, @code{nil}
1479 is probably the most efficient value for this variable.
1481 If this variable is @code{nil}, gnus will ask for group info in total
1482 lock-step, which isn't very fast. If it is @code{some} and you use an
1483 @sc{nntp} server, gnus will pump out commands as fast as it can, and
1484 read all the replies in one swoop. This will normally result in better
1485 performance, but if the server does not support the aforementioned
1486 @code{LIST ACTIVE group} command, this isn't very nice to the server.
1488 If you think that starting up Gnus takes too long, try all the three
1489 different values for this variable and see what works best for you.
1491 In any case, if you use @code{some} or @code{nil}, you should definitely
1492 kill all groups that you aren't interested in to speed things up.
1494 Note that this variable also affects active file retrieval from
1495 secondary select methods.
1498 @node Startup Variables
1499 @section Startup Variables
1503 @item gnus-load-hook
1504 @vindex gnus-load-hook
1505 A hook run while gnus is being loaded. Note that this hook will
1506 normally be run just once in each Emacs session, no matter how many
1507 times you start gnus.
1509 @item gnus-before-startup-hook
1510 @vindex gnus-before-startup-hook
1511 A hook run after starting up gnus successfully.
1513 @item gnus-startup-hook
1514 @vindex gnus-startup-hook
1515 A hook run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1517 @item gnus-started-hook
1518 @vindex gnus-started-hook
1519 A hook that is run as the very last thing after starting up gnus
1522 @item gnus-setup-news-hook
1523 @vindex gnus-setup-news-hook
1524 A hook that is run after reading the @file{.newsrc} file(s), but before
1525 generating the group buffer.
1527 @item gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1528 @vindex gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups
1529 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will check for and delete all bogus groups at
1530 startup. A @dfn{bogus group} is a group that you have in your
1531 @file{.newsrc} file, but doesn't exist on the news server. Checking for
1532 bogus groups can take quite a while, so to save time and resources it's
1533 best to leave this option off, and do the checking for bogus groups once
1534 in a while from the group buffer instead (@pxref{Group Maintenance}).
1536 @item gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1537 @vindex gnus-inhibit-startup-message
1538 If non-@code{nil}, the startup message won't be displayed. That way,
1539 your boss might not notice as easily that you are reading news instead
1540 of doing your job. Note that this variable is used before
1541 @file{.gnus.el} is loaded, so it should be set in @code{.emacs} instead.
1543 @item gnus-no-groups-message
1544 @vindex gnus-no-groups-message
1545 Message displayed by gnus when no groups are available.
1547 @item gnus-play-startup-jingle
1548 @vindex gnus-play-startup-jingle
1549 If non-@code{nil}, play the gnus jingle at startup.
1551 @item gnus-startup-jingle
1552 @vindex gnus-startup-jingle
1553 Jingle to be played if the above variable is non-@code{nil}. The
1554 default is @samp{Tuxedomoon.Jingle4.au}.
1559 @node The Group Buffer
1560 @chapter The Group Buffer
1561 @cindex group buffer
1563 The @dfn{group buffer} lists all (or parts) of the available groups. It
1564 is the first buffer shown when gnus starts, and will never be killed as
1565 long as gnus is active.
1569 \gnusfigure{The Group Buffer}{320}{
1570 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group.ps,height=9cm}}
1571 \put(120,37){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Buffer name}}
1572 \put(120,38){\vector(1,2){10}}
1573 \put(40,60){\makebox(0,0)[r]{Mode line}}
1574 \put(40,58){\vector(1,0){30}}
1575 \put(200,28){\makebox(0,0)[t]{Native select method}}
1576 \put(200,26){\vector(-1,2){15}}
1582 * Group Buffer Format:: Information listed and how you can change it.
1583 * Group Maneuvering:: Commands for moving in the group buffer.
1584 * Selecting a Group:: Actually reading news.
1585 * Group Data:: Changing the info for a group.
1586 * Subscription Commands:: Unsubscribing, killing, subscribing.
1587 * Group Levels:: Levels? What are those, then?
1588 * Group Score:: A mechanism for finding out what groups you like.
1589 * Marking Groups:: You can mark groups for later processing.
1590 * Foreign Groups:: Creating and editing groups.
1591 * Group Parameters:: Each group may have different parameters set.
1592 * Listing Groups:: Gnus can list various subsets of the groups.
1593 * Sorting Groups:: Re-arrange the group order.
1594 * Group Maintenance:: Maintaining a tidy @file{.newsrc} file.
1595 * Browse Foreign Server:: You can browse a server. See what it has to offer.
1596 * Exiting Gnus:: Stop reading news and get some work done.
1597 * Group Topics:: A folding group mode divided into topics.
1598 * Misc Group Stuff:: Other stuff that you can to do.
1602 @node Group Buffer Format
1603 @section Group Buffer Format
1606 * Group Line Specification:: Deciding how the group buffer is to look.
1607 * Group Modeline Specification:: The group buffer modeline.
1608 * Group Highlighting:: Having nice colors in the group buffer.
1612 @node Group Line Specification
1613 @subsection Group Line Specification
1614 @cindex group buffer format
1616 The default format of the group buffer is nice and dull, but you can
1617 make it as exciting and ugly as you feel like.
1619 Here's a couple of example group lines:
1622 25: news.announce.newusers
1623 * 0: alt.fan.andrea-dworkin
1628 You can see that there are 25 unread articles in
1629 @samp{news.announce.newusers}. There are no unread articles, but some
1630 ticked articles, in @samp{alt.fan.andrea-dworkin} (see that little
1631 asterisk at the beginning of the line?).
1633 @vindex gnus-group-line-format
1634 You can change that format to whatever you want by fiddling with the
1635 @code{gnus-group-line-format} variable. This variable works along the
1636 lines of a @code{format} specification, which is pretty much the same as
1637 a @code{printf} specifications, for those of you who use (feh!) C.
1638 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
1640 @samp{%M%S%5y: %(%g%)\n} is the value that produced those lines above.
1642 There should always be a colon on the line; the cursor always moves to
1643 the colon after performing an operation. Nothing else is required---not
1644 even the group name. All displayed text is just window dressing, and is
1645 never examined by gnus. Gnus stores all real information it needs using
1648 (Note that if you make a really strange, wonderful, spreadsheet-like
1649 layout, everybody will believe you are hard at work with the accounting
1650 instead of wasting time reading news.)
1652 Here's a list of all available format characters:
1657 An asterisk if the group only has marked articles.
1660 Whether the group is subscribed.
1663 Level of subscribedness.
1666 Number of unread articles.
1669 Number of dormant articles.
1672 Number of ticked articles.
1675 Number of read articles.
1678 Estimated total number of articles. (This is really @var{max-number}
1679 minus @var{min-number} plus 1.)
1682 Number of unread, unticked, non-dormant articles.
1685 Number of ticked and dormant articles.
1694 Newsgroup description.
1697 @samp{m} if moderated.
1700 @samp{(m)} if moderated.
1709 A string that looks like @samp{<%s:%n>} if a foreign select method is
1713 Indentation based on the level of the topic (@pxref{Group Topics}).
1716 @vindex gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels
1717 Short (collapsed) group name. The @code{gnus-group-uncollapsed-levels}
1718 variable says how many levels to leave at the end of the group name.
1719 The default is 1---this will mean that group names like
1720 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} will be shortened to @samp{g.e.gnus}.
1723 @vindex gnus-new-mail-mark
1725 @samp{%} (@code{gnus-new-mail-mark}) if there has arrived new mail to
1729 A string that says when you last read the group (@pxref{Group
1733 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
1734 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
1735 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
1736 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed a single dummy
1737 parameter as argument. The function should return a string, which will
1738 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
1743 All the ``number-of'' specs will be filled with an asterisk (@samp{*})
1744 if no info is available---for instance, if it is a non-activated foreign
1745 group, or a bogus native group.
1748 @node Group Modeline Specification
1749 @subsection Group Modeline Specification
1750 @cindex group modeline
1752 @vindex gnus-group-mode-line-format
1753 The mode line can be changed by setting
1754 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
1755 doesn't understand that many format specifiers:
1759 The native news server.
1761 The native select method.
1765 @node Group Highlighting
1766 @subsection Group Highlighting
1767 @cindex highlighting
1768 @cindex group highlighting
1770 @vindex gnus-group-highlight
1771 Highlighting in the group buffer is controlled by the
1772 @code{gnus-group-highlight} variable. This is an alist with elements
1773 that look like @code{(@var{form} . @var{face})}. If @var{form} evaluates to
1774 something non-@code{nil}, the @var{face} will be used on the line.
1776 Here's an example value for this variable that might look nice if the
1780 (cond (window-system
1781 (setq custom-background-mode 'light)
1782 (defface my-group-face-1
1783 '((t (:foreground "Red" :bold t))) "First group face")
1784 (defface my-group-face-2
1785 '((t (:foreground "DarkSeaGreen4" :bold t))) "Second group face")
1786 (defface my-group-face-3
1787 '((t (:foreground "Green4" :bold t))) "Third group face")
1788 (defface my-group-face-4
1789 '((t (:foreground "SteelBlue" :bold t))) "Fourth group face")
1790 (defface my-group-face-5
1791 '((t (:foreground "Blue" :bold t))) "Fifth group face")))
1793 (setq gnus-group-highlight
1794 '(((> unread 200) . my-group-face-1)
1795 ((and (< level 3) (zerop unread)) . my-group-face-2)
1796 ((< level 3) . my-group-face-3)
1797 ((zerop unread) . my-group-face-4)
1798 (t . my-group-face-5)))
1801 Also @pxref{Faces and Fonts}.
1803 Variables that are dynamically bound when the forms are evaluated
1810 The number of unread articles in the group.
1814 Whether the group is a mail group.
1816 The level of the group.
1818 The score of the group.
1820 The number of ticked articles in the group.
1822 The total number of articles in the group. Or rather, MAX-NUMBER minus
1823 MIN-NUMBER plus one.
1825 When using the topic minor mode, this variable is bound to the current
1826 topic being inserted.
1829 When the forms are @code{eval}ed, point is at the beginning of the line
1830 of the group in question, so you can use many of the normal gnus
1831 functions for snarfing info on the group.
1833 @vindex gnus-group-update-hook
1834 @findex gnus-group-highlight-line
1835 @code{gnus-group-update-hook} is called when a group line is changed.
1836 It will not be called when @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}. This hook
1837 calls @code{gnus-group-highlight-line} by default.
1840 @node Group Maneuvering
1841 @section Group Maneuvering
1842 @cindex group movement
1844 All movement commands understand the numeric prefix and will behave as
1845 expected, hopefully.
1851 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group
1852 Go to the next group that has unread articles
1853 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group}).
1859 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group
1860 Go to the previous group that has unread articles
1861 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group}).
1865 @findex gnus-group-next-group
1866 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
1870 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
1871 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
1875 @findex gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level
1876 Go to the next unread group on the same (or lower) level
1877 (@code{gnus-group-next-unread-group-same-level}).
1881 @findex gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level
1882 Go to the previous unread group on the same (or lower) level
1883 (@code{gnus-group-prev-unread-group-same-level}).
1886 Three commands for jumping to groups:
1892 @findex gnus-group-jump-to-group
1893 Jump to a group (and make it visible if it isn't already)
1894 (@code{gnus-group-jump-to-group}). Killed groups can be jumped to, just
1899 @findex gnus-group-best-unread-group
1900 Jump to the unread group with the lowest level
1901 (@code{gnus-group-best-unread-group}).
1905 @findex gnus-group-first-unread-group
1906 Jump to the first group with unread articles
1907 (@code{gnus-group-first-unread-group}).
1910 @vindex gnus-group-goto-unread
1911 If @code{gnus-group-goto-unread} is @code{nil}, all the movement
1912 commands will move to the next group, not the next unread group. Even
1913 the commands that say they move to the next unread group. The default
1917 @node Selecting a Group
1918 @section Selecting a Group
1919 @cindex group selection
1924 @kindex SPACE (Group)
1925 @findex gnus-group-read-group
1926 Select the current group, switch to the summary buffer and display the
1927 first unread article (@code{gnus-group-read-group}). If there are no
1928 unread articles in the group, or if you give a non-numerical prefix to
1929 this command, gnus will offer to fetch all the old articles in this
1930 group from the server. If you give a numerical prefix @var{N}, @var{N}
1931 determines the number of articles gnus will fetch. If @var{N} is
1932 positive, gnus fetches the @var{N} newest articles, if @var{N} is
1933 negative, Gnus fetches the @code{abs(@var{N})} oldest articles.
1937 @findex gnus-group-select-group
1938 Select the current group and switch to the summary buffer
1939 (@code{gnus-group-select-group}). Takes the same arguments as
1940 @code{gnus-group-read-group}---the only difference is that this command
1941 does not display the first unread article automatically upon group
1945 @kindex M-RET (Group)
1946 @findex gnus-group-quick-select-group
1947 This does the same as the command above, but tries to do it with the
1948 minimum amount of fuzz (@code{gnus-group-quick-select-group}). No
1949 scoring/killing will be performed, there will be no highlights and no
1950 expunging. This might be useful if you're in a real hurry and have to
1951 enter some humongous group. If you give a 0 prefix to this command
1952 (i.e., @kbd{0 M-RET}), gnus won't even generate the summary buffer,
1953 which is useful if you want to toggle threading before generating the
1954 summary buffer (@pxref{Summary Generation Commands}).
1957 @kindex M-SPACE (Group)
1958 @findex gnus-group-visible-select-group
1959 This is yet one more command that does the same as the @kbd{RET}
1960 command, but this one does it without expunging and hiding dormants
1961 (@code{gnus-group-visible-select-group}).
1964 @kindex M-C-RET (Group)
1965 @findex gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally
1966 Finally, this command selects the current group ephemerally without
1967 doing any processing of its contents
1968 (@code{gnus-group-select-group-ephemerally}). Even threading has been
1969 turned off. Everything you do in the group after selecting it in this
1970 manner will have no permanent effects.
1974 @vindex gnus-large-newsgroup
1975 The @code{gnus-large-newsgroup} variable says what gnus should consider
1976 to be a big group. This is 200 by default. If the group has more
1977 (unread and/or ticked) articles than this, gnus will query the user
1978 before entering the group. The user can then specify how many articles
1979 should be fetched from the server. If the user specifies a negative
1980 number (@code{-n}), the @code{n} oldest articles will be fetched. If it
1981 is positive, the @code{n} articles that have arrived most recently will
1984 @vindex gnus-select-group-hook
1985 @vindex gnus-auto-select-first
1986 @code{gnus-auto-select-first} control whether any articles are selected
1987 automatically when entering a group with the @kbd{SPACE} command.
1992 Don't select any articles when entering the group. Just display the
1993 full summary buffer.
1996 Select the first unread article when entering the group.
1999 Select the highest scored article in the group when entering the
2004 This variable can also be a function. In that case, that function will
2005 be called to place point on a subject line, and/or select some article.
2006 Useful functions include:
2009 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-subject
2010 Place point on the subject line of the first unread article, but
2011 don't select the article.
2013 @item gnus-summary-first-unread-article
2014 Select the first unread article.
2016 @item gnus-summary-best-unread-article
2017 Select the highest-scored unread article.
2021 If you want to prevent automatic selection in some group (say, in a
2022 binary group with Huge articles) you can set this variable to @code{nil}
2023 in @code{gnus-select-group-hook}, which is called when a group is
2027 @node Subscription Commands
2028 @section Subscription Commands
2029 @cindex subscription
2037 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group
2038 @c @icon{gnus-group-unsubscribe}
2039 Toggle subscription to the current group
2040 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-current-group}).
2046 @findex gnus-group-unsubscribe-group
2047 Prompt for a group to subscribe, and then subscribe it. If it was
2048 subscribed already, unsubscribe it instead
2049 (@code{gnus-group-unsubscribe-group}).
2055 @findex gnus-group-kill-group
2056 @c @icon{gnus-group-kill-group}
2057 Kill the current group (@code{gnus-group-kill-group}).
2063 @findex gnus-group-yank-group
2064 Yank the last killed group (@code{gnus-group-yank-group}).
2067 @kindex C-x C-t (Group)
2068 @findex gnus-group-transpose-groups
2069 Transpose two groups (@code{gnus-group-transpose-groups}). This isn't
2070 really a subscription command, but you can use it instead of a
2071 kill-and-yank sequence sometimes.
2077 @findex gnus-group-kill-region
2078 Kill all groups in the region (@code{gnus-group-kill-region}).
2082 @findex gnus-group-kill-all-zombies
2083 Kill all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-kill-all-zombies}).
2086 @kindex S C-k (Group)
2087 @findex gnus-group-kill-level
2088 Kill all groups on a certain level (@code{gnus-group-kill-level}).
2089 These groups can't be yanked back after killing, so this command should
2090 be used with some caution. The only time where this command comes in
2091 really handy is when you have a @file{.newsrc} with lots of unsubscribed
2092 groups that you want to get rid off. @kbd{S C-k} on level 7 will
2093 kill off all unsubscribed groups that do not have message numbers in the
2094 @file{.newsrc} file.
2098 Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
2108 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current
2109 @vindex gnus-group-catchup-group-hook
2110 @c @icon{gnus-group-catchup-current}
2111 Mark all unticked articles in this group as read
2112 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current}).
2113 @code{gnus-group-catchup-group-hook} is called when catching up a group from
2118 @findex gnus-group-catchup-current-all
2119 Mark all articles in this group, even the ticked ones, as read
2120 (@code{gnus-group-catchup-current-all}).
2124 @findex gnus-group-clear-data
2125 Clear the data from the current group---nix out marks and the list of
2126 read articles (@code{gnus-group-clear-data}).
2128 @item M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2129 @kindex M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2130 @findex gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups
2131 If you have switched from one @sc{nntp} server to another, all your marks
2132 and read ranges have become worthless. You can use this command to
2133 clear out all data that you have on your native groups. Use with
2140 @section Group Levels
2144 All groups have a level of @dfn{subscribedness}. For instance, if a
2145 group is on level 2, it is more subscribed than a group on level 5. You
2146 can ask gnus to just list groups on a given level or lower
2147 (@pxref{Listing Groups}), or to just check for new articles in groups on
2148 a given level or lower (@pxref{Scanning New Messages}).
2150 Remember: The higher the level of the group, the less important it is.
2156 @findex gnus-group-set-current-level
2157 Set the level of the current group. If a numeric prefix is given, the
2158 next @var{n} groups will have their levels set. The user will be
2159 prompted for a level.
2162 @vindex gnus-level-killed
2163 @vindex gnus-level-zombie
2164 @vindex gnus-level-unsubscribed
2165 @vindex gnus-level-subscribed
2166 Gnus considers groups from levels 1 to
2167 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (inclusive) (default 5) to be subscribed,
2168 @code{gnus-level-subscribed} (exclusive) and
2169 @code{gnus-level-unsubscribed} (inclusive) (default 7) to be
2170 unsubscribed, @code{gnus-level-zombie} to be zombies (walking dead)
2171 (default 8) and @code{gnus-level-killed} to be killed (completely dead)
2172 (default 9). Gnus treats subscribed and unsubscribed groups exactly the
2173 same, but zombie and killed groups have no information on what articles
2174 you have read, etc, stored. This distinction between dead and living
2175 groups isn't done because it is nice or clever, it is done purely for
2176 reasons of efficiency.
2178 It is recommended that you keep all your mail groups (if any) on quite
2179 low levels (e.g. 1 or 2).
2181 If you want to play with the level variables, you should show some care.
2182 Set them once, and don't touch them ever again. Better yet, don't touch
2183 them at all unless you know exactly what you're doing.
2185 @vindex gnus-level-default-unsubscribed
2186 @vindex gnus-level-default-subscribed
2187 Two closely related variables are @code{gnus-level-default-subscribed}
2188 (default 3) and @code{gnus-level-default-unsubscribed} (default 6),
2189 which are the levels that new groups will be put on if they are
2190 (un)subscribed. These two variables should, of course, be inside the
2191 relevant valid ranges.
2193 @vindex gnus-keep-same-level
2194 If @code{gnus-keep-same-level} is non-@code{nil}, some movement commands
2195 will only move to groups of the same level (or lower). In
2196 particular, going from the last article in one group to the next group
2197 will go to the next group of the same level (or lower). This might be
2198 handy if you want to read the most important groups before you read the
2201 If this variable is @code{best}, Gnus will make the next newsgroup the
2202 one with the best level.
2204 @vindex gnus-group-default-list-level
2205 All groups with a level less than or equal to
2206 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level} will be listed in the group buffer
2209 @vindex gnus-group-list-inactive-groups
2210 If @code{gnus-group-list-inactive-groups} is non-@code{nil}, non-active
2211 groups will be listed along with the unread groups. This variable is
2212 @code{t} by default. If it is @code{nil}, inactive groups won't be
2215 @vindex gnus-group-use-permanent-levels
2216 If @code{gnus-group-use-permanent-levels} is non-@code{nil}, once you
2217 give a level prefix to @kbd{g} or @kbd{l}, all subsequent commands will
2218 use this level as the ``work'' level.
2220 @vindex gnus-activate-level
2221 Gnus will normally just activate (i. e., query the server about) groups
2222 on level @code{gnus-activate-level} or less. If you don't want to
2223 activate unsubscribed groups, for instance, you might set this variable
2224 to 5. The default is 6.
2228 @section Group Score
2233 You would normally keep important groups on high levels, but that scheme
2234 is somewhat restrictive. Don't you wish you could have Gnus sort the
2235 group buffer according to how often you read groups, perhaps? Within
2238 This is what @dfn{group score} is for. You can have Gnus assign a score
2239 to each group through the mechanism described below. You can then sort
2240 the group buffer based on this score. Alternatively, you can sort on
2241 score and then level. (Taken together, the level and the score is
2242 called the @dfn{rank} of the group. A group that is on level 4 and has
2243 a score of 1 has a higher rank than a group on level 5 that has a score
2244 of 300. (The level is the most significant part and the score is the
2245 least significant part.))
2247 @findex gnus-summary-bubble-group
2248 If you want groups you read often to get higher scores than groups you
2249 read seldom you can add the @code{gnus-summary-bubble-group} function to
2250 the @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} hook. This will result (after
2251 sorting) in a bubbling sort of action. If you want to see that in
2252 action after each summary exit, you can add
2253 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank} or
2254 @code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score} to the same hook, but that will
2255 slow things down somewhat.
2258 @node Marking Groups
2259 @section Marking Groups
2260 @cindex marking groups
2262 If you want to perform some command on several groups, and they appear
2263 subsequently in the group buffer, you would normally just give a
2264 numerical prefix to the command. Most group commands will then do your
2265 bidding on those groups.
2267 However, if the groups are not in sequential order, you can still
2268 perform a command on several groups. You simply mark the groups first
2269 with the process mark and then execute the command.
2277 @findex gnus-group-mark-group
2278 Set the mark on the current group (@code{gnus-group-mark-group}).
2284 @findex gnus-group-unmark-group
2285 Remove the mark from the current group
2286 (@code{gnus-group-unmark-group}).
2290 @findex gnus-group-unmark-all-groups
2291 Remove the mark from all groups (@code{gnus-group-unmark-all-groups}).
2295 @findex gnus-group-mark-region
2296 Mark all groups between point and mark (@code{gnus-group-mark-region}).
2300 @findex gnus-group-mark-buffer
2301 Mark all groups in the buffer (@code{gnus-group-mark-buffer}).
2305 @findex gnus-group-mark-regexp
2306 Mark all groups that match some regular expression
2307 (@code{gnus-group-mark-regexp}).
2310 Also @pxref{Process/Prefix}.
2312 @findex gnus-group-universal-argument
2313 If you want to execute some command on all groups that have been marked
2314 with the process mark, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
2315 (@code{gnus-group-universal-argument}) command. It will prompt you for
2316 the command to be executed.
2319 @node Foreign Groups
2320 @section Foreign Groups
2321 @cindex foreign groups
2323 Below are some group mode commands for making and editing general foreign
2324 groups, as well as commands to ease the creation of a few
2325 special-purpose groups. All these commands insert the newly created
2326 groups under point---@code{gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-method} is not
2333 @findex gnus-group-make-group
2334 @cindex making groups
2335 Make a new group (@code{gnus-group-make-group}). Gnus will prompt you
2336 for a name, a method and possibly an @dfn{address}. For an easier way
2337 to subscribe to @sc{nntp} groups, @pxref{Browse Foreign Server}.
2341 @findex gnus-group-rename-group
2342 @cindex renaming groups
2343 Rename the current group to something else
2344 (@code{gnus-group-rename-group}). This is valid only on some
2345 groups---mail groups mostly. This command might very well be quite slow
2351 @findex gnus-group-customize
2352 Customize the group parameters (@code{gnus-group-customize}).
2356 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-method
2357 @cindex renaming groups
2358 Enter a buffer where you can edit the select method of the current
2359 group (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-method}).
2363 @findex gnus-group-edit-group-parameters
2364 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group parameters
2365 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group-parameters}).
2369 @findex gnus-group-edit-group
2370 Enter a buffer where you can edit the group info
2371 (@code{gnus-group-edit-group}).
2375 @findex gnus-group-make-directory-group
2377 Make a directory group (@pxref{Directory Groups}). You will be prompted
2378 for a directory name (@code{gnus-group-make-directory-group}).
2383 @findex gnus-group-make-help-group
2384 Make the gnus help group (@code{gnus-group-make-help-group}).
2388 @cindex (ding) archive
2389 @cindex archive group
2390 @findex gnus-group-make-archive-group
2391 @vindex gnus-group-archive-directory
2392 @vindex gnus-group-recent-archive-directory
2393 Make a gnus archive group (@code{gnus-group-make-archive-group}). By
2394 default a group pointing to the most recent articles will be created
2395 (@code{gnus-group-recent-archive-directory}), but given a prefix, a full
2396 group will be created from @code{gnus-group-archive-directory}.
2400 @findex gnus-group-make-kiboze-group
2402 Make a kiboze group. You will be prompted for a name, for a regexp to
2403 match groups to be ``included'' in the kiboze group, and a series of
2404 strings to match on headers (@code{gnus-group-make-kiboze-group}).
2405 @xref{Kibozed Groups}.
2409 @findex gnus-group-enter-directory
2411 Read an arbitrary directory as if it were a newsgroup with the
2412 @code{nneething} backend (@code{gnus-group-enter-directory}).
2413 @xref{Anything Groups}.
2417 @findex gnus-group-make-doc-group
2418 @cindex ClariNet Briefs
2420 Make a group based on some file or other
2421 (@code{gnus-group-make-doc-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2422 command, you will be prompted for a file name and a file type.
2423 Currently supported types are @code{babyl}, @code{mbox}, @code{digest},
2424 @code{mmdf}, @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{clari-briefs},
2425 @code{rfc934}, @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{nsmail} and @code{forward}.
2426 If you run this command without a prefix, Gnus will guess at the file
2427 type. @xref{Document Groups}.
2431 @vindex gnus-useful-groups
2432 @findex gnus-group-make-useful-group
2433 Create one of the groups mentioned in @code{gnus-useful-groups}
2434 (@code{gnus-group-make-useful-group}).
2438 @findex gnus-group-make-web-group
2443 Make an ephemeral group based on a web search
2444 (@code{gnus-group-make-web-group}). If you give a prefix to this
2445 command, make a solid group instead. You will be prompted for the
2446 search engine type and the search string. Valid search engine types
2447 include @code{dejanews}, @code{altavista} and @code{reference}.
2448 @xref{Web Searches}.
2450 If you use the @code{dejanews} search engine, you can limit the search
2451 to a particular group by using a match string like
2452 @samp{~g alt.sysadmin.recovery shaving}.
2455 @kindex G DEL (Group)
2456 @findex gnus-group-delete-group
2457 This function will delete the current group
2458 (@code{gnus-group-delete-group}). If given a prefix, this function will
2459 actually delete all the articles in the group, and forcibly remove the
2460 group itself from the face of the Earth. Use a prefix only if you are
2461 absolutely sure of what you are doing. This command can't be used on
2462 read-only groups (like @code{nntp} group), though.
2466 @findex gnus-group-make-empty-virtual
2467 Make a new, fresh, empty @code{nnvirtual} group
2468 (@code{gnus-group-make-empty-virtual}). @xref{Virtual Groups}.
2472 @findex gnus-group-add-to-virtual
2473 Add the current group to an @code{nnvirtual} group
2474 (@code{gnus-group-add-to-virtual}). Uses the process/prefix convention.
2477 @xref{Select Methods}, for more information on the various select
2480 @vindex gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups
2481 If @code{gnus-activate-foreign-newsgroups} is a positive number,
2482 gnus will check all foreign groups with this level or lower at startup.
2483 This might take quite a while, especially if you subscribe to lots of
2484 groups from different @sc{nntp} servers. Also @pxref{Group Levels};
2485 @code{gnus-activate-level} also affects activation of foreign
2489 @node Group Parameters
2490 @section Group Parameters
2491 @cindex group parameters
2493 The group parameters store information local to a particular group.
2494 Here's an example group parameter list:
2497 ((to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")
2501 We see that each element consists of a "dotted pair"---the thing before
2502 the dot is the key, while the thing after the dot is the value. All the
2503 parameters have this form @emph{except} local variable specs, which are
2504 not dotted pairs, but proper lists.
2506 The following group parameters can be used:
2511 Address used by when doing followups and new posts.
2514 (to-address . "some@@where.com")
2517 This is primarily useful in mail groups that represent closed mailing
2518 lists---mailing lists where it's expected that everybody that writes to
2519 the mailing list is subscribed to it. Since using this parameter
2520 ensures that the mail only goes to the mailing list itself, it means
2521 that members won't receive two copies of your followups.
2523 Using @code{to-address} will actually work whether the group is foreign
2524 or not. Let's say there's a group on the server that is called
2525 @samp{fa.4ad-l}. This is a real newsgroup, but the server has gotten
2526 the articles from a mail-to-news gateway. Posting directly to this
2527 group is therefore impossible---you have to send mail to the mailing
2528 list address instead.
2532 Address used when doing a @kbd{a} in that group.
2535 (to-list . "some@@where.com")
2538 It is totally ignored
2539 when doing a followup---except that if it is present in a news group,
2540 you'll get mail group semantics when doing @kbd{f}.
2542 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you have neither a
2543 @code{to-list} group parameter nor a @code{to-address} group parameter,
2544 then a @code{to-list} group parameter will be added automatically upon
2545 sending the message if @code{gnus-add-to-list} is set to @code{t}.
2546 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
2548 If you do an @kbd{a} command in a mail group and you don't have a
2549 @code{to-list} group parameter, one will be added automatically upon
2550 sending the message.
2554 If the group parameter list has the element @code{(visible . t)},
2555 that group will always be visible in the Group buffer, regardless
2556 of whether it has any unread articles.
2558 @item broken-reply-to
2559 @cindex broken-reply-to
2560 Elements like @code{(broken-reply-to . t)} signals that @code{Reply-To}
2561 headers in this group are to be ignored. This can be useful if you're
2562 reading a mailing list group where the listserv has inserted
2563 @code{Reply-To} headers that point back to the listserv itself. This is
2564 broken behavior. So there!
2568 Elements like @code{(to-group . "some.group.name")} means that all
2569 posts in that group will be sent to @code{some.group.name}.
2573 If you have @code{(newsgroup . t)} in the group parameter list, gnus
2574 will treat all responses as if they were responses to news articles.
2575 This can be useful if you have a mail group that's really a mirror of a
2580 If @code{(gcc-self . t)} is present in the group parameter list, newly
2581 composed messages will be @code{Gcc}'d to the current group. If
2582 @code{(gcc-self . none)} is present, no @code{Gcc:} header will be
2583 generated, if @code{(gcc-self . "string")} is present, this string will
2584 be inserted literally as a @code{gcc} header. This parameter takes
2585 precedence over any default @code{Gcc} rules as described later
2586 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
2590 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(auto-expire
2591 . t)}, all articles read will be marked as expirable. For an
2592 alternative approach, @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
2595 @cindex total-expire
2596 If the group parameter has an element that looks like
2597 @code{(total-expire . t)}, all read articles will be put through the
2598 expiry process, even if they are not marked as expirable. Use with
2599 caution. Unread, ticked and dormant articles are not eligible for
2604 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
2605 If the group parameter has an element that looks like @code{(expiry-wait
2606 . 10)}, this value will override any @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} and
2607 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} when expiring expirable messages.
2608 The value can either be a number of days (not necessarily an integer) or
2609 the symbols @code{never} or @code{immediate}.
2612 @cindex score file group parameter
2613 Elements that look like @code{(score-file . "file")} will make
2614 @file{file} into the current score file for the group in question. All
2615 interactive score entries will be put into this file.
2618 @cindex adapt file group parameter
2619 Elements that look like @code{(adapt-file . "file")} will make
2620 @file{file} into the current adaptive file for the group in question.
2621 All adaptive score entries will be put into this file.
2624 When unsubscribing from a mailing list you should never send the
2625 unsubscription notice to the mailing list itself. Instead, you'd send
2626 messages to the administrative address. This parameter allows you to
2627 put the admin address somewhere convenient.
2630 Elements that look like @code{(display . MODE)} say which articles to
2631 display on entering the group. Valid values are:
2635 Display all articles, both read and unread.
2638 Display the default visible articles, which normally includes unread and
2643 Elements that look like @code{(comment . "This is a comment")}
2644 are arbitrary comments on the group. They are currently ignored by
2645 gnus, but provide a place for you to store information on particular
2649 Elements that look like @code{(charset . iso-8859-1)} will make
2650 @code{iso-8859-1} the default charset; that is, the charset that will be
2651 used for all articles that do not specify a charset.
2653 @item (@var{variable} @var{form})
2654 You can use the group parameters to set variables local to the group you
2655 are entering. If you want to turn threading off in @samp{news.answers},
2656 you could put @code{(gnus-show-threads nil)} in the group parameters of
2657 that group. @code{gnus-show-threads} will be made into a local variable
2658 in the summary buffer you enter, and the form @code{nil} will be
2659 @code{eval}ed there.
2661 This can also be used as a group-specific hook function, if you'd like.
2662 If you want to hear a beep when you enter a group, you could put
2663 something like @code{(dummy-variable (ding))} in the parameters of that
2664 group. @code{dummy-variable} will be set to the result of the
2665 @code{(ding)} form, but who cares?
2668 You can store additional posting style information for this group only
2669 here (@pxref{Posting Styles}). The format is that of an entry in the
2670 @code{gnus-posting-styles} alist, except that there's no regexp matching
2671 the group name (of course). Style elements in this group parameter will
2672 take precedence over the ones found in @code{gnus-posting-styles}.
2674 For instance, if you want a funky name and signature in this group only,
2675 instead of hacking @code{gnus-posting-styles}, you could put something
2676 like this in the group parameters:
2681 (signature "Funky Signature"))
2686 Use the @kbd{G p} command to edit group parameters of a group. You
2687 might also be interested in reading about topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
2691 @node Listing Groups
2692 @section Listing Groups
2693 @cindex group listing
2695 These commands all list various slices of the groups available.
2703 @findex gnus-group-list-groups
2704 List all groups that have unread articles
2705 (@code{gnus-group-list-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used, this
2706 command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default, it
2707 only lists groups of level five (i. e.,
2708 @code{gnus-group-default-list-level}) or lower (i.e., just subscribed
2715 @findex gnus-group-list-all-groups
2716 List all groups, whether they have unread articles or not
2717 (@code{gnus-group-list-all-groups}). If the numeric prefix is used,
2718 this command will list only groups of level ARG and lower. By default,
2719 it lists groups of level seven or lower (i.e., just subscribed and
2720 unsubscribed groups).
2724 @findex gnus-group-list-level
2725 List all unread groups on a specific level
2726 (@code{gnus-group-list-level}). If given a prefix, also list the groups
2727 with no unread articles.
2731 @findex gnus-group-list-killed
2732 List all killed groups (@code{gnus-group-list-killed}). If given a
2733 prefix argument, really list all groups that are available, but aren't
2734 currently (un)subscribed. This could entail reading the active file
2739 @findex gnus-group-list-zombies
2740 List all zombie groups (@code{gnus-group-list-zombies}).
2744 @findex gnus-group-list-matching
2745 List all unread, subscribed groups with names that match a regexp
2746 (@code{gnus-group-list-matching}).
2750 @findex gnus-group-list-all-matching
2751 List groups that match a regexp (@code{gnus-group-list-all-matching}).
2755 @findex gnus-group-list-active
2756 List absolutely all groups in the active file(s) of the
2757 server(s) you are connected to (@code{gnus-group-list-active}). This
2758 might very well take quite a while. It might actually be a better idea
2759 to do a @kbd{A M} to list all matching, and just give @samp{.} as the
2760 thing to match on. Also note that this command may list groups that
2761 don't exist (yet)---these will be listed as if they were killed groups.
2762 Take the output with some grains of salt.
2766 @findex gnus-group-apropos
2767 List all groups that have names that match a regexp
2768 (@code{gnus-group-apropos}).
2772 @findex gnus-group-description-apropos
2773 List all groups that have names or descriptions that match a regexp
2774 (@code{gnus-group-description-apropos}).
2778 @findex gnus-group-list-cached
2779 List all groups with cached articles (@code{gnus-group-list-cached}).
2783 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
2784 @cindex visible group parameter
2785 Groups that match the @code{gnus-permanently-visible-groups} regexp will
2786 always be shown, whether they have unread articles or not. You can also
2787 add the @code{visible} element to the group parameters in question to
2788 get the same effect.
2790 @vindex gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles
2791 Groups that have just ticked articles in it are normally listed in the
2792 group buffer. If @code{gnus-list-groups-with-ticked-articles} is
2793 @code{nil}, these groups will be treated just like totally empty
2794 groups. It is @code{t} by default.
2797 @node Sorting Groups
2798 @section Sorting Groups
2799 @cindex sorting groups
2801 @kindex C-c C-s (Group)
2802 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups
2803 @vindex gnus-group-sort-function
2804 The @kbd{C-c C-s} (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups}) command sorts the
2805 group buffer according to the function(s) given by the
2806 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} variable. Available sorting functions
2811 @item gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2812 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-alphabet
2813 Sort the group names alphabetically. This is the default.
2815 @item gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2816 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-real-name
2817 Sort the group alphabetically on the real (unprefixed) group names.
2819 @item gnus-group-sort-by-level
2820 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-level
2821 Sort by group level.
2823 @item gnus-group-sort-by-score
2824 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-score
2825 Sort by group score. @xref{Group Score}.
2827 @item gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2828 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-rank
2829 Sort by group score and then the group level. The level and the score
2830 are, when taken together, the group's @dfn{rank}. @xref{Group Score}.
2832 @item gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2833 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-unread
2834 Sort by number of unread articles.
2836 @item gnus-group-sort-by-method
2837 @findex gnus-group-sort-by-method
2838 Sort alphabetically on the select method.
2843 @code{gnus-group-sort-function} can also be a list of sorting
2844 functions. In that case, the most significant sort key function must be
2848 There are also a number of commands for sorting directly according to
2849 some sorting criteria:
2853 @kindex G S a (Group)
2854 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet
2855 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by group name
2856 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
2859 @kindex G S u (Group)
2860 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread
2861 Sort the group buffer by the number of unread articles
2862 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-unread}).
2865 @kindex G S l (Group)
2866 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level
2867 Sort the group buffer by group level
2868 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-level}).
2871 @kindex G S v (Group)
2872 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score
2873 Sort the group buffer by group score
2874 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2877 @kindex G S r (Group)
2878 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank
2879 Sort the group buffer by group rank
2880 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2883 @kindex G S m (Group)
2884 @findex gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method
2885 Sort the group buffer alphabetically by backend name
2886 (@code{gnus-group-sort-groups-by-method}).
2890 All the commands below obey the process/prefix convention
2891 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
2893 When given a symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}), all these
2894 commands will sort in reverse order.
2896 You can also sort a subset of the groups:
2900 @kindex G P a (Group)
2901 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet
2902 Sort the groups alphabetically by group name
2903 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-alphabet}).
2906 @kindex G P u (Group)
2907 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread
2908 Sort the groups by the number of unread articles
2909 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-unread}).
2912 @kindex G P l (Group)
2913 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level
2914 Sort the groups by group level
2915 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-level}).
2918 @kindex G P v (Group)
2919 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score
2920 Sort the groups by group score
2921 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
2924 @kindex G P r (Group)
2925 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank
2926 Sort the groups by group rank
2927 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
2930 @kindex G P m (Group)
2931 @findex gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method
2932 Sort the groups alphabetically by backend name
2933 (@code{gnus-group-sort-selected-groups-by-method}).
2939 @node Group Maintenance
2940 @section Group Maintenance
2941 @cindex bogus groups
2946 @findex gnus-group-check-bogus-groups
2947 Find bogus groups and delete them
2948 (@code{gnus-group-check-bogus-groups}).
2952 @findex gnus-group-find-new-groups
2953 Find new groups and process them (@code{gnus-group-find-new-groups}).
2954 With 1 @kbd{C-u}, use the @code{ask-server} method to query the server
2955 for new groups. With 2 @kbd{C-u}'s, use most complete method possible
2956 to query the server for new groups, and subscribe the new groups as
2960 @kindex C-c C-x (Group)
2961 @findex gnus-group-expire-articles
2962 Run all expirable articles in the current group through the expiry
2963 process (if any) (@code{gnus-group-expire-articles}).
2966 @kindex C-c M-C-x (Group)
2967 @findex gnus-group-expire-all-groups
2968 Run all articles in all groups through the expiry process
2969 (@code{gnus-group-expire-all-groups}).
2974 @node Browse Foreign Server
2975 @section Browse Foreign Server
2976 @cindex foreign servers
2977 @cindex browsing servers
2982 @findex gnus-group-browse-foreign-server
2983 You will be queried for a select method and a server name. Gnus will
2984 then attempt to contact this server and let you browse the groups there
2985 (@code{gnus-group-browse-foreign-server}).
2988 @findex gnus-browse-mode
2989 A new buffer with a list of available groups will appear. This buffer
2990 will use the @code{gnus-browse-mode}. This buffer looks a bit (well,
2991 a lot) like a normal group buffer.
2993 Here's a list of keystrokes available in the browse mode:
2998 @findex gnus-group-next-group
2999 Go to the next group (@code{gnus-group-next-group}).
3003 @findex gnus-group-prev-group
3004 Go to the previous group (@code{gnus-group-prev-group}).
3007 @kindex SPACE (Browse)
3008 @findex gnus-browse-read-group
3009 Enter the current group and display the first article
3010 (@code{gnus-browse-read-group}).
3013 @kindex RET (Browse)
3014 @findex gnus-browse-select-group
3015 Enter the current group (@code{gnus-browse-select-group}).
3019 @findex gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group
3020 Unsubscribe to the current group, or, as will be the case here,
3021 subscribe to it (@code{gnus-browse-unsubscribe-current-group}).
3027 @findex gnus-browse-exit
3028 Exit browse mode (@code{gnus-browse-exit}).
3032 @findex gnus-browse-describe-briefly
3033 Describe browse mode briefly (well, there's not much to describe, is
3034 there) (@code{gnus-browse-describe-briefly}).
3039 @section Exiting gnus
3040 @cindex exiting gnus
3042 Yes, gnus is ex(c)iting.
3047 @findex gnus-group-suspend
3048 Suspend gnus (@code{gnus-group-suspend}). This doesn't really exit gnus,
3049 but it kills all buffers except the Group buffer. I'm not sure why this
3050 is a gain, but then who am I to judge?
3054 @findex gnus-group-exit
3055 @c @icon{gnus-group-exit}
3056 Quit gnus (@code{gnus-group-exit}).
3060 @findex gnus-group-quit
3061 Quit gnus without saving the @file{.newsrc} files (@code{gnus-group-quit}).
3062 The dribble file will be saved, though (@pxref{Auto Save}).
3065 @vindex gnus-exit-gnus-hook
3066 @vindex gnus-suspend-gnus-hook
3067 @code{gnus-suspend-gnus-hook} is called when you suspend gnus and
3068 @code{gnus-exit-gnus-hook} is called when you quit gnus, while
3069 @code{gnus-after-exiting-gnus-hook} is called as the final item when
3074 If you wish to completely unload gnus and all its adherents, you can use
3075 the @code{gnus-unload} command. This command is also very handy when
3076 trying to customize meta-variables.
3081 Miss Lisa Cannifax, while sitting in English class, felt her feet go
3082 numbly heavy and herself fall into a hazy trance as the boy sitting
3083 behind her drew repeated lines with his pencil across the back of her
3089 @section Group Topics
3092 If you read lots and lots of groups, it might be convenient to group
3093 them hierarchically according to topics. You put your Emacs groups over
3094 here, your sex groups over there, and the rest (what, two groups or so?)
3095 you put in some misc section that you never bother with anyway. You can
3096 even group the Emacs sex groups as a sub-topic to either the Emacs
3097 groups or the sex groups---or both! Go wild!
3101 \gnusfigure{Group Topics}{400}{
3102 \put(75,50){\epsfig{figure=tmp/group-topic.ps,height=9cm}}
3113 2: alt.religion.emacs
3116 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3118 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3119 13: comp.sources.unix
3122 @findex gnus-topic-mode
3124 To get this @emph{fab} functionality you simply turn on (ooh!) the
3125 @code{gnus-topic} minor mode---type @kbd{t} in the group buffer. (This
3126 is a toggling command.)
3128 Go ahead, just try it. I'll still be here when you get back. La de
3129 dum... Nice tune, that... la la la... What, you're back? Yes, and now
3130 press @kbd{l}. There. All your groups are now listed under
3131 @samp{misc}. Doesn't that make you feel all warm and fuzzy? Hot and
3134 If you want this permanently enabled, you should add that minor mode to
3135 the hook for the group mode:
3138 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
3142 * Topic Variables:: How to customize the topics the Lisp Way.
3143 * Topic Commands:: Interactive E-Z commands.
3144 * Topic Sorting:: Sorting each topic individually.
3145 * Topic Topology:: A map of the world.
3146 * Topic Parameters:: Parameters that apply to all groups in a topic.
3150 @node Topic Variables
3151 @subsection Topic Variables
3152 @cindex topic variables
3154 Now, if you select a topic, it will fold/unfold that topic, which is
3155 really neat, I think.
3157 @vindex gnus-topic-line-format
3158 The topic lines themselves are created according to the
3159 @code{gnus-topic-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3172 Number of groups in the topic.
3174 Number of unread articles in the topic.
3176 Number of unread articles in the topic and all its subtopics.
3179 @vindex gnus-topic-indent-level
3180 Each sub-topic (and the groups in the sub-topics) will be indented with
3181 @code{gnus-topic-indent-level} times the topic level number of spaces.
3184 @vindex gnus-topic-mode-hook
3185 @code{gnus-topic-mode-hook} is called in topic minor mode buffers.
3187 @vindex gnus-topic-display-empty-topics
3188 The @code{gnus-topic-display-empty-topics} says whether to display even
3189 topics that have no unread articles in them. The default is @code{t}.
3192 @node Topic Commands
3193 @subsection Topic Commands
3194 @cindex topic commands
3196 When the topic minor mode is turned on, a new @kbd{T} submap will be
3197 available. In addition, a few of the standard keys change their
3198 definitions slightly.
3204 @findex gnus-topic-create-topic
3205 Prompt for a new topic name and create it
3206 (@code{gnus-topic-create-topic}).
3210 @findex gnus-topic-move-group
3211 Move the current group to some other topic
3212 (@code{gnus-topic-move-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3213 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3217 @findex gnus-topic-jump-to-topic
3218 Go to a topic (@code{gnus-topic-jump-to-topic}).
3222 @findex gnus-topic-copy-group
3223 Copy the current group to some other topic
3224 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-group}). This command uses the process/prefix
3225 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3229 @findex gnus-topic-remove-group
3230 Remove a group from the current topic (@code{gnus-topic-remove-group}).
3231 This command is mainly useful if you have the same group in several
3232 topics and wish to remove it from one of the topics. You may also
3233 remove a group from all topics, but in that case, Gnus will add it to
3234 the root topic the next time you start Gnus. In fact, all new groups
3235 (which, naturally, don't belong to any topic) will show up in the root
3238 This command uses the process/prefix convention
3239 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
3243 @findex gnus-topic-move-matching
3244 Move all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3245 (@code{gnus-topic-move-matching}).
3249 @findex gnus-topic-copy-matching
3250 Copy all groups that match some regular expression to a topic
3251 (@code{gnus-topic-copy-matching}).
3255 @findex gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics
3256 Toggle hiding empty topics
3257 (@code{gnus-topic-toggle-display-empty-topics}).
3261 @findex gnus-topic-mark-topic
3262 Mark all groups in the current topic with the process mark
3263 (@code{gnus-topic-mark-topic}).
3266 @kindex T M-# (Topic)
3267 @findex gnus-topic-unmark-topic
3268 Remove the process mark from all groups in the current topic
3269 (@code{gnus-topic-unmark-topic}).
3273 @kindex T TAB (Topic)
3275 @findex gnus-topic-indent
3276 ``Indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3277 previous topic (@code{gnus-topic-indent}). If given a prefix,
3278 ``un-indent'' the topic instead.
3281 @kindex M-TAB (Topic)
3282 @findex gnus-topic-unindent
3283 ``Un-indent'' the current topic so that it becomes a sub-topic of the
3284 parent of its current parent (@code{gnus-topic-unindent}).
3288 @findex gnus-topic-select-group
3290 Either select a group or fold a topic (@code{gnus-topic-select-group}).
3291 When you perform this command on a group, you'll enter the group, as
3292 usual. When done on a topic line, the topic will be folded (if it was
3293 visible) or unfolded (if it was folded already). So it's basically a
3294 toggling command on topics. In addition, if you give a numerical
3295 prefix, group on that level (and lower) will be displayed.
3298 @kindex C-c C-x (Topic)
3299 @findex gnus-topic-expire-articles
3300 Run all expirable articles in the current group or topic through the expiry
3301 process (if any) (@code{gnus-topic-expire-articles}).
3305 @findex gnus-topic-kill-group
3306 Kill a group or topic (@code{gnus-topic-kill-group}). All groups in the
3307 topic will be removed along with the topic.
3311 @findex gnus-topic-yank-group
3312 Yank the previously killed group or topic
3313 (@code{gnus-topic-yank-group}). Note that all topics will be yanked
3318 @findex gnus-topic-rename
3319 Rename a topic (@code{gnus-topic-rename}).
3322 @kindex T DEL (Topic)
3323 @findex gnus-topic-delete
3324 Delete an empty topic (@code{gnus-topic-delete}).
3328 @findex gnus-topic-list-active
3329 List all groups that gnus knows about in a topics-ified way
3330 (@code{gnus-topic-list-active}).
3334 @findex gnus-topic-edit-parameters
3335 @cindex group parameters
3336 @cindex topic parameters
3338 Edit the topic parameters (@code{gnus-topic-edit-parameters}).
3339 @xref{Topic Parameters}.
3345 @subsection Topic Sorting
3346 @cindex topic sorting
3348 You can sort the groups in each topic individually with the following
3354 @kindex T S a (Topic)
3355 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet
3356 Sort the current topic alphabetically by group name
3357 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-alphabet}).
3360 @kindex T S u (Topic)
3361 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread
3362 Sort the current topic by the number of unread articles
3363 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-unread}).
3366 @kindex T S l (Topic)
3367 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level
3368 Sort the current topic by group level
3369 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-level}).
3372 @kindex T S v (Topic)
3373 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score
3374 Sort the current topic by group score
3375 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-score}). @xref{Group Score}.
3378 @kindex T S r (Topic)
3379 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank
3380 Sort the current topic by group rank
3381 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-rank}). @xref{Group Score}.
3384 @kindex T S m (Topic)
3385 @findex gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method
3386 Sort the current topic alphabetically by backend name
3387 (@code{gnus-topic-sort-groups-by-method}).
3391 @xref{Sorting Groups}, for more information about group sorting.
3394 @node Topic Topology
3395 @subsection Topic Topology
3396 @cindex topic topology
3399 So, let's have a look at an example group buffer:
3405 2: alt.religion.emacs
3408 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3410 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3411 13: comp.sources.unix
3414 So, here we have one top-level topic (@samp{Gnus}), two topics under
3415 that, and one sub-topic under one of the sub-topics. (There is always
3416 just one (1) top-level topic). This topology can be expressed as
3421 (("Emacs -- I wuw it!" visible)
3422 (("Naughty Emacs" visible)))
3426 @vindex gnus-topic-topology
3427 This is in fact how the variable @code{gnus-topic-topology} would look
3428 for the display above. That variable is saved in the @file{.newsrc.eld}
3429 file, and shouldn't be messed with manually---unless you really want
3430 to. Since this variable is read from the @file{.newsrc.eld} file,
3431 setting it in any other startup files will have no effect.
3433 This topology shows what topics are sub-topics of what topics (right),
3434 and which topics are visible. Two settings are currently
3435 allowed---@code{visible} and @code{invisible}.
3438 @node Topic Parameters
3439 @subsection Topic Parameters
3440 @cindex topic parameters
3442 All groups in a topic will inherit group parameters from the parent (and
3443 ancestor) topic parameters. All valid group parameters are valid topic
3444 parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
3446 In addition, the following parameters are only valid as topic
3451 When subscribing new groups by topic (@pxref{Subscription Methods}), the
3452 @code{subscribe} topic parameter says what groups go in what topic. Its
3453 value should be a regexp to match the groups that should go in that
3458 Group parameters (of course) override topic parameters, and topic
3459 parameters in sub-topics override topic parameters in super-topics. You
3460 know. Normal inheritance rules. (@dfn{Rules} is here a noun, not a
3461 verb, although you may feel free to disagree with me here.)
3467 2: alt.religion.emacs
3471 0: comp.talk.emacs.recovery
3473 8: comp.binaries.fractals
3474 13: comp.sources.unix
3478 The @samp{Emacs} topic has the topic parameter @code{(score-file
3479 . "emacs.SCORE")}; the @samp{Relief} topic has the topic parameter
3480 @code{(score-file . "relief.SCORE")}; and the @samp{Misc} topic has the
3481 topic parameter @code{(score-file . "emacs.SCORE")}. In addition,
3482 @* @samp{alt.religion.emacs} has the group parameter @code{(score-file
3483 . "religion.SCORE")}.
3485 Now, when you enter @samp{alt.sex.emacs} in the @samp{Relief} topic, you
3486 will get the @file{relief.SCORE} home score file. If you enter the same
3487 group in the @samp{Emacs} topic, you'll get the @file{emacs.SCORE} home
3488 score file. If you enter the group @samp{alt.religion.emacs}, you'll
3489 get the @file{religion.SCORE} home score file.
3491 This seems rather simple and self-evident, doesn't it? Well, yes. But
3492 there are some problems, especially with the @code{total-expiry}
3493 parameter. Say you have a mail group in two topics; one with
3494 @code{total-expiry} and one without. What happens when you do @kbd{M-x
3495 gnus-expire-all-expirable-groups}? Gnus has no way of telling which one
3496 of these topics you mean to expire articles from, so anything may
3497 happen. In fact, I hereby declare that it is @dfn{undefined} what
3498 happens. You just have to be careful if you do stuff like that.
3501 @node Misc Group Stuff
3502 @section Misc Group Stuff
3505 * Scanning New Messages:: Asking gnus to see whether new messages have arrived.
3506 * Group Information:: Information and help on groups and gnus.
3507 * Group Timestamp:: Making gnus keep track of when you last read a group.
3508 * File Commands:: Reading and writing the gnus files.
3515 @findex gnus-group-enter-server-mode
3516 Enter the server buffer (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}).
3517 @xref{The Server Buffer}.
3521 @findex gnus-group-post-news
3522 Post an article to a group (@code{gnus-group-post-news}). If given a
3523 prefix, the current group name will be used as the default.
3527 @findex gnus-group-mail
3528 Mail a message somewhere (@code{gnus-group-mail}).
3532 Variables for the group buffer:
3536 @item gnus-group-mode-hook
3537 @vindex gnus-group-mode-hook
3538 is called after the group buffer has been
3541 @item gnus-group-prepare-hook
3542 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3543 is called after the group buffer is
3544 generated. It may be used to modify the buffer in some strange,
3547 @item gnus-group-prepared-hook
3548 @vindex gnus-group-prepare-hook
3549 is called as the very last thing after the group buffer has been
3550 generated. It may be used to move point around, for instance.
3552 @item gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3553 @vindex gnus-permanently-visible-groups
3554 Groups matching this regexp will always be listed in the group buffer,
3555 whether they are empty or not.
3560 @node Scanning New Messages
3561 @subsection Scanning New Messages
3562 @cindex new messages
3563 @cindex scanning new news
3569 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news
3570 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news}
3571 Check the server(s) for new articles. If the numerical prefix is used,
3572 this command will check only groups of level @var{arg} and lower
3573 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news}). If given a non-numerical prefix, this
3574 command will force a total re-reading of the active file(s) from the
3579 @findex gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group
3580 @vindex gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating
3581 @c @icon{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}
3582 Check whether new articles have arrived in the current group
3583 (@code{gnus-group-get-new-news-this-group}).
3584 @code{gnus-goto-next-group-when-activating} says whether this command is
3585 to move point to the next group or not. It is @code{t} by default.
3587 @findex gnus-activate-all-groups
3588 @cindex activating groups
3590 @kindex C-c M-g (Group)
3591 Activate absolutely all groups (@code{gnus-activate-all-groups}).
3596 @findex gnus-group-restart
3597 Restart gnus (@code{gnus-group-restart}). This saves the @file{.newsrc}
3598 file(s), closes the connection to all servers, clears up all run-time
3599 gnus variables, and then starts gnus all over again.
3603 @vindex gnus-get-new-news-hook
3604 @code{gnus-get-new-news-hook} is run just before checking for new news.
3606 @vindex gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook
3607 @code{gnus-after-getting-new-news-hook} is run after checking for new
3611 @node Group Information
3612 @subsection Group Information
3613 @cindex group information
3614 @cindex information on groups
3621 @findex gnus-group-fetch-faq
3622 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
3625 Try to fetch the FAQ for the current group
3626 (@code{gnus-group-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the FAQ from
3627 @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory on a
3628 remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories. In
3629 that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
3630 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} (or @code{efs}) will be used
3631 for fetching the file.
3633 If fetching from the first site is unsuccessful, gnus will attempt to go
3634 through @code{gnus-group-faq-directory} and try to open them one by one.
3638 @c @icon{gnus-group-describe-group}
3640 @kindex C-c C-d (Group)
3641 @cindex describing groups
3642 @cindex group description
3643 @findex gnus-group-describe-group
3644 Describe the current group (@code{gnus-group-describe-group}). If given
3645 a prefix, force Gnus to re-read the description from the server.
3649 @findex gnus-group-describe-all-groups
3650 Describe all groups (@code{gnus-group-describe-all-groups}). If given a
3651 prefix, force gnus to re-read the description file from the server.
3658 @findex gnus-version
3659 Display current gnus version numbers (@code{gnus-version}).
3663 @findex gnus-group-describe-briefly
3664 Give a very short help message (@code{gnus-group-describe-briefly}).
3667 @kindex C-c C-i (Group)
3670 @findex gnus-info-find-node
3671 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
3675 @node Group Timestamp
3676 @subsection Group Timestamp
3678 @cindex group timestamps
3680 It can be convenient to let gnus keep track of when you last read a
3681 group. To set the ball rolling, you should add
3682 @code{gnus-group-set-timestamp} to @code{gnus-select-group-hook}:
3685 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook 'gnus-group-set-timestamp)
3688 After doing this, each time you enter a group, it'll be recorded.
3690 This information can be displayed in various ways---the easiest is to
3691 use the @samp{%d} spec in the group line format:
3694 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3695 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %d\n")
3698 This will result in lines looking like:
3701 * 0: mail.ding 19961002T012943
3702 0: custom 19961002T012713
3705 As you can see, the date is displayed in compact ISO 8601 format. This
3706 may be a bit too much, so to just display the date, you could say
3710 (setq gnus-group-line-format
3711 "%M\%S\%p\%P\%5y: %(%-40,40g%) %6,6~(cut 2)d\n")
3716 @subsection File Commands
3717 @cindex file commands
3723 @findex gnus-group-read-init-file
3724 @vindex gnus-init-file
3725 @cindex reading init file
3726 Re-read the init file (@code{gnus-init-file}, which defaults to
3727 @file{~/.gnus}) (@code{gnus-group-read-init-file}).
3731 @findex gnus-group-save-newsrc
3732 @cindex saving .newsrc
3733 Save the @file{.newsrc.eld} file (and @file{.newsrc} if wanted)
3734 (@code{gnus-group-save-newsrc}). If given a prefix, force saving the
3735 file(s) whether Gnus thinks it is necessary or not.
3738 @c @kindex Z (Group)
3739 @c @findex gnus-group-clear-dribble
3740 @c Clear the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-group-clear-dribble}).
3745 @node The Summary Buffer
3746 @chapter The Summary Buffer
3747 @cindex summary buffer
3749 A line for each article is displayed in the summary buffer. You can
3750 move around, read articles, post articles and reply to articles.
3752 The most common way to a summary buffer is to select a group from the
3753 group buffer (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
3755 You can have as many summary buffers open as you wish.
3758 * Summary Buffer Format:: Deciding how the summary buffer is to look.
3759 * Summary Maneuvering:: Moving around the summary buffer.
3760 * Choosing Articles:: Reading articles.
3761 * Paging the Article:: Scrolling the current article.
3762 * Reply Followup and Post:: Posting articles.
3763 * Marking Articles:: Marking articles as read, expirable, etc.
3764 * Limiting:: You can limit the summary buffer.
3765 * Threading:: How threads are made.
3766 * Sorting:: How articles and threads are sorted.
3767 * Asynchronous Fetching:: Gnus might be able to pre-fetch articles.
3768 * Article Caching:: You may store articles in a cache.
3769 * Persistent Articles:: Making articles expiry-resistant.
3770 * Article Backlog:: Having already read articles hang around.
3771 * Saving Articles:: Ways of customizing article saving.
3772 * Decoding Articles:: Gnus can treat series of (uu)encoded articles.
3773 * Article Treatment:: The article buffer can be mangled at will.
3774 * MIME Commands:: Doing MIMEy things with the articles.
3775 * Charsets:: Character set issues.
3776 * Article Commands:: Doing various things with the article buffer.
3777 * Summary Sorting:: Sorting the summary buffer in various ways.
3778 * Finding the Parent:: No child support? Get the parent.
3779 * Alternative Approaches:: Reading using non-default summaries.
3780 * Tree Display:: A more visual display of threads.
3781 * Mail Group Commands:: Some commands can only be used in mail groups.
3782 * Various Summary Stuff:: What didn't fit anywhere else.
3783 * Exiting the Summary Buffer:: Returning to the Group buffer.
3784 * Crosspost Handling:: How crossposted articles are dealt with.
3785 * Duplicate Suppression:: An alternative when crosspost handling fails.
3789 @node Summary Buffer Format
3790 @section Summary Buffer Format
3791 @cindex summary buffer format
3795 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{180}{
3796 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary.ps,width=7.5cm}}
3797 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-article.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
3803 * Summary Buffer Lines:: You can specify how summary lines should look.
3804 * To From Newsgroups:: How to not display your own name.
3805 * Summary Buffer Mode Line:: You can say how the mode line should look.
3806 * Summary Highlighting:: Making the summary buffer all pretty and nice.
3809 @findex mail-extract-address-components
3810 @findex gnus-extract-address-components
3811 @vindex gnus-extract-address-components
3812 Gnus will use the value of the @code{gnus-extract-address-components}
3813 variable as a function for getting the name and address parts of a
3814 @code{From} header. Three pre-defined functions exist:
3815 @code{gnus-extract-address-components}, which is the default, quite
3816 fast, and too simplistic solution;
3817 @code{mail-extract-address-components}, which works nicely, but is
3818 slower; and @code{std11-extract-address-components}, which works very
3819 nicely, but is slower. The default function will return the wrong
3820 answer in 5% of the cases. If this is unacceptable to you, use the
3821 other function instead:
3824 (setq gnus-extract-address-components
3825 'mail-extract-address-components)
3828 @vindex gnus-summary-same-subject
3829 @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} is a string indicating that the current
3830 article has the same subject as the previous. This string will be used
3831 with those specs that require it. The default is @code{""}.
3834 @node Summary Buffer Lines
3835 @subsection Summary Buffer Lines
3837 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
3838 You can change the format of the lines in the summary buffer by changing
3839 the @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable. It works along the same
3840 lines as a normal @code{format} string, with some extensions
3841 (@pxref{Formatting Variables}).
3843 The default string is @samp{%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%) %s\n}.
3845 The following format specification characters are understood:
3851 Subject string. List identifiers stripped,
3852 @code{gnus-list-identifies}. @xref{Article Hiding}.
3854 Subject if the article is the root of the thread or the previous article
3855 had a different subject, @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} otherwise.
3856 (@code{gnus-summary-same-subject} defaults to @code{""}.)
3858 Full @code{From} header.
3860 The name (from the @code{From} header).
3862 The name, code @code{To} header or the @code{Newsgroups} header
3863 (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
3865 The name (from the @code{From} header). This differs from the @code{n}
3866 spec in that it uses the function designated by the
3867 @code{gnus-extract-address-components} variable, which is slower, but
3868 may be more thorough.
3870 The address (from the @code{From} header). This works the same way as
3873 Number of lines in the article.
3875 Number of characters in the article. This specifier is not supported in some
3876 methods (like nnfolder).
3878 Indentation based on thread level (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3880 Nothing if the article is a root and lots of spaces if it isn't (it
3881 pushes everything after it off the screen).
3883 Opening bracket, which is normally @samp{[}, but can also be @samp{<}
3884 for adopted articles (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
3886 Closing bracket, which is normally @samp{]}, but can also be @samp{>}
3887 for adopted articles.
3889 One space for each thread level.
3891 Twenty minus thread level spaces.
3896 This misleadingly named specifier is the @dfn{secondary mark}. This
3897 mark will say whether the article has been replied to, has been cached,
3901 Score as a number (@pxref{Scoring}).
3903 @vindex gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz
3904 Zcore, @samp{+} if above the default level and @samp{-} if below the
3905 default level. If the difference between
3906 @code{gnus-summary-default-score} and the score is less than
3907 @code{gnus-summary-zcore-fuzz}, this spec will not be used.
3915 The @code{Date} in @code{DD-MMM} format.
3917 The @code{Date} in @var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS} format.
3923 Number of articles in the current sub-thread. Using this spec will slow
3924 down summary buffer generation somewhat.
3926 An @samp{=} (@code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark}) will be displayed if the
3927 article has any children.
3933 User defined specifier. The next character in the format string should
3934 be a letter. Gnus will call the function
3935 @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where @samp{X} is the letter
3936 following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed the current header as
3937 argument. The function should return a string, which will be inserted
3938 into the summary just like information from any other summary specifier.
3941 The @samp{%U} (status), @samp{%R} (replied) and @samp{%z} (zcore) specs
3942 have to be handled with care. For reasons of efficiency, gnus will
3943 compute what column these characters will end up in, and ``hard-code''
3944 that. This means that it is invalid to have these specs after a
3945 variable-length spec. Well, you might not be arrested, but your summary
3946 buffer will look strange, which is bad enough.
3948 The smart choice is to have these specs as far to the left as possible.
3949 (Isn't that the case with everything, though? But I digress.)
3951 This restriction may disappear in later versions of gnus.
3954 @node To From Newsgroups
3955 @subsection To From Newsgroups
3959 In some groups (particularly in archive groups), the @code{From} header
3960 isn't very interesting, since all the articles there are written by
3961 you. To display the information in the @code{To} or @code{Newsgroups}
3962 headers instead, you need to decide three things: What information to
3963 gather; where to display it; and when to display it.
3967 @vindex gnus-extra-headers
3968 The reading of extra header information is controlled by the
3969 @code{gnus-extra-headers}. This is a list of header symbols. For
3973 (setq gnus-extra-headers
3974 '(To Newsgroups X-Newsreader))
3977 This will result in Gnus trying to obtain these three headers, and
3978 storing it in header structures for later easy retrieval.
3981 @findex gnus-extra-header
3982 The value of these extra headers can be accessed via the
3983 @code{gnus-extra-header} function. Here's a format line spec that will
3984 access the @code{X-Newsreader} header:
3987 "%~(form (gnus-extra-header 'X-Newsreader))@@"
3991 @vindex gnus-ignored-from-addresses
3992 The @code{gnus-ignored-from-addresses} variable says when the @samp{%f}
3993 summary line spec returns the @code{To}, @code{Newsreader} or
3994 @code{From} header. If this regexp matches the contents of the
3995 @code{From} header, the value of the @code{To} or @code{Newsreader}
3996 headers are used instead.
4000 @vindex nnmail-extra-headers
4001 A related variable is @code{nnmail-extra-headers}, which controls when
4002 to include extra headers when generating overview (@sc{nov}) files. If
4003 you have old overview files, you should regenerate them after changing
4006 @vindex gnus-summary-line-format
4007 You also have to instruct Gnus to display the data by changing the
4008 @code{%n} spec to the @code{%f} spec in the
4009 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} variable.
4011 In summary, you'd typically do something like the following:
4014 (setq gnus-extra-headers
4016 (setq nnmail-extra-headers gnus-extra-headers)
4017 (setq gnus-summary-line-format
4018 "%U%R%z%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20f%]%) %s\n")
4019 (setq gnus-ignored-from-addresses
4023 Now, this is mostly useful for mail groups, where you have control over
4024 the @sc{nov} files that are created. However, if you can persuade your
4031 to the end of her @file{overview.fmt} file, then you can use that just
4032 as you would the extra headers from the mail groups.
4035 @node Summary Buffer Mode Line
4036 @subsection Summary Buffer Mode Line
4038 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-line-format
4039 You can also change the format of the summary mode bar (@pxref{Mode Line
4040 Formatting}). Set @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} to whatever you
4041 like. The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b [%A] %Z}.
4043 Here are the elements you can play with:
4049 Unprefixed group name.
4051 Current article number.
4053 Current article score.
4057 Number of unread articles in this group.
4059 Number of unread articles in this group that aren't displayed in the
4062 A string with the number of unread and unselected articles represented
4063 either as @samp{<%U(+%e) more>} if there are both unread and unselected
4064 articles, and just as @samp{<%U more>} if there are just unread articles
4065 and no unselected ones.
4067 Shortish group name. For instance, @samp{rec.arts.anime} will be
4068 shortened to @samp{r.a.anime}.
4070 Subject of the current article.
4072 User-defined spec (@pxref{User-Defined Specs}).
4074 Name of the current score file (@pxref{Scoring}).
4076 Number of dormant articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4078 Number of ticked articles (@pxref{Unread Articles}).
4080 Number of articles that have been marked as read in this session.
4082 Number of articles expunged by the score files.
4086 @node Summary Highlighting
4087 @subsection Summary Highlighting
4091 @item gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4092 @vindex gnus-visual-mark-article-hook
4093 This hook is run after selecting an article. It is meant to be used for
4094 highlighting the article in some way. It is not run if
4095 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4097 @item gnus-summary-update-hook
4098 @vindex gnus-summary-update-hook
4099 This hook is called when a summary line is changed. It is not run if
4100 @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
4102 @item gnus-summary-selected-face
4103 @vindex gnus-summary-selected-face
4104 This is the face (or @dfn{font} as some people call it) used to
4105 highlight the current article in the summary buffer.
4107 @item gnus-summary-highlight
4108 @vindex gnus-summary-highlight
4109 Summary lines are highlighted according to this variable, which is a
4110 list where the elements are of the format @code{(@var{form}
4111 . @var{face})}. If you would, for instance, like ticked articles to be
4112 italic and high-scored articles to be bold, you could set this variable
4115 (((eq mark gnus-ticked-mark) . italic)
4116 ((> score default) . bold))
4118 As you may have guessed, if @var{form} returns a non-@code{nil} value,
4119 @var{face} will be applied to the line.
4123 @node Summary Maneuvering
4124 @section Summary Maneuvering
4125 @cindex summary movement
4127 All the straight movement commands understand the numeric prefix and
4128 behave pretty much as you'd expect.
4130 None of these commands select articles.
4135 @kindex M-n (Summary)
4136 @kindex G M-n (Summary)
4137 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-subject
4138 Go to the next summary line of an unread article
4139 (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-subject}).
4143 @kindex M-p (Summary)
4144 @kindex G M-p (Summary)
4145 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject
4146 Go to the previous summary line of an unread article
4147 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-subject}).
4152 @kindex G j (Summary)
4153 @findex gnus-summary-goto-article
4154 Ask for an article number or @code{Message-ID}, and then go to that
4155 article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-article}).
4158 @kindex G g (Summary)
4159 @findex gnus-summary-goto-subject
4160 Ask for an article number and then go to the summary line of that article
4161 without displaying the article (@code{gnus-summary-goto-subject}).
4164 If gnus asks you to press a key to confirm going to the next group, you
4165 can use the @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} keys to move around the group
4166 buffer, searching for the next group to read without actually returning
4167 to the group buffer.
4169 Variables related to summary movement:
4173 @vindex gnus-auto-select-next
4174 @item gnus-auto-select-next
4175 If you issue one of the movement commands (like @kbd{n}) and there are
4176 no more unread articles after the current one, gnus will offer to go to
4177 the next group. If this variable is @code{t} and the next group is
4178 empty, gnus will exit summary mode and return to the group buffer. If
4179 this variable is neither @code{t} nor @code{nil}, gnus will select the
4180 next group, no matter whether it has any unread articles or not. As a
4181 special case, if this variable is @code{quietly}, gnus will select the
4182 next group without asking for confirmation. If this variable is
4183 @code{almost-quietly}, the same will happen only if you are located on
4184 the last article in the group. Finally, if this variable is
4185 @code{slightly-quietly}, the @kbd{Z n} command will go to the next group
4186 without confirmation. Also @pxref{Group Levels}.
4188 @item gnus-auto-select-same
4189 @vindex gnus-auto-select-same
4190 If non-@code{nil}, all the movement commands will try to go to the next
4191 article with the same subject as the current. (@dfn{Same} here might
4192 mean @dfn{roughly equal}. See @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}
4193 for details (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).) If there are no more
4194 articles with the same subject, go to the first unread article.
4196 This variable is not particularly useful if you use a threaded display.
4198 @item gnus-summary-check-current
4199 @vindex gnus-summary-check-current
4200 If non-@code{nil}, all the ``unread'' movement commands will not proceed
4201 to the next (or previous) article if the current article is unread.
4202 Instead, they will choose the current article.
4204 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
4205 @vindex gnus-auto-center-summary
4206 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will keep the point in the summary buffer
4207 centered at all times. This makes things quite tidy, but if you have a
4208 slow network connection, or simply do not like this un-Emacsism, you can
4209 set this variable to @code{nil} to get the normal Emacs scrolling
4210 action. This will also inhibit horizontal re-centering of the summary
4211 buffer, which might make it more inconvenient to read extremely long
4214 This variable can also be a number. In that case, center the window at
4215 the given number of lines from the top.
4220 @node Choosing Articles
4221 @section Choosing Articles
4222 @cindex selecting articles
4225 * Choosing Commands:: Commands for choosing articles.
4226 * Choosing Variables:: Variables that influence these commands.
4230 @node Choosing Commands
4231 @subsection Choosing Commands
4233 None of the following movement commands understand the numeric prefix,
4234 and they all select and display an article.
4238 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4239 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4240 Select the current article, or, if that one's read already, the next
4241 unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4246 @kindex G n (Summary)
4247 @findex gnus-summary-next-unread-article
4248 @c @icon{gnus-summary-next-unread}
4249 Go to next unread article (@code{gnus-summary-next-unread-article}).
4254 @findex gnus-summary-prev-unread-article
4255 @c @icon{gnus-summary-prev-unread}
4256 Go to previous unread article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-unread-article}).
4261 @kindex G N (Summary)
4262 @findex gnus-summary-next-article
4263 Go to the next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-article}).
4268 @kindex G P (Summary)
4269 @findex gnus-summary-prev-article
4270 Go to the previous article (@code{gnus-summary-prev-article}).
4273 @kindex G C-n (Summary)
4274 @findex gnus-summary-next-same-subject
4275 Go to the next article with the same subject
4276 (@code{gnus-summary-next-same-subject}).
4279 @kindex G C-p (Summary)
4280 @findex gnus-summary-prev-same-subject
4281 Go to the previous article with the same subject
4282 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-same-subject}).
4286 @kindex G f (Summary)
4288 @findex gnus-summary-first-unread-article
4289 Go to the first unread article
4290 (@code{gnus-summary-first-unread-article}).
4294 @kindex G b (Summary)
4296 @findex gnus-summary-best-unread-article
4297 Go to the article with the highest score
4298 (@code{gnus-summary-best-unread-article}).
4303 @kindex G l (Summary)
4304 @findex gnus-summary-goto-last-article
4305 Go to the previous article read (@code{gnus-summary-goto-last-article}).
4308 @kindex G o (Summary)
4309 @findex gnus-summary-pop-article
4311 @cindex article history
4312 Pop an article off the summary history and go to this article
4313 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-article}). This command differs from the
4314 command above in that you can pop as many previous articles off the
4315 history as you like, while @kbd{l} toggles the two last read articles.
4316 For a somewhat related issue (if you use these commands a lot),
4317 @pxref{Article Backlog}.
4321 @node Choosing Variables
4322 @subsection Choosing Variables
4324 Some variables relevant for moving and selecting articles:
4327 @item gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4328 @vindex gnus-auto-extend-newsgroup
4329 All the movement commands will try to go to the previous (or next)
4330 article, even if that article isn't displayed in the Summary buffer if
4331 this variable is non-@code{nil}. Gnus will then fetch the article from
4332 the server and display it in the article buffer.
4334 @item gnus-select-article-hook
4335 @vindex gnus-select-article-hook
4336 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. By default it
4337 exposes any threads hidden under the selected article.
4339 @item gnus-mark-article-hook
4340 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
4341 @findex gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read
4342 @findex gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read
4343 @findex gnus-unread-mark
4344 This hook is called whenever an article is selected. It is intended to
4345 be used for marking articles as read. The default value is
4346 @code{gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read}, and will change the
4347 mark of almost any article you read to @code{gnus-unread-mark}. The
4348 only articles not affected by this function are ticked, dormant, and
4349 expirable articles. If you'd instead like to just have unread articles
4350 marked as read, you can use @code{gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read}
4351 instead. It will leave marks like @code{gnus-low-score-mark},
4352 @code{gnus-del-mark} (and so on) alone.
4357 @node Paging the Article
4358 @section Scrolling the Article
4359 @cindex article scrolling
4364 @kindex SPACE (Summary)
4365 @findex gnus-summary-next-page
4366 Pressing @kbd{SPACE} will scroll the current article forward one page,
4367 or, if you have come to the end of the current article, will choose the
4368 next article (@code{gnus-summary-next-page}).
4371 @kindex DEL (Summary)
4372 @findex gnus-summary-prev-page
4373 Scroll the current article back one page (@code{gnus-summary-prev-page}).
4376 @kindex RET (Summary)
4377 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-up
4378 Scroll the current article one line forward
4379 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-up}).
4382 @kindex M-RET (Summary)
4383 @findex gnus-summary-scroll-down
4384 Scroll the current article one line backward
4385 (@code{gnus-summary-scroll-down}).
4389 @kindex A g (Summary)
4391 @findex gnus-summary-show-article
4392 @vindex gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4393 (Re)fetch the current article (@code{gnus-summary-show-article}). If
4394 given a prefix, fetch the current article, but don't run any of the
4395 article treatment functions. This will give you a ``raw'' article, just
4396 the way it came from the server.
4398 If given a numerical prefix, you can do semi-manual charset stuff.
4399 @kbd{C-u 0 g cn-gb-2312 RET} will decode the message as if it were
4400 encoded in the @code{cn-gb-2312} charset. If you have
4403 (setq gnus-summary-show-article-charset-alist
4408 then you can say @kbd{C-u 1 g} to get the same effect.
4413 @kindex A < (Summary)
4414 @findex gnus-summary-beginning-of-article
4415 Scroll to the beginning of the article
4416 (@code{gnus-summary-beginning-of-article}).
4421 @kindex A > (Summary)
4422 @findex gnus-summary-end-of-article
4423 Scroll to the end of the article (@code{gnus-summary-end-of-article}).
4427 @kindex A s (Summary)
4429 @findex gnus-summary-isearch-article
4430 Perform an isearch in the article buffer
4431 (@code{gnus-summary-isearch-article}).
4435 @findex gnus-summary-select-article-buffer
4436 Select the article buffer (@code{gnus-summary-select-article-buffer}).
4441 @node Reply Followup and Post
4442 @section Reply, Followup and Post
4445 * Summary Mail Commands:: Sending mail.
4446 * Summary Post Commands:: Sending news.
4447 * Summary Message Commands:: Other Message-related commands.
4448 * Canceling and Superseding:: ``Whoops, I shouldn't have called him that.''
4452 @node Summary Mail Commands
4453 @subsection Summary Mail Commands
4455 @cindex composing mail
4457 Commands for composing a mail message:
4463 @kindex S r (Summary)
4465 @findex gnus-summary-reply
4466 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-reply}
4467 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply}
4468 Mail a reply to the author of the current article
4469 (@code{gnus-summary-reply}).
4474 @kindex S R (Summary)
4475 @findex gnus-summary-reply-with-original
4476 @c @icon{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}
4477 Mail a reply to the author of the current article and include the
4478 original message (@code{gnus-summary-reply-with-original}). This
4479 command uses the process/prefix convention.
4482 @kindex S w (Summary)
4483 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply
4484 Mail a wide reply to the author of the current article
4485 (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply}). A @dfn{wide reply} is a reply that
4486 goes out to all people listed in the @code{To}, @code{From} (or
4487 @code{Reply-to}) and @code{Cc} headers.
4490 @kindex S W (Summary)
4491 @findex gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original
4492 Mail a wide reply to the current article and include the original
4493 message (@code{gnus-summary-wide-reply-with-original}). This command uses
4494 the process/prefix convention.
4497 @kindex S o m (Summary)
4498 @findex gnus-summary-mail-forward
4499 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-forward}
4500 Forward the current article to some other person
4501 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4502 headers of the forwarded article.
4507 @kindex S m (Summary)
4508 @findex gnus-summary-mail-other-window
4509 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-originate}
4510 Send a mail to some other person
4511 (@code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}).
4514 @kindex S D b (Summary)
4515 @findex gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail
4516 @cindex bouncing mail
4517 If you have sent a mail, but the mail was bounced back to you for some
4518 reason (wrong address, transient failure), you can use this command to
4519 resend that bounced mail (@code{gnus-summary-resend-bounced-mail}). You
4520 will be popped into a mail buffer where you can edit the headers before
4521 sending the mail off again. If you give a prefix to this command, and
4522 the bounced mail is a reply to some other mail, gnus will try to fetch
4523 that mail and display it for easy perusal of its headers. This might
4524 very well fail, though.
4527 @kindex S D r (Summary)
4528 @findex gnus-summary-resend-message
4529 Not to be confused with the previous command,
4530 @code{gnus-summary-resend-message} will prompt you for an address to
4531 send the current message off to, and then send it to that place. The
4532 headers of the message won't be altered---but lots of headers that say
4533 @code{Resent-To}, @code{Resent-From} and so on will be added. This
4534 means that you actually send a mail to someone that has a @code{To}
4535 header that (probably) points to yourself. This will confuse people.
4536 So, natcherly you'll only do that if you're really eVIl.
4538 This command is mainly used if you have several accounts and want to
4539 ship a mail to a different account of yours. (If you're both
4540 @code{root} and @code{postmaster} and get a mail for @code{postmaster}
4541 to the @code{root} account, you may want to resend it to
4542 @code{postmaster}. Ordnung muß sein!
4544 This command understands the process/prefix convention
4545 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4548 @kindex S O m (Summary)
4549 @findex gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward
4550 Digest the current series (@pxref{Decoding Articles}) and forward the
4551 result using mail (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command
4552 uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4555 @kindex S M-c (Summary)
4556 @findex gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint
4557 @cindex crossposting
4558 @cindex excessive crossposting
4559 Send a complaint about excessive crossposting to the author of the
4560 current article (@code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint}).
4562 @findex gnus-crosspost-complaint
4563 This command is provided as a way to fight back against the current
4564 crossposting pandemic that's sweeping Usenet. It will compose a reply
4565 using the @code{gnus-crosspost-complaint} variable as a preamble. This
4566 command understands the process/prefix convention
4567 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) and will prompt you before sending each mail.
4571 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4574 @node Summary Post Commands
4575 @subsection Summary Post Commands
4577 @cindex composing news
4579 Commands for posting a news article:
4585 @kindex S p (Summary)
4586 @findex gnus-summary-post-news
4587 @c @icon{gnus-summary-post-news}
4588 Post an article to the current group
4589 (@code{gnus-summary-post-news}).
4594 @kindex S f (Summary)
4595 @findex gnus-summary-followup
4596 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup}
4597 Post a followup to the current article (@code{gnus-summary-followup}).
4601 @kindex S F (Summary)
4603 @c @icon{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}
4604 @findex gnus-summary-followup-with-original
4605 Post a followup to the current article and include the original message
4606 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-with-original}). This command uses the
4607 process/prefix convention.
4610 @kindex S n (Summary)
4611 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail
4612 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4613 message through mail (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail}).
4616 @kindex S N (Summary)
4617 @findex gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original
4618 Post a followup to the current article via news, even if you got the
4619 message through mail and include the original message
4620 (@code{gnus-summary-followup-to-mail-with-original}). This command uses
4621 the process/prefix convention.
4624 @kindex S o p (Summary)
4625 @findex gnus-summary-post-forward
4626 Forward the current article to a newsgroup
4627 (@code{gnus-summary-post-forward}). If given a prefix, include the full
4628 headers of the forwarded article.
4631 @kindex S O p (Summary)
4632 @findex gnus-uu-digest-post-forward
4634 @cindex making digests
4635 Digest the current series and forward the result to a newsgroup
4636 (@code{gnus-uu-digest-mail-forward}). This command uses the
4637 process/prefix convention.
4640 @kindex S u (Summary)
4641 @findex gnus-uu-post-news
4642 @c @icon{gnus-uu-post-news}
4643 Uuencode a file, split it into parts, and post it as a series
4644 (@code{gnus-uu-post-news}). (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
4647 Also @pxref{(message)Header Commands} for more information.
4650 @node Summary Message Commands
4651 @subsection Summary Message Commands
4655 @kindex S y (Summary)
4656 @findex gnus-summary-yank-message
4657 Yank the current article into an already existing Message composition
4658 buffer (@code{gnus-summary-yank-message}). This command prompts for
4659 what message buffer you want to yank into, and understands the
4660 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4665 @node Canceling and Superseding
4666 @subsection Canceling Articles
4667 @cindex canceling articles
4668 @cindex superseding articles
4670 Have you ever written something, and then decided that you really,
4671 really, really wish you hadn't posted that?
4673 Well, you can't cancel mail, but you can cancel posts.
4675 @findex gnus-summary-cancel-article
4677 @c @icon{gnus-summary-cancel-article}
4678 Find the article you wish to cancel (you can only cancel your own
4679 articles, so don't try any funny stuff). Then press @kbd{C} or @kbd{S
4680 c} (@code{gnus-summary-cancel-article}). Your article will be
4681 canceled---machines all over the world will be deleting your article.
4682 This command uses the process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
4684 Be aware, however, that not all sites honor cancels, so your article may
4685 live on here and there, while most sites will delete the article in
4688 Gnus will use the ``current'' select method when canceling. If you
4689 want to use the standard posting method, use the @samp{a} symbolic
4690 prefix (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}).
4692 If you discover that you have made some mistakes and want to do some
4693 corrections, you can post a @dfn{superseding} article that will replace
4694 your original article.
4696 @findex gnus-summary-supersede-article
4698 Go to the original article and press @kbd{S s}
4699 (@code{gnus-summary-supersede-article}). You will be put in a buffer
4700 where you can edit the article all you want before sending it off the
4703 The same goes for superseding as for canceling, only more so: Some
4704 sites do not honor superseding. On those sites, it will appear that you
4705 have posted almost the same article twice.
4707 If you have just posted the article, and change your mind right away,
4708 there is a trick you can use to cancel/supersede the article without
4709 waiting for the article to appear on your site first. You simply return
4710 to the post buffer (which is called @code{*sent ...*}). There you will
4711 find the article you just posted, with all the headers intact. Change
4712 the @code{Message-ID} header to a @code{Cancel} or @code{Supersedes}
4713 header by substituting one of those words for the word
4714 @code{Message-ID}. Then just press @kbd{C-c C-c} to send the article as
4715 you would do normally. The previous article will be
4716 canceled/superseded.
4718 Just remember, kids: There is no 'c' in 'supersede'.
4721 @node Marking Articles
4722 @section Marking Articles
4723 @cindex article marking
4724 @cindex article ticking
4727 There are several marks you can set on an article.
4729 You have marks that decide the @dfn{readedness} (whoo, neato-keano
4730 neologism ohoy!) of the article. Alphabetic marks generally mean
4731 @dfn{read}, while non-alphabetic characters generally mean @dfn{unread}.
4733 In addition, you also have marks that do not affect readedness.
4736 * Unread Articles:: Marks for unread articles.
4737 * Read Articles:: Marks for read articles.
4738 * Other Marks:: Marks that do not affect readedness.
4742 There's a plethora of commands for manipulating these marks:
4746 * Setting Marks:: How to set and remove marks.
4747 * Generic Marking Commands:: How to customize the marking.
4748 * Setting Process Marks:: How to mark articles for later processing.
4752 @node Unread Articles
4753 @subsection Unread Articles
4755 The following marks mark articles as (kinda) unread, in one form or
4760 @vindex gnus-ticked-mark
4761 Marked as ticked (@code{gnus-ticked-mark}).
4763 @dfn{Ticked articles} are articles that will remain visible always. If
4764 you see an article that you find interesting, or you want to put off
4765 reading it, or replying to it, until sometime later, you'd typically
4766 tick it. However, articles can be expired, so if you want to keep an
4767 article forever, you'll have to make it persistent (@pxref{Persistent
4771 @vindex gnus-dormant-mark
4772 Marked as dormant (@code{gnus-dormant-mark}).
4774 @dfn{Dormant articles} will only appear in the summary buffer if there
4775 are followups to it. If you want to see them even if they don't have
4776 followups, you can use the @kbd{/ D} command (@pxref{Limiting}).
4779 @vindex gnus-unread-mark
4780 Marked as unread (@code{gnus-unread-mark}).
4782 @dfn{Unread articles} are articles that haven't been read at all yet.
4787 @subsection Read Articles
4788 @cindex expirable mark
4790 All the following marks mark articles as read.
4795 @vindex gnus-del-mark
4796 These are articles that the user has marked as read with the @kbd{d}
4797 command manually, more or less (@code{gnus-del-mark}).
4800 @vindex gnus-read-mark
4801 Articles that have actually been read (@code{gnus-read-mark}).
4804 @vindex gnus-ancient-mark
4805 Articles that were marked as read in previous sessions and are now
4806 @dfn{old} (@code{gnus-ancient-mark}).
4809 @vindex gnus-killed-mark
4810 Marked as killed (@code{gnus-killed-mark}).
4813 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mark
4814 Marked as killed by kill files (@code{gnus-kill-file-mark}).
4817 @vindex gnus-low-score-mark
4818 Marked as read by having too low a score (@code{gnus-low-score-mark}).
4821 @vindex gnus-catchup-mark
4822 Marked as read by a catchup (@code{gnus-catchup-mark}).
4825 @vindex gnus-canceled-mark
4826 Canceled article (@code{gnus-canceled-mark})
4829 @vindex gnus-souped-mark
4830 @sc{soup}ed article (@code{gnus-souped-mark}). @xref{SOUP}.
4833 @vindex gnus-sparse-mark
4834 Sparsely reffed article (@code{gnus-sparse-mark}). @xref{Customizing
4838 @vindex gnus-duplicate-mark
4839 Article marked as read by duplicate suppression
4840 (@code{gnus-duplicated-mark}). @xref{Duplicate Suppression}.
4844 All these marks just mean that the article is marked as read, really.
4845 They are interpreted differently when doing adaptive scoring, though.
4847 One more special mark, though:
4851 @vindex gnus-expirable-mark
4852 Marked as expirable (@code{gnus-expirable-mark}).
4854 Marking articles as @dfn{expirable} (or have them marked as such
4855 automatically) doesn't make much sense in normal groups---a user doesn't
4856 control expiring of news articles, but in mail groups, for instance,
4857 articles marked as @dfn{expirable} can be deleted by gnus at
4863 @subsection Other Marks
4864 @cindex process mark
4867 There are some marks that have nothing to do with whether the article is
4873 You can set a bookmark in the current article. Say you are reading a
4874 long thesis on cats' urinary tracts, and have to go home for dinner
4875 before you've finished reading the thesis. You can then set a bookmark
4876 in the article, and gnus will jump to this bookmark the next time it
4877 encounters the article. @xref{Setting Marks}.
4880 @vindex gnus-replied-mark
4881 All articles that you have replied to or made a followup to (i.e., have
4882 answered) will be marked with an @samp{A} in the second column
4883 (@code{gnus-replied-mark}).
4886 @vindex gnus-cached-mark
4887 Articles stored in the article cache will be marked with an @samp{*} in
4888 the second column (@code{gnus-cached-mark}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4891 @vindex gnus-saved-mark
4892 Articles ``saved'' (in some manner or other; not necessarily
4893 religiously) are marked with an @samp{S} in the second column
4894 (@code{gnus-saved-mark}).
4897 @vindex gnus-not-empty-thread-mark
4898 @vindex gnus-empty-thread-mark
4899 If the @samp{%e} spec is used, the presence of threads or not will be
4900 marked with @code{gnus-not-empty-thread-mark} and
4901 @code{gnus-empty-thread-mark} in the third column, respectively.
4904 @vindex gnus-process-mark
4905 Finally we have the @dfn{process mark} (@code{gnus-process-mark}). A
4906 variety of commands react to the presence of the process mark. For
4907 instance, @kbd{X u} (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}) will uudecode and view
4908 all articles that have been marked with the process mark. Articles
4909 marked with the process mark have a @samp{#} in the second column.
4913 You might have noticed that most of these ``non-readedness'' marks
4914 appear in the second column by default. So if you have a cached, saved,
4915 replied article that you have process-marked, what will that look like?
4917 Nothing much. The precedence rules go as follows: process -> cache ->
4918 replied -> saved. So if the article is in the cache and is replied,
4919 you'll only see the cache mark and not the replied mark.
4923 @subsection Setting Marks
4924 @cindex setting marks
4926 All the marking commands understand the numeric prefix.
4931 @kindex M c (Summary)
4932 @kindex M-u (Summary)
4933 @findex gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward
4934 @cindex mark as unread
4935 Clear all readedness-marks from the current article
4936 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-mark-forward}). In other words, mark the
4942 @kindex M t (Summary)
4943 @findex gnus-summary-tick-article-forward
4944 Tick the current article (@code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}).
4945 @xref{Article Caching}.
4950 @kindex M ? (Summary)
4951 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant
4952 Mark the current article as dormant
4953 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-dormant}). @xref{Article Caching}.
4957 @kindex M d (Summary)
4959 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward
4960 Mark the current article as read
4961 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-forward}).
4965 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward
4966 Mark the current article as read and move point to the previous line
4967 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-read-backward}).
4972 @kindex M k (Summary)
4973 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select
4974 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read,
4975 and then select the next unread article
4976 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject-and-select}).
4980 @kindex M K (Summary)
4981 @kindex C-k (Summary)
4982 @findex gnus-summary-kill-same-subject
4983 Mark all articles that have the same subject as the current one as read
4984 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-same-subject}).
4987 @kindex M C (Summary)
4988 @findex gnus-summary-catchup
4989 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup}
4990 Mark all unread articles as read (@code{gnus-summary-catchup}).
4993 @kindex M C-c (Summary)
4994 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all
4995 Mark all articles in the group as read---even the ticked and dormant
4996 articles (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all}).
4999 @kindex M H (Summary)
5000 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-to-here
5001 Catchup the current group to point
5002 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-to-here}).
5005 @kindex C-w (Summary)
5006 @findex gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read
5007 Mark all articles between point and mark as read
5008 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-region-as-read}).
5011 @kindex M V k (Summary)
5012 @findex gnus-summary-kill-below
5013 Kill all articles with scores below the default score (or below the
5014 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-kill-below}).
5018 @kindex M e (Summary)
5020 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable
5021 Mark the current article as expirable
5022 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-expirable}).
5025 @kindex M b (Summary)
5026 @findex gnus-summary-set-bookmark
5027 Set a bookmark in the current article
5028 (@code{gnus-summary-set-bookmark}).
5031 @kindex M B (Summary)
5032 @findex gnus-summary-remove-bookmark
5033 Remove the bookmark from the current article
5034 (@code{gnus-summary-remove-bookmark}).
5037 @kindex M V c (Summary)
5038 @findex gnus-summary-clear-above
5039 Clear all marks from articles with scores over the default score (or
5040 over the numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5043 @kindex M V u (Summary)
5044 @findex gnus-summary-tick-above
5045 Tick all articles with scores over the default score (or over the
5046 numeric prefix) (@code{gnus-summary-tick-above}).
5049 @kindex M V m (Summary)
5050 @findex gnus-summary-mark-above
5051 Prompt for a mark, and mark all articles with scores over the default
5052 score (or over the numeric prefix) with this mark
5053 (@code{gnus-summary-clear-above}).
5056 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
5057 The @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} variable controls what action should
5058 be taken after setting a mark. If non-@code{nil}, point will move to
5059 the next/previous unread article. If @code{nil}, point will just move
5060 one line up or down. As a special case, if this variable is
5061 @code{never}, all the marking commands as well as other commands (like
5062 @kbd{SPACE}) will move to the next article, whether it is unread or not.
5063 The default is @code{t}.
5066 @node Generic Marking Commands
5067 @subsection Generic Marking Commands
5069 Some people would like the command that ticks an article (@kbd{!}) go to
5070 the next article. Others would like it to go to the next unread
5071 article. Yet others would like it to stay on the current article. And
5072 even though I haven't heard of anybody wanting it to go to the
5073 previous (unread) article, I'm sure there are people that want that as
5076 Multiply these five behaviours with five different marking commands, and
5077 you get a potentially complex set of variable to control what each
5080 To sidestep that mess, Gnus provides commands that do all these
5081 different things. They can be found on the @kbd{M M} map in the summary
5082 buffer. Type @kbd{M M C-h} to see them all---there are too many of them
5083 to list in this manual.
5085 While you can use these commands directly, most users would prefer
5086 altering the summary mode keymap. For instance, if you would like the
5087 @kbd{!} command to go to the next article instead of the next unread
5088 article, you could say something like:
5091 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'my-alter-summary-map)
5092 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5093 (local-set-key "!" 'gnus-summary-put-mark-as-ticked-next))
5099 (defun my-alter-summary-map ()
5100 (local-set-key "!" "MM!n"))
5104 @node Setting Process Marks
5105 @subsection Setting Process Marks
5106 @cindex setting process marks
5113 @kindex M P p (Summary)
5114 @findex gnus-summary-mark-as-processable
5115 Mark the current article with the process mark
5116 (@code{gnus-summary-mark-as-processable}).
5117 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable
5121 @kindex M P u (Summary)
5122 @kindex M-# (Summary)
5123 Remove the process mark, if any, from the current article
5124 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-as-processable}).
5127 @kindex M P U (Summary)
5128 @findex gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable
5129 Remove the process mark from all articles
5130 (@code{gnus-summary-unmark-all-processable}).
5133 @kindex M P i (Summary)
5134 @findex gnus-uu-invert-processable
5135 Invert the list of process marked articles
5136 (@code{gnus-uu-invert-processable}).
5139 @kindex M P R (Summary)
5140 @findex gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp
5141 Mark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5142 expression (@code{gnus-uu-mark-by-regexp}).
5145 @kindex M P G (Summary)
5146 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp
5147 Unmark articles that have a @code{Subject} header that matches a regular
5148 expression (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-by-regexp}).
5151 @kindex M P r (Summary)
5152 @findex gnus-uu-mark-region
5153 Mark articles in region (@code{gnus-uu-mark-region}).
5156 @kindex M P t (Summary)
5157 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5158 Mark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5159 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5162 @kindex M P T (Summary)
5163 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5164 Unmark all articles in the current (sub)thread
5165 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5168 @kindex M P v (Summary)
5169 @findex gnus-uu-mark-over
5170 Mark all articles that have a score above the prefix argument
5171 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-over}).
5174 @kindex M P s (Summary)
5175 @findex gnus-uu-mark-series
5176 Mark all articles in the current series (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5179 @kindex M P S (Summary)
5180 @findex gnus-uu-mark-sparse
5181 Mark all series that have already had some articles marked
5182 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-sparse}).
5185 @kindex M P a (Summary)
5186 @findex gnus-uu-mark-all
5187 Mark all articles in series order (@code{gnus-uu-mark-series}).
5190 @kindex M P b (Summary)
5191 @findex gnus-uu-mark-buffer
5192 Mark all articles in the buffer in the order they appear
5193 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-buffer}).
5196 @kindex M P k (Summary)
5197 @findex gnus-summary-kill-process-mark
5198 Push the current process mark set onto the stack and unmark all articles
5199 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-process-mark}).
5202 @kindex M P y (Summary)
5203 @findex gnus-summary-yank-process-mark
5204 Pop the previous process mark set from the stack and restore it
5205 (@code{gnus-summary-yank-process-mark}).
5208 @kindex M P w (Summary)
5209 @findex gnus-summary-save-process-mark
5210 Push the current process mark set onto the stack
5211 (@code{gnus-summary-save-process-mark}).
5220 It can be convenient to limit the summary buffer to just show some
5221 subset of the articles currently in the group. The effect most limit
5222 commands have is to remove a few (or many) articles from the summary
5225 All limiting commands work on subsets of the articles already fetched
5226 from the servers. None of these commands query the server for
5227 additional articles.
5233 @kindex / / (Summary)
5234 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-subject
5235 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some subject
5236 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-subject}).
5239 @kindex / a (Summary)
5240 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-author
5241 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match some author
5242 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-author}).
5245 @kindex / x (Summary)
5246 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-extra
5247 Limit the summary buffer to articles that match one of the ``extra''
5248 headers (@pxref{To From Newsgroups})
5249 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-extra}).
5253 @kindex / u (Summary)
5255 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-unread
5256 Limit the summary buffer to articles not marked as read
5257 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-unread}). If given a prefix, limit the
5258 buffer to articles strictly unread. This means that ticked and
5259 dormant articles will also be excluded.
5262 @kindex / m (Summary)
5263 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-marks
5264 Ask for a mark and then limit to all articles that have been marked
5265 with that mark (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-marks}).
5268 @kindex / t (Summary)
5269 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-age
5270 Ask for a number and then limit the summary buffer to articles older than (or equal to) that number of days
5271 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-age}). If given a prefix, limit to
5272 articles younger than that number of days.
5275 @kindex / n (Summary)
5276 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-articles
5277 Limit the summary buffer to the current article
5278 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-articles}). Uses the process/prefix
5279 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
5282 @kindex / w (Summary)
5283 @findex gnus-summary-pop-limit
5284 Pop the previous limit off the stack and restore it
5285 (@code{gnus-summary-pop-limit}). If given a prefix, pop all limits off
5289 @kindex / v (Summary)
5290 @findex gnus-summary-limit-to-score
5291 Limit the summary buffer to articles that have a score at or above some
5292 score (@code{gnus-summary-limit-to-score}).
5296 @kindex M S (Summary)
5297 @kindex / E (Summary)
5298 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged
5299 Include all expunged articles in the limit
5300 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-expunged}).
5303 @kindex / D (Summary)
5304 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant
5305 Include all dormant articles in the limit
5306 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-dormant}).
5309 @kindex / * (Summary)
5310 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-cached
5311 Include all cached articles in the limit
5312 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-include-cached}).
5315 @kindex / d (Summary)
5316 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant
5317 Exclude all dormant articles from the limit
5318 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-dormant}).
5321 @kindex / M (Summary)
5322 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks
5323 Exclude all marked articles (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-marks}).
5326 @kindex / T (Summary)
5327 @findex gnus-summary-limit-include-thread
5328 Include all the articles in the current thread in the limit.
5331 @kindex / c (Summary)
5332 @findex gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant
5333 Exclude all dormant articles that have no children from the limit
5334 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-exclude-childless-dormant}).
5337 @kindex / C (Summary)
5338 @findex gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read
5339 Mark all excluded unread articles as read
5340 (@code{gnus-summary-limit-mark-excluded-as-read}). If given a prefix,
5341 also mark excluded ticked and dormant articles as read.
5349 @cindex article threading
5351 Gnus threads articles by default. @dfn{To thread} is to put responses
5352 to articles directly after the articles they respond to---in a
5353 hierarchical fashion.
5355 Threading is done by looking at the @code{References} headers of the
5356 articles. In a perfect world, this would be enough to build pretty
5357 trees, but unfortunately, the @code{References} header is often broken
5358 or simply missing. Weird news propagation excarcerbates the problem,
5359 so one has to employ other heuristics to get pleasing results. A
5360 plethora of approaches exists, as detailed in horrible detail in
5361 @pxref{Customizing Threading}.
5363 First, a quick overview of the concepts:
5367 The top-most article in a thread; the first article in the thread.
5370 A tree-like article structure.
5373 A small(er) section of this tree-like structure.
5376 Threads often lose their roots due to article expiry, or due to the root
5377 already having been read in a previous session, and not displayed in the
5378 summary buffer. We then typically have many sub-threads that really
5379 belong to one thread, but are without connecting roots. These are
5380 called loose threads.
5382 @item thread gathering
5383 An attempt to gather loose threads into bigger threads.
5385 @item sparse threads
5386 A thread where the missing articles have been ``guessed'' at, and are
5387 displayed as empty lines in the summary buffer.
5393 * Customizing Threading:: Variables you can change to affect the threading.
5394 * Thread Commands:: Thread based commands in the summary buffer.
5398 @node Customizing Threading
5399 @subsection Customizing Threading
5400 @cindex customizing threading
5403 * Loose Threads:: How gnus gathers loose threads into bigger threads.
5404 * Filling In Threads:: Making the threads displayed look fuller.
5405 * More Threading:: Even more variables for fiddling with threads.
5406 * Low-Level Threading:: You thought it was over... but you were wrong!
5411 @subsubsection Loose Threads
5414 @cindex loose threads
5417 @item gnus-summary-make-false-root
5418 @vindex gnus-summary-make-false-root
5419 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will gather all loose subtrees into one big tree
5420 and create a dummy root at the top. (Wait a minute. Root at the top?
5421 Yup.) Loose subtrees occur when the real root has expired, or you've
5422 read or killed the root in a previous session.
5424 When there is no real root of a thread, gnus will have to fudge
5425 something. This variable says what fudging method gnus should use.
5426 There are four possible values:
5430 \gnusfigure{The Summary Buffer}{390}{
5431 \put(0,0){\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-adopt.ps,width=7.5cm}}
5432 \put(445,0){\makebox(0,0)[br]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-empty.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5433 \put(0,400){\makebox(0,0)[tl]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-none.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5434 \put(445,400){\makebox(0,0)[tr]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/summary-dummy.ps,width=7.5cm}}}
5439 @cindex adopting articles
5444 Gnus will make the first of the orphaned articles the parent. This
5445 parent will adopt all the other articles. The adopted articles will be
5446 marked as such by pointy brackets (@samp{<>}) instead of the standard
5447 square brackets (@samp{[]}). This is the default method.
5450 @vindex gnus-summary-dummy-line-format
5451 Gnus will create a dummy summary line that will pretend to be the
5452 parent. This dummy line does not correspond to any real article, so
5453 selecting it will just select the first real article after the dummy
5454 article. @code{gnus-summary-dummy-line-format} is used to specify the
5455 format of the dummy roots. It accepts only one format spec: @samp{S},
5456 which is the subject of the article. @xref{Formatting Variables}.
5459 Gnus won't actually make any article the parent, but simply leave the
5460 subject field of all orphans except the first empty. (Actually, it will
5461 use @code{gnus-summary-same-subject} as the subject (@pxref{Summary
5465 Don't make any article parent at all. Just gather the threads and
5466 display them after one another.
5469 Don't gather loose threads.
5472 @item gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5473 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit
5474 Loose threads are gathered by comparing subjects of articles. If this
5475 variable is @code{nil}, gnus requires an exact match between the
5476 subjects of the loose threads before gathering them into one big
5477 super-thread. This might be too strict a requirement, what with the
5478 presence of stupid newsreaders that chop off long subject lines. If
5479 you think so, set this variable to, say, 20 to require that only the
5480 first 20 characters of the subjects have to match. If you set this
5481 variable to a really low number, you'll find that gnus will gather
5482 everything in sight into one thread, which isn't very helpful.
5484 @cindex fuzzy article gathering
5485 If you set this variable to the special value @code{fuzzy}, gnus will
5486 use a fuzzy string comparison algorithm on the subjects (@pxref{Fuzzy
5489 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5490 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy-regexp
5491 This can either be a regular expression or list of regular expressions
5492 that match strings that will be removed from subjects if fuzzy subject
5493 simplification is used.
5495 @item gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5496 @vindex gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5497 If you set @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit} to something as low
5498 as 10, you might consider setting this variable to something sensible:
5500 @c Written by Michael Ernst <mernst@cs.rice.edu>
5502 (setq gnus-simplify-ignored-prefixes
5508 "wanted" "followup" "summary\\( of\\)?"
5509 "help" "query" "problem" "question"
5510 "answer" "reference" "announce"
5511 "How can I" "How to" "Comparison of"
5516 (mapconcat 'identity
5517 '("for" "for reference" "with" "about")
5519 "\\)?\\]?:?[ \t]*"))
5522 All words that match this regexp will be removed before comparing two
5525 @item gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5526 @vindex gnus-simplify-subject-functions
5527 If non-@code{nil}, this variable overrides
5528 @code{gnus-summary-gather-subject-limit}. This variable should be a
5529 list of functions to apply to the @code{Subject} string iteratively to
5530 arrive at the simplified version of the string.
5532 Useful functions to put in this list include:
5535 @item gnus-simplify-subject-re
5536 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-re
5537 Strip the leading @samp{Re:}.
5539 @item gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5540 @findex gnus-simplify-subject-fuzzy
5543 @item gnus-simplify-whitespace
5544 @findex gnus-simplify-whitespace
5545 Remove excessive whitespace.
5548 You may also write your own functions, of course.
5551 @item gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5552 @vindex gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject
5553 Since loose thread gathering is done on subjects only, that might lead
5554 to many false hits, especially with certain common subjects like
5555 @samp{} and @samp{(none)}. To make the situation slightly better,
5556 you can use the regexp @code{gnus-summary-gather-exclude-subject} to say
5557 what subjects should be excluded from the gathering process.@*
5558 The default is @samp{^ *$\\|^(none)$}.
5560 @item gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5561 @vindex gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5562 Gnus gathers threads by looking at @code{Subject} headers. This means
5563 that totally unrelated articles may end up in the same ``thread'', which
5564 is confusing. An alternate approach is to look at all the
5565 @code{Message-ID}s in all the @code{References} headers to find matches.
5566 This will ensure that no gathered threads ever include unrelated
5567 articles, but it also means that people who have posted with broken
5568 newsreaders won't be gathered properly. The choice is yours---plague or
5572 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5573 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-subject
5574 This function is the default gathering function and looks at
5575 @code{Subject}s exclusively.
5577 @item gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5578 @findex gnus-gather-threads-by-references
5579 This function looks at @code{References} headers exclusively.
5582 If you want to test gathering by @code{References}, you could say
5586 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
5587 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
5593 @node Filling In Threads
5594 @subsubsection Filling In Threads
5597 @item gnus-fetch-old-headers
5598 @vindex gnus-fetch-old-headers
5599 If non-@code{nil}, gnus will attempt to build old threads by fetching
5600 more old headers---headers to articles marked as read. If you
5601 would like to display as few summary lines as possible, but still
5602 connect as many loose threads as possible, you should set this variable
5603 to @code{some} or a number. If you set it to a number, no more than
5604 that number of extra old headers will be fetched. In either case,
5605 fetching old headers only works if the backend you are using carries
5606 overview files---this would normally be @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and
5607 @code{nnml}. Also remember that if the root of the thread has been
5608 expired by the server, there's not much gnus can do about that.
5610 This variable can also be set to @code{invisible}. This won't have any
5611 visible effects, but is useful if you use the @kbd{A T} command a lot
5612 (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
5614 @item gnus-build-sparse-threads
5615 @vindex gnus-build-sparse-threads
5616 Fetching old headers can be slow. A low-rent similar effect can be
5617 gotten by setting this variable to @code{some}. Gnus will then look at
5618 the complete @code{References} headers of all articles and try to string
5619 together articles that belong in the same thread. This will leave
5620 @dfn{gaps} in the threading display where gnus guesses that an article
5621 is missing from the thread. (These gaps appear like normal summary
5622 lines. If you select a gap, gnus will try to fetch the article in
5623 question.) If this variable is @code{t}, gnus will display all these
5624 ``gaps'' without regard for whether they are useful for completing the
5625 thread or not. Finally, if this variable is @code{more}, gnus won't cut
5626 off sparse leaf nodes that don't lead anywhere. This variable is
5627 @code{nil} by default.
5632 @node More Threading
5633 @subsubsection More Threading
5636 @item gnus-show-threads
5637 @vindex gnus-show-threads
5638 If this variable is @code{nil}, no threading will be done, and all of
5639 the rest of the variables here will have no effect. Turning threading
5640 off will speed group selection up a bit, but it is sure to make reading
5641 slower and more awkward.
5643 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5644 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-subtree
5645 If non-@code{nil}, all threads will be hidden when the summary buffer is
5648 @item gnus-thread-expunge-below
5649 @vindex gnus-thread-expunge-below
5650 All threads that have a total score (as defined by
5651 @code{gnus-thread-score-function}) less than this number will be
5652 expunged. This variable is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
5653 threads are expunged.
5655 @item gnus-thread-hide-killed
5656 @vindex gnus-thread-hide-killed
5657 if you kill a thread and this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subtree
5660 @item gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5661 @vindex gnus-thread-ignore-subject
5662 Sometimes somebody changes the subject in the middle of a thread. If
5663 this variable is non-@code{nil}, the subject change is ignored. If it
5664 is @code{nil}, which is the default, a change in the subject will result
5667 @item gnus-thread-indent-level
5668 @vindex gnus-thread-indent-level
5669 This is a number that says how much each sub-thread should be indented.
5672 @item gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5673 @vindex gnus-sort-gathered-threads-function
5674 Sometimes, particularly with mailing lists, the order in which mails
5675 arrive locally is not necessarily the same as the order in which they
5676 arrived on the mailing list. Consequently, when sorting sub-threads
5677 using the default @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number}, responses can end
5678 up appearing before the article to which they are responding to.
5679 Setting this variable to an alternate value
5680 (e.g. @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}), in a group's parameters or in an
5681 appropriate hook (e.g. @code{gnus-summary-generate-hook}) can produce a
5682 more logical sub-thread ordering in such instances.
5687 @node Low-Level Threading
5688 @subsubsection Low-Level Threading
5692 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
5693 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
5694 Hook run before parsing any headers. The default value is
5695 @code{(gnus-set-summary-default-charset)}, which sets up local value of
5696 @code{default-mime-charset} in summary buffer based on variable
5697 @code{gnus-newsgroup-default-charset-alist}.
5699 @item gnus-alter-header-function
5700 @vindex gnus-alter-header-function
5701 If non-@code{nil}, this function will be called to allow alteration of
5702 article header structures. The function is called with one parameter,
5703 the article header vector, which it may alter in any way. For instance,
5704 if you have a mail-to-news gateway which alters the @code{Message-ID}s
5705 in systematic ways (by adding prefixes and such), you can use this
5706 variable to un-scramble the @code{Message-ID}s so that they are more
5707 meaningful. Here's one example:
5710 (setq gnus-alter-header-function 'my-alter-message-id)
5712 (defun my-alter-message-id (header)
5713 (let ((id (mail-header-id header)))
5715 "\\(<[^<>@@]*\\)\\.?cygnus\\..*@@\\([^<>@@]*>\\)" id)
5717 (concat (match-string 1 id) "@@" (match-string 2 id))
5724 @node Thread Commands
5725 @subsection Thread Commands
5726 @cindex thread commands
5732 @kindex T k (Summary)
5733 @kindex M-C-k (Summary)
5734 @findex gnus-summary-kill-thread
5735 Mark all articles in the current (sub-)thread as read
5736 (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}). If the prefix argument is positive,
5737 remove all marks instead. If the prefix argument is negative, tick
5742 @kindex T l (Summary)
5743 @kindex M-C-l (Summary)
5744 @findex gnus-summary-lower-thread
5745 Lower the score of the current (sub-)thread
5746 (@code{gnus-summary-lower-thread}).
5749 @kindex T i (Summary)
5750 @findex gnus-summary-raise-thread
5751 Increase the score of the current (sub-)thread
5752 (@code{gnus-summary-raise-thread}).
5755 @kindex T # (Summary)
5756 @findex gnus-uu-mark-thread
5757 Set the process mark on the current (sub-)thread
5758 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-thread}).
5761 @kindex T M-# (Summary)
5762 @findex gnus-uu-unmark-thread
5763 Remove the process mark from the current (sub-)thread
5764 (@code{gnus-uu-unmark-thread}).
5767 @kindex T T (Summary)
5768 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-threads
5769 Toggle threading (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-threads}).
5772 @kindex T s (Summary)
5773 @findex gnus-summary-show-thread
5774 Expose the (sub-)thread hidden under the current article, if any
5775 (@code{gnus-summary-show-thread}).
5778 @kindex T h (Summary)
5779 @findex gnus-summary-hide-thread
5780 Hide the current (sub-)thread (@code{gnus-summary-hide-thread}).
5783 @kindex T S (Summary)
5784 @findex gnus-summary-show-all-threads
5785 Expose all hidden threads (@code{gnus-summary-show-all-threads}).
5788 @kindex T H (Summary)
5789 @findex gnus-summary-hide-all-threads
5790 Hide all threads (@code{gnus-summary-hide-all-threads}).
5793 @kindex T t (Summary)
5794 @findex gnus-summary-rethread-current
5795 Re-thread the current article's thread
5796 (@code{gnus-summary-rethread-current}). This works even when the
5797 summary buffer is otherwise unthreaded.
5800 @kindex T ^ (Summary)
5801 @findex gnus-summary-reparent-thread
5802 Make the current article the child of the marked (or previous) article
5803 (@code{gnus-summary-reparent-thread}).
5807 The following commands are thread movement commands. They all
5808 understand the numeric prefix.
5813 @kindex T n (Summary)
5815 @kindex M-C-n (Summary)
5817 @kindex M-down (Summary)
5818 @findex gnus-summary-next-thread
5819 Go to the next thread (@code{gnus-summary-next-thread}).
5822 @kindex T p (Summary)
5824 @kindex M-C-p (Summary)
5826 @kindex M-up (Summary)
5827 @findex gnus-summary-prev-thread
5828 Go to the previous thread (@code{gnus-summary-prev-thread}).
5831 @kindex T d (Summary)
5832 @findex gnus-summary-down-thread
5833 Descend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-down-thread}).
5836 @kindex T u (Summary)
5837 @findex gnus-summary-up-thread
5838 Ascend the thread (@code{gnus-summary-up-thread}).
5841 @kindex T o (Summary)
5842 @findex gnus-summary-top-thread
5843 Go to the top of the thread (@code{gnus-summary-top-thread}).
5846 @vindex gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject
5847 If you ignore subject while threading, you'll naturally end up with
5848 threads that have several different subjects in them. If you then issue
5849 a command like `T k' (@code{gnus-summary-kill-thread}) you might not
5850 wish to kill the entire thread, but just those parts of the thread that
5851 have the same subject as the current article. If you like this idea,
5852 you can fiddle with @code{gnus-thread-operation-ignore-subject}. If it
5853 is non-@code{nil} (which it is by default), subjects will be ignored
5854 when doing thread commands. If this variable is @code{nil}, articles in
5855 the same thread with different subjects will not be included in the
5856 operation in question. If this variable is @code{fuzzy}, only articles
5857 that have subjects fuzzily equal will be included (@pxref{Fuzzy
5864 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score
5865 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-date
5866 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-score
5867 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5868 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-author
5869 @findex gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5870 @vindex gnus-thread-sort-functions
5871 If you are using a threaded summary display, you can sort the threads by
5872 setting @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, which can be either a single
5873 function, a list of functions, or a list containing functions and
5874 @code{(not some-function)} elements.
5876 By default, sorting is done on article numbers. Ready-made sorting
5877 predicate functions include @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number},
5878 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-subject},
5879 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-date}, @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-score}, and
5880 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score}.
5882 Each function takes two threads and returns non-@code{nil} if the first
5883 thread should be sorted before the other. Note that sorting really is
5884 normally done by looking only at the roots of each thread.
5886 If you use more than one function, the primary sort key should be the
5887 last function in the list. You should probably always include
5888 @code{gnus-thread-sort-by-number} in the list of sorting
5889 functions---preferably first. This will ensure that threads that are
5890 equal with respect to the other sort criteria will be displayed in
5891 ascending article order.
5893 If you would like to sort by reverse score, then by subject, and finally
5894 by number, you could do something like:
5897 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5898 '(gnus-thread-sort-by-number
5899 gnus-thread-sort-by-subject
5900 (not gnus-thread-sort-by-total-score)))
5903 The threads that have highest score will be displayed first in the
5904 summary buffer. When threads have the same score, they will be sorted
5905 alphabetically. The threads that have the same score and the same
5906 subject will be sorted by number, which is (normally) the sequence in
5907 which the articles arrived.
5909 If you want to sort by score and then reverse arrival order, you could
5913 (setq gnus-thread-sort-functions
5915 (not (gnus-thread-sort-by-number t1 t2)))
5916 gnus-thread-sort-by-score))
5919 @vindex gnus-thread-score-function
5920 The function in the @code{gnus-thread-score-function} variable (default
5921 @code{+}) is used for calculating the total score of a thread. Useful
5922 functions might be @code{max}, @code{min}, or squared means, or whatever
5925 @findex gnus-article-sort-functions
5926 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-date
5927 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-score
5928 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-subject
5929 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-author
5930 @findex gnus-article-sort-by-number
5931 If you are using an unthreaded display for some strange reason or other,
5932 you have to fiddle with the @code{gnus-article-sort-functions} variable.
5933 It is very similar to the @code{gnus-thread-sort-functions}, except that
5934 it uses slightly different functions for article comparison. Available
5935 sorting predicate functions are @code{gnus-article-sort-by-number},
5936 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-author}, @code{gnus-article-sort-by-subject},
5937 @code{gnus-article-sort-by-date}, and @code{gnus-article-sort-by-score}.
5939 If you want to sort an unthreaded summary display by subject, you could
5943 (setq gnus-article-sort-functions
5944 '(gnus-article-sort-by-number
5945 gnus-article-sort-by-subject))
5950 @node Asynchronous Fetching
5951 @section Asynchronous Article Fetching
5952 @cindex asynchronous article fetching
5953 @cindex article pre-fetch
5956 If you read your news from an @sc{nntp} server that's far away, the
5957 network latencies may make reading articles a chore. You have to wait
5958 for a while after pressing @kbd{n} to go to the next article before the
5959 article appears. Why can't gnus just go ahead and fetch the article
5960 while you are reading the previous one? Why not, indeed.
5962 First, some caveats. There are some pitfalls to using asynchronous
5963 article fetching, especially the way gnus does it.
5965 Let's say you are reading article 1, which is short, and article 2 is
5966 quite long, and you are not interested in reading that. Gnus does not
5967 know this, so it goes ahead and fetches article 2. You decide to read
5968 article 3, but since gnus is in the process of fetching article 2, the
5969 connection is blocked.
5971 To avoid these situations, gnus will open two (count 'em two)
5972 connections to the server. Some people may think this isn't a very nice
5973 thing to do, but I don't see any real alternatives. Setting up that
5974 extra connection takes some time, so gnus startup will be slower.
5976 Gnus will fetch more articles than you will read. This will mean that
5977 the link between your machine and the @sc{nntp} server will become more
5978 loaded than if you didn't use article pre-fetch. The server itself will
5979 also become more loaded---both with the extra article requests, and the
5982 Ok, so now you know that you shouldn't really use this thing... unless
5985 @vindex gnus-asynchronous
5986 Here's how: Set @code{gnus-asynchronous} to @code{t}. The rest should
5987 happen automatically.
5989 @vindex gnus-use-article-prefetch
5990 You can control how many articles are to be pre-fetched by setting
5991 @code{gnus-use-article-prefetch}. This is 30 by default, which means
5992 that when you read an article in the group, the backend will pre-fetch
5993 the next 30 articles. If this variable is @code{t}, the backend will
5994 pre-fetch all the articles it can without bound. If it is
5995 @code{nil}, no pre-fetching will be done.
5997 @vindex gnus-async-prefetch-article-p
5998 @findex gnus-async-read-p
5999 There are probably some articles that you don't want to pre-fetch---read
6000 articles, for instance. The @code{gnus-async-prefetch-article-p} variable controls whether an article is to be pre-fetched. This function should
6001 return non-@code{nil} when the article in question is to be
6002 pre-fetched. The default is @code{gnus-async-read-p}, which returns
6003 @code{nil} on read articles. The function is called with an article
6004 data structure as the only parameter.
6006 If, for instance, you wish to pre-fetch only unread articles shorter than 100 lines, you could say something like:
6009 (defun my-async-short-unread-p (data)
6010 "Return non-nil for short, unread articles."
6011 (and (gnus-data-unread-p data)
6012 (< (mail-header-lines (gnus-data-header data))
6015 (setq gnus-async-prefetch-article-p 'my-async-short-unread-p)
6018 These functions will be called many, many times, so they should
6019 preferably be short and sweet to avoid slowing down gnus too much.
6020 It's probably a good idea to byte-compile things like this.
6022 @vindex gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy
6023 Articles have to be removed from the asynch buffer sooner or later. The
6024 @code{gnus-prefetched-article-deletion-strategy} says when to remove
6025 articles. This is a list that may contain the following elements:
6029 Remove articles when they are read.
6032 Remove articles when exiting the group.
6035 The default value is @code{(read exit)}.
6037 @c @vindex gnus-use-header-prefetch
6038 @c If @code{gnus-use-header-prefetch} is non-@code{nil}, prefetch articles
6039 @c from the next group.
6042 @node Article Caching
6043 @section Article Caching
6044 @cindex article caching
6047 If you have an @emph{extremely} slow @sc{nntp} connection, you may
6048 consider turning article caching on. Each article will then be stored
6049 locally under your home directory. As you may surmise, this could
6050 potentially use @emph{huge} amounts of disk space, as well as eat up all
6051 your inodes so fast it will make your head swim. In vodka.
6053 Used carefully, though, it could be just an easier way to save articles.
6055 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6056 @vindex gnus-cache-directory
6057 @vindex gnus-use-cache
6058 To turn caching on, set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{t}. By default,
6059 all articles ticked or marked as dormant will then be copied
6060 over to your local cache (@code{gnus-cache-directory}). Whether this
6061 cache is flat or hierarchal is controlled by the
6062 @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable, as usual.
6064 When re-selecting a ticked or dormant article, it will be fetched from the
6065 cache instead of from the server. As articles in your cache will never
6066 expire, this might serve as a method of saving articles while still
6067 keeping them where they belong. Just mark all articles you want to save
6068 as dormant, and don't worry.
6070 When an article is marked as read, is it removed from the cache.
6072 @vindex gnus-cache-remove-articles
6073 @vindex gnus-cache-enter-articles
6074 The entering/removal of articles from the cache is controlled by the
6075 @code{gnus-cache-enter-articles} and @code{gnus-cache-remove-articles}
6076 variables. Both are lists of symbols. The first is @code{(ticked
6077 dormant)} by default, meaning that ticked and dormant articles will be
6078 put in the cache. The latter is @code{(read)} by default, meaning that
6079 articles marked as read are removed from the cache. Possibly
6080 symbols in these two lists are @code{ticked}, @code{dormant},
6081 @code{unread} and @code{read}.
6083 @findex gnus-jog-cache
6084 So where does the massive article-fetching and storing come into the
6085 picture? The @code{gnus-jog-cache} command will go through all
6086 subscribed newsgroups, request all unread articles, score them, and
6087 store them in the cache. You should only ever, ever ever ever, use this
6088 command if 1) your connection to the @sc{nntp} server is really, really,
6089 really slow and 2) you have a really, really, really huge disk.
6090 Seriously. One way to cut down on the number of articles downloaded is
6091 to score unwanted articles down and have them marked as read. They will
6092 not then be downloaded by this command.
6094 @vindex gnus-uncacheable-groups
6095 @vindex gnus-cacheable-groups
6096 It is likely that you do not want caching on all groups. For instance,
6097 if your @code{nnml} mail is located under your home directory, it makes no
6098 sense to cache it somewhere else under your home directory. Unless you
6099 feel that it's neat to use twice as much space.
6101 To limit the caching, you could set @code{gnus-cacheable-groups} to a
6102 regexp of groups to cache, @samp{^nntp} for instance, or set the
6103 @code{gnus-uncacheable-groups} regexp to @samp{^nnml}, for instance.
6104 Both variables are @code{nil} by default. If a group matches both
6105 variables, the group is not cached.
6107 @findex gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases
6108 @findex gnus-cache-generate-active
6109 @vindex gnus-cache-active-file
6110 The cache stores information on what articles it contains in its active
6111 file (@code{gnus-cache-active-file}). If this file (or any other parts
6112 of the cache) becomes all messed up for some reason or other, gnus
6113 offers two functions that will try to set things right. @kbd{M-x
6114 gnus-cache-generate-nov-databases} will (re)build all the @sc{nov}
6115 files, and @kbd{gnus-cache-generate-active} will (re)generate the active
6119 @node Persistent Articles
6120 @section Persistent Articles
6121 @cindex persistent articles
6123 Closely related to article caching, we have @dfn{persistent articles}.
6124 In fact, it's just a different way of looking at caching, and much more
6125 useful in my opinion.
6127 Say you're reading a newsgroup, and you happen on to some valuable gem
6128 that you want to keep and treasure forever. You'd normally just save it
6129 (using one of the many saving commands) in some file. The problem with
6130 that is that it's just, well, yucky. Ideally you'd prefer just having
6131 the article remain in the group where you found it forever; untouched by
6132 the expiry going on at the news server.
6134 This is what a @dfn{persistent article} is---an article that just won't
6135 be deleted. It's implemented using the normal cache functions, but
6136 you use two explicit commands for managing persistent articles:
6142 @findex gnus-cache-enter-article
6143 Make the current article persistent (@code{gnus-cache-enter-article}).
6146 @kindex M-* (Summary)
6147 @findex gnus-cache-remove-article
6148 Remove the current article from the persistent articles
6149 (@code{gnus-cache-remove-article}). This will normally delete the
6153 Both these commands understand the process/prefix convention.
6155 To avoid having all ticked articles (and stuff) entered into the cache,
6156 you should set @code{gnus-use-cache} to @code{passive} if you're just
6157 interested in persistent articles:
6160 (setq gnus-use-cache 'passive)
6164 @node Article Backlog
6165 @section Article Backlog
6167 @cindex article backlog
6169 If you have a slow connection, but the idea of using caching seems
6170 unappealing to you (and it is, really), you can help the situation some
6171 by switching on the @dfn{backlog}. This is where gnus will buffer
6172 already read articles so that it doesn't have to re-fetch articles
6173 you've already read. This only helps if you are in the habit of
6174 re-selecting articles you've recently read, of course. If you never do
6175 that, turning the backlog on will slow gnus down a little bit, and
6176 increase memory usage some.
6178 @vindex gnus-keep-backlog
6179 If you set @code{gnus-keep-backlog} to a number @var{n}, gnus will store
6180 at most @var{n} old articles in a buffer for later re-fetching. If this
6181 variable is non-@code{nil} and is not a number, gnus will store
6182 @emph{all} read articles, which means that your Emacs will grow without
6183 bound before exploding and taking your machine down with you. I put
6184 that in there just to keep y'all on your toes.
6186 This variable is @code{nil} by default.
6189 @node Saving Articles
6190 @section Saving Articles
6191 @cindex saving articles
6193 Gnus can save articles in a number of ways. Below is the documentation
6194 for saving articles in a fairly straight-forward fashion (i.e., little
6195 processing of the article is done before it is saved). For a different
6196 approach (uudecoding, unsharing) you should use @code{gnus-uu}
6197 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
6199 @vindex gnus-save-all-headers
6200 If @code{gnus-save-all-headers} is non-@code{nil}, gnus will not delete
6201 unwanted headers before saving the article.
6203 @vindex gnus-saved-headers
6204 If the preceding variable is @code{nil}, all headers that match the
6205 @code{gnus-saved-headers} regexp will be kept, while the rest will be
6206 deleted before saving.
6212 @kindex O o (Summary)
6214 @findex gnus-summary-save-article
6215 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article}
6216 Save the current article using the default article saver
6217 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article}).
6220 @kindex O m (Summary)
6221 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-mail
6222 Save the current article in mail format
6223 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-mail}).
6226 @kindex O r (Summary)
6227 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-rmail
6228 Save the current article in rmail format
6229 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-rmail}).
6232 @kindex O f (Summary)
6233 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-file
6234 @c @icon{gnus-summary-save-article-file}
6235 Save the current article in plain file format
6236 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-file}).
6239 @kindex O F (Summary)
6240 @findex gnus-summary-write-article-file
6241 Write the current article in plain file format, overwriting any previous
6242 file contents (@code{gnus-summary-write-article-file}).
6245 @kindex O b (Summary)
6246 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-body-file
6247 Save the current article body in plain file format
6248 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-body-file}).
6251 @kindex O h (Summary)
6252 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-folder
6253 Save the current article in mh folder format
6254 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-folder}).
6257 @kindex O v (Summary)
6258 @findex gnus-summary-save-article-vm
6259 Save the current article in a VM folder
6260 (@code{gnus-summary-save-article-vm}).
6263 @kindex O p (Summary)
6264 @findex gnus-summary-pipe-output
6265 Save the current article in a pipe. Uhm, like, what I mean is---Pipe
6266 the current article to a process (@code{gnus-summary-pipe-output}).
6269 @vindex gnus-prompt-before-saving
6270 All these commands use the process/prefix convention
6271 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). If you save bunches of articles using these
6272 functions, you might get tired of being prompted for files to save each
6273 and every article in. The prompting action is controlled by
6274 the @code{gnus-prompt-before-saving} variable, which is @code{always} by
6275 default, giving you that excessive prompting action you know and
6276 loathe. If you set this variable to @code{t} instead, you'll be prompted
6277 just once for each series of articles you save. If you like to really
6278 have Gnus do all your thinking for you, you can even set this variable
6279 to @code{nil}, which means that you will never be prompted for files to
6280 save articles in. Gnus will simply save all the articles in the default
6284 @vindex gnus-default-article-saver
6285 You can customize the @code{gnus-default-article-saver} variable to make
6286 gnus do what you want it to. You can use any of the six ready-made
6287 functions below, or you can create your own.
6291 @item gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6292 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-rmail
6293 @vindex gnus-rmail-save-name
6294 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6295 This is the default format, @dfn{babyl}. Uses the function in the
6296 @code{gnus-rmail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6297 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6299 @item gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6300 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-mail
6301 @vindex gnus-mail-save-name
6302 Save in a Unix mail (mbox) file. Uses the function in the
6303 @code{gnus-mail-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6304 article in. The default is @code{gnus-plain-save-name}.
6306 @item gnus-summary-save-in-file
6307 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-file
6308 @vindex gnus-file-save-name
6309 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6310 Append the article straight to an ordinary file. Uses the function in
6311 the @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6312 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6314 @item gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6315 @findex gnus-summary-save-body-in-file
6316 Append the article body to an ordinary file. Uses the function in the
6317 @code{gnus-file-save-name} variable to get a file name to save the
6318 article in. The default is @code{gnus-numeric-save-name}.
6320 @item gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6321 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-folder
6322 @findex gnus-folder-save-name
6323 @findex gnus-Folder-save-name
6324 @vindex gnus-folder-save-name
6327 Save the article to an MH folder using @code{rcvstore} from the MH
6328 library. Uses the function in the @code{gnus-folder-save-name} variable
6329 to get a file name to save the article in. The default is
6330 @code{gnus-folder-save-name}, but you can also use
6331 @code{gnus-Folder-save-name}, which creates capitalized names.
6333 @item gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6334 @findex gnus-summary-save-in-vm
6335 Save the article in a VM folder. You have to have the VM mail
6336 reader to use this setting.
6339 @vindex gnus-article-save-directory
6340 All of these functions, except for the last one, will save the article
6341 in the @code{gnus-article-save-directory}, which is initialized from the
6342 @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable. This is @file{~/News/} by
6345 As you can see above, the functions use different functions to find a
6346 suitable name of a file to save the article in. Below is a list of
6347 available functions that generate names:
6351 @item gnus-Numeric-save-name
6352 @findex gnus-Numeric-save-name
6353 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6355 @item gnus-numeric-save-name
6356 @findex gnus-numeric-save-name
6357 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin/45}.
6359 @item gnus-Plain-save-name
6360 @findex gnus-Plain-save-name
6361 File names like @file{~/News/Alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6363 @item gnus-plain-save-name
6364 @findex gnus-plain-save-name
6365 File names like @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.
6368 @vindex gnus-split-methods
6369 You can have gnus suggest where to save articles by plonking a regexp into
6370 the @code{gnus-split-methods} alist. For instance, if you would like to
6371 save articles related to gnus in the file @file{gnus-stuff}, and articles
6372 related to VM in @code{vm-stuff}, you could set this variable to something
6376 (("^Subject:.*gnus\\|^Newsgroups:.*gnus" "gnus-stuff")
6377 ("^Subject:.*vm\\|^Xref:.*vm" "vm-stuff")
6378 (my-choosing-function "../other-dir/my-stuff")
6379 ((equal gnus-newsgroup-name "mail.misc") "mail-stuff"))
6382 We see that this is a list where each element is a list that has two
6383 elements---the @dfn{match} and the @dfn{file}. The match can either be
6384 a string (in which case it is used as a regexp to match on the article
6385 head); it can be a symbol (which will be called as a function with the
6386 group name as a parameter); or it can be a list (which will be
6387 @code{eval}ed). If any of these actions have a non-@code{nil} result,
6388 the @dfn{file} will be used as a default prompt. In addition, the
6389 result of the operation itself will be used if the function or form
6390 called returns a string or a list of strings.
6392 You basically end up with a list of file names that might be used when
6393 saving the current article. (All ``matches'' will be used.) You will
6394 then be prompted for what you really want to use as a name, with file
6395 name completion over the results from applying this variable.
6397 This variable is @code{((gnus-article-archive-name))} by default, which
6398 means that gnus will look at the articles it saves for an
6399 @code{Archive-name} line and use that as a suggestion for the file
6402 Here's an example function to clean up file names somewhat. If you have
6403 lots of mail groups called things like
6404 @samp{nnml:mail.whatever}, you may want to chop off the beginning of
6405 these group names before creating the file name to save to. The
6406 following will do just that:
6409 (defun my-save-name (group)
6410 (when (string-match "^nnml:mail." group)
6411 (substring group (match-end 0))))
6413 (setq gnus-split-methods
6414 '((gnus-article-archive-name)
6419 @vindex gnus-use-long-file-name
6420 Finally, you have the @code{gnus-use-long-file-name} variable. If it is
6421 @code{nil}, all the preceding functions will replace all periods
6422 (@samp{.}) in the group names with slashes (@samp{/})---which means that
6423 the functions will generate hierarchies of directories instead of having
6424 all the files in the top level directory
6425 (@file{~/News/alt/andrea-dworkin} instead of
6426 @file{~/News/alt.andrea-dworkin}.) This variable is @code{t} by default
6427 on most systems. However, for historical reasons, this is @code{nil} on
6428 Xenix and usg-unix-v machines by default.
6430 This function also affects kill and score file names. If this variable
6431 is a list, and the list contains the element @code{not-score}, long file
6432 names will not be used for score files, if it contains the element
6433 @code{not-save}, long file names will not be used for saving, and if it
6434 contains the element @code{not-kill}, long file names will not be used
6437 If you'd like to save articles in a hierarchy that looks something like
6441 (setq gnus-use-long-file-name '(not-save)) ; to get a hierarchy
6442 (setq gnus-default-article-saver 'gnus-summary-save-in-file) ; no encoding
6445 Then just save with @kbd{o}. You'd then read this hierarchy with
6446 ephemeral @code{nneething} groups---@kbd{G D} in the group buffer, and
6447 the top level directory as the argument (@file{~/News/}). Then just walk
6448 around to the groups/directories with @code{nneething}.
6451 @node Decoding Articles
6452 @section Decoding Articles
6453 @cindex decoding articles
6455 Sometime users post articles (or series of articles) that have been
6456 encoded in some way or other. Gnus can decode them for you.
6459 * Uuencoded Articles:: Uudecode articles.
6460 * Shell Archives:: Unshar articles.
6461 * PostScript Files:: Split PostScript.
6462 * Other Files:: Plain save and binhex.
6463 * Decoding Variables:: Variables for a happy decoding.
6464 * Viewing Files:: You want to look at the result of the decoding?
6468 @cindex article series
6469 All these functions use the process/prefix convention
6470 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}) for finding out what articles to work on, with
6471 the extension that a ``single article'' means ``a single series''. Gnus
6472 can find out by itself what articles belong to a series, decode all the
6473 articles and unpack/view/save the resulting file(s).
6475 Gnus guesses what articles are in the series according to the following
6476 simplish rule: The subjects must be (nearly) identical, except for the
6477 last two numbers of the line. (Spaces are largely ignored, however.)
6479 For example: If you choose a subject called @samp{cat.gif (2/3)}, gnus
6480 will find all the articles that match the regexp @samp{^cat.gif
6481 ([0-9]+/[0-9]+).*$}.
6483 Subjects that are non-standard, like @samp{cat.gif (2/3) Part 6 of a
6484 series}, will not be properly recognized by any of the automatic viewing
6485 commands, and you have to mark the articles manually with @kbd{#}.
6488 @node Uuencoded Articles
6489 @subsection Uuencoded Articles
6491 @cindex uuencoded articles
6496 @kindex X u (Summary)
6497 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu
6498 @c @icon{gnus-uu-decode-uu}
6499 Uudecodes the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu}).
6502 @kindex X U (Summary)
6503 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save
6504 Uudecodes and saves the current series
6505 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6508 @kindex X v u (Summary)
6509 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-view
6510 Uudecodes and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-view}).
6513 @kindex X v U (Summary)
6514 @findex gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view
6515 Uudecodes, views and saves the current series
6516 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save-view}).
6520 Remember that these all react to the presence of articles marked with
6521 the process mark. If, for instance, you'd like to decode and save an
6522 entire newsgroup, you'd typically do @kbd{M P a}
6523 (@code{gnus-uu-mark-all}) and then @kbd{X U}
6524 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-uu-and-save}).
6526 All this is very much different from how @code{gnus-uu} worked with
6527 @sc{gnus 4.1}, where you had explicit keystrokes for everything under
6528 the sun. This version of @code{gnus-uu} generally assumes that you mark
6529 articles in some way (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}) and then press
6532 @vindex gnus-uu-notify-files
6533 Note: When trying to decode articles that have names matching
6534 @code{gnus-uu-notify-files}, which is hard-coded to
6535 @samp{[Cc][Ii][Nn][Dd][Yy][0-9]+.\\(gif\\|jpg\\)}, @code{gnus-uu} will
6536 automatically post an article on @samp{comp.unix.wizards} saying that
6537 you have just viewed the file in question. This feature can't be turned
6541 @node Shell Archives
6542 @subsection Shell Archives
6544 @cindex shell archives
6545 @cindex shared articles
6547 Shell archives (``shar files'') used to be a popular way to distribute
6548 sources, but it isn't used all that much today. In any case, we have
6549 some commands to deal with these:
6554 @kindex X s (Summary)
6555 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar
6556 Unshars the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar}).
6559 @kindex X S (Summary)
6560 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save
6561 Unshars and saves the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save}).
6564 @kindex X v s (Summary)
6565 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view
6566 Unshars and views the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-view}).
6569 @kindex X v S (Summary)
6570 @findex gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view
6571 Unshars, views and saves the current series
6572 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-unshar-and-save-view}).
6576 @node PostScript Files
6577 @subsection PostScript Files
6583 @kindex X p (Summary)
6584 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript
6585 Unpack the current PostScript series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript}).
6588 @kindex X P (Summary)
6589 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save
6590 Unpack and save the current PostScript series
6591 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save}).
6594 @kindex X v p (Summary)
6595 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view
6596 View the current PostScript series
6597 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-view}).
6600 @kindex X v P (Summary)
6601 @findex gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view
6602 View and save the current PostScript series
6603 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-postscript-and-save-view}).
6608 @subsection Other Files
6612 @kindex X o (Summary)
6613 @findex gnus-uu-decode-save
6614 Save the current series
6615 (@code{gnus-uu-decode-save}).
6618 @kindex X b (Summary)
6619 @findex gnus-uu-decode-binhex
6620 Unbinhex the current series (@code{gnus-uu-decode-binhex}). This
6621 doesn't really work yet.
6625 @node Decoding Variables
6626 @subsection Decoding Variables
6628 Adjective, not verb.
6631 * Rule Variables:: Variables that say how a file is to be viewed.
6632 * Other Decode Variables:: Other decode variables.
6633 * Uuencoding and Posting:: Variables for customizing uuencoding.
6637 @node Rule Variables
6638 @subsubsection Rule Variables
6639 @cindex rule variables
6641 Gnus uses @dfn{rule variables} to decide how to view a file. All these
6642 variables are of the form
6645 (list '(regexp1 command2)
6652 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6653 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6655 This variable is consulted first when viewing files. If you wish to use,
6656 for instance, @code{sox} to convert an @samp{.au} sound file, you could
6659 (setq gnus-uu-user-view-rules
6660 (list '("\\\\.au$" "sox %s -t .aiff > /dev/audio")))
6663 @item gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6664 @vindex gnus-uu-user-view-rules-end
6665 This variable is consulted if gnus couldn't make any matches from the
6666 user and default view rules.
6668 @item gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6669 @vindex gnus-uu-user-archive-rules
6670 This variable can be used to say what commands should be used to unpack
6675 @node Other Decode Variables
6676 @subsubsection Other Decode Variables
6679 @vindex gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6681 @item gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions
6682 All functions in this list will be called right after each file has been
6683 successfully decoded---so that you can move or view files right away,
6684 and don't have to wait for all files to be decoded before you can do
6685 anything. Ready-made functions you can put in this list are:
6689 @item gnus-uu-grab-view
6690 @findex gnus-uu-grab-view
6693 @item gnus-uu-grab-move
6694 @findex gnus-uu-grab-move
6695 Move the file (if you're using a saving function.)
6698 @item gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6699 @vindex gnus-uu-be-dangerous
6700 Specifies what to do if unusual situations arise during decoding. If
6701 @code{nil}, be as conservative as possible. If @code{t}, ignore things
6702 that didn't work, and overwrite existing files. Otherwise, ask each
6705 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6706 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-name
6707 Files with name matching this regular expression won't be viewed.
6709 @item gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6710 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-files-by-type
6711 Files with a @sc{mime} type matching this variable won't be viewed.
6712 Note that Gnus tries to guess what type the file is based on the name.
6713 @code{gnus-uu} is not a @sc{mime} package (yet), so this is slightly
6716 @item gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6717 @vindex gnus-uu-tmp-dir
6718 Where @code{gnus-uu} does its work.
6720 @item gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6721 @vindex gnus-uu-do-not-unpack-archives
6722 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} won't peek inside archives
6723 looking for files to display.
6725 @item gnus-uu-view-and-save
6726 @vindex gnus-uu-view-and-save
6727 Non-@code{nil} means that the user will always be asked to save a file
6730 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6731 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-view-rules
6732 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default viewing
6735 @item gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6736 @vindex gnus-uu-ignore-default-archive-rules
6737 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the default archive
6740 @item gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6741 @vindex gnus-uu-kill-carriage-return
6742 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will strip all carriage returns
6745 @item gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6746 @vindex gnus-uu-unmark-articles-not-decoded
6747 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will mark unsuccessfully
6748 decoded articles as unread.
6750 @item gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6751 @vindex gnus-uu-correct-stripped-uucode
6752 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will @emph{try} to fix
6753 uuencoded files that have had trailing spaces deleted.
6755 @item gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6756 @vindex gnus-uu-pre-uudecode-hook
6757 Hook run before sending a message to @code{uudecode}.
6759 @item gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6760 @vindex gnus-uu-view-with-metamail
6762 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ignore the viewing
6763 commands defined by the rule variables and just fudge a @sc{mime}
6764 content type based on the file name. The result will be fed to
6765 @code{metamail} for viewing.
6767 @item gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6768 @vindex gnus-uu-save-in-digest
6769 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu}, when asked to save without
6770 decoding, will save in digests. If this variable is @code{nil},
6771 @code{gnus-uu} will just save everything in a file without any
6772 embellishments. The digesting almost conforms to RFC 1153---no easy way
6773 to specify any meaningful volume and issue numbers were found, so I
6774 simply dropped them.
6779 @node Uuencoding and Posting
6780 @subsubsection Uuencoding and Posting
6784 @item gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6785 @vindex gnus-uu-post-include-before-composing
6786 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will ask for a file to encode
6787 before you compose the article. If this variable is @code{t}, you can
6788 either include an encoded file with @kbd{C-c C-i} or have one included
6789 for you when you post the article.
6791 @item gnus-uu-post-length
6792 @vindex gnus-uu-post-length
6793 Maximum length of an article. The encoded file will be split into how
6794 many articles it takes to post the entire file.
6796 @item gnus-uu-post-threaded
6797 @vindex gnus-uu-post-threaded
6798 Non-@code{nil} means that @code{gnus-uu} will post the encoded file in a
6799 thread. This may not be smart, as no other decoder I have seen is able
6800 to follow threads when collecting uuencoded articles. (Well, I have
6801 seen one package that does that---@code{gnus-uu}, but somehow, I don't
6802 think that counts...) Default is @code{nil}.
6804 @item gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6805 @vindex gnus-uu-post-separate-description
6806 Non-@code{nil} means that the description will be posted in a separate
6807 article. The first article will typically be numbered (0/x). If this
6808 variable is @code{nil}, the description the user enters will be included
6809 at the beginning of the first article, which will be numbered (1/x).
6810 Default is @code{t}.
6816 @subsection Viewing Files
6817 @cindex viewing files
6818 @cindex pseudo-articles
6820 After decoding, if the file is some sort of archive, gnus will attempt
6821 to unpack the archive and see if any of the files in the archive can be
6822 viewed. For instance, if you have a gzipped tar file @file{pics.tar.gz}
6823 containing the files @file{pic1.jpg} and @file{pic2.gif}, gnus will
6824 uncompress and de-tar the main file, and then view the two pictures.
6825 This unpacking process is recursive, so if the archive contains archives
6826 of archives, it'll all be unpacked.
6828 Finally, gnus will normally insert a @dfn{pseudo-article} for each
6829 extracted file into the summary buffer. If you go to these
6830 ``articles'', you will be prompted for a command to run (usually Gnus
6831 will make a suggestion), and then the command will be run.
6833 @vindex gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously
6834 If @code{gnus-view-pseudo-asynchronously} is @code{nil}, Emacs will wait
6835 until the viewing is done before proceeding.
6837 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos
6838 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos} is @code{automatic}, Gnus will not insert
6839 the pseudo-articles into the summary buffer, but view them
6840 immediately. If this variable is @code{not-confirm}, the user won't even
6841 be asked for a confirmation before viewing is done.
6843 @vindex gnus-view-pseudos-separately
6844 If @code{gnus-view-pseudos-separately} is non-@code{nil}, one
6845 pseudo-article will be created for each file to be viewed. If
6846 @code{nil}, all files that use the same viewing command will be given as
6847 a list of parameters to that command.
6849 @vindex gnus-insert-pseudo-articles
6850 If @code{gnus-insert-pseudo-articles} is non-@code{nil}, insert
6851 pseudo-articles when decoding. It is @code{t} by default.
6853 So; there you are, reading your @emph{pseudo-articles} in your
6854 @emph{virtual newsgroup} from the @emph{virtual server}; and you think:
6855 Why isn't anything real anymore? How did we get here?
6858 @node Article Treatment
6859 @section Article Treatment
6861 Reading through this huge manual, you may have quite forgotten that the
6862 object of newsreaders is to actually, like, read what people have
6863 written. Reading articles. Unfortunately, people are quite bad at
6864 writing, so there are tons of functions and variables to make reading
6865 these articles easier.
6868 * Article Highlighting:: You want to make the article look like fruit salad.
6869 * Article Fontisizing:: Making emphasized text look nice.
6870 * Article Hiding:: You also want to make certain info go away.
6871 * Article Washing:: Lots of way-neat functions to make life better.
6872 * Article Buttons:: Click on URLs, Message-IDs, addresses and the like.
6873 * Article Date:: Grumble, UT!
6874 * Article Signature:: What is a signature?
6875 * Article Miscellania:: Various other stuff.
6879 @node Article Highlighting
6880 @subsection Article Highlighting
6881 @cindex highlighting
6883 Not only do you want your article buffer to look like fruit salad, but
6884 you want it to look like technicolor fruit salad.
6889 @kindex W H a (Summary)
6890 @findex gnus-article-highlight
6891 @findex gnus-article-maybe-highlight
6892 Do much highlighting of the current article
6893 (@code{gnus-article-highlight}). This function highlights header, cited
6894 text, the signature, and adds buttons to the body and the head.
6897 @kindex W H h (Summary)
6898 @findex gnus-article-highlight-headers
6899 @vindex gnus-header-face-alist
6900 Highlight the headers (@code{gnus-article-highlight-headers}). The
6901 highlighting will be done according to the @code{gnus-header-face-alist}
6902 variable, which is a list where each element has the form
6903 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{name} @var{content})}.
6904 @var{regexp} is a regular expression for matching the
6905 header, @var{name} is the face used for highlighting the header name
6906 (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}) and @var{content} is the face for highlighting
6907 the header value. The first match made will be used. Note that
6908 @var{regexp} shouldn't have @samp{^} prepended---Gnus will add one.
6911 @kindex W H c (Summary)
6912 @findex gnus-article-highlight-citation
6913 Highlight cited text (@code{gnus-article-highlight-citation}).
6915 Some variables to customize the citation highlights:
6918 @vindex gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6920 @item gnus-cite-parse-max-size
6921 If the article size if bigger than this variable (which is 25000 by
6922 default), no citation highlighting will be performed.
6924 @item gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6925 @vindex gnus-cite-prefix-regexp
6926 Regexp matching the longest possible citation prefix on a line.
6928 @item gnus-cite-max-prefix
6929 @vindex gnus-cite-max-prefix
6930 Maximum possible length for a citation prefix (default 20).
6932 @item gnus-cite-face-list
6933 @vindex gnus-cite-face-list
6934 List of faces used for highlighting citations (@pxref{Faces and Fonts}).
6935 When there are citations from multiple articles in the same message,
6936 gnus will try to give each citation from each article its own face.
6937 This should make it easier to see who wrote what.
6939 @item gnus-supercite-regexp
6940 @vindex gnus-supercite-regexp
6941 Regexp matching normal Supercite attribution lines.
6943 @item gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6944 @vindex gnus-supercite-secondary-regexp
6945 Regexp matching mangled Supercite attribution lines.
6947 @item gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6948 @vindex gnus-cite-minimum-match-count
6949 Minimum number of identical prefixes we have to see before we believe
6950 that it's a citation.
6952 @item gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6953 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-prefix
6954 Regexp matching the beginning of an attribution line.
6956 @item gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6957 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-suffix
6958 Regexp matching the end of an attribution line.
6960 @item gnus-cite-attribution-face
6961 @vindex gnus-cite-attribution-face
6962 Face used for attribution lines. It is merged with the face for the
6963 cited text belonging to the attribution.
6969 @kindex W H s (Summary)
6970 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
6971 @vindex gnus-signature-face
6972 @findex gnus-article-highlight-signature
6973 Highlight the signature (@code{gnus-article-highlight-signature}).
6974 Everything after @code{gnus-signature-separator} (@pxref{Article
6975 Signature}) in an article will be considered a signature and will be
6976 highlighted with @code{gnus-signature-face}, which is @code{italic} by
6981 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to highlight articles automatically.
6984 @node Article Fontisizing
6985 @subsection Article Fontisizing
6987 @cindex article emphasis
6989 @findex gnus-article-emphasize
6990 @kindex W e (Summary)
6991 People commonly add emphasis to words in news articles by writing things
6992 like @samp{_this_} or @samp{*this*} or @samp{/this/}. Gnus can make
6993 this look nicer by running the article through the @kbd{W e}
6994 (@code{gnus-article-emphasize}) command.
6996 @vindex gnus-emphasis-alist
6997 How the emphasis is computed is controlled by the
6998 @code{gnus-emphasis-alist} variable. This is an alist where the first
6999 element is a regular expression to be matched. The second is a number
7000 that says what regular expression grouping is used to find the entire
7001 emphasized word. The third is a number that says what regexp grouping
7002 should be displayed and highlighted. (The text between these two
7003 groupings will be hidden.) The fourth is the face used for
7007 (setq gnus-article-emphasis
7008 '(("_\\(\\w+\\)_" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-underline)
7009 ("\\*\\(\\w+\\)\\*" 0 1 gnus-emphasis-bold)))
7018 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline
7019 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold
7020 @vindex gnus-emphasis-italic
7021 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold
7022 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-italic
7023 @vindex gnus-emphasis-bold-italic
7024 @vindex gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic
7025 By default, there are seven rules, and they use the following faces:
7026 @code{gnus-emphasis-bold}, @code{gnus-emphasis-italic},
7027 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline}, @code{gnus-emphasis-bold-italic},
7028 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-italic},
7029 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold}, and
7030 @code{gnus-emphasis-underline-bold-italic}.
7032 If you want to change these faces, you can either use @kbd{M-x
7033 customize}, or you can use @code{copy-face}. For instance, if you want
7034 to make @code{gnus-emphasis-italic} use a red face instead, you could
7038 (copy-face 'red 'gnus-emphasis-italic)
7041 @vindex gnus-group-highlight-words-alist
7043 If you want to highlight arbitrary words, you can use the
7044 @code{gnus-group-highlight-words-alist} variable, which uses the same
7045 syntax as @code{gnus-emphasis-alist}. The @code{highlight-words} group
7046 parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) can also be used.
7048 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to fontize articles automatically.
7051 @node Article Hiding
7052 @subsection Article Hiding
7053 @cindex article hiding
7055 Or rather, hiding certain things in each article. There usually is much
7056 too much cruft in most articles.
7061 @kindex W W a (Summary)
7062 @findex gnus-article-hide
7063 Do quite a lot of hiding on the article buffer
7064 (@kbd{gnus-article-hide}). In particular, this function will hide
7065 headers, PGP, cited text and the signature.
7068 @kindex W W h (Summary)
7069 @findex gnus-article-toggle-headers
7070 Toggle hiding of headers (@code{gnus-article-toggle-headers}). @xref{Hiding
7074 @kindex W W b (Summary)
7075 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
7076 Hide headers that aren't particularly interesting
7077 (@code{gnus-article-hide-boring-headers}). @xref{Hiding Headers}.
7080 @kindex W W s (Summary)
7081 @findex gnus-article-hide-signature
7082 Hide signature (@code{gnus-article-hide-signature}). @xref{Article
7086 @kindex W W l (Summary)
7087 @findex gnus-article-hide-list-identifiers
7088 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7089 Strip list identifiers specified in @code{gnus-list-identifiers}.
7090 These are strings some mailing list servers add to the beginning of
7091 all @code{Subject} headers---for example, @samp{[zebra 4711]}. Any
7092 leading @samp{Re: } is skipped before stripping.
7096 @item gnus-list-identifiers
7097 @vindex gnus-list-identifiers
7098 A regular expression that matches list identifiers to be removed from
7099 subject. This can also be a list of regular expressions.
7104 @kindex W W p (Summary)
7105 @findex gnus-article-hide-pgp
7106 @vindex gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7107 Hide @sc{pgp} signatures (@code{gnus-article-hide-pgp}). The
7108 @code{gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook} hook will be run after a @sc{pgp}
7109 signature has been hidden. For example, to automatically verify
7110 articles that have signatures in them do:
7112 ;;; Hide pgp cruft if any.
7114 (setq gnus-treat-strip-pgp t)
7116 ;;; After hiding pgp, verify the message;
7117 ;;; only happens if pgp signature is found.
7119 (add-hook 'gnus-article-hide-pgp-hook
7122 (set-buffer gnus-original-article-buffer)
7127 @kindex W W P (Summary)
7128 @findex gnus-article-hide-pem
7129 Hide @sc{pem} (privacy enhanced messages) cruft
7130 (@code{gnus-article-hide-pem}).
7133 @kindex W W B (Summary)
7134 @findex gnus-article-strip-banner
7137 @cindex stripping advertisments
7138 @cindex advertisments
7139 Strip the banner specified by the @code{banner} group parameter
7140 (@code{gnus-article-strip-banner}). This is mainly used to hide those
7141 annoying banners and/or signatures that some mailing lists and moderated
7142 groups adds to all the messages. The way to use this function is to add
7143 the @code{banner} group parameter (@pxref{Group Parameters}) to the
7144 group you want banners stripped from. The parameter either be a string,
7145 which will be interpreted as a regular expression matching text to be
7146 removed, or the symbol @code{signature}, meaning that the (last)
7147 signature should be removed.
7150 @kindex W W c (Summary)
7151 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation
7152 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation}). Some variables for
7153 customizing the hiding:
7157 @item gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7158 @itemx gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7159 @vindex gnus-cited-closed-text-button-line-format
7160 @vindex gnus-cited-opened-text-button-line-format
7161 Gnus adds buttons to show where the cited text has been hidden, and to
7162 allow toggle hiding the text. The format of the variable is specified
7163 by these format-like variable (@pxref{Formatting Variables}). These
7168 Starting point of the hidden text.
7170 Ending point of the hidden text.
7172 Number of characters in the hidden region.
7174 Number of lines of hidden text.
7177 @item gnus-cited-lines-visible
7178 @vindex gnus-cited-lines-visible
7179 The number of lines at the beginning of the cited text to leave
7180 shown. This can also be a cons cell with the number of lines at the top
7181 and bottom of the text, respectively, to remain visible.
7186 @kindex W W C-c (Summary)
7187 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe
7189 Hide citation (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-maybe}) depending on the
7190 following two variables:
7193 @item gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7194 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-percentage
7195 If the cited text is of a bigger percentage than this variable (default
7196 50), hide the cited text.
7198 @item gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7199 @vindex gnus-cite-hide-absolute
7200 The cited text must have at least this length (default 10) before it
7205 @kindex W W C (Summary)
7206 @findex gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups
7207 Hide cited text in articles that aren't roots
7208 (@code{gnus-article-hide-citation-in-followups}). This isn't very
7209 useful as an interactive command, but might be a handy function to stick
7210 have happen automatically (@pxref{Customizing Articles}).
7214 All these ``hiding'' commands are toggles, but if you give a negative
7215 prefix to these commands, they will show what they have previously
7216 hidden. If you give a positive prefix, they will always hide.
7218 Also @pxref{Article Highlighting} for further variables for
7219 citation customization.
7221 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to hide article elements
7225 @node Article Washing
7226 @subsection Article Washing
7228 @cindex article washing
7230 We call this ``article washing'' for a really good reason. Namely, the
7231 @kbd{A} key was taken, so we had to use the @kbd{W} key instead.
7233 @dfn{Washing} is defined by us as ``changing something from something to
7234 something else'', but normally results in something looking better.
7240 @kindex W l (Summary)
7241 @findex gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking
7242 Remove page breaks from the current article
7243 (@code{gnus-summary-stop-page-breaking}). @xref{Misc Article}, for page
7247 @kindex W r (Summary)
7248 @findex gnus-summary-caesar-message
7249 @c @icon{gnus-summary-caesar-message}
7250 Do a Caesar rotate (rot13) on the article buffer
7251 (@code{gnus-summary-caesar-message}).
7252 Unreadable articles that tell you to read them with Caesar rotate or rot13.
7253 (Typically offensive jokes and such.)
7255 It's commonly called ``rot13'' because each letter is rotated 13
7256 positions in the alphabet, e. g. @samp{B} (letter #2) -> @samp{O} (letter
7257 #15). It is sometimes referred to as ``Caesar rotate'' because Caesar
7258 is rumored to have employed this form of, uh, somewhat weak encryption.
7261 @kindex W t (Summary)
7262 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-header
7263 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer
7264 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-header}).
7267 @kindex W v (Summary)
7268 @findex gnus-summary-verbose-header
7269 Toggle whether to display all headers in the article buffer permanently
7270 (@code{gnus-summary-verbose-header}).
7273 @kindex W m (Summary)
7274 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-mime
7275 Toggle whether to run the article through @sc{mime} before displaying
7276 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-mime}).
7279 @kindex W o (Summary)
7280 @findex gnus-article-treat-overstrike
7281 Treat overstrike (@code{gnus-article-treat-overstrike}).
7284 @kindex W d (Summary)
7285 @findex gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes
7286 @vindex gnus-article-dumbquotes-map
7288 @cindex M******** sm*rtq**t*s
7290 Treat M******** sm*rtq**t*s according to
7291 @code{gnus-article-dumbquotes-map}
7292 (@code{gnus-article-treat-dumbquotes}). Note that this function guesses
7293 whether a character is a sm*rtq**t* or not, so it should only be used
7297 @kindex W w (Summary)
7298 @findex gnus-article-fill-cited-article
7299 Do word wrap (@code{gnus-article-fill-cited-article}).
7301 You can give the command a numerical prefix to specify the width to use
7305 @kindex W Q (Summary)
7306 @findex gnus-article-fill-long-lines
7307 Fill long lines (@code{gnus-article-fill-long-lines}).
7310 @kindex W C (Summary)
7311 @findex gnus-article-capitalize-sentences
7312 Capitalize the first word in each sentence
7313 (@code{gnus-article-capitalize-sentences}).
7316 @kindex W c (Summary)
7317 @findex gnus-article-remove-cr
7318 Translate CRLF pairs (i. e., @samp{^M}s on the end of the lines) into LF
7319 (this takes care of DOS line endings), and then translate any remaining
7320 CRs into LF (this takes care of Mac line endings)
7321 (@code{gnus-article-remove-cr}).
7324 @kindex W f (Summary)
7326 @findex gnus-article-display-x-face
7327 @findex gnus-article-x-face-command
7328 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-command
7329 @vindex gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly
7335 Look for and display any X-Face headers
7336 (@code{gnus-article-display-x-face}). The command executed by this
7337 function is given by the @code{gnus-article-x-face-command} variable.
7338 If this variable is a string, this string will be executed in a
7339 sub-shell. If it is a function, this function will be called with the
7340 face as the argument. If the @code{gnus-article-x-face-too-ugly} (which
7341 is a regexp) matches the @code{From} header, the face will not be shown.
7342 The default action under Emacs is to fork off an @code{xv} to view the
7343 face; under XEmacs the default action is to display the face before the
7344 @code{From} header. (It's nicer if XEmacs has been compiled with X-Face
7345 support---that will make display somewhat faster. If there's no native
7346 X-Face support, Gnus will try to convert the @code{X-Face} header using
7347 external programs from the @code{pbmplus} package and friends.) If you
7348 want to have this function in the display hook, it should probably come
7352 @kindex W b (Summary)
7353 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons
7354 Add clickable buttons to the article (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons}).
7355 @xref{Article Buttons}.
7358 @kindex W B (Summary)
7359 @findex gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head
7360 Add clickable buttons to the article headers
7361 (@code{gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head}).
7364 @kindex W W H (Summary)
7365 @findex gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body
7366 Strip headers like the @code{X-No-Archive} header from the beginning of
7367 article bodies (@code{gnus-article-strip-headers-from-body}).
7370 @kindex W E l (Summary)
7371 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines
7372 Remove all blank lines from the beginning of the article
7373 (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-blank-lines}).
7376 @kindex W E m (Summary)
7377 @findex gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines
7378 Replace all blank lines with empty lines and then all multiple empty
7379 lines with a single empty line.
7380 (@code{gnus-article-strip-multiple-blank-lines}).
7383 @kindex W E t (Summary)
7384 @findex gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines
7385 Remove all blank lines at the end of the article
7386 (@code{gnus-article-remove-trailing-blank-lines}).
7389 @kindex W E a (Summary)
7390 @findex gnus-article-strip-blank-lines
7391 Do all the three commands above
7392 (@code{gnus-article-strip-blank-lines}).
7395 @kindex W E A (Summary)
7396 @findex gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines
7397 Remove all blank lines
7398 (@code{gnus-article-strip-all-blank-lines}).
7401 @kindex W E s (Summary)
7402 @findex gnus-article-strip-leading-space
7403 Remove all white space from the beginning of all lines of the article
7404 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-leading-space}).
7407 @kindex W E e (Summary)
7408 @findex gnus-article-strip-trailing-space
7409 Remove all white space from the end of all lines of the article
7410 body (@code{gnus-article-strip-trailing-space}).
7414 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to wash articles automatically.
7417 @node Article Buttons
7418 @subsection Article Buttons
7421 People often include references to other stuff in articles, and it would
7422 be nice if Gnus could just fetch whatever it is that people talk about
7423 with the minimum of fuzz when you hit @kbd{RET} or use the middle mouse
7424 button on these references.
7426 Gnus adds @dfn{buttons} to certain standard references by default:
7427 Well-formed URLs, mail addresses and Message-IDs. This is controlled by
7428 two variables, one that handles article bodies and one that handles
7433 @item gnus-button-alist
7434 @vindex gnus-button-alist
7435 This is an alist where each entry has this form:
7438 (REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7444 All text that match this regular expression will be considered an
7445 external reference. Here's a typical regexp that matches embedded URLs:
7446 @samp{<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>}.
7449 Gnus has to know which parts of the matches is to be highlighted. This
7450 is a number that says what sub-expression of the regexp is to be
7451 highlighted. If you want it all highlighted, you use 0 here.
7454 This form will be @code{eval}ed, and if the result is non-@code{nil},
7455 this is considered a match. This is useful if you want extra sifting to
7456 avoid false matches.
7459 This function will be called when you click on this button.
7462 As with @var{button-par}, this is a sub-expression number, but this one
7463 says which part of the match is to be sent as data to @var{function}.
7467 So the full entry for buttonizing URLs is then
7470 ("<URL:\\([^\n\r>]*\\)>" 0 t gnus-button-url 1)
7473 @item gnus-header-button-alist
7474 @vindex gnus-header-button-alist
7475 This is just like the other alist, except that it is applied to the
7476 article head only, and that each entry has an additional element that is
7477 used to say what headers to apply the buttonize coding to:
7480 (HEADER REGEXP BUTTON-PAR USE-P FUNCTION DATA-PAR)
7483 @var{header} is a regular expression.
7485 @item gnus-button-url-regexp
7486 @vindex gnus-button-url-regexp
7487 A regular expression that matches embedded URLs. It is used in the
7488 default values of the variables above.
7490 @item gnus-article-button-face
7491 @vindex gnus-article-button-face
7492 Face used on buttons.
7494 @item gnus-article-mouse-face
7495 @vindex gnus-article-mouse-face
7496 Face used when the mouse cursor is over a button.
7500 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to buttonize articles automatically.
7504 @subsection Article Date
7506 The date is most likely generated in some obscure timezone you've never
7507 heard of, so it's quite nice to be able to find out what the time was
7508 when the article was sent.
7513 @kindex W T u (Summary)
7514 @findex gnus-article-date-ut
7515 Display the date in UT (aka. GMT, aka ZULU)
7516 (@code{gnus-article-date-ut}).
7519 @kindex W T i (Summary)
7520 @findex gnus-article-date-iso8601
7522 Display the date in international format, aka. ISO 8601
7523 (@code{gnus-article-date-iso8601}).
7526 @kindex W T l (Summary)
7527 @findex gnus-article-date-local
7528 Display the date in the local timezone (@code{gnus-article-date-local}).
7531 @kindex W T s (Summary)
7532 @vindex gnus-article-time-format
7533 @findex gnus-article-date-user
7534 @findex format-time-string
7535 Display the date using a user-defined format
7536 (@code{gnus-article-date-user}). The format is specified by the
7537 @code{gnus-article-time-format} variable, and is a string that's passed
7538 to @code{format-time-string}. See the documentation of that variable
7539 for a list of possible format specs.
7542 @kindex W T e (Summary)
7543 @findex gnus-article-date-lapsed
7544 @findex gnus-start-date-timer
7545 @findex gnus-stop-date-timer
7546 Say how much time has elapsed between the article was posted and now
7547 (@code{gnus-article-date-lapsed}). It looks something like:
7550 X-Sent: 9 years, 6 weeks, 4 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes, 28 seconds ago
7553 The value of @code{gnus-article-date-lapsed-new-header} determines
7554 whether this header will just be added below the old Date one, or will
7557 An advantage of using Gnus to read mail is that it converts simple bugs
7558 into wonderful absurdities.
7560 If you want to have this line updated continually, you can put
7563 (gnus-start-date-timer)
7566 in your @file{.gnus.el} file, or you can run it off of some hook. If
7567 you want to stop the timer, you can use the @code{gnus-stop-date-timer}
7571 @kindex W T o (Summary)
7572 @findex gnus-article-date-original
7573 Display the original date (@code{gnus-article-date-original}). This can
7574 be useful if you normally use some other conversion function and are
7575 worried that it might be doing something totally wrong. Say, claiming
7576 that the article was posted in 1854. Although something like that is
7577 @emph{totally} impossible. Don't you trust me? *titter*
7581 @xref{Customizing Articles}, for how to display the date in your
7582 preferred format automatically.
7585 @node Article Signature
7586 @subsection Article Signature
7588 @cindex article signature
7590 @vindex gnus-signature-separator
7591 Each article is divided into two parts---the head and the body. The
7592 body can be divided into a signature part and a text part. The variable
7593 that says what is to be considered a signature is
7594 @code{gnus-signature-separator}. This is normally the standard
7595 @samp{^-- $} as mandated by son-of-RFC 1036. However, many people use
7596 non-standard signature separators, so this variable can also be a list
7597 of regular expressions to be tested, one by one. (Searches are done
7598 from the end of the body towards the beginning.) One likely value is:
7601 (setq gnus-signature-separator
7602 '("^-- $" ; The standard
7603 "^-- *$" ; A common mangling
7604 "^-------*$" ; Many people just use a looong
7605 ; line of dashes. Shame!
7606 "^ *--------*$" ; Double-shame!
7607 "^________*$" ; Underscores are also popular
7608 "^========*$")) ; Pervert!
7611 The more permissive you are, the more likely it is that you'll get false
7614 @vindex gnus-signature-limit
7615 @code{gnus-signature-limit} provides a limit to what is considered a
7616 signature when displaying articles.
7620 If it is an integer, no signature may be longer (in characters) than
7623 If it is a floating point number, no signature may be longer (in lines)
7626 If it is a function, the function will be called without any parameters,
7627 and if it returns @code{nil}, there is no signature in the buffer.
7629 If it is a string, it will be used as a regexp. If it matches, the text
7630 in question is not a signature.
7633 This variable can also be a list where the elements may be of the types
7634 listed above. Here's an example:
7637 (setq gnus-signature-limit
7638 '(200.0 "^---*Forwarded article"))
7641 This means that if there are more than 200 lines after the signature
7642 separator, or the text after the signature separator is matched by
7643 the regular expression @samp{^---*Forwarded article}, then it isn't a
7644 signature after all.
7647 @node Article Miscellania
7648 @subsection Article Miscellania
7652 @kindex A t (Summary)
7653 @findex gnus-article-babel
7654 Translate the article from one language to another
7655 (@code{gnus-article-babel}).
7661 @section @sc{mime} Commands
7662 @cindex MIME decoding
7664 The following commands all understand the numerical prefix. For
7665 instance, @kbd{3 b} means ``view the third @sc{mime} part''.
7671 @kindex K v (Summary)
7672 View the @sc{mime} part.
7675 @kindex K o (Summary)
7676 Save the @sc{mime} part.
7679 @kindex K c (Summary)
7680 Copy the @sc{mime} part.
7683 @kindex K e (Summary)
7684 View the @sc{mime} part externally.
7687 @kindex K i (Summary)
7688 View the @sc{mime} part internally.
7691 @kindex K | (Summary)
7692 Pipe the @sc{mime} part to an external command.
7695 The rest of these @sc{mime} commands do not use the numerical prefix in
7700 @kindex K b (Summary)
7701 Make all the @sc{mime} parts have buttons in from of them. This is
7702 mostly useful if you wish to save (or perform other actions) on inlined
7706 @kindex K m (Summary)
7707 @findex gnus-summary-repair-multipart
7708 Some multipart messages are transmitted with missing or faulty headers.
7709 This command will attempt to ``repair'' these messages so that they can
7710 be viewed in a more pleasant manner
7711 (@code{gnus-summary-repair-multipart}).
7714 @kindex X m (Summary)
7715 @findex gnus-summary-save-parts
7716 Save all parts matching a @sc{mime} type to a directory
7717 (@code{gnus-summary-save-parts}). Understands the process/prefix
7718 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
7721 @kindex M-t (Summary)
7722 @findex gnus-summary-display-buttonized
7723 Toggle the buttonized display of the article buffer
7724 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-display-buttonized}).
7727 @kindex W M w (Summary)
7728 Decode RFC 2047-encoded words in the article headers
7729 (@code{gnus-article-decode-mime-words}).
7732 @kindex W M c (Summary)
7733 Decode encoded article bodies as well as charsets
7734 (@code{gnus-article-decode-charset}).
7736 This command looks in the @code{Content-Type} header to determine the
7737 charset. If there is no such header in the article, you can give it a
7738 prefix, which will prompt for the charset to decode as. In regional
7739 groups where people post using some common encoding (but do not include
7740 MIME headers), you can set the @code{charset} group/topic parameter to
7741 the required charset (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
7744 @kindex W M v (Summary)
7745 View all the @sc{mime} parts in the current article
7746 (@code{gnus-mime-view-all-parts}).
7753 @item gnus-ignored-mime-types
7754 @vindex gnus-ignored-mime-types
7755 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7756 this list will be completely ignored by Gnus. The default value is
7759 To have all Vcards be ignored, you'd say something like this:
7762 (setq gnus-ignored-mime-types
7766 @item gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7767 @vindex gnus-unbuttonized-mime-types
7768 This is a list of regexps. @sc{mime} types that match a regexp from
7769 this list won't have @sc{mime} buttons inserted unless they aren't
7770 displayed. The default value is @code{(".*/.*")}.
7772 @item gnus-article-mime-part-function
7773 @vindex gnus-article-mime-part-function
7774 For each @sc{mime} part, this function will be called with the @sc{mime}
7775 handle as the parameter. The function is meant to be used to allow
7776 users to gather information from the article (e. g., add Vcard info to
7777 the bbdb database) or to do actions based on parts (e. g., automatically
7778 save all jpegs into some directory).
7780 Here's an example function the does the latter:
7783 (defun my-save-all-jpeg-parts (handle)
7784 (when (equal (car (mm-handle-type handle)) "image/jpeg")
7786 (insert (mm-get-part handle))
7787 (write-region (point-min) (point-max)
7788 (read-file-name "Save jpeg to: ")))))
7789 (setq gnus-article-mime-part-function
7790 'my-save-all-jpeg-parts)
7793 @vindex gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7794 @item gnus-mime-multipart-functions
7795 Alist of @sc{mime} multipart types and functions to handle them.
7804 People use different charsets, and we have @sc{mime} to let us know what
7805 charsets they use. Or rather, we wish we had. Many people use
7806 newsreaders and mailers that do not understand or use @sc{mime}, and
7807 just send out messages without saying what character sets they use. To
7808 help a bit with this, some local news hierarchies have policies that say
7809 what character set is the default. For instance, the @samp{fj}
7810 hierarchy uses @code{iso-2022-jp-2}.
7812 @vindex gnus-group-charset-alist
7813 This knowledge is encoded in the @code{gnus-group-charset-alist}
7814 variable, which is an alist of regexps (to match group names) and
7815 default charsets to be used when reading these groups.
7817 In addition, some people do use soi-disant @sc{mime}-aware agents that
7818 aren't. These blitely mark messages as being in @code{iso-8859-1} even
7819 if they really are in @code{koi-8}. To help here, the
7820 @code{gnus-newsgroup-ignored-charsets} variable can be used. The
7821 charsets that are listed here will be ignored. The variable can be set
7822 on a group-by-group basis using the group parameters (@pxref{Group
7823 Parameters}). The default value is @code{(unknown-8bit)}, which is
7824 something some agents insist on having in there.
7826 @vindex gnus-group-posting-charset-alist
7827 When posting, @code{gnus-group-posting-charset-alist} is used to
7828 determine which charsets should not be encoded using the @sc{mime}
7829 encodings. For instance, some hierarchies discourage using
7830 quoted-printable header encoding.
7832 This variable is an alist of regexps and permitted unencoded charsets
7833 for posting. Each element of the alist has the form @code{(}@var{test
7834 header body-list}@code{)}, where:
7838 is either a regular expression matching the newsgroup header or a
7841 is the charset which may be left unencoded in the header (@code{nil}
7842 means encode all charsets),
7844 is a list of charsets which may be encoded using 8bit content-transfer
7845 encoding in the body, or one of the special values @code{nil} (always
7846 encode using quoted-printable) or @code{t} (always use 8bit).
7853 @cindex coding system aliases
7854 @cindex preferred charset
7856 Other charset tricks that may be useful, although not Gnus-specific:
7858 If there are several @sc{mime} charsets that encode the same Emacs
7859 charset, you can choose what charset to use by saying the following:
7862 (put-charset-property 'cyrillic-iso8859-5
7863 'preferred-coding-system 'koi8-r)
7866 This means that Russian will be encoded using @code{koi8-r} instead of
7867 the default @code{iso-8859-5} @sc{mime} charset.
7869 If you want to read messages in @code{koi8-u}, you can cheat and say
7872 (define-coding-system-alias 'koi8-u 'koi8-r)
7875 This will almost do the right thing.
7877 And finally, to read charsets like @code{windows-1251}, you can say
7881 (codepage-setup 1251)
7882 (define-coding-system-alias 'windows-1251 'cp1251)
7886 @node Article Commands
7887 @section Article Commands
7894 @kindex A P (Summary)
7895 @vindex gnus-ps-print-hook
7896 @findex gnus-summary-print-article
7897 Generate and print a PostScript image of the article buffer
7898 (@code{gnus-summary-print-article}). @code{gnus-ps-print-hook} will be
7899 run just before printing the buffer.
7904 @node Summary Sorting
7905 @section Summary Sorting
7906 @cindex summary sorting
7908 You can have the summary buffer sorted in various ways, even though I
7909 can't really see why you'd want that.
7914 @kindex C-c C-s C-n (Summary)
7915 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-number
7916 Sort by article number (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-number}).
7919 @kindex C-c C-s C-a (Summary)
7920 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-author
7921 Sort by author (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-author}).
7924 @kindex C-c C-s C-s (Summary)
7925 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-subject
7926 Sort by subject (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-subject}).
7929 @kindex C-c C-s C-d (Summary)
7930 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-date
7931 Sort by date (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-date}).
7934 @kindex C-c C-s C-l (Summary)
7935 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-lines
7936 Sort by lines (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-lines}).
7939 @kindex C-c C-s C-c (Summary)
7940 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-chars
7941 Sort by article length (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-chars}).
7944 @kindex C-c C-s C-i (Summary)
7945 @findex gnus-summary-sort-by-score
7946 Sort by score (@code{gnus-summary-sort-by-score}).
7949 These functions will work both when you use threading and when you don't
7950 use threading. In the latter case, all summary lines will be sorted,
7951 line by line. In the former case, sorting will be done on a
7952 root-by-root basis, which might not be what you were looking for. To
7953 toggle whether to use threading, type @kbd{T T} (@pxref{Thread
7957 @node Finding the Parent
7958 @section Finding the Parent
7959 @cindex parent articles
7960 @cindex referring articles
7965 @findex gnus-summary-refer-parent-article
7966 If you'd like to read the parent of the current article, and it is not
7967 displayed in the summary buffer, you might still be able to. That is,
7968 if the current group is fetched by @sc{nntp}, the parent hasn't expired
7969 and the @code{References} in the current article are not mangled, you
7970 can just press @kbd{^} or @kbd{A r}
7971 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-parent-article}). If everything goes well,
7972 you'll get the parent. If the parent is already displayed in the
7973 summary buffer, point will just move to this article.
7975 If given a positive numerical prefix, fetch that many articles back into
7976 the ancestry. If given a negative numerical prefix, fetch just that
7977 ancestor. So if you say @kbd{3 ^}, gnus will fetch the parent, the
7978 grandparent and the grandgrandparent of the current article. If you say
7979 @kbd{-3 ^}, gnus will only fetch the grandgrandparent of the current
7983 @findex gnus-summary-refer-references
7984 @kindex A R (Summary)
7985 Fetch all articles mentioned in the @code{References} header of the
7986 article (@code{gnus-summary-refer-references}).
7989 @findex gnus-summary-refer-thread
7990 @kindex A T (Summary)
7991 Display the full thread where the current article appears
7992 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-thread}). This command has to fetch all the
7993 headers in the current group to work, so it usually takes a while. If
7994 you do it often, you may consider setting @code{gnus-fetch-old-headers}
7995 to @code{invisible} (@pxref{Filling In Threads}). This won't have any
7996 visible effects normally, but it'll make this command work a whole lot
7997 faster. Of course, it'll make group entry somewhat slow.
7999 @vindex gnus-refer-thread-limit
8000 The @code{gnus-refer-thread-limit} variable says how many old (i. e.,
8001 articles before the first displayed in the current group) headers to
8002 fetch when doing this command. The default is 200. If @code{t}, all
8003 the available headers will be fetched. This variable can be overridden
8004 by giving the @kbd{A T} command a numerical prefix.
8007 @findex gnus-summary-refer-article
8008 @kindex M-^ (Summary)
8010 @cindex fetching by Message-ID
8011 You can also ask the @sc{nntp} server for an arbitrary article, no
8012 matter what group it belongs to. @kbd{M-^}
8013 (@code{gnus-summary-refer-article}) will ask you for a
8014 @code{Message-ID}, which is one of those long, hard-to-read thingies
8015 that look something like @samp{<38o6up$6f2@@hymir.ifi.uio.no>}. You
8016 have to get it all exactly right. No fuzzy searches, I'm afraid.
8019 The current select method will be used when fetching by
8020 @code{Message-ID} from non-news select method, but you can override this
8021 by giving this command a prefix.
8023 @vindex gnus-refer-article-method
8024 If the group you are reading is located on a backend that does not
8025 support fetching by @code{Message-ID} very well (like @code{nnspool}),
8026 you can set @code{gnus-refer-article-method} to an @sc{nntp} method. It
8027 would, perhaps, be best if the @sc{nntp} server you consult is the one
8028 updating the spool you are reading from, but that's not really
8031 It can also be a list of select methods, as well as the special symbol
8032 @code{current}, which means to use the current select method. If it
8033 is a list, Gnus will try all the methods in the list until it finds a
8036 Here's an example setting that will first try the current method, and
8037 then ask Deja if that fails:
8040 (setq gnus-refer-article-method
8042 (nnweb "refer" (nnweb-type dejanews))))
8045 Most of the mail backends support fetching by @code{Message-ID}, but do
8046 not do a particularly excellent job at it. That is, @code{nnmbox} and
8047 @code{nnbabyl} are able to locate articles from any groups, while
8048 @code{nnml} and @code{nnfolder} are only able to locate articles that
8049 have been posted to the current group. (Anything else would be too time
8050 consuming.) @code{nnmh} does not support this at all.
8053 @node Alternative Approaches
8054 @section Alternative Approaches
8056 Different people like to read news using different methods. This being
8057 gnus, we offer a small selection of minor modes for the summary buffers.
8060 * Pick and Read:: First mark articles and then read them.
8061 * Binary Groups:: Auto-decode all articles.
8066 @subsection Pick and Read
8067 @cindex pick and read
8069 Some newsreaders (like @code{nn} and, uhm, @code{Netnews} on VM/CMS) use
8070 a two-phased reading interface. The user first marks in a summary
8071 buffer the articles she wants to read. Then she starts reading the
8072 articles with just an article buffer displayed.
8074 @findex gnus-pick-mode
8075 @kindex M-x gnus-pick-mode
8076 Gnus provides a summary buffer minor mode that allows
8077 this---@code{gnus-pick-mode}. This basically means that a few process
8078 mark commands become one-keystroke commands to allow easy marking, and
8079 it provides one additional command for switching to the summary buffer.
8081 Here are the available keystrokes when using pick mode:
8086 @findex gnus-pick-article-or-thread
8087 Pick the article or thread on the current line
8088 (@code{gnus-pick-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8089 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key selects the
8090 entire thread when used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise,
8091 it selects just the article. If given a numerical prefix, go to that
8092 thread or article and pick it. (The line number is normally displayed
8093 at the beginning of the summary pick lines.)
8096 @kindex SPACE (Pick)
8097 @findex gnus-pick-next-page
8098 Scroll the summary buffer up one page (@code{gnus-pick-next-page}). If
8099 at the end of the buffer, start reading the picked articles.
8103 @findex gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread.
8104 Unpick the thread or article
8105 (@code{gnus-pick-unmark-article-or-thread}). If the variable
8106 @code{gnus-thread-hide-subtree} is true, then this key unpicks the
8107 thread if used at the first article of the thread. Otherwise it unpicks
8108 just the article. You can give this key a numerical prefix to unpick
8109 the thread or article at that line.
8113 @findex gnus-pick-start-reading
8114 @vindex gnus-pick-display-summary
8115 Start reading the picked articles (@code{gnus-pick-start-reading}). If
8116 given a prefix, mark all unpicked articles as read first. If
8117 @code{gnus-pick-display-summary} is non-@code{nil}, the summary buffer
8118 will still be visible when you are reading.
8122 All the normal summary mode commands are still available in the
8123 pick-mode, with the exception of @kbd{u}. However @kbd{!} is available
8124 which is mapped to the same function
8125 @code{gnus-summary-tick-article-forward}.
8127 If this sounds like a good idea to you, you could say:
8130 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8133 @vindex gnus-pick-mode-hook
8134 @code{gnus-pick-mode-hook} is run in pick minor mode buffers.
8136 @vindex gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read
8137 If @code{gnus-mark-unpicked-articles-as-read} is non-@code{nil}, mark
8138 all unpicked articles as read. The default is @code{nil}.
8140 @vindex gnus-summary-pick-line-format
8141 The summary line format in pick mode is slightly different from the
8142 standard format. At the beginning of each line the line number is
8143 displayed. The pick mode line format is controlled by the
8144 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format} variable (@pxref{Formatting
8145 Variables}). It accepts the same format specs that
8146 @code{gnus-summary-line-format} does (@pxref{Summary Buffer Lines}).
8150 @subsection Binary Groups
8151 @cindex binary groups
8153 @findex gnus-binary-mode
8154 @kindex M-x gnus-binary-mode
8155 If you spend much time in binary groups, you may grow tired of hitting
8156 @kbd{X u}, @kbd{n}, @kbd{RET} all the time. @kbd{M-x gnus-binary-mode}
8157 is a minor mode for summary buffers that makes all ordinary Gnus article
8158 selection functions uudecode series of articles and display the result
8159 instead of just displaying the articles the normal way.
8162 @findex gnus-binary-show-article
8163 The only way, in fact, to see the actual articles is the @kbd{g}
8164 command, when you have turned on this mode
8165 (@code{gnus-binary-show-article}).
8167 @vindex gnus-binary-mode-hook
8168 @code{gnus-binary-mode-hook} is called in binary minor mode buffers.
8172 @section Tree Display
8175 @vindex gnus-use-trees
8176 If you don't like the normal gnus summary display, you might try setting
8177 @code{gnus-use-trees} to @code{t}. This will create (by default) an
8178 additional @dfn{tree buffer}. You can execute all summary mode commands
8181 There are a few variables to customize the tree display, of course:
8184 @item gnus-tree-mode-hook
8185 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-hook
8186 A hook called in all tree mode buffers.
8188 @item gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8189 @vindex gnus-tree-mode-line-format
8190 A format string for the mode bar in the tree mode buffers (@pxref{Mode
8191 Line Formatting}). The default is @samp{Gnus: %%b %S %Z}. For a list
8192 of valid specs, @pxref{Summary Buffer Mode Line}.
8194 @item gnus-selected-tree-face
8195 @vindex gnus-selected-tree-face
8196 Face used for highlighting the selected article in the tree buffer. The
8197 default is @code{modeline}.
8199 @item gnus-tree-line-format
8200 @vindex gnus-tree-line-format
8201 A format string for the tree nodes. The name is a bit of a misnomer,
8202 though---it doesn't define a line, but just the node. The default value
8203 is @samp{%(%[%3,3n%]%)}, which displays the first three characters of
8204 the name of the poster. It is vital that all nodes are of the same
8205 length, so you @emph{must} use @samp{%4,4n}-like specifiers.
8211 The name of the poster.
8213 The @code{From} header.
8215 The number of the article.
8217 The opening bracket.
8219 The closing bracket.
8224 @xref{Formatting Variables}.
8226 Variables related to the display are:
8229 @item gnus-tree-brackets
8230 @vindex gnus-tree-brackets
8231 This is used for differentiating between ``real'' articles and
8232 ``sparse'' articles. The format is @code{((@var{real-open} . @var{real-close})
8233 (@var{sparse-open} . @var{sparse-close}) (@var{dummy-open} . @var{dummy-close}))}, and the
8234 default is @code{((?[ . ?]) (?( . ?)) (?@{ . ?@}) (?< . ?>))}.
8236 @item gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8237 @vindex gnus-tree-parent-child-edges
8238 This is a list that contains the characters used for connecting parent
8239 nodes to their children. The default is @code{(?- ?\\ ?|)}.
8243 @item gnus-tree-minimize-window
8244 @vindex gnus-tree-minimize-window
8245 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, gnus will try to keep the tree
8246 buffer as small as possible to allow more room for the other gnus
8247 windows. If this variable is a number, the tree buffer will never be
8248 higher than that number. The default is @code{t}. Note that if you
8249 have several windows displayed side-by-side in a frame and the tree
8250 buffer is one of these, minimizing the tree window will also resize all
8251 other windows displayed next to it.
8253 @item gnus-generate-tree-function
8254 @vindex gnus-generate-tree-function
8255 @findex gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8256 @findex gnus-generate-vertical-tree
8257 The function that actually generates the thread tree. Two predefined
8258 functions are available: @code{gnus-generate-horizontal-tree} and
8259 @code{gnus-generate-vertical-tree} (which is the default).
8263 Here's an example from a horizontal tree buffer:
8266 @{***@}-(***)-[odd]-[Gun]
8276 Here's the same thread displayed in a vertical tree buffer:
8280 |--------------------------\-----\-----\
8281 (***) [Bjo] [Gun] [Gun]
8283 [odd] [Jan] [odd] (***) [Jor]
8285 [Gun] [Eri] [Eri] [odd]
8290 If you're using horizontal trees, it might be nice to display the trees
8291 side-by-side with the summary buffer. You could add something like the
8292 following to your @file{.gnus.el} file:
8295 (setq gnus-use-trees t
8296 gnus-generate-tree-function 'gnus-generate-horizontal-tree
8297 gnus-tree-minimize-window nil)
8298 (gnus-add-configuration
8302 (summary 0.75 point)
8307 @xref{Windows Configuration}.
8310 @node Mail Group Commands
8311 @section Mail Group Commands
8312 @cindex mail group commands
8314 Some commands only make sense in mail groups. If these commands are
8315 invalid in the current group, they will raise a hell and let you know.
8317 All these commands (except the expiry and edit commands) use the
8318 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8323 @kindex B e (Summary)
8324 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles
8325 Expire all expirable articles in the group
8326 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles}).
8329 @kindex B M-C-e (Summary)
8330 @findex gnus-summary-expire-articles-now
8331 Delete all the expirable articles in the group
8332 (@code{gnus-summary-expire-articles-now}). This means that @strong{all}
8333 articles eligible for expiry in the current group will
8334 disappear forever into that big @file{/dev/null} in the sky.
8337 @kindex B DEL (Summary)
8338 @findex gnus-summary-delete-article
8339 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-delete}
8340 Delete the mail article. This is ``delete'' as in ``delete it from your
8341 disk forever and ever, never to return again.'' Use with caution.
8342 (@code{gnus-summary-delete-article}).
8345 @kindex B m (Summary)
8347 @findex gnus-summary-move-article
8348 @vindex gnus-preserve-marks
8349 Move the article from one mail group to another
8350 (@code{gnus-summary-move-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8351 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8354 @kindex B c (Summary)
8356 @findex gnus-summary-copy-article
8357 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-copy}
8358 Copy the article from one group (mail group or not) to a mail group
8359 (@code{gnus-summary-copy-article}). Marks will be preserved if
8360 @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil} (which is the default).
8363 @kindex B B (Summary)
8364 @cindex crosspost mail
8365 @findex gnus-summary-crosspost-article
8366 Crosspost the current article to some other group
8367 (@code{gnus-summary-crosspost-article}). This will create a new copy of
8368 the article in the other group, and the Xref headers of the article will
8369 be properly updated.
8372 @kindex B i (Summary)
8373 @findex gnus-summary-import-article
8374 Import an arbitrary file into the current mail newsgroup
8375 (@code{gnus-summary-import-article}). You will be prompted for a file
8376 name, a @code{From} header and a @code{Subject} header.
8379 @kindex B r (Summary)
8380 @findex gnus-summary-respool-article
8381 Respool the mail article (@code{gnus-summary-respool-article}).
8382 @code{gnus-summary-respool-default-method} will be used as the default
8383 select method when respooling. This variable is @code{nil} by default,
8384 which means that the current group select method will be used instead.
8385 Marks will be preserved if @var{gnus-preserve-marks} is non-@code{nil}
8386 (which is the default).
8390 @kindex B w (Summary)
8392 @findex gnus-summary-edit-article
8393 @kindex C-c C-c (Article)
8394 Edit the current article (@code{gnus-summary-edit-article}). To finish
8395 editing and make the changes permanent, type @kbd{C-c C-c}
8396 (@kbd{gnus-summary-edit-article-done}). If you give a prefix to the
8397 @kbd{C-c C-c} command, gnus won't re-highlight the article.
8400 @kindex B q (Summary)
8401 @findex gnus-summary-respool-query
8402 If you want to re-spool an article, you might be curious as to what group
8403 the article will end up in before you do the re-spooling. This command
8404 will tell you (@code{gnus-summary-respool-query}).
8407 @kindex B t (Summary)
8408 @findex gnus-summary-respool-trace
8409 Similarly, this command will display all fancy splitting patterns used
8410 when repooling, if any (@code{gnus-summary-respool-trace}).
8413 @kindex B p (Summary)
8414 @findex gnus-summary-article-posted-p
8415 Some people have a tendency to send you "courtesy" copies when they
8416 follow up to articles you have posted. These usually have a
8417 @code{Newsgroups} header in them, but not always. This command
8418 (@code{gnus-summary-article-posted-p}) will try to fetch the current
8419 article from your news server (or rather, from
8420 @code{gnus-refer-article-method} or @code{gnus-select-method}) and will
8421 report back whether it found the article or not. Even if it says that
8422 it didn't find the article, it may have been posted anyway---mail
8423 propagation is much faster than news propagation, and the news copy may
8424 just not have arrived yet.
8428 @vindex gnus-move-split-methods
8429 @cindex moving articles
8430 If you move (or copy) articles regularly, you might wish to have gnus
8431 suggest where to put the articles. @code{gnus-move-split-methods} is a
8432 variable that uses the same syntax as @code{gnus-split-methods}
8433 (@pxref{Saving Articles}). You may customize that variable to create
8434 suggestions you find reasonable.
8437 (setq gnus-move-split-methods
8438 '(("^From:.*Lars Magne" "nnml:junk")
8439 ("^Subject:.*gnus" "nnfolder:important")
8440 (".*" "nnml:misc")))
8444 @node Various Summary Stuff
8445 @section Various Summary Stuff
8448 * Summary Group Information:: Information oriented commands.
8449 * Searching for Articles:: Multiple article commands.
8450 * Summary Generation Commands:: (Re)generating the summary buffer.
8451 * Really Various Summary Commands:: Those pesky non-conformant commands.
8455 @vindex gnus-summary-mode-hook
8456 @item gnus-summary-mode-hook
8457 This hook is called when creating a summary mode buffer.
8459 @vindex gnus-summary-generate-hook
8460 @item gnus-summary-generate-hook
8461 This is called as the last thing before doing the threading and the
8462 generation of the summary buffer. It's quite convenient for customizing
8463 the threading variables based on what data the newsgroup has. This hook
8464 is called from the summary buffer after most summary buffer variables
8467 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8468 @item gnus-summary-prepare-hook
8469 It is called after the summary buffer has been generated. You might use
8470 it to, for instance, highlight lines or modify the look of the buffer in
8471 some other ungodly manner. I don't care.
8473 @vindex gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8474 @item gnus-summary-prepared-hook
8475 A hook called as the very last thing after the summary buffer has been
8478 @vindex gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8479 @item gnus-summary-ignore-duplicates
8480 When gnus discovers two articles that have the same @code{Message-ID},
8481 it has to do something drastic. No articles are allowed to have the
8482 same @code{Message-ID}, but this may happen when reading mail from some
8483 sources. Gnus allows you to customize what happens with this variable.
8484 If it is @code{nil} (which is the default), gnus will rename the
8485 @code{Message-ID} (for display purposes only) and display the article as
8486 any other article. If this variable is @code{t}, it won't display the
8487 article---it'll be as if it never existed.
8489 @vindex gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8490 @item gnus-alter-articles-to-read-function
8491 This function, which takes two parameters (the group name and the list
8492 of articles to be selected), is called to allow the user to alter the
8493 list of articles to be selected.
8495 For instance, the following function adds the list of cached articles to
8496 the list in one particular group:
8499 (defun my-add-cached-articles (group articles)
8500 (if (string= group "some.group")
8501 (append gnus-newsgroup-cached articles)
8508 @node Summary Group Information
8509 @subsection Summary Group Information
8514 @kindex H f (Summary)
8515 @findex gnus-summary-fetch-faq
8516 @vindex gnus-group-faq-directory
8517 Try to fetch the FAQ (list of frequently asked questions) for the
8518 current group (@code{gnus-summary-fetch-faq}). Gnus will try to get the
8519 FAQ from @code{gnus-group-faq-directory}, which is usually a directory
8520 on a remote machine. This variable can also be a list of directories.
8521 In that case, giving a prefix to this command will allow you to choose
8522 between the various sites. @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will probably
8523 be used for fetching the file.
8526 @kindex H d (Summary)
8527 @findex gnus-summary-describe-group
8528 Give a brief description of the current group
8529 (@code{gnus-summary-describe-group}). If given a prefix, force
8530 rereading the description from the server.
8533 @kindex H h (Summary)
8534 @findex gnus-summary-describe-briefly
8535 Give an extremely brief description of the most important summary
8536 keystrokes (@code{gnus-summary-describe-briefly}).
8539 @kindex H i (Summary)
8540 @findex gnus-info-find-node
8541 Go to the gnus info node (@code{gnus-info-find-node}).
8545 @node Searching for Articles
8546 @subsection Searching for Articles
8551 @kindex M-s (Summary)
8552 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-forward
8553 Search through all subsequent articles for a regexp
8554 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-forward}).
8557 @kindex M-r (Summary)
8558 @findex gnus-summary-search-article-backward
8559 Search through all previous articles for a regexp
8560 (@code{gnus-summary-search-article-backward}).
8564 @findex gnus-summary-execute-command
8565 This command will prompt you for a header field, a regular expression to
8566 match on this field, and a command to be executed if the match is made
8567 (@code{gnus-summary-execute-command}). If given a prefix, search
8571 @kindex M-& (Summary)
8572 @findex gnus-summary-universal-argument
8573 Perform any operation on all articles that have been marked with
8574 the process mark (@code{gnus-summary-universal-argument}).
8577 @node Summary Generation Commands
8578 @subsection Summary Generation Commands
8583 @kindex Y g (Summary)
8584 @findex gnus-summary-prepare
8585 Regenerate the current summary buffer (@code{gnus-summary-prepare}).
8588 @kindex Y c (Summary)
8589 @findex gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles
8590 Pull all cached articles (for the current group) into the summary buffer
8591 (@code{gnus-summary-insert-cached-articles}).
8596 @node Really Various Summary Commands
8597 @subsection Really Various Summary Commands
8603 @kindex C-d (Summary)
8604 @kindex A D (Summary)
8605 @findex gnus-summary-enter-digest-group
8606 If the current article is a collection of other articles (for instance,
8607 a digest), you might use this command to enter a group based on the that
8608 article (@code{gnus-summary-enter-digest-group}). Gnus will try to
8609 guess what article type is currently displayed unless you give a prefix
8610 to this command, which forces a ``digest'' interpretation. Basically,
8611 whenever you see a message that is a collection of other messages of
8612 some format, you @kbd{C-d} and read these messages in a more convenient
8616 @kindex M-C-d (Summary)
8617 @findex gnus-summary-read-document
8618 This command is very similar to the one above, but lets you gather
8619 several documents into one biiig group
8620 (@code{gnus-summary-read-document}). It does this by opening several
8621 @code{nndoc} groups for each document, and then opening an
8622 @code{nnvirtual} group on top of these @code{nndoc} groups. This
8623 command understands the process/prefix convention
8624 (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
8627 @kindex C-t (Summary)
8628 @findex gnus-summary-toggle-truncation
8629 Toggle truncation of summary lines
8630 (@code{gnus-summary-toggle-truncation}). This will probably confuse the
8631 line centering function in the summary buffer, so it's not a good idea
8632 to have truncation switched off while reading articles.
8636 @findex gnus-summary-expand-window
8637 Expand the summary buffer window (@code{gnus-summary-expand-window}).
8638 If given a prefix, force an @code{article} window configuration.
8641 @kindex M-C-e (Summary)
8642 @findex gnus-summary-edit-parameters
8643 Edit the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8644 group (@code{gnus-summary-edit-parameters}).
8647 @kindex M-C-a (Summary)
8648 @findex gnus-summary-customize-parameters
8649 Customize the group parameters (@pxref{Group Parameters}) of the current
8650 group (@code{gnus-summary-customize-parameters}).
8655 @node Exiting the Summary Buffer
8656 @section Exiting the Summary Buffer
8657 @cindex summary exit
8658 @cindex exiting groups
8660 Exiting from the summary buffer will normally update all info on the
8661 group and return you to the group buffer.
8667 @kindex Z Z (Summary)
8669 @findex gnus-summary-exit
8670 @vindex gnus-summary-exit-hook
8671 @vindex gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook
8672 @c @icon{gnus-summary-exit}
8673 Exit the current group and update all information on the group
8674 (@code{gnus-summary-exit}). @code{gnus-summary-prepare-exit-hook} is
8675 called before doing much of the exiting, which calls
8676 @code{gnus-summary-expire-articles} by default.
8677 @code{gnus-summary-exit-hook} is called after finishing the exit
8678 process. @code{gnus-group-no-more-groups-hook} is run when returning to
8679 group mode having no more (unread) groups.
8683 @kindex Z E (Summary)
8685 @findex gnus-summary-exit-no-update
8686 Exit the current group without updating any information on the group
8687 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}).
8691 @kindex Z c (Summary)
8693 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit
8694 @c @icon{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}
8695 Mark all unticked articles in the group as read and then exit
8696 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-exit}).
8699 @kindex Z C (Summary)
8700 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit
8701 Mark all articles, even the ticked ones, as read and then exit
8702 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-all-and-exit}).
8705 @kindex Z n (Summary)
8706 @findex gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group
8707 Mark all articles as read and go to the next group
8708 (@code{gnus-summary-catchup-and-goto-next-group}).
8711 @kindex Z R (Summary)
8712 @findex gnus-summary-reselect-current-group
8713 Exit this group, and then enter it again
8714 (@code{gnus-summary-reselect-current-group}). If given a prefix, select
8715 all articles, both read and unread.
8719 @kindex Z G (Summary)
8720 @kindex M-g (Summary)
8721 @findex gnus-summary-rescan-group
8722 @c @icon{gnus-summary-mail-get}
8723 Exit the group, check for new articles in the group, and select the
8724 group (@code{gnus-summary-rescan-group}). If given a prefix, select all
8725 articles, both read and unread.
8728 @kindex Z N (Summary)
8729 @findex gnus-summary-next-group
8730 Exit the group and go to the next group
8731 (@code{gnus-summary-next-group}).
8734 @kindex Z P (Summary)
8735 @findex gnus-summary-prev-group
8736 Exit the group and go to the previous group
8737 (@code{gnus-summary-prev-group}).
8740 @kindex Z s (Summary)
8741 @findex gnus-summary-save-newsrc
8742 Save the current number of read/marked articles in the dribble buffer
8743 and then save the dribble buffer (@code{gnus-summary-save-newsrc}). If
8744 given a prefix, also save the @file{.newsrc} file(s). Using this
8745 command will make exit without updating (the @kbd{Q} command) worthless.
8748 @vindex gnus-exit-group-hook
8749 @code{gnus-exit-group-hook} is called when you exit the current group
8750 with an ``updating'' exit. For instance @kbd{Q}
8751 (@code{gnus-summary-exit-no-update}) does not call this hook.
8753 @findex gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead
8754 @findex gnus-dead-summary-mode
8755 @vindex gnus-kill-summary-on-exit
8756 If you're in the habit of exiting groups, and then changing your mind
8757 about it, you might set @code{gnus-kill-summary-on-exit} to @code{nil}.
8758 If you do that, gnus won't kill the summary buffer when you exit it.
8759 (Quelle surprise!) Instead it will change the name of the buffer to
8760 something like @samp{*Dead Summary ... *} and install a minor mode
8761 called @code{gnus-dead-summary-mode}. Now, if you switch back to this
8762 buffer, you'll find that all keys are mapped to a function called
8763 @code{gnus-summary-wake-up-the-dead}. So tapping any keys in a dead
8764 summary buffer will result in a live, normal summary buffer.
8766 There will never be more than one dead summary buffer at any one time.
8768 @vindex gnus-use-cross-reference
8769 The data on the current group will be updated (which articles you have
8770 read, which articles you have replied to, etc.) when you exit the
8771 summary buffer. If the @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} variable is
8772 @code{t} (which is the default), articles that are cross-referenced to
8773 this group and are marked as read, will also be marked as read in the
8774 other subscribed groups they were cross-posted to. If this variable is
8775 neither @code{nil} nor @code{t}, the article will be marked as read in
8776 both subscribed and unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}).
8779 @node Crosspost Handling
8780 @section Crosspost Handling
8784 Marking cross-posted articles as read ensures that you'll never have to
8785 read the same article more than once. Unless, of course, somebody has
8786 posted it to several groups separately. Posting the same article to
8787 several groups (not cross-posting) is called @dfn{spamming}, and you are
8788 by law required to send nasty-grams to anyone who perpetrates such a
8789 heinous crime. You may want to try NoCeM handling to filter out spam
8792 Remember: Cross-posting is kinda ok, but posting the same article
8793 separately to several groups is not. Massive cross-posting (aka.
8794 @dfn{velveeta}) is to be avoided at all costs, and you can even use the
8795 @code{gnus-summary-mail-crosspost-complaint} command to complain about
8796 excessive crossposting (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
8798 @cindex cross-posting
8801 One thing that may cause Gnus to not do the cross-posting thing
8802 correctly is if you use an @sc{nntp} server that supports @sc{xover}
8803 (which is very nice, because it speeds things up considerably) which
8804 does not include the @code{Xref} header in its @sc{nov} lines. This is
8805 Evil, but all too common, alas, alack. Gnus tries to Do The Right Thing
8806 even with @sc{xover} by registering the @code{Xref} lines of all
8807 articles you actually read, but if you kill the articles, or just mark
8808 them as read without reading them, Gnus will not get a chance to snoop
8809 the @code{Xref} lines out of these articles, and will be unable to use
8810 the cross reference mechanism.
8812 @cindex LIST overview.fmt
8813 @cindex overview.fmt
8814 To check whether your @sc{nntp} server includes the @code{Xref} header
8815 in its overview files, try @samp{telnet your.nntp.server nntp},
8816 @samp{MODE READER} on @code{inn} servers, and then say @samp{LIST
8817 overview.fmt}. This may not work, but if it does, and the last line you
8818 get does not read @samp{Xref:full}, then you should shout and whine at
8819 your news admin until she includes the @code{Xref} header in the
8822 @vindex gnus-nov-is-evil
8823 If you want Gnus to get the @code{Xref}s right all the time, you have to
8824 set @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{t}, which slows things down
8829 For an alternative approach, @pxref{Duplicate Suppression}.
8832 @node Duplicate Suppression
8833 @section Duplicate Suppression
8835 By default, gnus tries to make sure that you don't have to read the same
8836 article more than once by utilizing the crossposting mechanism
8837 (@pxref{Crosspost Handling}). However, that simple and efficient
8838 approach may not work satisfactory for some users for various
8843 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to generate the @code{Xref} header. This
8844 is evil and not very common.
8847 The @sc{nntp} server may fail to include the @code{Xref} header in the
8848 @file{.overview} data bases. This is evil and all too common, alas.
8851 You may be reading the same group (or several related groups) from
8852 different @sc{nntp} servers.
8855 You may be getting mail that duplicates articles posted to groups.
8858 I'm sure there are other situations where @code{Xref} handling fails as
8859 well, but these four are the most common situations.
8861 If, and only if, @code{Xref} handling fails for you, then you may
8862 consider switching on @dfn{duplicate suppression}. If you do so, Gnus
8863 will remember the @code{Message-ID}s of all articles you have read or
8864 otherwise marked as read, and then, as if by magic, mark them as read
8865 all subsequent times you see them---in @emph{all} groups. Using this
8866 mechanism is quite likely to be somewhat inefficient, but not overly
8867 so. It's certainly preferable to reading the same articles more than
8870 Duplicate suppression is not a very subtle instrument. It's more like a
8871 sledge hammer than anything else. It works in a very simple
8872 fashion---if you have marked an article as read, it adds this Message-ID
8873 to a cache. The next time it sees this Message-ID, it will mark the
8874 article as read with the @samp{M} mark. It doesn't care what group it
8878 @item gnus-suppress-duplicates
8879 @vindex gnus-suppress-duplicates
8880 If non-@code{nil}, suppress duplicates.
8882 @item gnus-save-duplicate-list
8883 @vindex gnus-save-duplicate-list
8884 If non-@code{nil}, save the list of duplicates to a file. This will
8885 make startup and shutdown take longer, so the default is @code{nil}.
8886 However, this means that only duplicate articles read in a single gnus
8887 session are suppressed.
8889 @item gnus-duplicate-list-length
8890 @vindex gnus-duplicate-list-length
8891 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the duplicate
8892 suppression list. The default is 10000.
8894 @item gnus-duplicate-file
8895 @vindex gnus-duplicate-file
8896 The name of the file to store the duplicate suppression list in. The
8897 default is @file{~/News/suppression}.
8900 If you have a tendency to stop and start gnus often, setting
8901 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{t} is probably a good idea. If
8902 you leave gnus running for weeks on end, you may have it @code{nil}. On
8903 the other hand, saving the list makes startup and shutdown much slower,
8904 so that means that if you stop and start gnus often, you should set
8905 @code{gnus-save-duplicate-list} to @code{nil}. Uhm. I'll leave this up
8906 to you to figure out, I think.
8909 @node The Article Buffer
8910 @chapter The Article Buffer
8911 @cindex article buffer
8913 The articles are displayed in the article buffer, of which there is only
8914 one. All the summary buffers share the same article buffer unless you
8915 tell gnus otherwise.
8918 * Hiding Headers:: Deciding what headers should be displayed.
8919 * Using MIME:: Pushing articles through @sc{mime} before reading them.
8920 * Customizing Articles:: Tailoring the look of the articles.
8921 * Article Keymap:: Keystrokes available in the article buffer.
8922 * Misc Article:: Other stuff.
8926 @node Hiding Headers
8927 @section Hiding Headers
8928 @cindex hiding headers
8929 @cindex deleting headers
8931 The top section of each article is the @dfn{head}. (The rest is the
8932 @dfn{body}, but you may have guessed that already.)
8934 @vindex gnus-show-all-headers
8935 There is a lot of useful information in the head: the name of the person
8936 who wrote the article, the date it was written and the subject of the
8937 article. That's well and nice, but there's also lots of information
8938 most people do not want to see---what systems the article has passed
8939 through before reaching you, the @code{Message-ID}, the
8940 @code{References}, etc. ad nauseum---and you'll probably want to get rid
8941 of some of those lines. If you want to keep all those lines in the
8942 article buffer, you can set @code{gnus-show-all-headers} to @code{t}.
8944 Gnus provides you with two variables for sifting headers:
8948 @item gnus-visible-headers
8949 @vindex gnus-visible-headers
8950 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, it should be a regular expression
8951 that says what headers you wish to keep in the article buffer. All
8952 headers that do not match this variable will be hidden.
8954 For instance, if you only want to see the name of the person who wrote
8955 the article and the subject, you'd say:
8958 (setq gnus-visible-headers "^From:\\|^Subject:")
8961 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8964 @item gnus-ignored-headers
8965 @vindex gnus-ignored-headers
8966 This variable is the reverse of @code{gnus-visible-headers}. If this
8967 variable is set (and @code{gnus-visible-headers} is @code{nil}), it
8968 should be a regular expression that matches all lines that you want to
8969 hide. All lines that do not match this variable will remain visible.
8971 For instance, if you just want to get rid of the @code{References} field
8972 and the @code{Xref} field, you might say:
8975 (setq gnus-ignored-headers "^References:\\|^Xref:")
8978 This variable can also be a list of regexps to match headers to
8981 Note that if @code{gnus-visible-headers} is non-@code{nil}, this
8982 variable will have no effect.
8986 @vindex gnus-sorted-header-list
8987 Gnus can also sort the headers for you. (It does this by default.) You
8988 can control the sorting by setting the @code{gnus-sorted-header-list}
8989 variable. It is a list of regular expressions that says in what order
8990 the headers are to be displayed.
8992 For instance, if you want the name of the author of the article first,
8993 and then the subject, you might say something like:
8996 (setq gnus-sorted-header-list '("^From:" "^Subject:"))
8999 Any headers that are to remain visible, but are not listed in this
9000 variable, will be displayed in random order after all the headers listed in this variable.
9002 @findex gnus-article-hide-boring-headers
9003 @vindex gnus-boring-article-headers
9004 You can hide further boring headers by setting
9005 @code{gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers} to @code{head}. What this function
9006 does depends on the @code{gnus-boring-article-headers} variable. It's a
9007 list, but this list doesn't actually contain header names. Instead is
9008 lists various @dfn{boring conditions} that Gnus can check and remove
9011 These conditions are:
9014 Remove all empty headers.
9016 Remove the @code{Followup-To} header if it is identical to the
9017 @code{Newsgroups} header.
9019 Remove the @code{Reply-To} header if it lists the same address as the
9022 Remove the @code{Newsgroups} header if it only contains the current group
9025 Remove the @code{Date} header if the article is less than three days
9028 Remove the @code{To} header if it is very long.
9030 Remove all @code{To} headers if there are more than one.
9033 To include the four three elements, you could say something like;
9036 (setq gnus-boring-article-headers
9037 '(empty followup-to reply-to))
9040 This is also the default value for this variable.
9044 @section Using @sc{mime}
9047 Mime is a standard for waving your hands through the air, aimlessly,
9048 while people stand around yawning.
9050 @sc{mime}, however, is a standard for encoding your articles, aimlessly,
9051 while all newsreaders die of fear.
9053 @sc{mime} may specify what character set the article uses, the encoding
9054 of the characters, and it also makes it possible to embed pictures and
9055 other naughty stuff in innocent-looking articles.
9057 @vindex gnus-show-mime
9058 @vindex gnus-article-display-method-for-mime
9059 @vindex gnus-strict-mime
9060 @findex gnus-article-display-mime-message
9061 Gnus handles @sc{mime} by pushing the articles through
9062 @code{gnus-article-display-method-for-mime}, which is
9063 @code{gnus-article-display-mime-message} by default. This function
9064 calls the SEMI MIME-View program to actually do the work. For more
9065 information on SEMI MIME-View, see its manual page (however it is not
9066 existed yet, sorry).
9068 Set @code{gnus-show-mime} to @code{t} if you want to use
9069 @sc{mime} all the time. However, if @code{gnus-strict-mime} is
9070 non-@code{nil}, the @sc{mime} method will only be used if there are
9071 @sc{mime} headers in the article. If you have @code{gnus-show-mime}
9072 set, then you'll see some unfortunate display glitches in the article
9073 buffer. These can't be avoided.
9075 In GNUS or Gnus, it might be best to just use the toggling functions
9076 from the summary buffer to avoid getting nasty surprises. (For instance,
9077 you enter the group @samp{alt.sing-a-long} and, before you know it,
9078 @sc{mime} has decoded the sound file in the article and some horrible
9079 sing-a-long song comes screaming out your speakers, and you can't find
9080 the volume button, because there isn't one, and people are starting to
9081 look at you, and you try to stop the program, but you can't, and you
9082 can't find the program to control the volume, and everybody else in the
9083 room suddenly decides to look at you disdainfully, and you'll feel
9086 Any similarity to real events and people is purely coincidental. Ahem.
9088 To avoid such kind of situation, gnus stops to use
9089 @code{metamail-buffer}. So now, you can set @code{gnus-show-mime} to
9090 non-@code{nil} every-time, then you can push button in the article
9091 buffer when there are nobody else.
9093 Also see @pxref{MIME Commands}.
9096 @node Customizing Articles
9097 @section Customizing Articles
9098 @cindex article customization
9100 A slew of functions for customizing how the articles are to look like
9101 exist. You can call these functions interactively, or you can have them
9102 called automatically when you select the articles.
9104 To have them called automatically, you should set the corresponding
9105 ``treatment'' variable. For instance, to have headers hidden, you'd set
9106 @code{gnus-treat-hide-headers}. Below is a list of variables that can
9107 be set, but first we discuss the values these variables can have.
9109 Note: Some values, while valid, make little sense. Check the list below
9110 for sensible values.
9114 @code{nil}: Don't do this treatment.
9117 @code{t}: Do this treatment on all body parts.
9120 @code{head}: Do the treatment on the headers.
9123 @code{last}: Do this treatment on the last part.
9126 An integer: Do this treatment on all body parts that have a length less
9130 A list of strings: Do this treatment on all body parts that are in
9131 articles that are read in groups that have names that match one of the
9132 regexps in the list.
9135 A list where the first element is not a string:
9137 The list is evaluated recursively. The first element of the list is a
9138 predicate. The following predicates are recognized: @code{or},
9139 @code{and}, @code{not} and @code{typep}. Here's an example:
9143 (typep "text/x-vcard"))
9147 @code{mime}: Do this treatment if the value of @code{gnus-show-mime}' is
9152 You may have noticed that the word @dfn{part} is used here. This refers
9153 to the fact that some messages are @sc{mime} multipart articles that may
9154 be divided into several parts. Articles that are not multiparts are
9155 considered to contain just a single part.
9157 @vindex gnus-article-treat-types
9158 Are the treatments applied to all sorts of multipart parts? Yes, if you
9159 want to, but by default, only @samp{text/plain} parts are given the
9160 treatment. This is controlled by the @code{gnus-article-treat-types}
9161 variable, which is a list of regular expressions that are matched to the
9162 type of the part. This variable is ignored if the value of the
9163 controlling variable is a predicate list, as described above.
9165 The following treatment options are available. The easiest way to
9166 customize this is to examine the @code{gnus-article-treat} customization
9167 group. Values in parenthesis are suggested sensible values. Others are
9168 possible but those listed are probably sufficient for most people.
9171 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last)
9172 @item gnus-treat-buttonize (t, integer)
9173 @item gnus-treat-buttonize-head (head)
9174 @item gnus-treat-emphasize (t, head, integer)
9175 @item gnus-treat-fill-article (t, integer)
9176 @item gnus-treat-strip-cr (t, integer)
9177 @item gnus-treat-hide-headers (head)
9178 @item gnus-treat-hide-boring-headers (head)
9179 @item gnus-treat-hide-signature (t, last)
9180 @item gnus-treat-hide-citation (t, integer)
9181 @item gnus-treat-strip-pgp (t, last, integer)
9182 @item gnus-treat-strip-pem (t, last, integer)
9183 @item gnus-treat-highlight-headers (head)
9184 @item gnus-treat-highlight-citation (t, integer)
9185 @item gnus-treat-highlight-signature (t, last, integer)
9186 @item gnus-treat-date-ut (head)
9187 @item gnus-treat-date-local (head)
9188 @item gnus-treat-date-lapsed (head)
9189 @item gnus-treat-date-original (head)
9190 @item gnus-treat-strip-headers-in-body (t, integer)
9191 @item gnus-treat-strip-trailing-blank-lines (t, last, integer)
9192 @item gnus-treat-strip-leading-blank-lines (t, integer)
9193 @item gnus-treat-strip-multiple-blank-lines (t, integer)
9194 @item gnus-treat-overstrike (t, integer)
9195 @item gnus-treat-display-xface (head)
9196 @item gnus-treat-display-smileys (t, integer)
9197 @item gnus-treat-display-picons (head)
9198 @item gnus-treat-capitalize-sentences (t, integer)
9199 @item gnus-treat-fill-long-lines (t, integer)
9200 @item gnus-treat-play-sounds
9201 @item gnus-treat-translate
9202 @item gnus-treat-decode-article-as-default-mime-charset
9205 @vindex gnus-part-display-hook
9206 You can, of course, write your own functions to be called from
9207 @code{gnus-part-display-hook}. The functions are called narrowed to the
9208 part, and you can do anything you like, pretty much. There is no
9209 information that you have to keep in the buffer---you can change
9213 @node Article Keymap
9214 @section Article Keymap
9216 Most of the keystrokes in the summary buffer can also be used in the
9217 article buffer. They should behave as if you typed them in the summary
9218 buffer, which means that you don't actually have to have a summary
9219 buffer displayed while reading. You can do it all from the article
9222 A few additional keystrokes are available:
9227 @kindex SPACE (Article)
9228 @findex gnus-article-next-page
9229 Scroll forwards one page (@code{gnus-article-next-page}).
9232 @kindex DEL (Article)
9233 @findex gnus-article-prev-page
9234 Scroll backwards one page (@code{gnus-article-prev-page}).
9237 @kindex C-c ^ (Article)
9238 @findex gnus-article-refer-article
9239 If point is in the neighborhood of a @code{Message-ID} and you press
9240 @kbd{C-c ^}, Gnus will try to get that article from the server
9241 (@code{gnus-article-refer-article}).
9244 @kindex C-c C-m (Article)
9245 @findex gnus-article-mail
9246 Send a reply to the address near point (@code{gnus-article-mail}). If
9247 given a prefix, include the mail.
9251 @findex gnus-article-show-summary
9252 Reconfigure the buffers so that the summary buffer becomes visible
9253 (@code{gnus-article-show-summary}).
9257 @findex gnus-article-describe-briefly
9258 Give a very brief description of the available keystrokes
9259 (@code{gnus-article-describe-briefly}).
9262 @kindex TAB (Article)
9263 @findex gnus-article-next-button
9264 Go to the next button, if any (@code{gnus-article-next-button}). This
9265 only makes sense if you have buttonizing turned on.
9268 @kindex M-TAB (Article)
9269 @findex gnus-article-prev-button
9270 Go to the previous button, if any (@code{gnus-article-prev-button}).
9276 @section Misc Article
9280 @item gnus-single-article-buffer
9281 @vindex gnus-single-article-buffer
9282 If non-@code{nil}, use the same article buffer for all the groups.
9283 (This is the default.) If @code{nil}, each group will have its own
9286 @vindex gnus-article-decode-hook
9287 @item gnus-article-decode-hook
9289 Hook used to decode @sc{mime} articles. The default value is
9290 @code{(article-decode-charset article-decode-encoded-words)}
9292 @vindex gnus-article-prepare-hook
9293 @item gnus-article-prepare-hook
9294 This hook is called right after the article has been inserted into the
9295 article buffer. It is mainly intended for functions that do something
9296 depending on the contents; it should probably not be used for changing
9297 the contents of the article buffer.
9299 @item gnus-article-mode-hook
9300 @vindex gnus-article-mode-hook
9301 Hook called in article mode buffers.
9303 @item gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9304 @vindex gnus-article-mode-syntax-table
9305 Syntax table used in article buffers. It is initialized from
9306 @code{text-mode-syntax-table}.
9308 @vindex gnus-article-mode-line-format
9309 @item gnus-article-mode-line-format
9310 This variable is a format string along the same lines as
9311 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format} (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}). It
9312 accepts the same format specifications as that variable, with two
9317 The @dfn{wash status} of the article. This is a short string with one
9318 character for each possible article wash operation that may have been
9321 The number of @sc{mime} parts in the article.
9324 @vindex gnus-break-pages
9326 @item gnus-break-pages
9327 Controls whether @dfn{page breaking} is to take place. If this variable
9328 is non-@code{nil}, the articles will be divided into pages whenever a
9329 page delimiter appears in the article. If this variable is @code{nil},
9330 paging will not be done.
9332 @item gnus-page-delimiter
9333 @vindex gnus-page-delimiter
9334 This is the delimiter mentioned above. By default, it is @samp{^L}
9339 @node Composing Messages
9340 @chapter Composing Messages
9341 @cindex composing messages
9344 @cindex sending mail
9349 @kindex C-c C-c (Post)
9350 All commands for posting and mailing will put you in a message buffer
9351 where you can edit the article all you like, before you send the
9352 article by pressing @kbd{C-c C-c}. @xref{Top, , Top, message, The
9353 Message Manual}. Where the message will be posted/mailed to depends
9354 on your setup (@pxref{Posting Server}).
9357 * Mail:: Mailing and replying.
9358 * Post:: Posting and following up.
9359 * Posting Server:: What server should you post via?
9360 * Mail and Post:: Mailing and posting at the same time.
9361 * Archived Messages:: Where gnus stores the messages you've sent.
9362 * Posting Styles:: An easier way to specify who you are.
9363 * Drafts:: Postponing messages and rejected messages.
9364 * Rejected Articles:: What happens if the server doesn't like your article?
9367 Also see @pxref{Canceling and Superseding} for information on how to
9368 remove articles you shouldn't have posted.
9374 Variables for customizing outgoing mail:
9377 @item gnus-uu-digest-headers
9378 @vindex gnus-uu-digest-headers
9379 List of regexps to match headers included in digested messages. The
9380 headers will be included in the sequence they are matched.
9382 @item gnus-add-to-list
9383 @vindex gnus-add-to-list
9384 If non-@code{nil}, add a @code{to-list} group parameter to mail groups
9385 that have none when you do a @kbd{a}.
9393 Variables for composing news articles:
9396 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9397 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-file
9398 Gnus will keep a @code{Message-ID} history file of all the mails it has
9399 sent. If it discovers that it has already sent a mail, it will ask the
9400 user whether to re-send the mail. (This is primarily useful when
9401 dealing with @sc{soup} packets and the like where one is apt to send the
9402 same packet multiple times.) This variable says what the name of this
9403 history file is. It is @file{~/News/Sent-Message-IDs} by default. Set
9404 this variable to @code{nil} if you don't want gnus to keep a history
9407 @item gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9408 @vindex gnus-sent-message-ids-length
9409 This variable says how many @code{Message-ID}s to keep in the history
9410 file. It is 1000 by default.
9415 @node Posting Server
9416 @section Posting Server
9418 When you press those magical @kbd{C-c C-c} keys to ship off your latest
9419 (extremely intelligent, of course) article, where does it go?
9421 Thank you for asking. I hate you.
9423 @vindex gnus-post-method
9425 It can be quite complicated. Normally, gnus will use the same native
9426 server. However. If your native server doesn't allow posting, just
9427 reading, you probably want to use some other server to post your
9428 (extremely intelligent and fabulously interesting) articles. You can
9429 then set the @code{gnus-post-method} to some other method:
9432 (setq gnus-post-method '(nnspool ""))
9435 Now, if you've done this, and then this server rejects your article, or
9436 this server is down, what do you do then? To override this variable you
9437 can use a non-zero prefix to the @kbd{C-c C-c} command to force using
9438 the ``current'' server for posting.
9440 If you give a zero prefix (i.e., @kbd{C-u 0 C-c C-c}) to that command,
9441 gnus will prompt you for what method to use for posting.
9443 You can also set @code{gnus-post-method} to a list of select methods.
9444 If that's the case, gnus will always prompt you for what method to use
9447 Finally, if you want to always post using the same select method as
9448 you're reading from (which might be convenient if you're reading lots of
9449 groups from different private servers), you can set this variable to
9454 @section Mail and Post
9456 Here's a list of variables relevant to both mailing and
9460 @item gnus-mailing-list-groups
9461 @findex gnus-mailing-list-groups
9462 @cindex mailing lists
9464 If your news server offers groups that are really mailing lists
9465 gatewayed to the @sc{nntp} server, you can read those groups without
9466 problems, but you can't post/followup to them without some difficulty.
9467 One solution is to add a @code{to-address} to the group parameters
9468 (@pxref{Group Parameters}). An easier thing to do is set the
9469 @code{gnus-mailing-list-groups} to a regexp that matches the groups that
9470 really are mailing lists. Then, at least, followups to the mailing
9471 lists will work most of the time. Posting to these groups (@kbd{a}) is
9472 still a pain, though.
9476 You may want to do spell-checking on messages that you send out. Or, if
9477 you don't want to spell-check by hand, you could add automatic
9478 spell-checking via the @code{ispell} package:
9481 @findex ispell-message
9483 (add-hook 'message-send-hook 'ispell-message)
9486 If you want to change the @code{ispell} dictionary based on what group
9487 you're in, you could say something like the following:
9490 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
9493 ((string-match "^de\\." gnus-newsgroup-name)
9494 (ispell-change-dictionary "deutsch"))
9496 (ispell-change-dictionary "english")))))
9499 Modify to suit your needs.
9502 @node Archived Messages
9503 @section Archived Messages
9504 @cindex archived messages
9505 @cindex sent messages
9507 Gnus provides a few different methods for storing the mail and news you
9508 send. The default method is to use the @dfn{archive virtual server} to
9509 store the messages. If you want to disable this completely, the
9510 @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable should be @code{nil}, which
9513 @vindex gnus-message-archive-method
9514 @code{gnus-message-archive-method} says what virtual server gnus is to
9515 use to store sent messages. The default is:
9519 (nnfolder-directory "~/Mail/archive")
9520 (nnfolder-active-file "~/Mail/archive/active")
9521 (nnfolder-get-new-mail nil)
9522 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t))
9525 You can, however, use any mail select method (@code{nnml},
9526 @code{nnmbox}, etc.). @code{nnfolder} is a quite likeable select method
9527 for doing this sort of thing, though. If you don't like the default
9528 directory chosen, you could say something like:
9531 (setq gnus-message-archive-method
9532 '(nnfolder "archive"
9533 (nnfolder-inhibit-expiry t)
9534 (nnfolder-active-file "~/News/sent-mail/active")
9535 (nnfolder-directory "~/News/sent-mail/")))
9538 @vindex gnus-message-archive-group
9540 Gnus will insert @code{Gcc} headers in all outgoing messages that point
9541 to one or more group(s) on that server. Which group to use is
9542 determined by the @code{gnus-message-archive-group} variable.
9544 This variable can be used to do the following:
9548 Messages will be saved in that group.
9549 @item a list of strings
9550 Messages will be saved in all those groups.
9551 @item an alist of regexps, functions and forms
9552 When a key ``matches'', the result is used.
9554 No message archiving will take place. This is the default.
9559 Just saving to a single group called @samp{MisK}:
9561 (setq gnus-message-archive-group "MisK")
9564 Saving to two groups, @samp{MisK} and @samp{safe}:
9566 (setq gnus-message-archive-group '("MisK" "safe"))
9569 Save to different groups based on what group you are in:
9571 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9572 '(("^alt" "sent-to-alt")
9573 ("mail" "sent-to-mail")
9574 (".*" "sent-to-misc")))
9579 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9580 '((if (message-news-p)
9585 How about storing all news messages in one file, but storing all mail
9586 messages in one file per month:
9589 (setq gnus-message-archive-group
9590 '((if (message-news-p)
9592 (concat "mail." (format-time-string "%Y-%m")))))
9595 (XEmacs 19.13 doesn't have @code{format-time-string}, so you'll have to
9596 use a different value for @code{gnus-message-archive-group} there.)
9598 Now, when you send a message off, it will be stored in the appropriate
9599 group. (If you want to disable storing for just one particular message,
9600 you can just remove the @code{Gcc} header that has been inserted.) The
9601 archive group will appear in the group buffer the next time you start
9602 gnus, or the next time you press @kbd{F} in the group buffer. You can
9603 enter it and read the articles in it just like you'd read any other
9604 group. If the group gets really big and annoying, you can simply rename
9605 if (using @kbd{G r} in the group buffer) to something
9606 nice---@samp{misc-mail-september-1995}, or whatever. New messages will
9607 continue to be stored in the old (now empty) group.
9609 That's the default method of archiving sent messages. Gnus offers a
9610 different way for the people who don't like the default method. In that
9611 case you should set @code{gnus-message-archive-group} to @code{nil};
9612 this will disable archiving.
9615 @item gnus-outgoing-message-group
9616 @vindex gnus-outgoing-message-group
9617 All outgoing messages will be put in this group. If you want to store
9618 all your outgoing mail and articles in the group @samp{nnml:archive},
9619 you set this variable to that value. This variable can also be a list of
9622 If you want to have greater control over what group to put each
9623 message in, you can set this variable to a function that checks the
9624 current newsgroup name and then returns a suitable group name (or list
9627 This variable can be used instead of @code{gnus-message-archive-group},
9628 but the latter is the preferred method.
9632 @node Posting Styles
9633 @section Posting Styles
9634 @cindex posting styles
9637 All them variables, they make my head swim.
9639 So what if you want a different @code{Organization} and signature based
9640 on what groups you post to? And you post both from your home machine
9641 and your work machine, and you want different @code{From} lines, and so
9644 @vindex gnus-posting-styles
9645 One way to do stuff like that is to write clever hooks that change the
9646 variables you need to have changed. That's a bit boring, so somebody
9647 came up with the bright idea of letting the user specify these things in
9648 a handy alist. Here's an example of a @code{gnus-posting-styles}
9653 (signature "Peace and happiness")
9654 (organization "What me?"))
9656 (signature "Death to everybody"))
9657 ("comp.emacs.i-love-it"
9658 (organization "Emacs is it")))
9661 As you might surmise from this example, this alist consists of several
9662 @dfn{styles}. Each style will be applicable if the first element
9663 ``matches'', in some form or other. The entire alist will be iterated
9664 over, from the beginning towards the end, and each match will be
9665 applied, which means that attributes in later styles that match override
9666 the same attributes in earlier matching styles. So
9667 @samp{comp.programming.literate} will have the @samp{Death to everybody}
9668 signature and the @samp{What me?} @code{Organization} header.
9670 The first element in each style is called the @code{match}. If it's a
9671 string, then Gnus will try to regexp match it against the group name.
9672 If it is the symbol @code{header}, then Gnus will look for header that
9673 match the next element in the match, and compare that to the last header
9674 in the match. If it's a function symbol, that function will be called
9675 with no arguments. If it's a variable symbol, then the variable will be
9676 referenced. If it's a list, then that list will be @code{eval}ed. In
9677 any case, if this returns a non-@code{nil} value, then the style is said
9680 Each style may contain a arbitrary amount of @dfn{attributes}. Each
9681 attribute consists of a @code{(@var{name} . @var{value})} pair. The
9682 attribute name can be one of @code{signature}, @code{signature-file},
9683 @code{organization}, @code{address}, @code{name} or @code{body}. The
9684 attribute name can also be a string. In that case, this will be used as
9685 a header name, and the value will be inserted in the headers of the
9686 article. If the attribute name is @code{eval}, the form is evaluated,
9687 and the result is thrown away.
9689 The attribute value can be a string (used verbatim), a function with
9690 zero arguments (the return value will be used), a variable (its value
9691 will be used) or a list (it will be @code{eval}ed and the return value
9692 will be used). The functions and sexps are called/@code{eval}ed in the
9693 message buffer that is being set up. The headers of the current article
9694 are available through the @code{message-reply-headers} variable.
9696 If you wish to check whether the message you are about to compose is
9697 meant to be a news article or a mail message, you can check the values
9698 of the @code{message-news-p} and @code{message-mail-p} functions.
9700 @findex message-mail-p
9701 @findex message-news-p
9703 So here's a new example:
9706 (setq gnus-posting-styles
9708 (signature-file "~/.signature")
9710 ("X-Home-Page" (getenv "WWW_HOME"))
9711 (organization "People's Front Against MWM"))
9713 (signature my-funny-signature-randomizer))
9714 ((equal (system-name) "gnarly")
9715 (signature my-quote-randomizer))
9717 (signature my-news-signature))
9718 (header "From.*To" "larsi.*org"
9719 (Organization "Somewhere, Inc."))
9720 ((posting-from-work-p)
9721 (signature-file "~/.work-signature")
9722 (address "user@@bar.foo")
9723 (body "You are fired.\n\nSincerely, your boss.")
9724 (organization "Important Work, Inc"))
9726 (signature-file "~/.mail-signature"))))
9734 If you are writing a message (mail or news) and suddenly remember that
9735 you have a steak in the oven (or some pesto in the food processor, you
9736 craaazy vegetarians), you'll probably wish there was a method to save
9737 the message you are writing so that you can continue editing it some
9738 other day, and send it when you feel its finished.
9740 Well, don't worry about it. Whenever you start composing a message of
9741 some sort using the gnus mail and post commands, the buffer you get will
9742 automatically associate to an article in a special @dfn{draft} group.
9743 If you save the buffer the normal way (@kbd{C-x C-s}, for instance), the
9744 article will be saved there. (Auto-save files also go to the draft
9748 @vindex nndraft-directory
9749 The draft group is a special group (which is implemented as an
9750 @code{nndraft} group, if you absolutely have to know) called
9751 @samp{nndraft:drafts}. The variable @code{nndraft-directory} says where
9752 @code{nndraft} is to store its files. What makes this group special is
9753 that you can't tick any articles in it or mark any articles as
9754 read---all articles in the group are permanently unread.
9756 If the group doesn't exist, it will be created and you'll be subscribed
9757 to it. The only way to make it disappear from the Group buffer is to
9760 @c @findex gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft
9761 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Mail)
9762 @c @kindex C-c M-d (Post)
9763 @c @findex gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft
9764 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Mail)
9765 @c @kindex C-c C-d (Post)
9766 @c If you're writing some super-secret message that you later want to
9767 @c encode with PGP before sending, you may wish to turn the auto-saving
9768 @c (and association with the draft group) off. You never know who might be
9769 @c interested in reading all your extremely valuable and terribly horrible
9770 @c and interesting secrets. The @kbd{C-c M-d}
9771 @c (@code{gnus-dissociate-buffer-from-draft}) command does that for you.
9772 @c If you change your mind and want to turn the auto-saving back on again,
9773 @c @kbd{C-c C-d} (@code{gnus-associate-buffer-with-draft} does that.
9775 @c @vindex gnus-use-draft
9776 @c To leave association with the draft group off by default, set
9777 @c @code{gnus-use-draft} to @code{nil}. It is @code{t} by default.
9779 @findex gnus-draft-edit-message
9781 When you want to continue editing the article, you simply enter the
9782 draft group and push @kbd{D e} (@code{gnus-draft-edit-message}) to do
9783 that. You will be placed in a buffer where you left off.
9785 Rejected articles will also be put in this draft group (@pxref{Rejected
9788 @findex gnus-draft-send-all-messages
9789 @findex gnus-draft-send-message
9790 If you have lots of rejected messages you want to post (or mail) without
9791 doing further editing, you can use the @kbd{D s} command
9792 (@code{gnus-draft-send-message}). This command understands the
9793 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}). The @kbd{D S}
9794 command (@code{gnus-draft-send-all-messages}) will ship off all messages
9797 If you have some messages that you wish not to send, you can use the
9798 @kbd{D t} (@code{gnus-draft-toggle-sending}) command to mark the message
9799 as unsendable. This is a toggling command.
9802 @node Rejected Articles
9803 @section Rejected Articles
9804 @cindex rejected articles
9806 Sometimes a news server will reject an article. Perhaps the server
9807 doesn't like your face. Perhaps it just feels miserable. Perhaps
9808 @emph{there be demons}. Perhaps you have included too much cited text.
9809 Perhaps the disk is full. Perhaps the server is down.
9811 These situations are, of course, totally beyond the control of gnus.
9812 (Gnus, of course, loves the way you look, always feels great, has angels
9813 fluttering around inside of it, doesn't care about how much cited text
9814 you include, never runs full and never goes down.) So gnus saves these
9815 articles until some later time when the server feels better.
9817 The rejected articles will automatically be put in a special draft group
9818 (@pxref{Drafts}). When the server comes back up again, you'd then
9819 typically enter that group and send all the articles off.
9822 @node Select Methods
9823 @chapter Select Methods
9824 @cindex foreign groups
9825 @cindex select methods
9827 A @dfn{foreign group} is a group not read by the usual (or
9828 default) means. It could be, for instance, a group from a different
9829 @sc{nntp} server, it could be a virtual group, or it could be your own
9830 personal mail group.
9832 A foreign group (or any group, really) is specified by a @dfn{name} and
9833 a @dfn{select method}. To take the latter first, a select method is a
9834 list where the first element says what backend to use (e.g. @code{nntp},
9835 @code{nnspool}, @code{nnml}) and the second element is the @dfn{server
9836 name}. There may be additional elements in the select method, where the
9837 value may have special meaning for the backend in question.
9839 One could say that a select method defines a @dfn{virtual server}---so
9840 we do just that (@pxref{The Server Buffer}).
9842 The @dfn{name} of the group is the name the backend will recognize the
9845 For instance, the group @samp{soc.motss} on the @sc{nntp} server
9846 @samp{some.where.edu} will have the name @samp{soc.motss} and select
9847 method @code{(nntp "some.where.edu")}. Gnus will call this group
9848 @samp{nntp+some.where.edu:soc.motss}, even though the @code{nntp}
9849 backend just knows this group as @samp{soc.motss}.
9851 The different methods all have their peculiarities, of course.
9854 * The Server Buffer:: Making and editing virtual servers.
9855 * Getting News:: Reading USENET news with Gnus.
9856 * Getting Mail:: Reading your personal mail with Gnus.
9857 * Browsing the Web:: Getting messages from a plethora of Web sources.
9858 * Other Sources:: Reading directories, files, SOUP packets.
9859 * Combined Groups:: Combining groups into one group.
9860 * Gnus Unplugged:: Reading news and mail offline.
9864 @node The Server Buffer
9865 @section The Server Buffer
9867 Traditionally, a @dfn{server} is a machine or a piece of software that
9868 one connects to, and then requests information from. Gnus does not
9869 connect directly to any real servers, but does all transactions through
9870 one backend or other. But that's just putting one layer more between
9871 the actual media and Gnus, so we might just as well say that each
9872 backend represents a virtual server.
9874 For instance, the @code{nntp} backend may be used to connect to several
9875 different actual @sc{nntp} servers, or, perhaps, to many different ports
9876 on the same actual @sc{nntp} server. You tell Gnus which backend to
9877 use, and what parameters to set by specifying a @dfn{select method}.
9879 These select method specifications can sometimes become quite
9880 complicated---say, for instance, that you want to read from the
9881 @sc{nntp} server @samp{news.funet.fi} on port number 13, which
9882 hangs if queried for @sc{nov} headers and has a buggy select. Ahem.
9883 Anyways, if you had to specify that for each group that used this
9884 server, that would be too much work, so Gnus offers a way of naming
9885 select methods, which is what you do in the server buffer.
9887 To enter the server buffer, use the @kbd{^}
9888 (@code{gnus-group-enter-server-mode}) command in the group buffer.
9891 * Server Buffer Format:: You can customize the look of this buffer.
9892 * Server Commands:: Commands to manipulate servers.
9893 * Example Methods:: Examples server specifications.
9894 * Creating a Virtual Server:: An example session.
9895 * Server Variables:: Which variables to set.
9896 * Servers and Methods:: You can use server names as select methods.
9897 * Unavailable Servers:: Some servers you try to contact may be down.
9900 @vindex gnus-server-mode-hook
9901 @code{gnus-server-mode-hook} is run when creating the server buffer.
9904 @node Server Buffer Format
9905 @subsection Server Buffer Format
9906 @cindex server buffer format
9908 @vindex gnus-server-line-format
9909 You can change the look of the server buffer lines by changing the
9910 @code{gnus-server-line-format} variable. This is a @code{format}-like
9911 variable, with some simple extensions:
9916 How the news is fetched---the backend name.
9919 The name of this server.
9922 Where the news is to be fetched from---the address.
9925 The opened/closed/denied status of the server.
9928 @vindex gnus-server-mode-line-format
9929 The mode line can also be customized by using the
9930 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format} variable (@pxref{Mode Line
9931 Formatting}). The following specs are understood:
9941 Also @pxref{Formatting Variables}.
9944 @node Server Commands
9945 @subsection Server Commands
9946 @cindex server commands
9952 @findex gnus-server-add-server
9953 Add a new server (@code{gnus-server-add-server}).
9957 @findex gnus-server-edit-server
9958 Edit a server (@code{gnus-server-edit-server}).
9961 @kindex SPACE (Server)
9962 @findex gnus-server-read-server
9963 Browse the current server (@code{gnus-server-read-server}).
9967 @findex gnus-server-exit
9968 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-server-exit}).
9972 @findex gnus-server-kill-server
9973 Kill the current server (@code{gnus-server-kill-server}).
9977 @findex gnus-server-yank-server
9978 Yank the previously killed server (@code{gnus-server-yank-server}).
9982 @findex gnus-server-copy-server
9983 Copy the current server (@code{gnus-server-copy-server}).
9987 @findex gnus-server-list-servers
9988 List all servers (@code{gnus-server-list-servers}).
9992 @findex gnus-server-scan-server
9993 Request that the server scan its sources for new articles
9994 (@code{gnus-server-scan-server}). This is mainly sensible with mail
9999 @findex gnus-server-regenerate-server
10000 Request that the server regenerate all its data structures
10001 (@code{gnus-server-regenerate-server}). This can be useful if you have
10002 a mail backend that has gotten out of synch.
10007 @node Example Methods
10008 @subsection Example Methods
10010 Most select methods are pretty simple and self-explanatory:
10013 (nntp "news.funet.fi")
10016 Reading directly from the spool is even simpler:
10022 As you can see, the first element in a select method is the name of the
10023 backend, and the second is the @dfn{address}, or @dfn{name}, if you
10026 After these two elements, there may be an arbitrary number of
10027 @code{(@var{variable} @var{form})} pairs.
10029 To go back to the first example---imagine that you want to read from
10030 port 15 on that machine. This is what the select method should
10034 (nntp "news.funet.fi" (nntp-port-number 15))
10037 You should read the documentation to each backend to find out what
10038 variables are relevant, but here's an @code{nnmh} example:
10040 @code{nnmh} is a mail backend that reads a spool-like structure. Say
10041 you have two structures that you wish to access: One is your private
10042 mail spool, and the other is a public one. Here's the possible spec for
10046 (nnmh "private" (nnmh-directory "~/private/mail/"))
10049 (This server is then called @samp{private}, but you may have guessed
10052 Here's the method for a public spool:
10056 (nnmh-directory "/usr/information/spool/")
10057 (nnmh-get-new-mail nil))
10060 If you are behind a firewall and only have access to the @sc{nntp}
10061 server from the firewall machine, you can instruct Gnus to @code{rlogin}
10062 on the firewall machine and telnet from there to the @sc{nntp} server.
10063 Doing this can be rather fiddly, but your virtual server definition
10064 should probably look something like this:
10068 (nntp-address "the.firewall.machine")
10069 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10070 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10071 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10072 ("telnet" "the.real.nntp.host" "nntp")))
10075 If you want to use the wonderful @code{ssh} program to provide a
10076 compressed connection over the modem line, you could create a virtual
10077 server that would look something like this:
10081 (nntp-address "copper.uio.no")
10082 (nntp-rlogin-program "ssh")
10083 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-rlogin)
10084 (nntp-end-of-line "\n")
10085 (nntp-rlogin-parameters
10086 ("telnet" "news.uio.no" "nntp")))
10089 This means that you have to have set up @code{ssh-agent} correctly to
10090 provide automatic authorization, of course. And to get a compressed
10091 connection, you have to have the @samp{Compression} option in the
10092 @code{ssh} @file{config} file.
10095 @node Creating a Virtual Server
10096 @subsection Creating a Virtual Server
10098 If you're saving lots of articles in the cache by using persistent
10099 articles, you may want to create a virtual server to read the cache.
10101 First you need to add a new server. The @kbd{a} command does that. It
10102 would probably be best to use @code{nnspool} to read the cache. You
10103 could also use @code{nnml} or @code{nnmh}, though.
10105 Type @kbd{a nnspool RET cache RET}.
10107 You should now have a brand new @code{nnspool} virtual server called
10108 @samp{cache}. You now need to edit it to have the right definitions.
10109 Type @kbd{e} to edit the server. You'll be entered into a buffer that
10110 will contain the following:
10120 (nnspool-spool-directory "~/News/cache/")
10121 (nnspool-nov-directory "~/News/cache/")
10122 (nnspool-active-file "~/News/cache/active"))
10125 Type @kbd{C-c C-c} to return to the server buffer. If you now press
10126 @kbd{RET} over this virtual server, you should be entered into a browse
10127 buffer, and you should be able to enter any of the groups displayed.
10130 @node Server Variables
10131 @subsection Server Variables
10133 One sticky point when defining variables (both on backends and in Emacs
10134 in general) is that some variables are typically initialized from other
10135 variables when the definition of the variables is being loaded. If you
10136 change the "base" variable after the variables have been loaded, you
10137 won't change the "derived" variables.
10139 This typically affects directory and file variables. For instance,
10140 @code{nnml-directory} is @file{~/Mail/} by default, and all @code{nnml}
10141 directory variables are initialized from that variable, so
10142 @code{nnml-active-file} will be @file{~/Mail/active}. If you define a
10143 new virtual @code{nnml} server, it will @emph{not} suffice to set just
10144 @code{nnml-directory}---you have to explicitly set all the file
10145 variables to be what you want them to be. For a complete list of
10146 variables for each backend, see each backend's section later in this
10147 manual, but here's an example @code{nnml} definition:
10151 (nnml-directory "~/my-mail/")
10152 (nnml-active-file "~/my-mail/active")
10153 (nnml-newsgroups-file "~/my-mail/newsgroups"))
10157 @node Servers and Methods
10158 @subsection Servers and Methods
10160 Wherever you would normally use a select method
10161 (e.g. @code{gnus-secondary-select-method}, in the group select method,
10162 when browsing a foreign server) you can use a virtual server name
10163 instead. This could potentially save lots of typing. And it's nice all
10167 @node Unavailable Servers
10168 @subsection Unavailable Servers
10170 If a server seems to be unreachable, Gnus will mark that server as
10171 @code{denied}. That means that any subsequent attempt to make contact
10172 with that server will just be ignored. ``It can't be opened,'' Gnus
10173 will tell you, without making the least effort to see whether that is
10174 actually the case or not.
10176 That might seem quite naughty, but it does make sense most of the time.
10177 Let's say you have 10 groups subscribed to on server
10178 @samp{nephelococcygia.com}. This server is located somewhere quite far
10179 away from you and the machine is quite slow, so it takes 1 minute just
10180 to find out that it refuses connection to you today. If Gnus were to
10181 attempt to do that 10 times, you'd be quite annoyed, so Gnus won't
10182 attempt to do that. Once it has gotten a single ``connection refused'',
10183 it will regard that server as ``down''.
10185 So, what happens if the machine was only feeling unwell temporarily?
10186 How do you test to see whether the machine has come up again?
10188 You jump to the server buffer (@pxref{The Server Buffer}) and poke it
10189 with the following commands:
10195 @findex gnus-server-open-server
10196 Try to establish connection to the server on the current line
10197 (@code{gnus-server-open-server}).
10201 @findex gnus-server-close-server
10202 Close the connection (if any) to the server
10203 (@code{gnus-server-close-server}).
10207 @findex gnus-server-deny-server
10208 Mark the current server as unreachable
10209 (@code{gnus-server-deny-server}).
10212 @kindex M-o (Server)
10213 @findex gnus-server-open-all-servers
10214 Open the connections to all servers in the buffer
10215 (@code{gnus-server-open-all-servers}).
10218 @kindex M-c (Server)
10219 @findex gnus-server-close-all-servers
10220 Close the connections to all servers in the buffer
10221 (@code{gnus-server-close-all-servers}).
10225 @findex gnus-server-remove-denials
10226 Remove all marks to whether Gnus was denied connection from any servers
10227 (@code{gnus-server-remove-denials}).
10233 @section Getting News
10234 @cindex reading news
10235 @cindex news backends
10237 A newsreader is normally used for reading news. Gnus currently provides
10238 only two methods of getting news---it can read from an @sc{nntp} server,
10239 or it can read from a local spool.
10242 * NNTP:: Reading news from an @sc{nntp} server.
10243 * News Spool:: Reading news from the local spool.
10248 @subsection @sc{nntp}
10251 Subscribing to a foreign group from an @sc{nntp} server is rather easy.
10252 You just specify @code{nntp} as method and the address of the @sc{nntp}
10253 server as the, uhm, address.
10255 If the @sc{nntp} server is located at a non-standard port, setting the
10256 third element of the select method to this port number should allow you
10257 to connect to the right port. You'll have to edit the group info for
10258 that (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
10260 The name of the foreign group can be the same as a native group. In
10261 fact, you can subscribe to the same group from as many different servers
10262 you feel like. There will be no name collisions.
10264 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nntp}
10269 @item nntp-server-opened-hook
10270 @vindex nntp-server-opened-hook
10271 @cindex @sc{mode reader}
10273 @cindex authentification
10274 @cindex nntp authentification
10275 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10276 @findex nntp-send-mode-reader
10277 is run after a connection has been made. It can be used to send
10278 commands to the @sc{nntp} server after it has been contacted. By
10279 default it sends the command @code{MODE READER} to the server with the
10280 @code{nntp-send-mode-reader} function. This function should always be
10281 present in this hook.
10283 @item nntp-authinfo-function
10284 @vindex nntp-authinfo-function
10285 @findex nntp-send-authinfo
10286 @vindex nntp-authinfo-file
10287 This function will be used to send @samp{AUTHINFO} to the @sc{nntp}
10288 server. The default function is @code{nntp-send-authinfo}, which looks
10289 through your @file{~/.authinfo} (or whatever you've set the
10290 @code{nntp-authinfo-file} variable to) for applicable entries. If none
10291 are found, it will prompt you for a login name and a password. The
10292 format of the @file{~/.authinfo} file is (almost) the same as the
10293 @code{ftp} @file{~/.netrc} file, which is defined in the @code{ftp}
10294 manual page, but here are the salient facts:
10298 The file contains one or more line, each of which define one server.
10301 Each line may contain an arbitrary number of token/value pairs. The
10302 valid tokens include @samp{machine}, @samp{login}, @samp{password},
10303 @samp{default}, @samp{port} and @samp{force}. (The latter is not a
10304 valid @file{.netrc}/@code{ftp} token, which is almost the only way the
10305 @file{.authinfo} file format deviates from the @file{.netrc} file
10310 Here's an example file:
10313 machine news.uio.no login larsi password geheimnis
10314 machine nntp.ifi.uio.no login larsi force yes
10317 The token/value pairs may appear in any order; @samp{machine} doesn't
10318 have to be first, for instance.
10320 In this example, both login name and password have been supplied for the
10321 former server, while the latter has only the login name listed, and the
10322 user will be prompted for the password. The latter also has the
10323 @samp{force} tag, which means that the authinfo will be sent to the
10324 @var{nntp} server upon connection; the default (i.e., when there is not
10325 @samp{force} tag) is to not send authinfo to the @var{nntp} server
10326 until the @var{nntp} server asks for it.
10328 You can also add @samp{default} lines that will apply to all servers
10329 that don't have matching @samp{machine} lines.
10335 This will force sending @samp{AUTHINFO} commands to all servers not
10336 previously mentioned.
10338 Remember to not leave the @file{~/.authinfo} file world-readable.
10340 @item nntp-server-action-alist
10341 @vindex nntp-server-action-alist
10342 This is a list of regexps to match on server types and actions to be
10343 taken when matches are made. For instance, if you want Gnus to beep
10344 every time you connect to innd, you could say something like:
10347 (setq nntp-server-action-alist
10348 '(("innd" (ding))))
10351 You probably don't want to do that, though.
10353 The default value is
10356 '(("nntpd 1\\.5\\.11t"
10357 (remove-hook 'nntp-server-opened-hook 'nntp-send-mode-reader)))
10360 This ensures that Gnus doesn't send the @code{MODE READER} command to
10361 nntpd 1.5.11t, since that command chokes that server, I've been told.
10363 @item nntp-maximum-request
10364 @vindex nntp-maximum-request
10365 If the @sc{nntp} server doesn't support @sc{nov} headers, this backend
10366 will collect headers by sending a series of @code{head} commands. To
10367 speed things up, the backend sends lots of these commands without
10368 waiting for reply, and then reads all the replies. This is controlled
10369 by the @code{nntp-maximum-request} variable, and is 400 by default. If
10370 your network is buggy, you should set this to 1.
10372 @item nntp-connection-timeout
10373 @vindex nntp-connection-timeout
10374 If you have lots of foreign @code{nntp} groups that you connect to
10375 regularly, you're sure to have problems with @sc{nntp} servers not
10376 responding properly, or being too loaded to reply within reasonable
10377 time. This is can lead to awkward problems, which can be helped
10378 somewhat by setting @code{nntp-connection-timeout}. This is an integer
10379 that says how many seconds the @code{nntp} backend should wait for a
10380 connection before giving up. If it is @code{nil}, which is the default,
10381 no timeouts are done.
10383 @c @item nntp-command-timeout
10384 @c @vindex nntp-command-timeout
10385 @c @cindex PPP connections
10386 @c @cindex dynamic IP addresses
10387 @c If you're running Gnus on a machine that has a dynamically assigned
10388 @c address, Gnus may become confused. If the address of your machine
10389 @c changes after connecting to the @sc{nntp} server, Gnus will simply sit
10390 @c waiting forever for replies from the server. To help with this
10391 @c unfortunate problem, you can set this command to a number. Gnus will
10392 @c then, if it sits waiting for a reply from the server longer than that
10393 @c number of seconds, shut down the connection, start a new one, and resend
10394 @c the command. This should hopefully be transparent to the user. A
10395 @c likely number is 30 seconds.
10397 @c @item nntp-retry-on-break
10398 @c @vindex nntp-retry-on-break
10399 @c If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you can also @kbd{C-g} if Gnus
10400 @c hangs. This will have much the same effect as the command timeout
10401 @c described above.
10403 @item nntp-server-hook
10404 @vindex nntp-server-hook
10405 This hook is run as the last step when connecting to an @sc{nntp}
10408 @findex nntp-open-rlogin
10409 @findex nntp-open-telnet
10410 @findex nntp-open-network-stream
10411 @item nntp-open-connection-function
10412 @vindex nntp-open-connection-function
10413 This function is used to connect to the remote system. Four pre-made
10414 functions are supplied:
10417 @item nntp-open-network-stream
10418 This is the default, and simply connects to some port or other on the
10421 @item nntp-open-rlogin
10422 Does an @samp{rlogin} on the
10423 remote system, and then does a @samp{telnet} to the @sc{nntp} server
10426 @code{nntp-open-rlogin}-related variables:
10430 @item nntp-rlogin-program
10431 @vindex nntp-rlogin-program
10432 Program used to log in on remote machines. The default is @samp{rsh},
10433 but @samp{ssh} is a popular alternative.
10435 @item nntp-rlogin-parameters
10436 @vindex nntp-rlogin-parameters
10437 This list will be used as the parameter list given to @code{rsh}.
10439 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10440 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10441 User name on the remote system.
10445 @item nntp-open-telnet
10446 Does a @samp{telnet} to the remote system and then another @samp{telnet}
10447 to get to the @sc{nntp} server.
10449 @code{nntp-open-telnet}-related variables:
10452 @item nntp-telnet-command
10453 @vindex nntp-telnet-command
10454 Command used to start @code{telnet}.
10456 @item nntp-telnet-switches
10457 @vindex nntp-telnet-switches
10458 List of strings to be used as the switches to the @code{telnet} command.
10460 @item nntp-telnet-user-name
10461 @vindex nntp-telnet-user-name
10462 User name for log in on the remote system.
10464 @item nntp-telnet-passwd
10465 @vindex nntp-telnet-passwd
10466 Password to use when logging in.
10468 @item nntp-telnet-parameters
10469 @vindex nntp-telnet-parameters
10470 A list of strings executed as a command after logging in
10473 @item nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10474 @vindex nntp-telnet-shell-prompt
10475 Regexp matching the shell prompt on the remote machine. The default is
10476 @samp{bash\\|\$ *\r?$\\|> *\r?}.
10478 @item nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10479 @vindex nntp-open-telnet-envuser
10480 If non-@code{nil}, the @code{telnet} session (client and server both)
10481 will support the @code{ENVIRON} option and not prompt for login name.
10482 This works for Solaris @code{telnet}, for instance.
10486 @findex nntp-open-ssl-stream
10487 @item nntp-open-ssl-stream
10488 Opens a connection to a server over a @dfn{secure} channel. To use this
10489 you must have SSLay installed
10490 (@file{ftp://ftp.psy.uq.oz.au/pub/Crypto/SSL}, and you also need
10491 @file{ssl.el} (from the W3 distributeion, for instance). You then
10492 define a server as follows:
10495 ;; Type `C-c C-c' after you've finished editing.
10497 ;; "snews" is port 563 and is predefined in our /etc/services
10499 (nntp "snews.bar.com"
10500 (nntp-open-connection-function nntp-open-ssl-stream)
10501 (nntp-port-number "snews")
10502 (nntp-address "snews.bar.com"))
10507 @item nntp-end-of-line
10508 @vindex nntp-end-of-line
10509 String to use as end-of-line marker when talking to the @sc{nntp}
10510 server. This is @samp{\r\n} by default, but should be @samp{\n} when
10511 using @code{rlogin} to talk to the server.
10513 @item nntp-rlogin-user-name
10514 @vindex nntp-rlogin-user-name
10515 User name on the remote system when using the @code{rlogin} connect
10519 @vindex nntp-address
10520 The address of the remote system running the @sc{nntp} server.
10522 @item nntp-port-number
10523 @vindex nntp-port-number
10524 Port number to connect to when using the @code{nntp-open-network-stream}
10527 @item nntp-buggy-select
10528 @vindex nntp-buggy-select
10529 Set this to non-@code{nil} if your select routine is buggy.
10531 @item nntp-nov-is-evil
10532 @vindex nntp-nov-is-evil
10533 If the @sc{nntp} server does not support @sc{nov}, you could set this
10534 variable to @code{t}, but @code{nntp} usually checks automatically whether @sc{nov}
10537 @item nntp-xover-commands
10538 @vindex nntp-xover-commands
10541 List of strings used as commands to fetch @sc{nov} lines from a
10542 server. The default value of this variable is @code{("XOVER"
10546 @vindex nntp-nov-gap
10547 @code{nntp} normally sends just one big request for @sc{nov} lines to
10548 the server. The server responds with one huge list of lines. However,
10549 if you have read articles 2-5000 in the group, and only want to read
10550 article 1 and 5001, that means that @code{nntp} will fetch 4999 @sc{nov}
10551 lines that you will not need. This variable says how
10552 big a gap between two consecutive articles is allowed to be before the
10553 @code{XOVER} request is split into several request. Note that if your
10554 network is fast, setting this variable to a really small number means
10555 that fetching will probably be slower. If this variable is @code{nil},
10556 @code{nntp} will never split requests. The default is 5.
10558 @item nntp-prepare-server-hook
10559 @vindex nntp-prepare-server-hook
10560 A hook run before attempting to connect to an @sc{nntp} server.
10562 @item nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10563 @vindex nntp-warn-about-losing-connection
10564 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, some noise will be made when a
10565 server closes connection.
10567 @item nntp-record-commands
10568 @vindex nntp-record-commands
10569 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nntp} will log all commands it sends to the
10570 @sc{nntp} server (along with a timestep) in the @samp{*nntp-log*}
10571 buffer. This is useful if you are debugging a Gnus/@sc{nntp} connection
10572 that doesn't seem to work.
10578 @subsection News Spool
10582 Subscribing to a foreign group from the local spool is extremely easy,
10583 and might be useful, for instance, to speed up reading groups that
10584 contain very big articles---@samp{alt.binaries.pictures.furniture}, for
10587 Anyways, you just specify @code{nnspool} as the method and @code{""} (or
10588 anything else) as the address.
10590 If you have access to a local spool, you should probably use that as the
10591 native select method (@pxref{Finding the News}). It is normally faster
10592 than using an @code{nntp} select method, but might not be. It depends.
10593 You just have to try to find out what's best at your site.
10597 @item nnspool-inews-program
10598 @vindex nnspool-inews-program
10599 Program used to post an article.
10601 @item nnspool-inews-switches
10602 @vindex nnspool-inews-switches
10603 Parameters given to the inews program when posting an article.
10605 @item nnspool-spool-directory
10606 @vindex nnspool-spool-directory
10607 Where @code{nnspool} looks for the articles. This is normally
10608 @file{/usr/spool/news/}.
10610 @item nnspool-nov-directory
10611 @vindex nnspool-nov-directory
10612 Where @code{nnspool} will look for @sc{nov} files. This is normally
10613 @file{/usr/spool/news/over.view/}.
10615 @item nnspool-lib-dir
10616 @vindex nnspool-lib-dir
10617 Where the news lib dir is (@file{/usr/lib/news/} by default).
10619 @item nnspool-active-file
10620 @vindex nnspool-active-file
10621 The path to the active file.
10623 @item nnspool-newsgroups-file
10624 @vindex nnspool-newsgroups-file
10625 The path to the group descriptions file.
10627 @item nnspool-history-file
10628 @vindex nnspool-history-file
10629 The path to the news history file.
10631 @item nnspool-active-times-file
10632 @vindex nnspool-active-times-file
10633 The path to the active date file.
10635 @item nnspool-nov-is-evil
10636 @vindex nnspool-nov-is-evil
10637 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnspool} won't try to use any @sc{nov} files
10640 @item nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10641 @vindex nnspool-sift-nov-with-sed
10643 If non-@code{nil}, which is the default, use @code{sed} to get the
10644 relevant portion from the overview file. If nil, @code{nnspool} will
10645 load the entire file into a buffer and process it there.
10651 @section Getting Mail
10652 @cindex reading mail
10655 Reading mail with a newsreader---isn't that just plain WeIrD? But of
10659 * Mail in a Newsreader:: Important introductory notes.
10660 * Getting Started Reading Mail:: A simple cookbook example.
10661 * Splitting Mail:: How to create mail groups.
10662 * Mail Sources:: How to tell Gnus where to get mail from.
10663 * Mail Backend Variables:: Variables for customizing mail handling.
10664 * Fancy Mail Splitting:: Gnus can do hairy splitting of incoming mail.
10665 * Group Mail Splitting:: Use group customize to drive mail splitting.
10666 * Incorporating Old Mail:: What about the old mail you have?
10667 * Expiring Mail:: Getting rid of unwanted mail.
10668 * Washing Mail:: Removing gruft from the mail you get.
10669 * Duplicates:: Dealing with duplicated mail.
10670 * Not Reading Mail:: Using mail backends for reading other files.
10671 * Choosing a Mail Backend:: Gnus can read a variety of mail formats.
10675 @node Mail in a Newsreader
10676 @subsection Mail in a Newsreader
10678 If you are used to traditional mail readers, but have decided to switch
10679 to reading mail with Gnus, you may find yourself experiencing something
10680 of a culture shock.
10682 Gnus does not behave like traditional mail readers. If you want to make
10683 it behave that way, you can, but it's an uphill battle.
10685 Gnus, by default, handles all its groups using the same approach. This
10686 approach is very newsreaderly---you enter a group, see the new/unread
10687 messages, and when you read the messages, they get marked as read, and
10688 you don't see them any more. (Unless you explicitly ask for them.)
10690 In particular, you do not do anything explicitly to delete messages.
10692 Does this mean that all the messages that have been marked as read are
10693 deleted? How awful!
10695 But, no, it means that old messages are @dfn{expired} according to some
10696 scheme or other. For news messages, the expire process is controlled by
10697 the news administrator; for mail, the expire process is controlled by
10698 you. The expire process for mail is covered in depth in @pxref{Expiring
10701 What many Gnus users find, after using it a while for both news and
10702 mail, is that the transport mechanism has very little to do with how
10703 they want to treat a message.
10705 Many people subscribe to several mailing lists. These are transported
10706 via SMTP, and are therefore mail. But we might go for weeks without
10707 answering, or even reading these messages very carefully. We may not
10708 need to save them because if we should need to read one again, they are
10709 archived somewhere else.
10711 Some people have local news groups which have only a handful of readers.
10712 These are transported via @sc{nntp}, and are therefore news. But we may need
10713 to read and answer a large fraction of the messages very carefully in
10714 order to do our work. And there may not be an archive, so we may need
10715 to save the interesting messages the same way we would personal mail.
10717 The important distinction turns out to be not the transport mechanism,
10718 but other factors such as how interested we are in the subject matter,
10719 or how easy it is to retrieve the message if we need to read it again.
10721 Gnus provides many options for sorting mail into ``groups'' which behave
10722 like newsgroups, and for treating each group (whether mail or news)
10725 Some users never get comfortable using the Gnus (ahem) paradigm and wish
10726 that Gnus should grow up and be a male, er, mail reader. It is possible
10727 to whip Gnus into a more mailreaderly being, but, as said before, it's
10728 not easy. People who prefer proper mail readers should try @sc{vm}
10729 instead, which is an excellent, and proper, mail reader.
10731 I don't mean to scare anybody off, but I want to make it clear that you
10732 may be required to learn a new way of thinking about messages. After
10733 you've been subjected to The Gnus Way, you will come to love it. I can
10734 guarantee it. (At least the guy who sold me the Emacs Subliminal
10735 Brain-Washing Functions that I've put into Gnus did guarantee it. You
10736 Will Be Assimilated. You Love Gnus. You Love The Gnus Mail Way.
10740 @node Getting Started Reading Mail
10741 @subsection Getting Started Reading Mail
10743 It's quite easy to use Gnus to read your new mail. You just plonk the
10744 mail backend of your choice into @code{gnus-secondary-select-methods},
10745 and things will happen automatically.
10747 For instance, if you want to use @code{nnml} (which is a "one file per
10748 mail" backend), you could put the following in your @file{.gnus} file:
10751 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
10752 '((nnml "private")))
10755 Now, the next time you start Gnus, this backend will be queried for new
10756 articles, and it will move all the messages in your spool file to its
10757 directory, which is @code{~/Mail/} by default. The new group that will
10758 be created (@samp{mail.misc}) will be subscribed, and you can read it
10759 like any other group.
10761 You will probably want to split the mail into several groups, though:
10764 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10765 '(("junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10766 ("crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10770 This will result in three new @code{nnml} mail groups being created:
10771 @samp{nnml:junk}, @samp{nnml:crazy}, and @samp{nnml:other}. All the
10772 mail that doesn't fit into the first two groups will be placed in the
10775 This should be sufficient for reading mail with Gnus. You might want to
10776 give the other sections in this part of the manual a perusal, though.
10777 Especially @pxref{Choosing a Mail Backend} and @pxref{Expiring Mail}.
10780 @node Splitting Mail
10781 @subsection Splitting Mail
10782 @cindex splitting mail
10783 @cindex mail splitting
10785 @vindex nnmail-split-methods
10786 The @code{nnmail-split-methods} variable says how the incoming mail is
10787 to be split into groups.
10790 (setq nnmail-split-methods
10791 '(("mail.junk" "^From:.*Lars Ingebrigtsen")
10792 ("mail.crazy" "^Subject:.*die\\|^Organization:.*flabby")
10793 ("mail.other" "")))
10796 This variable is a list of lists, where the first element of each of
10797 these lists is the name of the mail group (they do not have to be called
10798 something beginning with @samp{mail}, by the way), and the second
10799 element is a regular expression used on the header of each mail to
10800 determine if it belongs in this mail group. The first string may
10801 contain @samp{\\1} forms, like the ones used by @code{replace-match} to
10802 insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For instance:
10805 ("list.\\1" "From:.* \\(.*\\)-list@@majordomo.com")
10808 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
10809 called narrowed to the headers with the first element of the rule as the
10810 argument. It should return a non-@code{nil} value if it thinks that the
10811 mail belongs in that group.
10813 The last of these groups should always be a general one, and the regular
10814 expression should @emph{always} be @samp{} so that it matches any mails
10815 that haven't been matched by any of the other regexps. (These rules are
10816 processed from the beginning of the alist toward the end. The first
10817 rule to make a match will "win", unless you have crossposting enabled.
10818 In that case, all matching rules will "win".)
10820 If you like to tinker with this yourself, you can set this variable to a
10821 function of your choice. This function will be called without any
10822 arguments in a buffer narrowed to the headers of an incoming mail
10823 message. The function should return a list of group names that it
10824 thinks should carry this mail message.
10826 Note that the mail backends are free to maul the poor, innocent,
10827 incoming headers all they want to. They all add @code{Lines} headers;
10828 some add @code{X-Gnus-Group} headers; most rename the Unix mbox
10829 @code{From<SPACE>} line to something else.
10831 @vindex nnmail-crosspost
10832 The mail backends all support cross-posting. If several regexps match,
10833 the mail will be ``cross-posted'' to all those groups.
10834 @code{nnmail-crosspost} says whether to use this mechanism or not. Note
10835 that no articles are crossposted to the general (@samp{}) group.
10837 @vindex nnmail-crosspost-link-function
10840 @code{nnmh} and @code{nnml} makes crossposts by creating hard links to
10841 the crossposted articles. However, not all file systems support hard
10842 links. If that's the case for you, set
10843 @code{nnmail-crosspost-link-function} to @code{copy-file}. (This
10844 variable is @code{add-name-to-file} by default.)
10846 @kindex M-x nnmail-split-history
10847 @kindex nnmail-split-history
10848 If you wish to see where the previous mail split put the messages, you
10849 can use the @kbd{M-x nnmail-split-history} command.
10851 Gnus gives you all the opportunity you could possibly want for shooting
10852 yourself in the foot. Let's say you create a group that will contain
10853 all the mail you get from your boss. And then you accidentally
10854 unsubscribe from the group. Gnus will still put all the mail from your
10855 boss in the unsubscribed group, and so, when your boss mails you ``Have
10856 that report ready by Monday or you're fired!'', you'll never see it and,
10857 come Tuesday, you'll still believe that you're gainfully employed while
10858 you really should be out collecting empty bottles to save up for next
10859 month's rent money.
10863 @subsection Mail Sources
10865 Mail can be gotten from many different sources---the mail spool, from a
10866 POP mail server, from a procmail directory, or from a maildir, for
10870 * Mail Source Specifiers:: How to specify what a mail source is.
10871 * Mail Source Customization:: Some variables that influence things.
10872 * Fetching Mail:: Using the mail source specifiers.
10876 @node Mail Source Specifiers
10877 @subsubsection Mail Source Specifiers
10879 @cindex mail server
10882 @cindex mail source
10884 You tell Gnus how to fetch mail by setting @code{mail-sources}
10885 (@pxref{Fetching Mail}) to a @dfn{mail source specifier}.
10890 (pop :server "pop3.mailserver.com" :user "myname")
10893 As can be observed, a mail source specifier is a list where the first
10894 element is a @dfn{mail source type}, followed by an arbitrary number of
10895 @dfn{keywords}. Keywords that are not explicitly specified are given
10898 The following mail source types are available:
10902 Get mail from a single file; typically from the mail spool.
10908 The path of the file. Defaults to the value of the @code{MAIL}
10909 environment variable or @file{/usr/mail/spool/user-name}.
10912 An example file mail source:
10915 (file :path "/usr/spool/mail/user-name")
10918 Or using the default path:
10924 If the mail spool file is not located on the local machine, it's best to
10925 use POP or @sc{imap} or the like to fetch the mail. You can not you ange-ftp
10926 file names here---it has no way to lock the mail spool while moving the
10929 If it's impossible to set up a proper server, you can use ssh instead.
10933 '((file :prescript "ssh host bin/getmail >%t")))
10936 The @samp{getmail} script would look something like the following:
10940 # getmail - move mail from spool to stdout
10943 MOVEMAIL=/usr/lib/emacs/20.3/i386-redhat-linux/movemail
10945 rm -f $TMP; $MOVEMAIL $MAIL $TMP >/dev/null && cat $TMP
10948 Alter this script to fit find the @samp{movemail} you want to use.
10952 Get mail from several files in a directory. This is typically used when
10953 you have procmail split the incoming mail into several files.
10959 The path of the directory where the files are. There is no default
10963 Only files ending with this suffix are used. The default is
10967 Only files that have this predicate return non-@code{nil} are returned.
10968 The default is @code{identity}. This is used as an additional
10969 filter---only files that have the right suffix @emph{and} satisfy this
10970 predicate are considered.
10974 Script run before/after fetching mail.
10978 An example directory mail source:
10981 (directory :path "/home/user-name/procmail-dir/"
10986 Get mail from a POP server.
10992 The name of the POP server. The default is taken from the
10993 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
10996 The port number of the POP server. The default is @samp{pop3}.
10999 The user name to give to the POP server. The default is the login
11003 The password to give to the POP server. If not specified, the user is
11007 The program to use to fetch mail from the POP server. This is should be
11008 a @code{format}-like string. Here's an example:
11011 fetchmail %u@@%s -P %p %t
11014 The valid format specifier characters are:
11018 The name of the file the mail is to be moved to. This must always be
11019 included in this string.
11022 The name of the server.
11025 The port number of the server.
11028 The user name to use.
11031 The password to use.
11034 The values used for these specs are taken from the values you give the
11035 corresponding keywords.
11038 A script to be run before fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11039 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11042 A script to be run after fetching the mail. The syntax is the same as
11043 the @code{:program} keyword. This can also be a function to be run.
11046 The function to use to fetch mail from the POP server. The function is
11047 called with one parameter---the name of the file where the mail should
11050 @item :authentication
11051 This can be either the symbol @code{password} or the symbol @code{apop}
11052 and says what authentication scheme to use. The default is
11057 If the @code{:program} and @code{:function} keywords aren't specified,
11058 @code{pop3-movemail} will be used.
11060 Here are some examples. Fetch from the default POP server, using the
11061 default user name, and default fetcher:
11067 Fetch from a named server with a named user and password:
11070 (pop :server "my.pop.server"
11071 :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11074 Use @samp{movemail} to move the mail:
11077 (pop :program "movemail po:%u %t %p")
11081 Get mail from a maildir. This is a type of mailbox that is supported by
11082 at least qmail and postfix, where each file in a special directory
11083 contains exactly one mail.
11089 The path of the directory where the mails are stored. The default is
11090 @samp{~/Maildir/new}.
11092 If you sometimes look at your mail through a pop3 daemon before fetching
11093 them with Gnus, you may also have to fetch your mails from the
11094 @code{cur} directory inside the maildir, like in the first example
11097 You can also get mails from remote hosts (because maildirs don't suffer
11098 from locking problems).
11102 Two example maildir mail sources:
11105 (maildir :path "/home/user-name/Maildir/cur")
11109 (maildir :path "/user@@remotehost.org:~/Maildir/new")
11113 Get mail from a @sc{imap} server. If you don't want to use @sc{imap} as
11114 intended, as a network mail reading protocol (ie with nnimap), for some
11115 reason or other, Gnus let you treat it similar to a POP server and
11116 fetches articles from a given @sc{imap} mailbox.
11122 The name of the @sc{imap} server. The default is taken from the
11123 @code{MAILHOST} environment variable.
11126 The port number of the @sc{imap} server. The default is @samp{143}, or
11127 @samp{993} for SSL connections.
11130 The user name to give to the @sc{imap} server. The default is the login
11134 The password to give to the @sc{imap} server. If not specified, the user is
11138 What stream to use for connecting to the server, this is one of the
11139 symbols in @code{imap-stream-alist}. Right now, this means
11140 @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{ssl} or the default @samp{network}.
11142 @item :authenticator
11143 Which authenticator to use for authenticating to the server, this is one
11144 of the symbols in @code{imap-authenticator-alist}. Right now, this
11145 means @samp{kerberos4}, @samp{cram-md5}, @samp{anonymous} or the default
11149 The name of the mailbox to get mail from. The default is @samp{INBOX}
11150 which normally is the mailbox which receive incoming mail.
11153 The predicate used to find articles to fetch. The default, @samp{UNSEEN
11154 UNDELETED}, is probably the best choice for most people, but if you
11155 sometimes peek in your mailbox with a @sc{imap} client and mark some
11156 articles as read (or; SEEN) you might want to set this to @samp{nil}.
11157 Then all articles in the mailbox is fetched, no matter what. For a
11158 complete list of predicates, see RFC 2060 §6.4.4.
11161 How to flag fetched articles on the server, the default @samp{Deleted}
11162 will mark them as deleted, an alternative would be @samp{Seen} which
11163 would simply mark them as read. These are the two most likely choices,
11164 but more flags are defined in RFC 2060 §2.3.2.
11167 If non-nil, don't remove all articles marked as deleted in the mailbox
11168 after finishing the fetch.
11172 An example @sc{imap} mail source:
11175 (imap :server "mail.mycorp.com" :stream kerberos4 :fetchflag "\\Seen")
11179 Get mail from a webmail server, such as www.hotmail.com,
11180 mail.yahoo.com, www.netaddress.com and www.my-deja.com.
11182 NOTE: Webmail largely depends on w3 (url) package, whose version of "WWW
11183 4.0pre.46 1999/10/01" or previous ones may not work.
11185 WARNING: Mails may lost. NO WARRANTY.
11191 The type of the webmail server. The default is @code{hotmail}. The
11192 alternatives are @code{yahoo}, @code{netaddress}, @code{my-deja}.
11195 The user name to give to the webmail server. The default is the login
11199 The password to give to the webmail server. If not specified, the user is
11203 If non-nil, only fetch unread articles and don't move them to trash
11204 folder after finishing the fetch.
11208 An example webmail source:
11211 (webmail :subtype 'yahoo :user "user-name" :password "secret")
11216 @item Common Keywords
11217 Common keywords can be used in any type of mail source.
11223 If non-nil, fetch the mail even when Gnus is unplugged. If you use
11224 directory source to get mail, you can specify it as in this example:
11228 '((directory :path "/home/pavel/.Spool/"
11233 Gnus will then fetch your mail even when you are unplugged. This is
11234 useful when you use local mail and news.
11239 @node Mail Source Customization
11240 @subsubsection Mail Source Customization
11242 The following is a list of variables that influence how the mail is
11243 fetched. You would normally not need to set or change any of these
11247 @item mail-source-crash-box
11248 @vindex mail-source-crash-box
11249 File where mail will be stored while processing it. The default is
11250 @file{~/.emacs-mail-crash-box}.
11252 @item mail-source-delete-incoming
11253 @vindex mail-source-delete-incoming
11254 If non-@code{nil}, delete incoming files after handling them.
11256 @item mail-source-directory
11257 @vindex mail-source-directory
11258 Directory where files (if any) will be stored. The default is
11259 @file{~/Mail/}. At present, the only thing this is used for is to say
11260 where the incoming files will be stored if the previous variable is
11263 @item mail-source-default-file-modes
11264 @vindex mail-source-default-file-modes
11265 All new mail files will get this file mode. The default is 384.
11270 @node Fetching Mail
11271 @subsubsection Fetching Mail
11273 @vindex mail-sources
11274 @vindex nnmail-spool-file
11275 The way to actually tell Gnus where to get new mail from is to set
11276 @code{mail-sources} to a list of mail source specifiers
11277 (@pxref{Mail Source Specifiers}).
11279 If this variable (and the obsolescent @code{nnmail-spool-file}) is
11280 @code{nil}, the mail backends will never attempt to fetch mail by
11283 If you want to fetch mail both from your local spool as well as a POP
11284 mail server, you'd say something like:
11289 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11290 :password "secret")))
11293 Or, if you don't want to use any of the keyword defaults:
11297 '((file :path "/var/spool/mail/user-name")
11298 (pop :server "pop3.mail.server"
11301 :password "secret")))
11305 When you use a mail backend, Gnus will slurp all your mail from your
11306 inbox and plonk it down in your home directory. Gnus doesn't move any
11307 mail if you're not using a mail backend---you have to do a lot of magic
11308 invocations first. At the time when you have finished drawing the
11309 pentagram, lightened the candles, and sacrificed the goat, you really
11310 shouldn't be too surprised when Gnus moves your mail.
11314 @node Mail Backend Variables
11315 @subsection Mail Backend Variables
11317 These variables are (for the most part) pertinent to all the various
11321 @vindex nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11322 @item nnmail-read-incoming-hook
11323 The mail backends all call this hook after reading new mail. You can
11324 use this hook to notify any mail watch programs, if you want to.
11326 @vindex nnmail-split-hook
11327 @item nnmail-split-hook
11328 @findex article-decode-encoded-words
11329 @findex RFC 1522 decoding
11330 @findex RFC 2047 decoding
11331 Hook run in the buffer where the mail headers of each message is kept
11332 just before the splitting based on these headers is done. The hook is
11333 free to modify the buffer contents in any way it sees fit---the buffer
11334 is discarded after the splitting has been done, and no changes performed
11335 in the buffer will show up in any files.
11336 @code{gnus-article-decode-encoded-words} is one likely function to add
11339 @vindex nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11340 @vindex nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11341 @item nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11342 @itemx nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook
11343 These are two useful hooks executed when treating new incoming
11344 mail---@code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook} (is called just before
11345 starting to handle the new mail) and
11346 @code{nnmail-post-get-new-mail-hook} (is called when the mail handling
11347 is done). Here's and example of using these two hooks to change the
11348 default file modes the new mail files get:
11351 (add-hook 'gnus-pre-get-new-mail-hook
11352 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 511)))
11354 (add-hook 'gnus-post-get-new-mail-hook
11355 (lambda () (set-default-file-modes 551)))
11358 @item nnmail-use-long-file-names
11359 @vindex nnmail-use-long-file-names
11360 If non-@code{nil}, the mail backends will use long file and directory
11361 names. Groups like @samp{mail.misc} will end up in directories
11362 (assuming use of @code{nnml} backend) or files (assuming use of
11363 @code{nnfolder} backend) like @file{mail.misc}. If it is @code{nil},
11364 the same group will end up in @file{mail/misc}.
11366 @item nnmail-delete-file-function
11367 @vindex nnmail-delete-file-function
11368 @findex delete-file
11369 Function called to delete files. It is @code{delete-file} by default.
11371 @item nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11372 @vindex nnmail-cache-accepted-message-ids
11373 If non-@code{nil}, put the @code{Message-ID}s of articles imported into
11374 the backend (via @code{Gcc}, for instance) into the mail duplication
11375 discovery cache. The default is @code{nil}.
11380 @node Fancy Mail Splitting
11381 @subsection Fancy Mail Splitting
11382 @cindex mail splitting
11383 @cindex fancy mail splitting
11385 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy
11386 @findex nnmail-split-fancy
11387 If the rather simple, standard method for specifying how to split mail
11388 doesn't allow you to do what you want, you can set
11389 @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy}. Then you can
11390 play with the @code{nnmail-split-fancy} variable.
11392 Let's look at an example value of this variable first:
11395 ;; Messages from the mailer daemon are not crossposted to any of
11396 ;; the ordinary groups. Warnings are put in a separate group
11397 ;; from real errors.
11398 (| ("from" mail (| ("subject" "warn.*" "mail.warning")
11400 ;; Non-error messages are crossposted to all relevant
11401 ;; groups, but we don't crosspost between the group for the
11402 ;; (ding) list and the group for other (ding) related mail.
11403 (& (| (any "ding@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "ding.list")
11404 ("subject" "ding" "ding.misc"))
11405 ;; Other mailing lists...
11406 (any "procmail@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "procmail.list")
11407 (any "SmartList@@informatik\\.rwth-aachen\\.de" "SmartList.list")
11408 ;; Both lists below have the same suffix, so prevent
11409 ;; cross-posting to mkpkg.list of messages posted only to
11410 ;; the bugs- list, but allow cross-posting when the
11411 ;; message was really cross-posted.
11412 (any "bugs-mypackage@@somewhere" "mypkg.bugs")
11413 (any "mypackage@@somewhere\" - "bugs-mypackage" "mypkg.list")
11415 (any "larsi@@ifi\\.uio\\.no" "people.Lars_Magne_Ingebrigtsen"))
11416 ;; Unmatched mail goes to the catch all group.
11420 This variable has the format of a @dfn{split}. A split is a (possibly)
11421 recursive structure where each split may contain other splits. Here are
11422 the five possible split syntaxes:
11427 @samp{group}: If the split is a string, that will be taken as a group
11428 name. Normal regexp match expansion will be done. See below for
11432 @code{(@var{field} @var{value} @code{[-} @var{restrict}
11433 @code{[@dots{}]}@code{]} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, the
11434 first element of which is a string, then store the message as
11435 specified by @var{split}, if header @var{field} (a regexp) contains
11436 @var{value} (also a regexp). If @var{restrict} (yet another regexp)
11437 matches some string after @var{field} and before the end of the
11438 matched @var{value}, the @var{split} is ignored. If none of the
11439 @var{restrict} clauses match, @var{split} is processed.
11442 @code{(| @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11443 element is @code{|} (vertical bar), then process each @var{split} until
11444 one of them matches. A @var{split} is said to match if it will cause
11445 the mail message to be stored in one or more groups.
11448 @code{(& @var{split}@dots{})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11449 element is @code{&}, then process all @var{split}s in the list.
11452 @code{junk}: If the split is the symbol @code{junk}, then don't save
11453 this message. Use with extreme caution.
11456 @code{(: @var{function} @var{arg1} @var{arg2} @dots{})}: If the split is
11457 a list, and the first element is @code{:}, then the second element will
11458 be called as a function with @var{args} given as arguments. The
11459 function should return a @var{split}.
11462 @code{(! @var{func} @var{split})}: If the split is a list, and the first
11463 element is @code{!}, then SPLIT will be processed, and FUNC will be
11464 called as a function with the result of SPLIT as argument. FUNC should
11468 @code{nil}: If the split is @code{nil}, it is ignored.
11472 In these splits, @var{field} must match a complete field name.
11473 @var{value} must match a complete word according to the fundamental mode
11474 syntax table. You can use @code{.*} in the regexps to match partial
11475 field names or words. In other words, all @var{value}'s are wrapped in
11476 @samp{\<} and @samp{\>} pairs.
11478 @vindex nnmail-split-abbrev-alist
11479 @var{field} and @var{value} can also be lisp symbols, in that case they
11480 are expanded as specified by the variable
11481 @code{nnmail-split-abbrev-alist}. This is an alist of cons cells, where
11482 the @code{car} of a cell contains the key, and the @code{cdr} contains the associated
11485 @vindex nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table
11486 @code{nnmail-split-fancy-syntax-table} is the syntax table in effect
11487 when all this splitting is performed.
11489 If you want to have Gnus create groups dynamically based on some
11490 information in the headers (i.e., do @code{replace-match}-like
11491 substitutions in the group names), you can say things like:
11494 (any "debian-\\b\\(\\w+\\)@@lists.debian.org" "mail.debian.\\1")
11497 In this example, messages sent to @samp{debian-foo@@lists.debian.org}
11498 will be filed in @samp{mail.debian.foo}.
11500 If the string contains the element @samp{\&}, then the previously
11501 matched string will be substituted. Similarly, the elements @samp{\\1}
11502 up to @samp{\\9} will be substituted with the text matched by the
11503 groupings 1 through 9.
11506 @node Group Mail Splitting
11507 @subsection Group Mail Splitting
11508 @cindex mail splitting
11509 @cindex group mail splitting
11511 @findex gnus-group-split
11512 If you subscribe to dozens of mailing lists but you don't want to
11513 maintain mail splitting rules manually, group mail splitting is for you.
11514 You just have to set @var{to-list} and/or @var{to-address} in group
11515 parameters or group customization and set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to
11516 @code{gnus-group-split}. This splitting function will scan all groups
11517 for those parameters and split mail accordingly, i.e., messages posted
11518 from or to the addresses specified in the parameters @var{to-list} or
11519 @var{to-address} of a mail group will be stored in that group.
11521 Sometimes, mailing lists have multiple addresses, and you may want mail
11522 splitting to recognize them all: just set the @var{extra-aliases} group
11523 parameter to the list of additional addresses and it's done. If you'd
11524 rather use a regular expression, set @var{split-regexp}.
11526 All these parameters in a group will be used to create an
11527 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split, in which the @var{field} is @samp{any},
11528 the @var{value} is a single regular expression that matches
11529 @var{to-list}, @var{to-address}, all of @var{extra-aliases} and all
11530 matches of @var{split-regexp}, and the @var{split} is the name of the
11531 group. @var{restrict}s are also supported: just set the
11532 @var{split-exclude} parameter to a list of regular expressions.
11534 If you can't get the right split to be generated using all these
11535 parameters, or you just need something fancier, you can set the
11536 parameter @var{split-spec} to an @code{nnmail-split-fancy} split. In
11537 this case, all other aforementioned parameters will be ignored by
11538 @code{gnus-group-split}. In particular, @var{split-spec} may be set to
11539 @code{nil}, in which case the group will be ignored by
11540 @code{gnus-group-split}.
11542 @vindex gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group
11543 @code{gnus-group-split} will do cross-posting on all groups that match,
11544 by defining a single @code{&} fancy split containing one split for each
11545 group. If a message doesn't match any split, it will be stored in the
11546 group named in @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group}, unless
11547 some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all}, in which case
11548 that group is used as the catch-all group. Note that, in this case,
11549 there's no cross-posting, as a @code{|} fancy split encloses the
11550 @code{&} split and the catch-all group.
11552 It's time for an example. Assume the following group parameters have
11557 ((to-address . "bar@@femail.com")
11558 (split-regexp . ".*@@femail\\.com"))
11560 ((to-list . "foo@@nowhere.gov")
11561 (extra-aliases "foo@@localhost" "foo-redist@@home")
11562 (split-exclude "bugs-foo" "rambling-foo")
11563 (admin-address . "foo-request@@nowhere.gov"))
11565 ((split-spec . catch-all))
11568 Setting @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{gnus-group-split} will
11569 behave as if @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been selected and variable
11570 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} had been set as follows:
11573 (| (& (any "\\(bar@@femail\\.com\\|.*@@femail\\.com\\)" "mail.bar")
11574 (any "\\(foo@@nowhere\\.gov\\|foo@@localhost\\|foo-redist@@home\\)"
11575 - "bugs-foo" - "rambling-foo" "mail.foo"))
11579 @findex gnus-group-split-fancy
11580 If you'd rather not use group splitting for all your mail groups, you
11581 may use it for only some of them, by using @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
11585 (: gnus-mlsplt-fancy GROUPS NO-CROSSPOST CATCH-ALL)
11588 @var{groups} may be a regular expression or a list of group names whose
11589 parameters will be scanned to generate the output split.
11590 @var{no-crosspost} can be used to disable cross-posting; in this case, a
11591 single @code{|} split will be output. @var{catch-all} may be the name
11592 of a group to be used as the default catch-all group. If
11593 @var{catch-all} is @code{nil}, or if @var{split-regexp} matches the
11594 empty string in any selected group, no catch-all split will be issued.
11595 Otherwise, if some group has @var{split-spec} set to @code{catch-all},
11596 this group will override the value of the @var{catch-all} argument.
11598 @findex gnus-group-split-setup
11599 Unfortunately, scanning all groups and their parameters can be quite
11600 slow, especially considering that it has to be done for every message.
11601 But don't despair! The function @code{gnus-group-split-setup} can be
11602 used to select @code{gnus-group-split} in a much more efficient way. It
11603 sets @code{nnmail-split-methods} to @code{nnmail-split-fancy} and sets
11604 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} to the split produced by
11605 @code{gnus-group-split-fancy}. Thus, the group parameters are only
11606 scanned once, no matter how many messages are split.
11608 @findex gnus-group-split-update
11609 However, if you change group parameters, you have to update
11610 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} manually. You can do it by running
11611 @code{gnus-group-split-update}. If you'd rather have it updated
11612 automatically, just tell @code{gnus-group-split-setup} to do it for
11613 you. For example, add to your @file{.gnus}:
11616 (gnus-group-split-setup AUTO-UPDATE CATCH-ALL)
11619 If @var{auto-update} is non-@code{nil}, @code{gnus-group-split-update}
11620 will be added to @code{nnmail-pre-get-new-mail-hook}, so you won't ever
11621 have to worry about updating @code{nnmail-split-fancy} again. If you
11622 don't omit @var{catch-all} (it's optional),
11623 @code{gnus-group-split-default-catch-all-group} will be set to its
11626 @vindex gnus-group-split-updated-hook
11627 Because you may want to change @code{nnmail-split-fancy} after it is set
11628 by @code{gnus-group-split-update}, this function will run
11629 @code{gnus-group-split-updated-hook} just before finishing.
11631 @node Incorporating Old Mail
11632 @subsection Incorporating Old Mail
11634 Most people have lots of old mail stored in various file formats. If
11635 you have set up Gnus to read mail using one of the spiffy Gnus mail
11636 backends, you'll probably wish to have that old mail incorporated into
11639 Doing so can be quite easy.
11641 To take an example: You're reading mail using @code{nnml}
11642 (@pxref{Mail Spool}), and have set @code{nnmail-split-methods} to a
11643 satisfactory value (@pxref{Splitting Mail}). You have an old Unix mbox
11644 file filled with important, but old, mail. You want to move it into
11645 your @code{nnml} groups.
11651 Go to the group buffer.
11654 Type `G f' and give the path to the mbox file when prompted to create an
11655 @code{nndoc} group from the mbox file (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
11658 Type `SPACE' to enter the newly created group.
11661 Type `M P b' to process-mark all articles in this group's buffer
11662 (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
11665 Type `B r' to respool all the process-marked articles, and answer
11666 @samp{nnml} when prompted (@pxref{Mail Group Commands}).
11669 All the mail messages in the mbox file will now also be spread out over
11670 all your @code{nnml} groups. Try entering them and check whether things
11671 have gone without a glitch. If things look ok, you may consider
11672 deleting the mbox file, but I wouldn't do that unless I was absolutely
11673 sure that all the mail has ended up where it should be.
11675 Respooling is also a handy thing to do if you're switching from one mail
11676 backend to another. Just respool all the mail in the old mail groups
11677 using the new mail backend.
11680 @node Expiring Mail
11681 @subsection Expiring Mail
11682 @cindex article expiry
11684 Traditional mail readers have a tendency to remove mail articles when
11685 you mark them as read, in some way. Gnus takes a fundamentally
11686 different approach to mail reading.
11688 Gnus basically considers mail just to be news that has been received in
11689 a rather peculiar manner. It does not think that it has the power to
11690 actually change the mail, or delete any mail messages. If you enter a
11691 mail group, and mark articles as ``read'', or kill them in some other
11692 fashion, the mail articles will still exist on the system. I repeat:
11693 Gnus will not delete your old, read mail. Unless you ask it to, of
11696 To make Gnus get rid of your unwanted mail, you have to mark the
11697 articles as @dfn{expirable}. This does not mean that the articles will
11698 disappear right away, however. In general, a mail article will be
11699 deleted from your system if, 1) it is marked as expirable, AND 2) it is
11700 more than one week old. If you do not mark an article as expirable, it
11701 will remain on your system until hell freezes over. This bears
11702 repeating one more time, with some spurious capitalizations: IF you do
11703 NOT mark articles as EXPIRABLE, Gnus will NEVER delete those ARTICLES.
11705 @vindex gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11706 You do not have to mark articles as expirable by hand. Groups that
11707 match the regular expression @code{gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups} will
11708 have all articles that you read marked as expirable automatically. All
11709 articles marked as expirable have an @samp{E} in the first
11710 column in the summary buffer.
11712 By default, if you have auto expiry switched on, Gnus will mark all the
11713 articles you read as expirable, no matter if they were read or unread
11714 before. To avoid having articles marked as read marked as expirable
11715 automatically, you can put something like the following in your
11718 @vindex gnus-mark-article-hook
11720 (remove-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook
11721 'gnus-summary-mark-read-and-unread-as-read)
11722 (add-hook 'gnus-mark-article-hook 'gnus-summary-mark-unread-as-read)
11725 Note that making a group auto-expirable doesn't mean that all read
11726 articles are expired---only the articles marked as expirable
11727 will be expired. Also note that using the @kbd{d} command won't make
11728 groups expirable---only semi-automatic marking of articles as read will
11729 mark the articles as expirable in auto-expirable groups.
11731 Let's say you subscribe to a couple of mailing lists, and you want the
11732 articles you have read to disappear after a while:
11735 (setq gnus-auto-expirable-newsgroups
11736 "mail.nonsense-list\\|mail.nice-list")
11739 Another way to have auto-expiry happen is to have the element
11740 @code{auto-expire} in the group parameters of the group.
11742 If you use adaptive scoring (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}) and
11743 auto-expiring, you'll have problems. Auto-expiring and adaptive scoring
11744 don't really mix very well.
11746 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait
11747 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable supplies the default time an
11748 expirable article has to live. Gnus starts counting days from when the
11749 message @emph{arrived}, not from when it was sent. The default is seven
11752 Gnus also supplies a function that lets you fine-tune how long articles
11753 are to live, based on what group they are in. Let's say you want to
11754 have one month expiry period in the @samp{mail.private} group, a one day
11755 expiry period in the @samp{mail.junk} group, and a six day expiry period
11758 @vindex nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11760 (setq nnmail-expiry-wait-function
11762 (cond ((string= group "mail.private")
11764 ((string= group "mail.junk")
11766 ((string= group "important")
11772 The group names this function is fed are ``unadorned'' group
11773 names---no @samp{nnml:} prefixes and the like.
11775 The @code{nnmail-expiry-wait} variable and
11776 @code{nnmail-expiry-wait-function} function can either be a number (not
11777 necessarily an integer) or one of the symbols @code{immediate} or
11780 You can also use the @code{expiry-wait} group parameter to selectively
11781 change the expiry period (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
11783 @vindex nnmail-expiry-target
11784 The normal action taken when expiring articles is to delete them.
11785 However, in some circumstances it might make more sense to move them to
11786 other groups instead of deleting them. The @code{nnmail-expiry-target}
11787 (and the @code{expiry-target} group parameter) controls this. The
11788 default value is @code{delete}, but this can also be a string (which
11789 should be the name of the group the message should be moved to), or a
11790 function (which will be called in a buffer narrowed to the message in
11791 question, and with the name of the group being moved from as its
11792 parameter) which should return a target -- either a group name or
11795 @vindex nnmail-keep-last-article
11796 If @code{nnmail-keep-last-article} is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will never
11797 expire the final article in a mail newsgroup. This is to make life
11798 easier for procmail users.
11800 @vindex gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups
11801 By the way: That line up there, about Gnus never expiring non-expirable
11802 articles, is a lie. If you put @code{total-expire} in the group
11803 parameters, articles will not be marked as expirable, but all read
11804 articles will be put through the expiry process. Use with extreme
11805 caution. Even more dangerous is the
11806 @code{gnus-total-expirable-newsgroups} variable. All groups that match
11807 this regexp will have all read articles put through the expiry process,
11808 which means that @emph{all} old mail articles in the groups in question
11809 will be deleted after a while. Use with extreme caution, and don't come
11810 crying to me when you discover that the regexp you used matched the
11811 wrong group and all your important mail has disappeared. Be a
11812 @emph{man}! Or a @emph{woman}! Whatever you feel more comfortable
11815 Most people make most of their mail groups total-expirable, though.
11817 @vindex gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire
11818 If @code{gnus-inhibit-user-auto-expire} is non-@code{nil}, user marking
11819 commands will not mark an article as expirable, even if the group has
11820 auto-expire turned on.
11824 @subsection Washing Mail
11825 @cindex mail washing
11826 @cindex list server brain damage
11827 @cindex incoming mail treatment
11829 Mailers and list servers are notorious for doing all sorts of really,
11830 really stupid things with mail. ``Hey, RFC 822 doesn't explicitly
11831 prohibit us from adding the string @code{wE aRe ElItE!!!!!1!!} to the
11832 end of all lines passing through our server, so let's do that!!!!1!''
11833 Yes, but RFC 822 wasn't designed to be read by morons. Things that were
11834 considered to be self-evident were not discussed. So. Here we are.
11836 Case in point: The German version of Microsoft Exchange adds @samp{AW:
11837 } to the subjects of replies instead of @samp{Re: }. I could pretend to
11838 be shocked and dismayed by this, but I haven't got the energy. It is to
11841 Gnus provides a plethora of functions for washing articles while
11842 displaying them, but it might be nicer to do the filtering before
11843 storing the mail to disc. For that purpose, we have three hooks and
11844 various functions that can be put in these hooks.
11847 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11848 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-hook
11849 This hook is called before doing anything with the mail and is meant for
11850 grand, sweeping gestures. It is called in a buffer that contains all
11851 the new, incoming mail. Functions to be used include:
11854 @item nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11855 @findex nnheader-ms-strip-cr
11856 Remove trailing carriage returns from each line. This is default on
11857 Emacs running on MS machines.
11861 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11862 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook
11863 This hook is called narrowed to each header. It can be used when
11864 cleaning up the headers. Functions that can be used include:
11867 @item nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11868 @findex nnmail-remove-leading-whitespace
11869 Clear leading white space that ``helpful'' listservs have added to the
11870 headers to make them look nice. Aaah.
11872 @item nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11873 @findex nnmail-remove-list-identifiers
11874 Some list servers add an identifier---for example, @samp{(idm)}---to the
11875 beginning of all @code{Subject} headers. I'm sure that's nice for
11876 people who use stone age mail readers. This function will remove
11877 strings that match the @code{nnmail-list-identifiers} regexp, which can
11878 also be a list of regexp.
11880 For instance, if you want to remove the @samp{(idm)} and the
11881 @samp{nagnagnag} identifiers:
11884 (setq nnmail-list-identifiers
11885 '("(idm)" "nagnagnag"))
11888 This can also be done non-destructively with
11889 @code{gnus-list-identifiers}, @xref{Article Hiding}.
11891 @item nnmail-remove-tabs
11892 @findex nnmail-remove-tabs
11893 Translate all @samp{TAB} characters into @samp{SPACE} characters.
11895 @item nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11896 @findex nnmail-fix-eudora-headers
11898 Eudora produces broken @code{References} headers, but OK
11899 @code{In-Reply-To} headers. This function will get rid of the
11900 @code{References} headers.
11904 @item nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11905 @vindex nnmail-prepare-incoming-message-hook
11906 This hook is called narrowed to each message. Functions to be used
11910 @item article-de-quoted-unreadable
11911 @findex article-de-quoted-unreadable
11912 Decode Quoted Readable encoding.
11919 @subsection Duplicates
11921 @vindex nnmail-treat-duplicates
11922 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-length
11923 @vindex nnmail-message-id-cache-file
11924 @cindex duplicate mails
11925 If you are a member of a couple of mailing lists, you will sometimes
11926 receive two copies of the same mail. This can be quite annoying, so
11927 @code{nnmail} checks for and treats any duplicates it might find. To do
11928 this, it keeps a cache of old @code{Message-ID}s---
11929 @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-file}, which is @file{~/.nnmail-cache} by
11930 default. The approximate maximum number of @code{Message-ID}s stored
11931 there is controlled by the @code{nnmail-message-id-cache-length}
11932 variable, which is 1000 by default. (So 1000 @code{Message-ID}s will be
11933 stored.) If all this sounds scary to you, you can set
11934 @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} to @code{warn} (which is what it is by
11935 default), and @code{nnmail} won't delete duplicate mails. Instead it
11936 will insert a warning into the head of the mail saying that it thinks
11937 that this is a duplicate of a different message.
11939 This variable can also be a function. If that's the case, the function
11940 will be called from a buffer narrowed to the message in question with
11941 the @code{Message-ID} as a parameter. The function must return either
11942 @code{nil}, @code{warn}, or @code{delete}.
11944 You can turn this feature off completely by setting the variable to
11947 If you want all the duplicate mails to be put into a special
11948 @dfn{duplicates} group, you could do that using the normal mail split
11952 (setq nnmail-split-fancy
11953 '(| ;; Messages duplicates go to a separate group.
11954 ("gnus-warning" "duplication of message" "duplicate")
11955 ;; Message from daemons, postmaster, and the like to another.
11956 (any mail "mail.misc")
11963 (setq nnmail-split-methods
11964 '(("duplicates" "^Gnus-Warning:")
11969 Here's a neat feature: If you know that the recipient reads her mail
11970 with Gnus, and that she has @code{nnmail-treat-duplicates} set to
11971 @code{delete}, you can send her as many insults as you like, just by
11972 using a @code{Message-ID} of a mail that you know that she's already
11973 received. Think of all the fun! She'll never see any of it! Whee!
11976 @node Not Reading Mail
11977 @subsection Not Reading Mail
11979 If you start using any of the mail backends, they have the annoying
11980 habit of assuming that you want to read mail with them. This might not
11981 be unreasonable, but it might not be what you want.
11983 If you set @code{mail-sources} and @code{nnmail-spool-file} to
11984 @code{nil}, none of the backends will ever attempt to read incoming
11985 mail, which should help.
11987 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
11988 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
11989 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
11990 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
11991 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
11992 This might be too much, if, for instance, you are reading mail quite
11993 happily with @code{nnml} and just want to peek at some old @sc{rmail}
11994 file you have stashed away with @code{nnbabyl}. All backends have
11995 variables called backend-@code{get-new-mail}. If you want to disable
11996 the @code{nnbabyl} mail reading, you edit the virtual server for the
11997 group to have a setting where @code{nnbabyl-get-new-mail} to @code{nil}.
11999 All the mail backends will call @code{nn}*@code{-prepare-save-mail-hook}
12000 narrowed to the article to be saved before saving it when reading
12004 @node Choosing a Mail Backend
12005 @subsection Choosing a Mail Backend
12007 Gnus will read the mail spool when you activate a mail group. The mail
12008 file is first copied to your home directory. What happens after that
12009 depends on what format you want to store your mail in.
12011 There are five different mail backends in the standard Gnus, and more
12012 backends are available separately. The mail backend most people use
12013 (because it is the fastest and most flexible) is @code{nnml}
12014 (@pxref{Mail Spool}).
12017 * Unix Mail Box:: Using the (quite) standard Un*x mbox.
12018 * Rmail Babyl:: Emacs programs use the rmail babyl format.
12019 * Mail Spool:: Store your mail in a private spool?
12020 * MH Spool:: An mhspool-like backend.
12021 * Mail Folders:: Having one file for each group.
12022 * Comparing Mail Backends:: An in-depth looks at pros and cons.
12026 @node Unix Mail Box
12027 @subsubsection Unix Mail Box
12029 @cindex unix mail box
12031 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12032 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12033 The @dfn{nnmbox} backend will use the standard Un*x mbox file to store
12034 mail. @code{nnmbox} will add extra headers to each mail article to say
12035 which group it belongs in.
12037 Virtual server settings:
12040 @item nnmbox-mbox-file
12041 @vindex nnmbox-mbox-file
12042 The name of the mail box in the user's home directory.
12044 @item nnmbox-active-file
12045 @vindex nnmbox-active-file
12046 The name of the active file for the mail box.
12048 @item nnmbox-get-new-mail
12049 @vindex nnmbox-get-new-mail
12050 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmbox} will read incoming mail and split it
12056 @subsubsection Rmail Babyl
12060 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12061 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12062 The @dfn{nnbabyl} backend will use a babyl mail box (aka. @dfn{rmail
12063 mbox}) to store mail. @code{nnbabyl} will add extra headers to each
12064 mail article to say which group it belongs in.
12066 Virtual server settings:
12069 @item nnbabyl-mbox-file
12070 @vindex nnbabyl-mbox-file
12071 The name of the rmail mbox file.
12073 @item nnbabyl-active-file
12074 @vindex nnbabyl-active-file
12075 The name of the active file for the rmail box.
12077 @item nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12078 @vindex nnbabyl-get-new-mail
12079 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnbabyl} will read incoming mail.
12084 @subsubsection Mail Spool
12086 @cindex mail @sc{nov} spool
12088 The @dfn{nnml} spool mail format isn't compatible with any other known
12089 format. It should be used with some caution.
12091 @vindex nnml-directory
12092 If you use this backend, Gnus will split all incoming mail into files,
12093 one file for each mail, and put the articles into the corresponding
12094 directories under the directory specified by the @code{nnml-directory}
12095 variable. The default value is @file{~/Mail/}.
12097 You do not have to create any directories beforehand; Gnus will take
12100 If you have a strict limit as to how many files you are allowed to store
12101 in your account, you should not use this backend. As each mail gets its
12102 own file, you might very well occupy thousands of inodes within a few
12103 weeks. If this is no problem for you, and it isn't a problem for you
12104 having your friendly systems administrator walking around, madly,
12105 shouting ``Who is eating all my inodes?! Who? Who!?!'', then you should
12106 know that this is probably the fastest format to use. You do not have
12107 to trudge through a big mbox file just to read your new mail.
12109 @code{nnml} is probably the slowest backend when it comes to article
12110 splitting. It has to create lots of files, and it also generates
12111 @sc{nov} databases for the incoming mails. This makes it the fastest
12112 backend when it comes to reading mail.
12114 Virtual server settings:
12117 @item nnml-directory
12118 @vindex nnml-directory
12119 All @code{nnml} directories will be placed under this directory.
12121 @item nnml-active-file
12122 @vindex nnml-active-file
12123 The active file for the @code{nnml} server.
12125 @item nnml-newsgroups-file
12126 @vindex nnml-newsgroups-file
12127 The @code{nnml} group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File
12130 @item nnml-get-new-mail
12131 @vindex nnml-get-new-mail
12132 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnml} will read incoming mail.
12134 @item nnml-nov-is-evil
12135 @vindex nnml-nov-is-evil
12136 If non-@code{nil}, this backend will ignore any @sc{nov} files.
12138 @item nnml-nov-file-name
12139 @vindex nnml-nov-file-name
12140 The name of the @sc{nov} files. The default is @file{.overview}.
12142 @item nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12143 @vindex nnml-prepare-save-mail-hook
12144 Hook run narrowed to an article before saving.
12148 @findex nnml-generate-nov-databases
12149 If your @code{nnml} groups and @sc{nov} files get totally out of whack,
12150 you can do a complete update by typing @kbd{M-x
12151 nnml-generate-nov-databases}. This command will trawl through the
12152 entire @code{nnml} hierarchy, looking at each and every article, so it
12153 might take a while to complete. A better interface to this
12154 functionality can be found in the server buffer (@pxref{Server
12159 @subsubsection MH Spool
12161 @cindex mh-e mail spool
12163 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, except that is doesn't generate
12164 @sc{nov} databases and it doesn't keep an active file. This makes
12165 @code{nnmh} a @emph{much} slower backend than @code{nnml}, but it also
12166 makes it easier to write procmail scripts for.
12168 Virtual server settings:
12171 @item nnmh-directory
12172 @vindex nnmh-directory
12173 All @code{nnmh} directories will be located under this directory.
12175 @item nnmh-get-new-mail
12176 @vindex nnmh-get-new-mail
12177 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will read incoming mail.
12180 @vindex nnmh-be-safe
12181 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnmh} will go to ridiculous lengths to make
12182 sure that the articles in the folder are actually what Gnus thinks they
12183 are. It will check date stamps and stat everything in sight, so
12184 setting this to @code{t} will mean a serious slow-down. If you never
12185 use anything but Gnus to read the @code{nnmh} articles, you do not have
12186 to set this variable to @code{t}.
12191 @subsubsection Mail Folders
12193 @cindex mbox folders
12194 @cindex mail folders
12196 @code{nnfolder} is a backend for storing each mail group in a separate
12197 file. Each file is in the standard Un*x mbox format. @code{nnfolder}
12198 will add extra headers to keep track of article numbers and arrival
12201 Virtual server settings:
12204 @item nnfolder-directory
12205 @vindex nnfolder-directory
12206 All the @code{nnfolder} mail boxes will be stored under this directory.
12208 @item nnfolder-active-file
12209 @vindex nnfolder-active-file
12210 The name of the active file.
12212 @item nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12213 @vindex nnfolder-newsgroups-file
12214 The name of the group descriptions file. @xref{Newsgroups File Format}.
12216 @item nnfolder-get-new-mail
12217 @vindex nnfolder-get-new-mail
12218 If non-@code{nil}, @code{nnfolder} will read incoming mail.
12220 @item nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12221 @vindex nnfolder-save-buffer-hook
12222 @cindex backup files
12223 Hook run before saving the folders. Note that Emacs does the normal
12224 backup renaming of files even with the @code{nnfolder} buffers. If you
12225 wish to switch this off, you could say something like the following in
12226 your @file{.emacs} file:
12229 (defun turn-off-backup ()
12230 (set (make-local-variable 'backup-inhibited) t))
12232 (add-hook 'nnfolder-save-buffer-hook 'turn-off-backup)
12235 @item nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12236 @vindex nnfolder-delete-mail-hook
12237 Hook run in a buffer narrowed to the message that is to be deleted.
12238 This function can be used to copy the message to somewhere else, or to
12239 extract some information from it before removing it.
12244 @findex nnfolder-generate-active-file
12245 @kindex M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file
12246 If you have lots of @code{nnfolder}-like files you'd like to read with
12247 @code{nnfolder}, you can use the @kbd{M-x nnfolder-generate-active-file}
12248 command to make @code{nnfolder} aware of all likely files in
12249 @code{nnfolder-directory}. This only works if you use long file names,
12252 @node Comparing Mail Backends
12253 @subsubsection Comparing Mail Backends
12255 First, just for terminology, the @dfn{backend} is the common word for a
12256 low-level access method---a transport, if you will, by which something
12257 is acquired. The sense is that one's mail has to come from somewhere,
12258 and so selection of a suitable backend is required in order to get that
12259 mail within spitting distance of Gnus.
12261 The same concept exists for Usenet itself: Though access to articles is
12262 typically done by @sc{nntp} these days, once upon a midnight dreary, everyone
12263 in the world got at Usenet by running a reader on the machine where the
12264 articles lay (the machine which today we call an @sc{nntp} server), and
12265 access was by the reader stepping into the articles' directory spool
12266 area directly. One can still select between either the @code{nntp} or
12267 @code{nnspool} backends, to select between these methods, if one happens
12268 actually to live on the server (or can see its spool directly, anyway,
12271 The goal in selecting a mail backend is to pick one which
12272 simultaneously represents a suitable way of dealing with the original
12273 format plus leaving mail in a form that is convenient to use in the
12274 future. Here are some high and low points on each:
12279 UNIX systems have historically had a single, very common, and well-
12280 defined format. All messages arrive in a single @dfn{spool file}, and
12281 they are delineated by a line whose regular expression matches
12282 @samp{^From_}. (My notational use of @samp{_} is to indicate a space,
12283 to make it clear in this instance that this is not the RFC-specified
12284 @samp{From:} header.) Because Emacs and therefore Gnus emanate
12285 historically from the Unix environment, it is simplest if one does not
12286 mess a great deal with the original mailbox format, so if one chooses
12287 this backend, Gnus' primary activity in getting mail from the real spool
12288 area to Gnus' preferred directory is simply to copy it, with no
12289 (appreciable) format change in the process. It is the ``dumbest'' way
12290 to move mail into availability in the Gnus environment. This makes it
12291 fast to move into place, but slow to parse, when Gnus has to look at
12296 Once upon a time, there was the DEC-10 and DEC-20, running operating
12297 systems called TOPS and related things, and the usual (only?) mail
12298 reading environment was a thing called Babyl. I don't know what format
12299 was used for mail landing on the system, but Babyl had its own internal
12300 format to which mail was converted, primarily involving creating a
12301 spool-file-like entity with a scheme for inserting Babyl-specific
12302 headers and status bits above the top of each message in the file.
12303 RMAIL was Emacs' first mail reader, it was written by Richard Stallman,
12304 and Stallman came out of that TOPS/Babyl environment, so he wrote RMAIL
12305 to understand the mail files folks already had in existence. Gnus (and
12306 VM, for that matter) continue to support this format because it's
12307 perceived as having some good qualities in those mailer-specific
12308 headers/status bits stuff. RMAIL itself still exists as well, of
12309 course, and is still maintained by Stallman.
12311 Both of the above forms leave your mail in a single file on your
12312 filesystem, and they must parse that entire file each time you take a
12317 @code{nnml} is the backend which smells the most as though you were
12318 actually operating with an @code{nnspool}-accessed Usenet system. (In
12319 fact, I believe @code{nnml} actually derived from @code{nnspool} code,
12320 lo these years ago.) One's mail is taken from the original spool file,
12321 and is then cut up into individual message files, 1:1. It maintains a
12322 Usenet-style active file (analogous to what one finds in an INN- or
12323 CNews-based news system in (for instance) @file{/var/lib/news/active},
12324 or what is returned via the @samp{NNTP LIST} verb) and also creates
12325 @dfn{overview} files for efficient group entry, as has been defined for
12326 @sc{nntp} servers for some years now. It is slower in mail-splitting,
12327 due to the creation of lots of files, updates to the @code{nnml} active
12328 file, and additions to overview files on a per-message basis, but it is
12329 extremely fast on access because of what amounts to the indexing support
12330 provided by the active file and overviews.
12332 @code{nnml} costs @dfn{inodes} in a big way; that is, it soaks up the
12333 resource which defines available places in the filesystem to put new
12334 files. Sysadmins take a dim view of heavy inode occupation within
12335 tight, shared filesystems. But if you live on a personal machine where
12336 the filesystem is your own and space is not at a premium, @code{nnml}
12339 It is also problematic using this backend if you are living in a
12340 FAT16-based Windows world, since much space will be wasted on all these
12345 The Rand MH mail-reading system has been around UNIX systems for a very
12346 long time; it operates by splitting one's spool file of messages into
12347 individual files, but with little or no indexing support -- @code{nnmh}
12348 is considered to be semantically equivalent to ``@code{nnml} without
12349 active file or overviews''. This is arguably the worst choice, because
12350 one gets the slowness of individual file creation married to the
12351 slowness of access parsing when learning what's new in one's groups.
12355 Basically the effect of @code{nnfolder} is @code{nnmbox} (the first
12356 method described above) on a per-group basis. That is, @code{nnmbox}
12357 itself puts *all* one's mail in one file; @code{nnfolder} provides a
12358 little bit of optimization to this so that each of one's mail groups has
12359 a Unix mail box file. It's faster than @code{nnmbox} because each group
12360 can be parsed separately, and still provides the simple Unix mail box
12361 format requiring minimal effort in moving the mail around. In addition,
12362 it maintains an ``active'' file making it much faster for Gnus to figure
12363 out how many messages there are in each separate group.
12365 If you have groups that are expected to have a massive amount of
12366 messages, @code{nnfolder} is not the best choice, but if you receive
12367 only a moderate amount of mail, @code{nnfolder} is probably the most
12368 friendly mail backend all over.
12373 @node Browsing the Web
12374 @section Browsing the Web
12376 @cindex browsing the web
12380 Web-based discussion forums are getting more and more popular. On many
12381 subjects, the web-based forums have become the most important forums,
12382 eclipsing the importance of mailing lists and news groups. The reason
12383 is easy to understand---they are friendly to new users; you just point
12384 and click, and there's the discussion. With mailing lists, you have to
12385 go through a cumbersome subscription procedure, and most people don't
12386 even know what a news group is.
12388 The problem with this scenario is that web browsers are not very good at
12389 being newsreaders. They do not keep track of what articles you've read;
12390 they do not allow you to score on subjects you're interested in; they do
12391 not allow off-line browsing; they require you to click around and drive
12392 you mad in the end.
12394 So---if web browsers suck at reading discussion forums, why not use Gnus
12397 Gnus has been getting a bit of a collection of backends for providing
12398 interfaces to these sources.
12401 * Web Searches:: Creating groups from articles that match a string.
12402 * Slashdot:: Reading the Slashdot comments.
12403 * Ultimate:: The Ultimate Bulletin Board systems.
12404 * Web Archive:: Reading mailing list archived on web.
12405 * Customizing w3:: Doing stuff to Emacs/w3 from Gnus.
12408 All the web sources require Emacs/w3 and the url library to work.
12410 The main caveat with all these web sources is that they probably won't
12411 work for a very long time. Gleaning information from the @sc{html} data
12412 is guesswork at best, and when the layout is altered, the Gnus backend
12413 will fail. If you have reasonably new versions of these backends,
12414 though, you should be ok.
12416 One thing all these Web methods have in common is that the Web sources
12417 are often down, unavailable or just plain too slow to be fun. In those
12418 cases, it makes a lot of sense to let the Gnus Agent (@pxref{Gnus
12419 Unplugged}) handle downloading articles, and then you can read them at
12420 leisure from your local disk. No more World Wide Wait for you.
12424 @subsection Web Searches
12428 @cindex InReference
12429 @cindex Usenet searches
12430 @cindex searching the Usenet
12432 It's, like, too neat to search the Usenet for articles that match a
12433 string, but it, like, totally @emph{sucks}, like, totally, to use one of
12434 those, like, Web browsers, and you, like, have to, rilly, like, look at
12435 the commercials, so, like, with Gnus you can do @emph{rad}, rilly,
12436 searches without having to use a browser.
12438 The @code{nnweb} backend allows an easy interface to the mighty search
12439 engine. You create an @code{nnweb} group, enter a search pattern, and
12440 then enter the group and read the articles like you would any normal
12441 group. The @kbd{G w} command in the group buffer (@pxref{Foreign
12442 Groups}) will do this in an easy-to-use fashion.
12444 @code{nnweb} groups don't really lend themselves to being solid
12445 groups---they have a very fleeting idea of article numbers. In fact,
12446 each time you enter an @code{nnweb} group (not even changing the search
12447 pattern), you are likely to get the articles ordered in a different
12448 manner. Not even using duplicate suppression (@pxref{Duplicate
12449 Suppression}) will help, since @code{nnweb} doesn't even know the
12450 @code{Message-ID} of the articles before reading them using some search
12451 engines (DejaNews, for instance). The only possible way to keep track
12452 of which articles you've read is by scoring on the @code{Date}
12453 header---mark all articles posted before the last date you read the
12456 If the search engine changes its output substantially, @code{nnweb}
12457 won't be able to parse it and will fail. One could hardly fault the Web
12458 providers if they were to do this---their @emph{raison d'être} is to
12459 make money off of advertisements, not to provide services to the
12460 community. Since @code{nnweb} washes the ads off all the articles, one
12461 might think that the providers might be somewhat miffed. We'll see.
12463 You must have the @code{url} and @code{w3} package installed to be able
12464 to use @code{nnweb}.
12466 Virtual server variables:
12471 What search engine type is being used. The currently supported types
12472 are @code{dejanews}, @code{dejanewsold}, @code{altavista} and
12476 @vindex nnweb-search
12477 The search string to feed to the search engine.
12479 @item nnweb-max-hits
12480 @vindex nnweb-max-hits
12481 Advisory maximum number of hits per search to display. The default is
12484 @item nnweb-type-definition
12485 @vindex nnweb-type-definition
12486 Type-to-definition alist. This alist says what @code{nnweb} should do
12487 with the various search engine types. The following elements must be
12492 Function to decode the article and provide something that Gnus
12496 Function to create an article number to message header and URL alist.
12499 Function to send the search string to the search engine.
12502 The address the aforementioned function should send the search string
12506 Format string URL to fetch an article by @code{Message-ID}.
12513 @subsection Slashdot
12517 Slashdot (@file{http://slashdot.org/}) is a popular news site, with
12518 lively discussion following the news articles. @code{nnslashdot} will
12519 let you read this forum in a convenient manner.
12521 The easiest way to read this source is to put something like the
12522 following in your @file{.gnus.el} file:
12525 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods
12526 '((nnslashdot "")))
12529 This will make Gnus query the @code{nnslashdot} backend for new comments
12530 and groups. The @kbd{F} command will subscribe each new news article as
12531 a new Gnus group, and you can read the comments by entering these
12532 groups. (Note that the default subscription method is to subscribe new
12533 groups as zombies. Other methods are available (@pxref{Subscription
12536 If you want to remove an old @code{nnslashdot} group, the @kbd{G DEL}
12537 command is the most handy tool (@pxref{Foreign Groups}).
12539 When following up to @code{nnslashdot} comments (or posting new
12540 comments), some light @sc{html}izations will be performed. In
12541 particular, text quoted with @samp{> } will be quoted with
12542 @code{blockquote} instead, and signatures will have @code{br} added to
12543 the end of each line. Other than that, you can just write @sc{html}
12544 directly into the message buffer. Note that Slashdot filters out some
12547 The following variables can be altered to change its behavior:
12550 @item nnslashdot-threaded
12551 Whether @code{nnslashdot} should display threaded groups or not. The
12552 default is @code{t}. To be able to display threads, @code{nnslashdot}
12553 has to retrieve absolutely all comments in a group upon entry. If a
12554 threaded display is not required, @code{nnslashdot} will only retrieve
12555 the comments that are actually wanted by the user. Threading is nicer,
12556 but much, much slower than untreaded.
12558 @item nnslashdot-login-name
12559 @vindex nnslashdot-login-name
12560 The login name to use when posting.
12562 @item nnslashdot-password
12563 @vindex nnslashdot-password
12564 The password to use when posting.
12566 @item nnslashdot-directory
12567 @vindex nnslashdot-directory
12568 Where @code{nnslashdot} will store its files. The default value is
12569 @samp{~/News/slashdot/}.
12571 @item nnslashdot-active-url
12572 @vindex nnslashdot-active-url
12573 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the information on
12574 news articles and comments. The default is
12575 @samp{http://slashdot.org/search.pl?section=&min=%d}.
12577 @item nnslashdot-comments-url
12578 @vindex nnslashdot-comments-url
12579 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch comments. The
12581 @samp{http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=%s&threshold=%d&commentsort=%d&mode=flat&startat=%d}.
12583 @item nnslashdot-article-url
12584 @vindex nnslashdot-article-url
12585 The @sc{url} format string that will be used to fetch the news article. The
12587 @samp{http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=%s&mode=nocomment}.
12589 @item nnslashdot-threshold
12590 @vindex nnslashdot-threshold
12591 The score threshold. The default is -1.
12593 @item nnslashdot-group-number
12594 @vindex nnslashdot-group-number
12595 The number of old groups, in addition to the ten latest, to keep
12596 updated. The default is 0.
12603 @subsection Ultimate
12605 @cindex Ultimate Bulletin Board
12607 The Ultimate Bulletin Board (@file{http://www.ultimatebb.com/}) is
12608 probably the most popular Web bulletin board system used. It has a
12609 quite regular and nice interface, and it's possible to get the
12610 information Gnus needs to keep groups updated.
12612 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnultimate} is to say
12613 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{B nnultimate RET
12614 http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubbcgi/ RET}. (Substitute the @sc{url}
12615 (not including @samp{Ultimate.cgi} or the like at the end) for a forum
12616 you're interested in; there's quite a list of them on the Ultimate web
12617 site.) Then subscribe to the groups you're interested in from the
12618 server buffer, and read them from the group buffer.
12620 The following @code{nnultimate} variables can be altered:
12623 @item nnultimate-directory
12624 @vindex nnultimate-directory
12625 The directory where @code{nnultimate} stores its files. The default is
12626 @samp{~/News/ultimate/}.
12631 @subsection Web Archive
12633 @cindex Web Archive
12635 Some mailing lists only have archives on Web servers, such as
12636 @file{http://www.egroups.com/} and
12637 @file{http://www.mail-archive.com/}. It has a quite regular and nice
12638 interface, and it's possible to get the information Gnus needs to keep
12641 The easiest way to get started with @code{nnwarchive} is to say
12642 something like the following in the group buffer: @kbd{M-x
12643 gnus-group-make-warchive-group RET an_egroup RET egroups RET
12644 www.egroups.com RET your@@email.address RET}. (Substitute the
12645 @sc{an_egroup} with the mailing list you subscribed, the
12646 @sc{your@@email.address} with your email address.), or to browse the
12647 backend by @kbd{B nnwarchive RET mail-archive RET}.
12649 The following @code{nnwarchive} variables can be altered:
12652 @item nnwarchive-directory
12653 @vindex nnwarchive-directory
12654 The directory where @code{nnwarchive} stores its files. The default is
12655 @samp{~/News/warchive/}.
12657 @item nnwarchive-login
12658 @vindex nnwarchive-login
12659 The account name on the web server.
12661 @item nnwarchive-passwd
12662 @vindex nnwarchive-passwd
12663 The password for your account on the web server.
12667 @node Customizing w3
12668 @subsection Customizing w3
12674 Gnus uses the url library to fetch web pages and Emacs/w3 to display web
12675 pages. Emacs/w3 is documented in its own manual, but there are some
12676 things that may be more relevant for Gnus users.
12678 For instance, a common question is how to make Emacs/w3 follow links
12679 using the @code{browse-url} functions (which will call some external web
12680 browser like Netscape). Here's one way:
12683 (eval-after-load "w3"
12685 (fset 'w3-fetch-orig (symbol-function 'w3-fetch))
12686 (defun w3-fetch (&optional url target)
12687 (interactive (list (w3-read-url-with-default)))
12688 (if (eq major-mode 'gnus-article-mode)
12690 (w3-fetch-orig url target)))))
12693 Put that in your @file{.emacs} file, and hitting links in w3-rendered
12694 @sc{html} in the Gnus article buffers will use @code{browse-url} to
12698 @node Other Sources
12699 @section Other Sources
12701 Gnus can do more than just read news or mail. The methods described
12702 below allow Gnus to view directories and files as if they were
12706 * Directory Groups:: You can read a directory as if it was a newsgroup.
12707 * Anything Groups:: Dired? Who needs dired?
12708 * Document Groups:: Single files can be the basis of a group.
12709 * SOUP:: Reading @sc{soup} packets ``offline''.
12710 * Mail-To-News Gateways:: Posting articles via mail-to-news gateways.
12711 * IMAP:: Using Gnus as a @sc{imap} client.
12715 @node Directory Groups
12716 @subsection Directory Groups
12718 @cindex directory groups
12720 If you have a directory that has lots of articles in separate files in
12721 it, you might treat it as a newsgroup. The files have to have numerical
12724 This might be an opportune moment to mention @code{ange-ftp} (and its
12725 successor @code{efs}), that most wonderful of all wonderful Emacs
12726 packages. When I wrote @code{nndir}, I didn't think much about it---a
12727 backend to read directories. Big deal.
12729 @code{ange-ftp} changes that picture dramatically. For instance, if you
12730 enter the @code{ange-ftp} file name
12731 @file{/ftp.hpc.uh.edu:/pub/emacs/ding-list/} as the directory name,
12732 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs} will actually allow you to read this
12733 directory over at @samp{sina} as a newsgroup. Distributed news ahoy!
12735 @code{nndir} will use @sc{nov} files if they are present.
12737 @code{nndir} is a ``read-only'' backend---you can't delete or expire
12738 articles with this method. You can use @code{nnmh} or @code{nnml} for
12739 whatever you use @code{nndir} for, so you could switch to any of those
12740 methods if you feel the need to have a non-read-only @code{nndir}.
12743 @node Anything Groups
12744 @subsection Anything Groups
12747 From the @code{nndir} backend (which reads a single spool-like
12748 directory), it's just a hop and a skip to @code{nneething}, which
12749 pretends that any arbitrary directory is a newsgroup. Strange, but
12752 When @code{nneething} is presented with a directory, it will scan this
12753 directory and assign article numbers to each file. When you enter such
12754 a group, @code{nneething} must create ``headers'' that Gnus can use.
12755 After all, Gnus is a newsreader, in case you're forgetting.
12756 @code{nneething} does this in a two-step process. First, it snoops each
12757 file in question. If the file looks like an article (i.e., the first
12758 few lines look like headers), it will use this as the head. If this is
12759 just some arbitrary file without a head (e.g. a C source file),
12760 @code{nneething} will cobble up a header out of thin air. It will use
12761 file ownership, name and date and do whatever it can with these
12764 All this should happen automatically for you, and you will be presented
12765 with something that looks very much like a newsgroup. Totally like a
12766 newsgroup, to be precise. If you select an article, it will be displayed
12767 in the article buffer, just as usual.
12769 If you select a line that represents a directory, Gnus will pop you into
12770 a new summary buffer for this @code{nneething} group. And so on. You can
12771 traverse the entire disk this way, if you feel like, but remember that
12772 Gnus is not dired, really, and does not intend to be, either.
12774 There are two overall modes to this action---ephemeral or solid. When
12775 doing the ephemeral thing (i.e., @kbd{G D} from the group buffer), Gnus
12776 will not store information on what files you have read, and what files
12777 are new, and so on. If you create a solid @code{nneething} group the
12778 normal way with @kbd{G m}, Gnus will store a mapping table between
12779 article numbers and file names, and you can treat this group like any
12780 other groups. When you activate a solid @code{nneething} group, you will
12781 be told how many unread articles it contains, etc., etc.
12786 @item nneething-map-file-directory
12787 @vindex nneething-map-file-directory
12788 All the mapping files for solid @code{nneething} groups will be stored
12789 in this directory, which defaults to @file{~/.nneething/}.
12791 @item nneething-exclude-files
12792 @vindex nneething-exclude-files
12793 All files that match this regexp will be ignored. Nice to use to exclude
12794 auto-save files and the like, which is what it does by default.
12796 @item nneething-include-files
12797 @vindex nneething-include-files
12798 Regexp saying what files to include in the group. If this variable is
12799 non-@code{nil}, only files matching this regexp will be included.
12801 @item nneething-map-file
12802 @vindex nneething-map-file
12803 Name of the map files.
12807 @node Document Groups
12808 @subsection Document Groups
12810 @cindex documentation group
12813 @code{nndoc} is a cute little thing that will let you read a single file
12814 as a newsgroup. Several files types are supported:
12821 The babyl (rmail) mail box.
12826 The standard Unix mbox file.
12828 @cindex MMDF mail box
12830 The MMDF mail box format.
12833 Several news articles appended into a file.
12836 @cindex rnews batch files
12837 The rnews batch transport format.
12838 @cindex forwarded messages
12841 Forwarded articles.
12844 Netscape mail boxes.
12847 MIME multipart messages.
12849 @item standard-digest
12850 The standard (RFC 1153) digest format.
12853 Non-standard digest format---matches most things, but does it badly.
12856 You can also use the special ``file type'' @code{guess}, which means
12857 that @code{nndoc} will try to guess what file type it is looking at.
12858 @code{digest} means that @code{nndoc} should guess what digest type the
12861 @code{nndoc} will not try to change the file or insert any extra headers into
12862 it---it will simply, like, let you use the file as the basis for a
12863 group. And that's it.
12865 If you have some old archived articles that you want to insert into your
12866 new & spiffy Gnus mail backend, @code{nndoc} can probably help you with
12867 that. Say you have an old @file{RMAIL} file with mail that you now want
12868 to split into your new @code{nnml} groups. You look at that file using
12869 @code{nndoc} (using the @kbd{G f} command in the group buffer
12870 (@pxref{Foreign Groups})), set the process mark on all the articles in
12871 the buffer (@kbd{M P b}, for instance), and then re-spool (@kbd{B r})
12872 using @code{nnml}. If all goes well, all the mail in the @file{RMAIL}
12873 file is now also stored in lots of @code{nnml} directories, and you can
12874 delete that pesky @file{RMAIL} file. If you have the guts!
12876 Virtual server variables:
12879 @item nndoc-article-type
12880 @vindex nndoc-article-type
12881 This should be one of @code{mbox}, @code{babyl}, @code{digest},
12882 @code{news}, @code{rnews}, @code{mmdf}, @code{forward}, @code{rfc934},
12883 @code{rfc822-forward}, @code{mime-parts}, @code{standard-digest},
12884 @code{slack-digest}, @code{clari-briefs}, @code{nsmail} or @code{guess}.
12886 @item nndoc-post-type
12887 @vindex nndoc-post-type
12888 This variable says whether Gnus is to consider the group a news group or
12889 a mail group. There are two valid values: @code{mail} (the default)
12894 * Document Server Internals:: How to add your own document types.
12898 @node Document Server Internals
12899 @subsubsection Document Server Internals
12901 Adding new document types to be recognized by @code{nndoc} isn't
12902 difficult. You just have to whip up a definition of what the document
12903 looks like, write a predicate function to recognize that document type,
12904 and then hook into @code{nndoc}.
12906 First, here's an example document type definition:
12910 (article-begin . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n")
12911 (body-end . "^\^A\^A\^A\^A\n"))
12914 The definition is simply a unique @dfn{name} followed by a series of
12915 regexp pseudo-variable settings. Below are the possible
12916 variables---don't be daunted by the number of variables; most document
12917 types can be defined with very few settings:
12920 @item first-article
12921 If present, @code{nndoc} will skip past all text until it finds
12922 something that match this regexp. All text before this will be
12925 @item article-begin
12926 This setting has to be present in all document type definitions. It
12927 says what the beginning of each article looks like.
12929 @item head-begin-function
12930 If present, this should be a function that moves point to the head of
12933 @item nndoc-head-begin
12934 If present, this should be a regexp that matches the head of the
12937 @item nndoc-head-end
12938 This should match the end of the head of the article. It defaults to
12939 @samp{^$}---the empty line.
12941 @item body-begin-function
12942 If present, this function should move point to the beginning of the body
12946 This should match the beginning of the body of the article. It defaults
12949 @item body-end-function
12950 If present, this function should move point to the end of the body of
12954 If present, this should match the end of the body of the article.
12957 If present, this should match the end of the file. All text after this
12958 regexp will be totally ignored.
12962 So, using these variables @code{nndoc} is able to dissect a document
12963 file into a series of articles, each with a head and a body. However, a
12964 few more variables are needed since not all document types are all that
12965 news-like---variables needed to transform the head or the body into
12966 something that's palatable for Gnus:
12969 @item prepare-body-function
12970 If present, this function will be called when requesting an article. It
12971 will be called with point at the start of the body, and is useful if the
12972 document has encoded some parts of its contents.
12974 @item article-transform-function
12975 If present, this function is called when requesting an article. It's
12976 meant to be used for more wide-ranging transformation of both head and
12977 body of the article.
12979 @item generate-head-function
12980 If present, this function is called to generate a head that Gnus can
12981 understand. It is called with the article number as a parameter, and is
12982 expected to generate a nice head for the article in question. It is
12983 called when requesting the headers of all articles.
12987 Let's look at the most complicated example I can come up with---standard
12992 (first-article . ,(concat "^" (make-string 70 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12993 (article-begin . ,(concat "\n\n" (make-string 30 ?-) "\n\n+"))
12994 (prepare-body-function . nndoc-unquote-dashes)
12995 (body-end-function . nndoc-digest-body-end)
12996 (head-end . "^ ?$")
12997 (body-begin . "^ ?\n")
12998 (file-end . "^End of .*digest.*[0-9].*\n\\*\\*\\|^End of.*Digest *$")
12999 (subtype digest guess))
13002 We see that all text before a 70-width line of dashes is ignored; all
13003 text after a line that starts with that @samp{^End of} is also ignored;
13004 each article begins with a 30-width line of dashes; the line separating
13005 the head from the body may contain a single space; and that the body is
13006 run through @code{nndoc-unquote-dashes} before being delivered.
13008 To hook your own document definition into @code{nndoc}, use the
13009 @code{nndoc-add-type} function. It takes two parameters---the first is
13010 the definition itself and the second (optional) parameter says where in
13011 the document type definition alist to put this definition. The alist is
13012 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
13013 is of @code{mmdf} type, and so on. These type predicates should return
13014 @code{nil} if the document is not of the correct type; @code{t} if it is
13015 of the correct type; and a number if the document might be of the
13016 correct type. A high number means high probability; a low number means
13017 low probability with @samp{0} being the lowest valid number.
13025 In the PC world people often talk about ``offline'' newsreaders. These
13026 are thingies that are combined reader/news transport monstrosities.
13027 With built-in modem programs. Yecchh!
13029 Of course, us Unix Weenie types of human beans use things like
13030 @code{uucp} and, like, @code{nntpd} and set up proper news and mail
13031 transport things like Ghod intended. And then we just use normal
13034 However, it can sometimes be convenient to do something that's a bit
13035 easier on the brain if you have a very slow modem, and you're not really
13036 that interested in doing things properly.
13038 A file format called @sc{soup} has been developed for transporting news
13039 and mail from servers to home machines and back again. It can be a bit
13042 First some terminology:
13047 This is the machine that is connected to the outside world and where you
13048 get news and/or mail from.
13051 This is the machine that you want to do the actual reading and responding
13052 on. It is typically not connected to the rest of the world in any way.
13055 Something that contains messages and/or commands. There are two kinds
13059 @item message packets
13060 These are packets made at the server, and typically contain lots of
13061 messages for you to read. These are called @file{SoupoutX.tgz} by
13062 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13064 @item response packets
13065 These are packets made at the home machine, and typically contains
13066 replies that you've written. These are called @file{SoupinX.tgz} by
13067 default, where @var{x} is a number.
13077 You log in on the server and create a @sc{soup} packet. You can either
13078 use a dedicated @sc{soup} thingie (like the @code{awk} program), or you
13079 can use Gnus to create the packet with its @sc{soup} commands (@kbd{O
13080 s} and/or @kbd{G s b}; and then @kbd{G s p}) (@pxref{SOUP Commands}).
13083 You transfer the packet home. Rail, boat, car or modem will do fine.
13086 You put the packet in your home directory.
13089 You fire up Gnus on your home machine using the @code{nnsoup} backend as
13090 the native or secondary server.
13093 You read articles and mail and answer and followup to the things you
13094 want (@pxref{SOUP Replies}).
13097 You do the @kbd{G s r} command to pack these replies into a @sc{soup}
13101 You transfer this packet to the server.
13104 You use Gnus to mail this packet out with the @kbd{G s s} command.
13107 You then repeat until you die.
13111 So you basically have a bipartite system---you use @code{nnsoup} for
13112 reading and Gnus for packing/sending these @sc{soup} packets.
13115 * SOUP Commands:: Commands for creating and sending @sc{soup} packets
13116 * SOUP Groups:: A backend for reading @sc{soup} packets.
13117 * SOUP Replies:: How to enable @code{nnsoup} to take over mail and news.
13121 @node SOUP Commands
13122 @subsubsection SOUP Commands
13124 These are commands for creating and manipulating @sc{soup} packets.
13128 @kindex G s b (Group)
13129 @findex gnus-group-brew-soup
13130 Pack all unread articles in the current group
13131 (@code{gnus-group-brew-soup}). This command understands the
13132 process/prefix convention.
13135 @kindex G s w (Group)
13136 @findex gnus-soup-save-areas
13137 Save all @sc{soup} data files (@code{gnus-soup-save-areas}).
13140 @kindex G s s (Group)
13141 @findex gnus-soup-send-replies
13142 Send all replies from the replies packet
13143 (@code{gnus-soup-send-replies}).
13146 @kindex G s p (Group)
13147 @findex gnus-soup-pack-packet
13148 Pack all files into a @sc{soup} packet (@code{gnus-soup-pack-packet}).
13151 @kindex G s r (Group)
13152 @findex nnsoup-pack-replies
13153 Pack all replies into a replies packet (@code{nnsoup-pack-replies}).
13156 @kindex O s (Summary)
13157 @findex gnus-soup-add-article
13158 This summary-mode command adds the current article to a @sc{soup} packet
13159 (@code{gnus-soup-add-article}). It understands the process/prefix
13160 convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
13165 There are a few variables to customize where Gnus will put all these
13170 @item gnus-soup-directory
13171 @vindex gnus-soup-directory
13172 Directory where Gnus will save intermediate files while composing
13173 @sc{soup} packets. The default is @file{~/SoupBrew/}.
13175 @item gnus-soup-replies-directory
13176 @vindex gnus-soup-replies-directory
13177 This is what Gnus will use as a temporary directory while sending our
13178 reply packets. @file{~/SoupBrew/SoupReplies/} is the default.
13180 @item gnus-soup-prefix-file
13181 @vindex gnus-soup-prefix-file
13182 Name of the file where Gnus stores the last used prefix. The default is
13183 @samp{gnus-prefix}.
13185 @item gnus-soup-packer
13186 @vindex gnus-soup-packer
13187 A format string command for packing a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13188 @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupout%d.tgz}.
13190 @item gnus-soup-unpacker
13191 @vindex gnus-soup-unpacker
13192 Format string command for unpacking a @sc{soup} packet. The default is
13193 @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13195 @item gnus-soup-packet-directory
13196 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-directory
13197 Where Gnus will look for reply packets. The default is @file{~/}.
13199 @item gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13200 @vindex gnus-soup-packet-regexp
13201 Regular expression matching @sc{soup} reply packets in
13202 @code{gnus-soup-packet-directory}.
13208 @subsubsection @sc{soup} Groups
13211 @code{nnsoup} is the backend for reading @sc{soup} packets. It will
13212 read incoming packets, unpack them, and put them in a directory where
13213 you can read them at leisure.
13215 These are the variables you can use to customize its behavior:
13219 @item nnsoup-tmp-directory
13220 @vindex nnsoup-tmp-directory
13221 When @code{nnsoup} unpacks a @sc{soup} packet, it does it in this
13222 directory. (@file{/tmp/} by default.)
13224 @item nnsoup-directory
13225 @vindex nnsoup-directory
13226 @code{nnsoup} then moves each message and index file to this directory.
13227 The default is @file{~/SOUP/}.
13229 @item nnsoup-replies-directory
13230 @vindex nnsoup-replies-directory
13231 All replies will be stored in this directory before being packed into a
13232 reply packet. The default is @file{~/SOUP/replies/"}.
13234 @item nnsoup-replies-format-type
13235 @vindex nnsoup-replies-format-type
13236 The @sc{soup} format of the replies packets. The default is @samp{?n}
13237 (rnews), and I don't think you should touch that variable. I probably
13238 shouldn't even have documented it. Drats! Too late!
13240 @item nnsoup-replies-index-type
13241 @vindex nnsoup-replies-index-type
13242 The index type of the replies packet. The default is @samp{?n}, which
13243 means ``none''. Don't fiddle with this one either!
13245 @item nnsoup-active-file
13246 @vindex nnsoup-active-file
13247 Where @code{nnsoup} stores lots of information. This is not an ``active
13248 file'' in the @code{nntp} sense; it's an Emacs Lisp file. If you lose
13249 this file or mess it up in any way, you're dead. The default is
13250 @file{~/SOUP/active}.
13252 @item nnsoup-packer
13253 @vindex nnsoup-packer
13254 Format string command for packing a reply @sc{soup} packet. The default
13255 is @samp{tar cf - %s | gzip > $HOME/Soupin%d.tgz}.
13257 @item nnsoup-unpacker
13258 @vindex nnsoup-unpacker
13259 Format string command for unpacking incoming @sc{soup} packets. The
13260 default is @samp{gunzip -c %s | tar xvf -}.
13262 @item nnsoup-packet-directory
13263 @vindex nnsoup-packet-directory
13264 Where @code{nnsoup} will look for incoming packets. The default is
13267 @item nnsoup-packet-regexp
13268 @vindex nnsoup-packet-regexp
13269 Regular expression matching incoming @sc{soup} packets. The default is
13272 @item nnsoup-always-save
13273 @vindex nnsoup-always-save
13274 If non-@code{nil}, save the replies buffer after each posted message.
13280 @subsubsection SOUP Replies
13282 Just using @code{nnsoup} won't mean that your postings and mailings end
13283 up in @sc{soup} reply packets automagically. You have to work a bit
13284 more for that to happen.
13286 @findex nnsoup-set-variables
13287 The @code{nnsoup-set-variables} command will set the appropriate
13288 variables to ensure that all your followups and replies end up in the
13291 In specific, this is what it does:
13294 (setq message-send-news-function 'nnsoup-request-post)
13295 (setq message-send-mail-function 'nnsoup-request-mail)
13298 And that's it, really. If you only want news to go into the @sc{soup}
13299 system you just use the first line. If you only want mail to be
13300 @sc{soup}ed you use the second.
13303 @node Mail-To-News Gateways
13304 @subsection Mail-To-News Gateways
13305 @cindex mail-to-news gateways
13308 If your local @code{nntp} server doesn't allow posting, for some reason
13309 or other, you can post using one of the numerous mail-to-news gateways.
13310 The @code{nngateway} backend provides the interface.
13312 Note that you can't read anything from this backend---it can only be
13318 @item nngateway-address
13319 @vindex nngateway-address
13320 This is the address of the mail-to-news gateway.
13322 @item nngateway-header-transformation
13323 @vindex nngateway-header-transformation
13324 News headers often have to be transformed in some odd way or other
13325 for the mail-to-news gateway to accept it. This variable says what
13326 transformation should be called, and defaults to
13327 @code{nngateway-simple-header-transformation}. The function is called
13328 narrowed to the headers to be transformed and with one parameter---the
13331 This default function just inserts a new @code{To} header based on the
13332 @code{Newsgroups} header and the gateway address.
13333 For instance, an article with this @code{Newsgroups} header:
13336 Newsgroups: alt.religion.emacs
13339 will get this @code{From} header inserted:
13342 To: alt-religion-emacs@@GATEWAY
13345 The following pre-defined functions exist:
13347 @findex nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13350 @item nngateway-simple-header-transformation
13351 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13352 @var{newsgroup}@@@code{nngateway-address}.
13354 @findex nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13356 @item nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation
13357 Creates a @code{To} header that looks like
13358 @code{nngateway-address}.
13363 (setq gnus-post-method
13364 '(nngateway "mail2news@@replay.com"
13365 (nngateway-header-transformation
13366 nngateway-mail2news-header-transformation)))
13374 So, to use this, simply say something like:
13377 (setq gnus-post-method '(nngateway "GATEWAY.ADDRESS"))
13383 @subsection @sc{imap}
13387 @sc{imap} is a network protocol for reading mail (or news, or ...),
13388 think of it as a modernized @sc{nntp}. Connecting to a @sc{imap} server
13389 is much similar to connecting to a news server, you just specify the
13390 network address of the server.
13392 The following variables can be used to create a virtual @code{nnimap}
13397 @item nnimap-address
13398 @vindex nnimap-address
13400 The address of the remote @sc{imap} server. Defaults to the virtual
13401 server name if not specified.
13403 @item nnimap-server-port
13404 @vindex nnimap-server-port
13405 Port on server to contact. Defaults to port 143, or 993 for SSL.
13407 @item nnimap-list-pattern
13408 @vindex nnimap-list-pattern
13409 String or list of strings of mailboxes to limit available groups to.
13410 This is used when the server has very many mailboxes and you're only
13411 interested in a few -- some servers export your home directory via
13412 @sc{imap}, you'll probably want to limit the mailboxes to those in
13413 @file{~/Mail/*} then.
13415 The string can also be a cons of REFERENCE and the string as above, what
13416 REFERENCE is used for is server specific, but on the University of
13417 Washington server it's a directory that will be concatenated with the
13423 ("INBOX" "Mail/*" "alt.sex.*" ("~friend/Mail/" . "list/*"))
13426 @item nnimap-stream
13427 @vindex nnimap-stream
13428 The type of stream used to connect to your server. By default, nnimap
13429 will detect and automatically use all of the below, with the exception
13430 of SSL. (SSL is being replaced by STARTTLS, which can be automatically
13431 detected, but it's not widely deployed yet).
13435 @dfn{gssapi:} Connect with GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5). Require the
13436 @samp{imtest} program.
13438 @dfn{kerberos4:} Connect with kerberos 4. Require the @samp{imtest} program.
13440 @dfn{starttls:} Connect via the STARTTLS extension (similar to
13441 SSL). Require the external library @samp{starttls.el} and program
13444 @dfn{ssl:} Connect through SSL. Require OpenSSL (the
13445 program @samp{openssl}) or SSLeay (@samp{s_client}).
13447 @dfn{network:} Plain, TCP/IP network connection.
13450 The @samp{imtest} program is shipped with Cyrus IMAPD, nnimap support
13451 both @samp{imtest} version 1.5.x and version 1.6.x.
13453 For SSL connections, the OpenSSL program is available from
13454 @file{http://www.openssl.org/}. OpenSSL was formerly known as SSLeay,
13455 and nnimap support it too - although the most recent versions of SSLeay,
13456 0.9.x, are known to have serious bugs making it useless. Earlier
13457 versions, especially 0.8.x, of SSLeay are known to work.
13459 @item nnimap-authenticator
13460 @vindex nnimap-authenticator
13462 The authenticator used to connect to the server. By default, nnimap
13463 will use the most secure authenticator your server is capable of.
13467 @dfn{gssapi:} GSSAPI (usually kerberos 5) authentication. Require
13468 external program @code{imtest}.
13470 @dfn{kerberos4:} Kerberos authentication. Require external program
13473 @dfn{digest-md5:} Encrypted username/password via DIGEST-MD5. Require
13474 external library @code{digest-md5.el}.
13476 @dfn{cram-md5:} Encrypted username/password via CRAM-MD5.
13478 @dfn{login:} Plain-text username/password via LOGIN.
13480 @dfn{anonymous:} Login as `anonymous', supplying your emailadress as password.
13483 @item nnimap-expunge-on-close
13485 @vindex nnimap-expunge-on-close
13486 Unlike Parmenides the @sc{imap} designers has decided that things that
13487 doesn't exist actually does exist. More specifically, @sc{imap} has
13488 this concept of marking articles @code{Deleted} which doesn't actually
13489 delete them, and this (marking them @code{Deleted}, that is) is what
13490 nnimap does when you delete a article in Gnus (with @kbd{G DEL} or
13493 Since the articles aren't really removed when we mark them with the
13494 @code{Deleted} flag we'll need a way to actually delete them. Feel like
13495 running in circles yet?
13497 Traditionally, nnimap has removed all articles marked as @code{Deleted}
13498 when closing a mailbox but this is now configurable by this server
13501 The possible options are:
13506 The default behaviour, delete all articles marked as "Deleted" when
13509 Never actually delete articles. Currently there is no way of showing
13510 the articles marked for deletion in nnimap, but other @sc{imap} clients
13511 may allow you to do this. If you ever want to run the EXPUNGE command
13512 manually, @xref{Expunging mailboxes}.
13514 When closing mailboxes, nnimap will ask if you wish to expunge deleted
13521 * Splitting in IMAP:: Splitting mail with nnimap.
13522 * Editing IMAP ACLs:: Limiting/enabling other users access to a mailbox.
13523 * Expunging mailboxes:: Equivalent of a "compress mailbox" button.
13528 @node Splitting in IMAP
13529 @subsubsection Splitting in @sc{imap}
13530 @cindex splitting imap mail
13532 Splitting is something Gnus users has loved and used for years, and now
13533 the rest of the world is catching up. Yeah, dream on, not many
13534 @sc{imap} server has server side splitting and those that have splitting
13535 seem to use some non-standard protocol. This means that @sc{imap}
13536 support for Gnus has to do it's own splitting.
13540 Here are the variables of interest:
13544 @item nnimap-split-crosspost
13545 @cindex splitting, crosspost
13547 @vindex nnimap-split-crosspost
13549 If non-nil, do crossposting if several split methods match the mail. If
13550 nil, the first match in @code{nnimap-split-rule} found will be used.
13552 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-crosspost}.
13554 @item nnimap-split-inbox
13555 @cindex splitting, inbox
13557 @vindex nnimap-split-inbox
13559 A string or a list of strings that gives the name(s) of @sc{imap}
13560 mailboxes to split from. Defaults to nil, which means that splitting is
13564 (setq nnimap-split-inbox '("INBOX" ("~/friend/Mail" . "lists/*") "lists.imap"))
13567 No nnmail equivalent.
13569 @item nnimap-split-rule
13570 @cindex Splitting, rules
13571 @vindex nnimap-split-rule
13573 New mail found in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be split according to
13576 This variable contains a list of lists, where the first element in the
13577 sublist gives the name of the @sc{imap} mailbox to move articles
13578 matching the regexp in the second element in the sublist. Got that?
13579 Neither did I, we need examples.
13582 (setq nnimap-split-rule
13583 '(("INBOX.nnimap" "^Sender: owner-nnimap@@vic20.globalcom.se")
13584 ("INBOX.junk" "^Subject:.*MAKE MONEY")
13585 ("INBOX.private" "")))
13588 This will put all articles from the nnimap mailing list into mailbox
13589 INBOX.nnimap, all articles containing MAKE MONEY in the Subject: line
13590 into INBOX.spam and everything else in INBOX.private.
13592 The first string may contain `\\1' forms, like the ones used by
13593 replace-match to insert sub-expressions from the matched text. For
13597 ("INBOX.lists.\\1" "^Sender: owner-\\([a-z-]+\\)@@")
13600 The second element can also be a function. In that case, it will be
13601 called with the first element of the rule as the argument, in a buffer
13602 containing the headers of the article. It should return a non-nil value
13603 if it thinks that the mail belongs in that group.
13605 Nnmail users might recollect that the last regexp had to be empty to
13606 match all articles (like in the example above). This is not required in
13607 nnimap. Articles not matching any of the regexps will not be moved out
13608 of your inbox. (This might might affect performance if you keep lots of
13609 unread articles in your inbox, since the splitting code would go over
13610 them every time you fetch new mail.)
13612 These rules are processed from the beginning of the alist toward the
13613 end. The first rule to make a match will "win", unless you have
13614 crossposting enabled. In that case, all matching rules will "win".
13616 This variable can also have a function as its value, the function will
13617 be called with the headers narrowed and should return a group where it
13618 thinks the article should be splitted to.
13620 The splitting code tries to create mailboxes if it need too.
13622 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
13624 @item nnimap-split-predicate
13626 @vindex nnimap-split-predicate
13628 Mail matching this predicate in @code{nnimap-split-inbox} will be
13629 splitted, it is a string and the default is @samp{UNSEEN UNDELETED}.
13631 This might be useful if you use another @sc{imap} client to read mail in
13632 your inbox but would like Gnus to split all articles in the inbox
13633 regardless of readedness. Then you might change this to
13636 @item nnimap-split-fancy
13637 @cindex splitting, fancy
13638 @findex nnimap-split-fancy
13639 @vindex nnimap-split-fancy
13641 It's possible to set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13642 @code{nnmail-split-fancy} if you want to use fancy
13643 splitting. @xref{Fancy Mail Splitting}.
13645 However, to be able to have different fancy split rules for nnmail and
13646 nnimap backends you can set @code{nnimap-split-rule} to
13647 @code{nnimap-split-fancy} and define the nnimap specific fancy split
13648 rule in @code{nnimap-split-fancy}.
13653 (setq nnimap-split-rule 'nnimap-split-fancy
13654 nnimap-split-fancy ...)
13657 Nnmail equivalent: @code{nnmail-split-fancy}.
13661 @node Editing IMAP ACLs
13662 @subsubsection Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13663 @cindex editing imap acls
13664 @cindex Access Control Lists
13665 @cindex Editing @sc{imap} ACLs
13667 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-edit-acl
13669 ACL stands for Access Control List. ACLs are used in @sc{imap} for
13670 limiting (or enabling) other users access to your mail boxes. Not all
13671 @sc{imap} servers support this, this function will give an error if it
13674 To edit a ACL for a mailbox, type @kbd{G l}
13675 (@code{gnus-group-edit-nnimap-acl}) and you'll be presented with a ACL
13676 editing window with detailed instructions.
13678 Some possible uses:
13682 Giving "anyone" the "lrs" rights (lookup, read, keep seen/unseen flags)
13683 on your mailing list mailboxes enables other users on the same server to
13684 follow the list without subscribing to it.
13686 At least with the Cyrus server, you are required to give the user
13687 "anyone" posting ("p") capabilities to have "plussing" work (that is,
13688 mail sent to user+mailbox@@domain ending up in the @sc{imap} mailbox
13692 @node Expunging mailboxes
13693 @subsubsection Expunging mailboxes
13697 @cindex Manual expunging
13699 @findex gnus-group-nnimap-expunge
13701 If you're using the @code{never} setting of @code{nnimap-expunge-close},
13702 you may want the option of expunging all deleted articles in a mailbox
13703 manually. This is exactly what @kbd{G x} does.
13705 Currently there is no way of showing deleted articles, you can just
13710 @node Combined Groups
13711 @section Combined Groups
13713 Gnus allows combining a mixture of all the other group types into bigger
13717 * Virtual Groups:: Combining articles from many groups.
13718 * Kibozed Groups:: Looking through parts of the newsfeed for articles.
13722 @node Virtual Groups
13723 @subsection Virtual Groups
13725 @cindex virtual groups
13726 @cindex merging groups
13728 An @dfn{nnvirtual group} is really nothing more than a collection of
13731 For instance, if you are tired of reading many small groups, you can
13732 put them all in one big group, and then grow tired of reading one
13733 big, unwieldy group. The joys of computing!
13735 You specify @code{nnvirtual} as the method. The address should be a
13736 regexp to match component groups.
13738 All marks in the virtual group will stick to the articles in the
13739 component groups. So if you tick an article in a virtual group, the
13740 article will also be ticked in the component group from whence it came.
13741 (And vice versa---marks from the component groups will also be shown in
13742 the virtual group.)
13744 Here's an example @code{nnvirtual} method that collects all Andrea Dworkin
13745 newsgroups into one, big, happy newsgroup:
13748 (nnvirtual "^alt\\.fan\\.andrea-dworkin$\\|^rec\\.dworkin.*")
13751 The component groups can be native or foreign; everything should work
13752 smoothly, but if your computer explodes, it was probably my fault.
13754 Collecting the same group from several servers might actually be a good
13755 idea if users have set the Distribution header to limit distribution.
13756 If you would like to read @samp{soc.motss} both from a server in Japan
13757 and a server in Norway, you could use the following as the group regexp:
13760 "^nntp\\+server\\.jp:soc\\.motss$\\|^nntp\\+server\\.no:soc\\.motss$"
13763 (Remember, though, that if you're creating the group with @kbd{G m}, you
13764 shouldn't double the backslashes, and you should leave off the quote
13765 characters at the beginning and the end of the string.)
13767 This should work kinda smoothly---all articles from both groups should
13768 end up in this one, and there should be no duplicates. Threading (and
13769 the rest) will still work as usual, but there might be problems with the
13770 sequence of articles. Sorting on date might be an option here
13771 (@pxref{Selecting a Group}).
13773 One limitation, however---all groups included in a virtual
13774 group have to be alive (i.e., subscribed or unsubscribed). Killed or
13775 zombie groups can't be component groups for @code{nnvirtual} groups.
13777 @vindex nnvirtual-always-rescan
13778 If the @code{nnvirtual-always-rescan} is non-@code{nil},
13779 @code{nnvirtual} will always scan groups for unread articles when
13780 entering a virtual group. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
13781 default) and you read articles in a component group after the virtual
13782 group has been activated, the read articles from the component group
13783 will show up when you enter the virtual group. You'll also see this
13784 effect if you have two virtual groups that have a component group in
13785 common. If that's the case, you should set this variable to @code{t}.
13786 Or you can just tap @code{M-g} on the virtual group every time before
13787 you enter it---it'll have much the same effect.
13789 @code{nnvirtual} can have both mail and news groups as component groups.
13790 When responding to articles in @code{nnvirtual} groups, @code{nnvirtual}
13791 has to ask the backend of the component group the article comes from
13792 whether it is a news or mail backend. However, when you do a @kbd{^},
13793 there is typically no sure way for the component backend to know this,
13794 and in that case @code{nnvirtual} tells Gnus that the article came from a
13795 not-news backend. (Just to be on the safe side.)
13797 @kbd{C-c C-t} in the message buffer will insert the @code{Newsgroups}
13798 line from the article you respond to in these cases.
13802 @node Kibozed Groups
13803 @subsection Kibozed Groups
13807 @dfn{Kibozing} is defined by @sc{oed} as ``grepping through (parts of)
13808 the news feed''. @code{nnkiboze} is a backend that will do this for
13809 you. Oh joy! Now you can grind any @sc{nntp} server down to a halt
13810 with useless requests! Oh happiness!
13812 @kindex G k (Group)
13813 To create a kibozed group, use the @kbd{G k} command in the group
13816 The address field of the @code{nnkiboze} method is, as with
13817 @code{nnvirtual}, a regexp to match groups to be ``included'' in the
13818 @code{nnkiboze} group. That's where most similarities between @code{nnkiboze}
13819 and @code{nnvirtual} end.
13821 In addition to this regexp detailing component groups, an @code{nnkiboze} group
13822 must have a score file to say what articles are to be included in
13823 the group (@pxref{Scoring}).
13825 @kindex M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups
13826 @findex nnkiboze-generate-groups
13827 You must run @kbd{M-x nnkiboze-generate-groups} after creating the
13828 @code{nnkiboze} groups you want to have. This command will take time. Lots of
13829 time. Oodles and oodles of time. Gnus has to fetch the headers from
13830 all the articles in all the component groups and run them through the
13831 scoring process to determine if there are any articles in the groups
13832 that are to be part of the @code{nnkiboze} groups.
13834 Please limit the number of component groups by using restrictive
13835 regexps. Otherwise your sysadmin may become annoyed with you, and the
13836 @sc{nntp} site may throw you off and never let you back in again.
13837 Stranger things have happened.
13839 @code{nnkiboze} component groups do not have to be alive---they can be dead,
13840 and they can be foreign. No restrictions.
13842 @vindex nnkiboze-directory
13843 The generation of an @code{nnkiboze} group means writing two files in
13844 @code{nnkiboze-directory}, which is @file{~/News/} by default. One
13845 contains the @sc{nov} header lines for all the articles in the group,
13846 and the other is an additional @file{.newsrc} file to store information
13847 on what groups have been searched through to find component articles.
13849 Articles marked as read in the @code{nnkiboze} group will have
13850 their @sc{nov} lines removed from the @sc{nov} file.
13853 @node Gnus Unplugged
13854 @section Gnus Unplugged
13859 @cindex Gnus Unplugged
13861 In olden times (ca. February '88), people used to run their newsreaders
13862 on big machines with permanent connections to the net. News transport
13863 was dealt with by news servers, and all the newsreaders had to do was to
13864 read news. Believe it or not.
13866 Nowadays most people read news and mail at home, and use some sort of
13867 modem to connect to the net. To avoid running up huge phone bills, it
13868 would be nice to have a way to slurp down all the news and mail, hang up
13869 the phone, read for several hours, and then upload any responses you
13870 have to make. And then you repeat the procedure.
13872 Of course, you can use news servers for doing this as well. I've used
13873 @code{inn} together with @code{slurp}, @code{pop} and @code{sendmail}
13874 for some years, but doing that's a bore. Moving the news server
13875 functionality up to the newsreader makes sense if you're the only person
13876 reading news on a machine.
13878 Using Gnus as an ``offline'' newsreader is quite simple.
13882 First, set up Gnus as you would do if you were running it on a machine
13883 that has full connection to the net. Go ahead. I'll still be waiting
13887 Then, put the following magical incantation at the end of your
13888 @file{.gnus.el} file:
13895 That's it. Gnus is now an ``offline'' newsreader.
13897 Of course, to use it as such, you have to learn a few new commands.
13900 * Agent Basics:: How it all is supposed to work.
13901 * Agent Categories:: How to tell the Gnus Agent what to download.
13902 * Agent Commands:: New commands for all the buffers.
13903 * Agent Expiry:: How to make old articles go away.
13904 * Outgoing Messages:: What happens when you post/mail something?
13905 * Agent Variables:: Customizing is fun.
13906 * Example Setup:: An example @file{.gnus.el} file for offline people.
13907 * Batching Agents:: How to fetch news from a @code{cron} job.
13908 * Agent Caveats:: What you think it'll do and what it does.
13913 @subsection Agent Basics
13915 First, let's get some terminology out of the way.
13917 The Gnus Agent is said to be @dfn{unplugged} when you have severed the
13918 connection to the net (and notified the Agent that this is the case).
13919 When the connection to the net is up again (and Gnus knows this), the
13920 Agent is @dfn{plugged}.
13922 The @dfn{local} machine is the one you're running on, and which isn't
13923 connected to the net continuously.
13925 @dfn{Downloading} means fetching things from the net to your local
13926 machine. @dfn{Uploading} is doing the opposite.
13928 Let's take a typical Gnus session using the Agent.
13933 You start Gnus with @code{gnus-unplugged}. This brings up the Gnus
13934 Agent in a disconnected state. You can read all the news that you have
13935 already fetched while in this mode.
13938 You then decide to see whether any new news has arrived. You connect
13939 your machine to the net (using PPP or whatever), and then hit @kbd{J j}
13940 to make Gnus become @dfn{plugged}.
13943 You can then read the new news immediately, or you can download the news
13944 onto your local machine. If you want to do the latter, you press @kbd{J
13945 s} to fetch all the eligible articles in all the groups. (To let Gnus
13946 know which articles you want to download, @pxref{Agent Categories}.)
13949 After fetching the articles, you press @kbd{J j} to make Gnus become
13950 unplugged again, and you shut down the PPP thing (or whatever). And
13951 then you read the news offline.
13954 And then you go to step 2.
13957 Here are some things you should do the first time (or so) that you use
13963 Decide which servers should be covered by the Agent. If you have a mail
13964 backend, it would probably be nonsensical to have it covered by the
13965 Agent. Go to the server buffer (@kbd{^} in the group buffer) and press
13966 @kbd{J a} the server (or servers) that you wish to have covered by the
13967 Agent (@pxref{Server Agent Commands}). This will typically be only the
13968 primary select method, which is listed on the bottom in the buffer.
13971 Decide on download policy. @xref{Agent Categories}.
13978 @node Agent Categories
13979 @subsection Agent Categories
13981 One of the main reasons to integrate the news transport layer into the
13982 newsreader is to allow greater control over what articles to download.
13983 There's not much point in downloading huge amounts of articles, just to
13984 find out that you're not interested in reading any of them. It's better
13985 to be somewhat more conservative in choosing what to download, and then
13986 mark the articles for downloading manually if it should turn out that
13987 you're interested in the articles anyway.
13989 The main way to control what is to be downloaded is to create a
13990 @dfn{category} and then assign some (or all) groups to this category.
13991 Groups that do not belong in any other category belong to the
13992 @code{default} category. Gnus has its own buffer for creating and
13993 managing categories.
13996 * Category Syntax:: What a category looks like.
13997 * The Category Buffer:: A buffer for maintaining categories.
13998 * Category Variables:: Customize'r'Us.
14002 @node Category Syntax
14003 @subsubsection Category Syntax
14005 A category consists of two things.
14009 A predicate which (generally) gives a rough outline of which articles
14010 are eligible for downloading; and
14013 a score rule which (generally) gives you a finer granularity when
14014 deciding what articles to download. (Note that this @dfn{download
14015 score} is not necessarily related to normal scores.)
14018 A predicate in its simplest form can be a single predicate such as
14019 @code{true} or @code{false}. These two will download every available
14020 article or nothing respectively. In the case of these two special
14021 predicates an additional score rule is superfluous.
14023 Predicates of @code{high} or @code{low} download articles in respect of
14024 their scores in relationship to @code{gnus-agent-high-score} and
14025 @code{gnus-agent-low-score} as descibed below.
14027 To gain even finer control of what is to be regarded eligible for
14028 download a predicate can consist of a number of predicates with logical
14029 operators sprinkled in between.
14031 Perhaps some examples are in order.
14033 Here's a simple predicate. (It's the default predicate, in fact, used
14034 for all groups that don't belong to any other category.)
14040 Quite simple, eh? This predicate is true if and only if the article is
14041 short (for some value of ``short'').
14043 Here's a more complex predicate:
14052 This means that an article should be downloaded if it has a high score,
14053 or if the score is not low and the article is not long. You get the
14056 The available logical operators are @code{or}, @code{and} and
14057 @code{not}. (If you prefer, you can use the more ``C''-ish operators
14058 @samp{|}, @code{&} and @code{!} instead.)
14060 The following predicates are pre-defined, but if none of these fit what
14061 you want to do, you can write your own.
14065 True iff the article is shorter than @code{gnus-agent-short-article}
14066 lines; default 100.
14069 True iff the article is longer than @code{gnus-agent-long-article}
14070 lines; default 200.
14073 True iff the article has a download score less than
14074 @code{gnus-agent-low-score}; default 0.
14077 True iff the article has a download score greater than
14078 @code{gnus-agent-high-score}; default 0.
14081 True iff the Gnus Agent guesses that the article is spam. The
14082 heuristics may change over time, but at present it just computes a
14083 checksum and sees whether articles match.
14092 If you want to create your own predicate function, here's what you have
14093 to know: The functions are called with no parameters, but the
14094 @code{gnus-headers} and @code{gnus-score} dynamic variables are bound to
14097 For example, you could decide that you don't want to download articles
14098 that were posted more than a certain number of days ago (e.g. posted
14099 more than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} ago) you might write a function
14100 something along the lines of the following:
14103 (defun my-article-old-p ()
14104 "Say whether an article is old."
14105 (< (time-to-days (date-to-time (mail-header-date gnus-headers)))
14106 (- (time-to-days (current-time)) gnus-agent-expire-days)))
14109 with the predicate then defined as:
14112 (not my-article-old-p)
14115 or you could append your predicate to the predefined
14116 @code{gnus-category-predicate-alist} in your @file{~/.gnus.el} or
14117 wherever. (Note: this would have to be at a point *after*
14118 @code{gnus-agent} has been loaded via @code{(gnus-agentize)})
14121 (defvar gnus-category-predicate-alist
14122 (append gnus-category-predicate-alist
14123 '((old . my-article-old-p))))
14126 and simply specify your predicate as:
14132 If/when using something like the above, be aware that there are many
14133 misconfigured systems/mailers out there and so an article's date is not
14134 always a reliable indication of when it was posted. Hell, some people
14135 just don't give a damm.
14137 The above predicates apply to *all* the groups which belong to the
14138 category. However, if you wish to have a specific predicate for an
14139 individual group within a category, or you're just too lazy to set up a
14140 new category, you can enter a group's individual predicate in it's group
14141 parameters like so:
14144 (agent-predicate . short)
14147 This is the group parameter equivalent of the agent category default.
14148 Note that when specifying a single word predicate like this, the
14149 @code{agent-predicate} specification must be in dotted pair notation.
14151 The equivalent of the longer example from above would be:
14154 (agent-predicate or high (and (not low) (not long)))
14157 The outer parenthesis required in the category specification are not
14158 entered here as, not being in dotted pair notation, the value of the
14159 predicate is assumed to be a list.
14162 Now, the syntax of the download score is the same as the syntax of
14163 normal score files, except that all elements that require actually
14164 seeing the article itself are verboten. This means that only the
14165 following headers can be scored on: @code{Subject}, @code{From},
14166 @code{Date}, @code{Message-ID}, @code{References}, @code{Chars},
14167 @code{Lines}, and @code{Xref}.
14169 As with predicates, the specification of the @code{download score rule}
14170 to use in respect of a group can be in either the category definition if
14171 it's to be applicable to all groups in therein, or a group's parameters
14172 if it's to be specific to that group.
14174 In both of these places the @code{download score rule} can take one of
14181 This has the same syntax as a normal gnus score file except only a
14182 subset of scoring keywords are available as mentioned above.
14188 Category specification
14192 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14198 Group Parameter specification
14201 (agent-score ("from"
14202 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" 1000000 nil s))
14207 Again, note the omission of the outermost parenthesis here.
14213 These score files must *only* contain the permitted scoring keywords
14220 Category specification
14223 ("~/News/agent.SCORE")
14229 ("~/News/agent.SCORE" "~/News/agent.group.SCORE")
14233 Group Parameter specification
14236 (agent-score "~/News/agent.SCORE")
14239 Additional score files can be specified as above. Need I say anything
14244 Use @code{normal} score files
14246 If you dont want to maintain two sets of scoring rules for a group, and
14247 your desired @code{downloading} criteria for a group are the same as your
14248 @code{reading} criteria then you can tell the agent to refer to your
14249 @code{normal} score files when deciding what to download.
14251 These directives in either the category definition or a group's
14252 parameters will cause the agent to read in all the applicable score
14253 files for a group, *filtering out* those those sections that do not
14254 relate to one of the permitted subset of scoring keywords.
14258 Category Specification
14265 Group Parameter specification
14268 (agent-score . file)
14273 @node The Category Buffer
14274 @subsubsection The Category Buffer
14276 You'd normally do all category maintenance from the category buffer.
14277 When you enter it for the first time (with the @kbd{J c} command from
14278 the group buffer), you'll only see the @code{default} category.
14280 The following commands are available in this buffer:
14284 @kindex q (Category)
14285 @findex gnus-category-exit
14286 Return to the group buffer (@code{gnus-category-exit}).
14289 @kindex k (Category)
14290 @findex gnus-category-kill
14291 Kill the current category (@code{gnus-category-kill}).
14294 @kindex c (Category)
14295 @findex gnus-category-copy
14296 Copy the current category (@code{gnus-category-copy}).
14299 @kindex a (Category)
14300 @findex gnus-category-add
14301 Add a new category (@code{gnus-category-add}).
14304 @kindex p (Category)
14305 @findex gnus-category-edit-predicate
14306 Edit the predicate of the current category
14307 (@code{gnus-category-edit-predicate}).
14310 @kindex g (Category)
14311 @findex gnus-category-edit-groups
14312 Edit the list of groups belonging to the current category
14313 (@code{gnus-category-edit-groups}).
14316 @kindex s (Category)
14317 @findex gnus-category-edit-score
14318 Edit the download score rule of the current category
14319 (@code{gnus-category-edit-score}).
14322 @kindex l (Category)
14323 @findex gnus-category-list
14324 List all the categories (@code{gnus-category-list}).
14328 @node Category Variables
14329 @subsubsection Category Variables
14332 @item gnus-category-mode-hook
14333 @vindex gnus-category-mode-hook
14334 Hook run in category buffers.
14336 @item gnus-category-line-format
14337 @vindex gnus-category-line-format
14338 Format of the lines in the category buffer (@pxref{Formatting
14339 Variables}). Valid elements are:
14343 The name of the category.
14346 The number of groups in the category.
14349 @item gnus-category-mode-line-format
14350 @vindex gnus-category-mode-line-format
14351 Format of the category mode line (@pxref{Mode Line Formatting}).
14353 @item gnus-agent-short-article
14354 @vindex gnus-agent-short-article
14355 Articles that have fewer lines than this are short. Default 100.
14357 @item gnus-agent-long-article
14358 @vindex gnus-agent-long-article
14359 Articles that have more lines than this are long. Default 200.
14361 @item gnus-agent-low-score
14362 @vindex gnus-agent-low-score
14363 Articles that have a score lower than this have a low score. Default
14366 @item gnus-agent-high-score
14367 @vindex gnus-agent-high-score
14368 Articles that have a score higher than this have a high score. Default
14374 @node Agent Commands
14375 @subsection Agent Commands
14377 All the Gnus Agent commands are on the @kbd{J} submap. The @kbd{J j}
14378 (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-plugged} command works in all modes, and
14379 toggles the plugged/unplugged state of the Gnus Agent.
14383 * Group Agent Commands::
14384 * Summary Agent Commands::
14385 * Server Agent Commands::
14388 You can run a complete batch fetch from the command line with the
14389 following incantation:
14391 @cindex gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14393 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-agent-batch-fetch
14398 @node Group Agent Commands
14399 @subsubsection Group Agent Commands
14403 @kindex J u (Agent Group)
14404 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-groups
14405 Fetch all eligible articles in the current group
14406 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-groups}).
14409 @kindex J c (Agent Group)
14410 @findex gnus-enter-category-buffer
14411 Enter the Agent category buffer (@code{gnus-enter-category-buffer}).
14414 @kindex J s (Agent Group)
14415 @findex gnus-agent-fetch-session
14416 Fetch all eligible articles in all groups
14417 (@code{gnus-agent-fetch-session}).
14420 @kindex J S (Agent Group)
14421 @findex gnus-group-send-drafts
14422 Send all sendable messages in the draft group
14423 (@code{gnus-group-send-drafts}). @xref{Drafts}.
14426 @kindex J a (Agent Group)
14427 @findex gnus-agent-add-group
14428 Add the current group to an Agent category
14429 (@code{gnus-agent-add-group}). This command understands the
14430 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14433 @kindex J r (Agent Group)
14434 @findex gnus-agent-remove-group
14435 Remove the current group from its category, if any
14436 (@code{gnus-agent-remove-group}). This command understands the
14437 process/prefix convention (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
14442 @node Summary Agent Commands
14443 @subsubsection Summary Agent Commands
14447 @kindex J # (Agent Summary)
14448 @findex gnus-agent-mark-article
14449 Mark the article for downloading (@code{gnus-agent-mark-article}).
14452 @kindex J M-# (Agent Summary)
14453 @findex gnus-agent-unmark-article
14454 Remove the downloading mark from the article
14455 (@code{gnus-agent-unmark-article}).
14458 @kindex @@ (Agent Summary)
14459 @findex gnus-agent-toggle-mark
14460 Toggle whether to download the article (@code{gnus-agent-toggle-mark}).
14463 @kindex J c (Agent Summary)
14464 @findex gnus-agent-catchup
14465 Mark all undownloaded articles as read (@code{gnus-agent-catchup}).
14470 @node Server Agent Commands
14471 @subsubsection Server Agent Commands
14475 @kindex J a (Agent Server)
14476 @findex gnus-agent-add-server
14477 Add the current server to the list of servers covered by the Gnus Agent
14478 (@code{gnus-agent-add-server}).
14481 @kindex J r (Agent Server)
14482 @findex gnus-agent-remove-server
14483 Remove the current server from the list of servers covered by the Gnus
14484 Agent (@code{gnus-agent-remove-server}).
14490 @subsection Agent Expiry
14492 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-days
14493 @findex gnus-agent-expire
14494 @kindex M-x gnus-agent-expire
14495 @cindex Agent expiry
14496 @cindex Gnus Agent expiry
14499 @code{nnagent} doesn't handle expiry. Instead, there's a special
14500 @code{gnus-agent-expire} command that will expire all read articles that
14501 are older than @code{gnus-agent-expire-days} days. It can be run
14502 whenever you feel that you're running out of space. It's not
14503 particularly fast or efficient, and it's not a particularly good idea to
14504 interrupt it (with @kbd{C-g} or anything else) once you've started it.
14506 @vindex gnus-agent-expire-all
14507 if @code{gnus-agent-expire-all} is non-@code{nil}, this command will
14508 expire all articles---unread, read, ticked and dormant. If @code{nil}
14509 (which is the default), only read articles are eligible for expiry, and
14510 unread, ticked and dormant articles will be kept indefinitely.
14513 @node Outgoing Messages
14514 @subsection Outgoing Messages
14516 When Gnus is unplugged, all outgoing messages (both mail and news) are
14517 stored in the draft groups (@pxref{Drafts}). You can view them there
14518 after posting, and edit them at will.
14520 When Gnus is plugged again, you can send the messages either from the
14521 draft group with the special commands available there, or you can use
14522 the @kbd{J S} command in the group buffer to send all the sendable
14523 messages in the draft group.
14527 @node Agent Variables
14528 @subsection Agent Variables
14531 @item gnus-agent-directory
14532 @vindex gnus-agent-directory
14533 Where the Gnus Agent will store its files. The default is
14534 @file{~/News/agent/}.
14536 @item gnus-agent-handle-level
14537 @vindex gnus-agent-handle-level
14538 Groups on levels (@pxref{Group Levels}) higher than this variable will
14539 be ignored by the Agent. The default is @code{gnus-level-subscribed},
14540 which means that only subscribed group will be considered by the Agent
14543 @item gnus-agent-plugged-hook
14544 @vindex gnus-agent-plugged-hook
14545 Hook run when connecting to the network.
14547 @item gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
14548 @vindex gnus-agent-unplugged-hook
14549 Hook run when disconnecting from the network.
14554 @node Example Setup
14555 @subsection Example Setup
14557 If you don't want to read this manual, and you have a fairly standard
14558 setup, you may be able to use something like the following as your
14559 @file{.gnus.el} file to get started.
14562 ;;; Define how Gnus is to fetch news. We do this over @sc{nntp}
14563 ;;; from your ISP's server.
14564 (setq gnus-select-method '(nntp "news.your-isp.com"))
14566 ;;; Define how Gnus is to read your mail. We read mail from
14567 ;;; your ISP's POP server.
14568 (setq mail-sources '((pop :server "pop.your-isp.com")))
14570 ;;; Say how Gnus is to store the mail. We use nnml groups.
14571 (setq gnus-secondary-select-methods '((nnml "")))
14573 ;;; Make Gnus into an offline newsreader.
14577 That should be it, basically. Put that in your @file{~/.gnus.el} file,
14578 edit to suit your needs, start up PPP (or whatever), and type @kbd{M-x
14581 If this is the first time you've run Gnus, you will be subscribed
14582 automatically to a few default newsgroups. You'll probably want to
14583 subscribe to more groups, and to do that, you have to query the
14584 @sc{nntp} server for a complete list of groups with the @kbd{A A}
14585 command. This usually takes quite a while, but you only have to do it
14588 After reading and parsing a while, you'll be presented with a list of
14589 groups. Subscribe to the ones you want to read with the @kbd{u}
14590 command. @kbd{l} to make all the killed groups disappear after you've
14591 subscribe to all the groups you want to read. (@kbd{A k} will bring
14592 back all the killed groups.)
14594 You can now read the groups at once, or you can download the articles
14595 with the @kbd{J s} command. And then read the rest of this manual to
14596 find out which of the other gazillion things you want to customize.
14599 @node Batching Agents
14600 @subsection Batching Agents
14602 Having the Gnus Agent fetch articles (and post whatever messages you've
14603 written) is quite easy once you've gotten things set up properly. The
14604 following shell script will do everything that is necessary:
14608 emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -f gnus-agent-batch >/dev/null
14612 @node Agent Caveats
14613 @subsection Agent Caveats
14615 The Gnus Agent doesn't seem to work like most other offline
14616 newsreaders. Here are some common questions that some imaginary people
14620 @item If I read an article while plugged, do they get entered into the
14625 @item If I read an article while plugged, and the article already exists
14626 in the Agent, will it get downloaded once more?
14632 In short, when Gnus is unplugged, it only looks into the locally stored
14633 articles; when it's plugged, it only talks to your ISP.
14640 Other people use @dfn{kill files}, but we here at Gnus Towers like
14641 scoring better than killing, so we'd rather switch than fight. They do
14642 something completely different as well, so sit up straight and pay
14645 @vindex gnus-summary-mark-below
14646 All articles have a default score (@code{gnus-summary-default-score}),
14647 which is 0 by default. This score may be raised or lowered either
14648 interactively or by score files. Articles that have a score lower than
14649 @code{gnus-summary-mark-below} are marked as read.
14651 Gnus will read any @dfn{score files} that apply to the current group
14652 before generating the summary buffer.
14654 There are several commands in the summary buffer that insert score
14655 entries based on the current article. You can, for instance, ask Gnus to
14656 lower or increase the score of all articles with a certain subject.
14658 There are two sorts of scoring entries: Permanent and temporary.
14659 Temporary score entries are self-expiring entries. Any entries that are
14660 temporary and have not been used for, say, a week, will be removed
14661 silently to help keep the sizes of the score files down.
14664 * Summary Score Commands:: Adding score entries for the current group.
14665 * Group Score Commands:: General score commands.
14666 * Score Variables:: Customize your scoring. (My, what terminology).
14667 * Score File Format:: What a score file may contain.
14668 * Score File Editing:: You can edit score files by hand as well.
14669 * Adaptive Scoring:: Big Sister Gnus knows what you read.
14670 * Home Score File:: How to say where new score entries are to go.
14671 * Followups To Yourself:: Having Gnus notice when people answer you.
14672 * Scoring Tips:: How to score effectively.
14673 * Reverse Scoring:: That problem child of old is not problem.
14674 * Global Score Files:: Earth-spanning, ear-splitting score files.
14675 * Kill Files:: They are still here, but they can be ignored.
14676 * Converting Kill Files:: Translating kill files to score files.
14677 * GroupLens:: Getting predictions on what you like to read.
14678 * Advanced Scoring:: Using logical expressions to build score rules.
14679 * Score Decays:: It can be useful to let scores wither away.
14683 @node Summary Score Commands
14684 @section Summary Score Commands
14685 @cindex score commands
14687 The score commands that alter score entries do not actually modify real
14688 score files. That would be too inefficient. Gnus maintains a cache of
14689 previously loaded score files, one of which is considered the
14690 @dfn{current score file alist}. The score commands simply insert
14691 entries into this list, and upon group exit, this list is saved.
14693 The current score file is by default the group's local score file, even
14694 if no such score file actually exists. To insert score commands into
14695 some other score file (e.g. @file{all.SCORE}), you must first make this
14696 score file the current one.
14698 General score commands that don't actually change the score file:
14703 @kindex V s (Summary)
14704 @findex gnus-summary-set-score
14705 Set the score of the current article (@code{gnus-summary-set-score}).
14708 @kindex V S (Summary)
14709 @findex gnus-summary-current-score
14710 Display the score of the current article
14711 (@code{gnus-summary-current-score}).
14714 @kindex V t (Summary)
14715 @findex gnus-score-find-trace
14716 Display all score rules that have been used on the current article
14717 (@code{gnus-score-find-trace}).
14720 @kindex V R (Summary)
14721 @findex gnus-summary-rescore
14722 Run the current summary through the scoring process
14723 (@code{gnus-summary-rescore}). This might be useful if you're playing
14724 around with your score files behind Gnus' back and want to see the
14725 effect you're having.
14728 @kindex V c (Summary)
14729 @findex gnus-score-change-score-file
14730 Make a different score file the current
14731 (@code{gnus-score-change-score-file}).
14734 @kindex V e (Summary)
14735 @findex gnus-score-edit-current-scores
14736 Edit the current score file (@code{gnus-score-edit-current-scores}).
14737 You will be popped into a @code{gnus-score-mode} buffer (@pxref{Score
14741 @kindex V f (Summary)
14742 @findex gnus-score-edit-file
14743 Edit a score file and make this score file the current one
14744 (@code{gnus-score-edit-file}).
14747 @kindex V F (Summary)
14748 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14749 Flush the score cache (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}). This is useful
14750 after editing score files.
14753 @kindex V C (Summary)
14754 @findex gnus-score-customize
14755 Customize a score file in a visually pleasing manner
14756 (@code{gnus-score-customize}).
14760 The rest of these commands modify the local score file.
14765 @kindex V m (Summary)
14766 @findex gnus-score-set-mark-below
14767 Prompt for a score, and mark all articles with a score below this as
14768 read (@code{gnus-score-set-mark-below}).
14771 @kindex V x (Summary)
14772 @findex gnus-score-set-expunge-below
14773 Prompt for a score, and add a score rule to the current score file to
14774 expunge all articles below this score
14775 (@code{gnus-score-set-expunge-below}).
14778 The keystrokes for actually making score entries follow a very regular
14779 pattern, so there's no need to list all the commands. (Hundreds of
14782 @findex gnus-summary-increase-score
14783 @findex gnus-summary-lower-score
14787 The first key is either @kbd{I} (upper case i) for increasing the score
14788 or @kbd{L} for lowering the score.
14790 The second key says what header you want to score on. The following
14791 keys are available:
14795 Score on the author name.
14798 Score on the subject line.
14801 Score on the @code{Xref} line---i.e., the cross-posting line.
14804 Score on the @code{References} line.
14810 Score on the number of lines.
14813 Score on the @code{Message-ID} header.
14816 Score on followups---this matches the author name, and adds scores to
14817 the followups to this author.
14831 The third key is the match type. Which match types are valid depends on
14832 what headers you are scoring on.
14844 Substring matching.
14847 Fuzzy matching (@pxref{Fuzzy Matching}).
14876 Greater than number.
14881 The fourth and final key says whether this is a temporary (i.e., expiring)
14882 score entry, or a permanent (i.e., non-expiring) score entry, or whether
14883 it is to be done immediately, without adding to the score file.
14887 Temporary score entry.
14890 Permanent score entry.
14893 Immediately scoring.
14898 So, let's say you want to increase the score on the current author with
14899 exact matching permanently: @kbd{I a e p}. If you want to lower the
14900 score based on the subject line, using substring matching, and make a
14901 temporary score entry: @kbd{L s s t}. Pretty easy.
14903 To make things a bit more complicated, there are shortcuts. If you use
14904 a capital letter on either the second or third keys, Gnus will use
14905 defaults for the remaining one or two keystrokes. The defaults are
14906 ``substring'' and ``temporary''. So @kbd{I A} is the same as @kbd{I a s
14907 t}, and @kbd{I a R} is the same as @kbd{I a r t}.
14909 These functions take both the numerical prefix and the symbolic prefix
14910 (@pxref{Symbolic Prefixes}). A numerical prefix says how much to lower
14911 (or increase) the score of the article. A symbolic prefix of @code{a}
14912 says to use the @file{all.SCORE} file for the command instead of the
14913 current score file.
14915 @vindex gnus-score-mimic-keymap
14916 The @code{gnus-score-mimic-keymap} says whether these commands will
14917 pretend they are keymaps or not.
14920 @node Group Score Commands
14921 @section Group Score Commands
14922 @cindex group score commands
14924 There aren't many of these as yet, I'm afraid.
14929 @kindex W f (Group)
14930 @findex gnus-score-flush-cache
14931 Gnus maintains a cache of score alists to avoid having to reload them
14932 all the time. This command will flush the cache
14933 (@code{gnus-score-flush-cache}).
14937 You can do scoring from the command line by saying something like:
14939 @findex gnus-batch-score
14940 @cindex batch scoring
14942 $ emacs -batch -l ~/.emacs -l ~/.gnus.el -f gnus-batch-score
14946 @node Score Variables
14947 @section Score Variables
14948 @cindex score variables
14952 @item gnus-use-scoring
14953 @vindex gnus-use-scoring
14954 If @code{nil}, Gnus will not check for score files, and will not, in
14955 general, do any score-related work. This is @code{t} by default.
14957 @item gnus-kill-killed
14958 @vindex gnus-kill-killed
14959 If this variable is @code{nil}, Gnus will never apply score files to
14960 articles that have already been through the kill process. While this
14961 may save you lots of time, it also means that if you apply a kill file
14962 to a group, and then change the kill file and want to run it over you
14963 group again to kill more articles, it won't work. You have to set this
14964 variable to @code{t} to do that. (It is @code{t} by default.)
14966 @item gnus-kill-files-directory
14967 @vindex gnus-kill-files-directory
14968 All kill and score files will be stored in this directory, which is
14969 initialized from the @code{SAVEDIR} environment variable by default.
14970 This is @file{~/News/} by default.
14972 @item gnus-score-file-suffix
14973 @vindex gnus-score-file-suffix
14974 Suffix to add to the group name to arrive at the score file name
14975 (@samp{SCORE} by default.)
14977 @item gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14978 @vindex gnus-score-uncacheable-files
14979 @cindex score cache
14980 All score files are normally cached to avoid excessive re-loading of
14981 score files. However, if this might make your Emacs grow big and
14982 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
14983 @file{all.SCORE}, while it might be a good idea to not cache
14984 @file{comp.infosystems.www.authoring.misc.ADAPT}. In fact, this
14985 variable is @samp{ADAPT$} by default, so no adaptive score files will
14988 @item gnus-save-score
14989 @vindex gnus-save-score
14990 If you have really complicated score files, and do lots of batch
14991 scoring, then you might set this variable to @code{t}. This will make
14992 Gnus save the scores into the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
14994 If you do not set this to @code{t}, then manual scores (like those set
14995 with @kbd{V s} (@code{gnus-summary-set-score})) will not be preserved
14996 across group visits.
14998 @item gnus-score-interactive-default-score
14999 @vindex gnus-score-interactive-default-score
15000 Score used by all the interactive raise/lower commands to raise/lower
15001 score with. Default is 1000, which may seem excessive, but this is to
15002 ensure that the adaptive scoring scheme gets enough room to play with.
15003 We don't want the small changes from the adaptive scoring to overwrite
15004 manually entered data.
15006 @item gnus-summary-default-score
15007 @vindex gnus-summary-default-score
15008 Default score of an article, which is 0 by default.
15010 @item gnus-summary-expunge-below
15011 @vindex gnus-summary-expunge-below
15012 Don't display the summary lines of articles that have scores lower than
15013 this variable. This is @code{nil} by default, which means that no
15014 articles will be hidden. This variable is local to the summary buffers,
15015 and has to be set from @code{gnus-summary-mode-hook}.
15017 @item gnus-score-over-mark
15018 @vindex gnus-score-over-mark
15019 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score over the
15020 default. Default is @samp{+}.
15022 @item gnus-score-below-mark
15023 @vindex gnus-score-below-mark
15024 Mark (in the third column) used for articles with a score below the
15025 default. Default is @samp{-}.
15027 @item gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15028 @vindex gnus-score-find-score-files-function
15029 Function used to find score files for the current group. This function
15030 is called with the name of the group as the argument.
15032 Predefined functions available are:
15035 @item gnus-score-find-single
15036 @findex gnus-score-find-single
15037 Only apply the group's own score file.
15039 @item gnus-score-find-bnews
15040 @findex gnus-score-find-bnews
15041 Apply all score files that match, using bnews syntax. This is the
15042 default. If the current group is @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}, for instance,
15043 @file{all.emacs.all.SCORE}, @file{not.alt.all.SCORE} and
15044 @file{gnu.all.SCORE} would all apply. In short, the instances of
15045 @samp{all} in the score file names are translated into @samp{.*}, and
15046 then a regexp match is done.
15048 This means that if you have some score entries that you want to apply to
15049 all groups, then you put those entries in the @file{all.SCORE} file.
15051 The score files are applied in a semi-random order, although Gnus will
15052 try to apply the more general score files before the more specific score
15053 files. It does this by looking at the number of elements in the score
15054 file names---discarding the @samp{all} elements.
15056 @item gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15057 @findex gnus-score-find-hierarchical
15058 Apply all score files from all the parent groups. This means that you
15059 can't have score files like @file{all.SCORE}, but you can have
15060 @file{SCORE}, @file{comp.SCORE} and @file{comp.emacs.SCORE}.
15063 This variable can also be a list of functions. In that case, all these
15064 functions will be called, and all the returned lists of score files will
15065 be applied. These functions can also return lists of score alists
15066 directly. In that case, the functions that return these non-file score
15067 alists should probably be placed before the ``real'' score file
15068 functions, to ensure that the last score file returned is the local
15071 @item gnus-score-expiry-days
15072 @vindex gnus-score-expiry-days
15073 This variable says how many days should pass before an unused score file
15074 entry is expired. If this variable is @code{nil}, no score file entries
15075 are expired. It's 7 by default.
15077 @item gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15078 @vindex gnus-update-score-entry-dates
15079 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, matching score entries will have
15080 their dates updated. (This is how Gnus controls expiry---all
15081 non-matching entries will become too old while matching entries will
15082 stay fresh and young.) However, if you set this variable to @code{nil},
15083 even matching entries will grow old and will have to face that oh-so
15086 @item gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15087 @vindex gnus-score-after-write-file-function
15088 Function called with the name of the score file just written.
15090 @item gnus-score-thread-simplify
15091 @vindex gnus-score-thread-simplify
15092 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, article subjects will be simplified
15093 for subject scoring purposes in the same manner as with
15094 threading---according to the current value of
15095 gnus-simplify-subject-functions. If the scoring entry uses
15096 @code{substring} or @code{exact} matching, the match will also be
15097 simplified in this manner.
15102 @node Score File Format
15103 @section Score File Format
15104 @cindex score file format
15106 A score file is an @code{emacs-lisp} file that normally contains just a
15107 single form. Casual users are not expected to edit these files;
15108 everything can be changed from the summary buffer.
15110 Anyway, if you'd like to dig into it yourself, here's an example:
15114 ("Lars Ingebrigtsen" -10000)
15116 ("larsi\\|lmi" -50000 nil R))
15118 ("Ding is Badd" nil 728373))
15120 ("alt.politics" -1000 728372 s))
15125 (mark-and-expunge -10)
15129 (files "/hom/larsi/News/gnu.SCORE")
15130 (exclude-files "all.SCORE")
15131 (local (gnus-newsgroup-auto-expire t)
15132 (gnus-summary-make-false-root empty))
15136 This example demonstrates most score file elements. For a different
15137 approach, see @pxref{Advanced Scoring}.
15139 Even though this looks much like lisp code, nothing here is actually
15140 @code{eval}ed. The lisp reader is used to read this form, though, so it
15141 has to be valid syntactically, if not semantically.
15143 Six keys are supported by this alist:
15148 If the key is a string, it is the name of the header to perform the
15149 match on. Scoring can only be performed on these eight headers:
15150 @code{From}, @code{Subject}, @code{References}, @code{Message-ID},
15151 @code{Xref}, @code{Lines}, @code{Chars} and @code{Date}. In addition to
15152 these headers, there are three strings to tell Gnus to fetch the entire
15153 article and do the match on larger parts of the article: @code{Body}
15154 will perform the match on the body of the article, @code{Head} will
15155 perform the match on the head of the article, and @code{All} will
15156 perform the match on the entire article. Note that using any of these
15157 last three keys will slow down group entry @emph{considerably}. The
15158 final ``header'' you can score on is @code{Followup}. These score
15159 entries will result in new score entries being added for all follow-ups
15160 to articles that matches these score entries.
15162 Following this key is a arbitrary number of score entries, where each
15163 score entry has one to four elements.
15167 The first element is the @dfn{match element}. On most headers this will
15168 be a string, but on the Lines and Chars headers, this must be an
15172 If the second element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{score
15173 element}. This number should be an integer in the neginf to posinf
15174 interval. This number is added to the score of the article if the match
15175 is successful. If this element is not present, the
15176 @code{gnus-score-interactive-default-score} number will be used
15177 instead. This is 1000 by default.
15180 If the third element is present, it should be a number---the @dfn{date
15181 element}. This date says when the last time this score entry matched,
15182 which provides a mechanism for expiring the score entries. It this
15183 element is not present, the score entry is permanent. The date is
15184 represented by the number of days since December 31, 1 BCE.
15187 If the fourth element is present, it should be a symbol---the @dfn{type
15188 element}. This element specifies what function should be used to see
15189 whether this score entry matches the article. What match types that can
15190 be used depends on what header you wish to perform the match on.
15193 @item From, Subject, References, Xref, Message-ID
15194 For most header types, there are the @code{r} and @code{R} (regexp), as
15195 well as @code{s} and @code{S} (substring) types, and @code{e} and
15196 @code{E} (exact match), and @code{w} (word match) types. If this
15197 element is not present, Gnus will assume that substring matching should
15198 be used. @code{R}, @code{S}, and @code{E} differ from the others in
15199 that the matches will be done in a case-sensitive manner. All these
15200 one-letter types are really just abbreviations for the @code{regexp},
15201 @code{string}, @code{exact}, and @code{word} types, which you can use
15202 instead, if you feel like.
15205 These two headers use different match types: @code{<}, @code{>},
15206 @code{=}, @code{>=} and @code{<=}.
15208 These predicates are true if
15211 (PREDICATE HEADER MATCH)
15214 evaluates to non-@code{nil}. For instance, the advanced match
15215 @code{("lines" 4 <)} (@pxref{Advanced Scoring}) will result in the
15222 Or to put it another way: When using @code{<} on @code{Lines} with 4 as
15223 the match, we get the score added if the article has less than 4 lines.
15224 (It's easy to get confused and think it's the other way around. But
15225 it's not. I think.)
15227 When matching on @code{Lines}, be careful because some backends (like
15228 @code{nndir}) do not generate @code{Lines} header, so every article ends
15229 up being marked as having 0 lines. This can lead to strange results if
15230 you happen to lower score of the articles with few lines.
15233 For the Date header we have three kinda silly match types:
15234 @code{before}, @code{at} and @code{after}. I can't really imagine this
15235 ever being useful, but, like, it would feel kinda silly not to provide
15236 this function. Just in case. You never know. Better safe than sorry.
15237 Once burnt, twice shy. Don't judge a book by its cover. Never not have
15238 sex on a first date. (I have been told that at least one person, and I
15239 quote, ``found this function indispensable'', however.)
15243 A more useful match type is @code{regexp}. With it, you can match the
15244 date string using a regular expression. The date is normalized to
15245 ISO8601 compact format first---@var{YYYYMMDD}@code{T}@var{HHMMSS}. If
15246 you want to match all articles that have been posted on April 1st in
15247 every year, you could use @samp{....0401.........} as a match string,
15248 for instance. (Note that the date is kept in its original time zone, so
15249 this will match articles that were posted when it was April 1st where
15250 the article was posted from. Time zones are such wholesome fun for the
15253 @item Head, Body, All
15254 These three match keys use the same match types as the @code{From} (etc)
15258 This match key is somewhat special, in that it will match the
15259 @code{From} header, and affect the score of not only the matching
15260 articles, but also all followups to the matching articles. This allows
15261 you e.g. increase the score of followups to your own articles, or
15262 decrease the score of followups to the articles of some known
15263 trouble-maker. Uses the same match types as the @code{From} header
15264 uses. (Using this match key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT}
15268 This match key works along the same lines as the @code{Followup} match
15269 key. If you say that you want to score on a (sub-)thread started by an
15270 article with a @code{Message-ID} @var{x}, then you add a @samp{thread}
15271 match. This will add a new @samp{thread} match for each article that
15272 has @var{x} in its @code{References} header. (These new @samp{thread}
15273 matches will use the @code{Message-ID}s of these matching articles.)
15274 This will ensure that you can raise/lower the score of an entire thread,
15275 even though some articles in the thread may not have complete
15276 @code{References} headers. Note that using this may lead to
15277 undeterministic scores of the articles in the thread. (Using this match
15278 key will lead to creation of @file{ADAPT} files.)
15282 @cindex Score File Atoms
15284 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15285 lower than this number will be marked as read.
15288 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15289 lower than this number will be removed from the summary buffer.
15291 @item mark-and-expunge
15292 The value of this entry should be a number. Any articles with a score
15293 lower than this number will be marked as read and removed from the
15296 @item thread-mark-and-expunge
15297 The value of this entry should be a number. All articles that belong to
15298 a thread that has a total score below this number will be marked as read
15299 and removed from the summary buffer. @code{gnus-thread-score-function}
15300 says how to compute the total score for a thread.
15303 The value of this entry should be any number of file names. These files
15304 are assumed to be score files as well, and will be loaded the same way
15307 @item exclude-files
15308 The clue of this entry should be any number of files. These files will
15309 not be loaded, even though they would normally be so, for some reason or
15313 The value of this entry will be @code{eval}el. This element will be
15314 ignored when handling global score files.
15317 Read-only score files will not be updated or saved. Global score files
15318 should feature this atom (@pxref{Global Score Files}). (Note:
15319 @dfn{Global} here really means @dfn{global}; not your personal
15320 apply-to-all-groups score files.)
15323 The value of this entry should be a number. Articles that do not have
15324 parents will get this number added to their scores. Imagine you follow
15325 some high-volume newsgroup, like @samp{comp.lang.c}. Most likely you
15326 will only follow a few of the threads, also want to see any new threads.
15328 You can do this with the following two score file entries:
15332 (mark-and-expunge -100)
15335 When you enter the group the first time, you will only see the new
15336 threads. You then raise the score of the threads that you find
15337 interesting (with @kbd{I T} or @kbd{I S}), and ignore (@kbd{C y}) the
15338 rest. Next time you enter the group, you will see new articles in the
15339 interesting threads, plus any new threads.
15341 I.e.---the orphan score atom is for high-volume groups where there
15342 exist a few interesting threads which can't be found automatically by
15343 ordinary scoring rules.
15346 This entry controls the adaptive scoring. If it is @code{t}, the
15347 default adaptive scoring rules will be used. If it is @code{ignore}, no
15348 adaptive scoring will be performed on this group. If it is a list, this
15349 list will be used as the adaptive scoring rules. If it isn't present,
15350 or is something other than @code{t} or @code{ignore}, the default
15351 adaptive scoring rules will be used. If you want to use adaptive
15352 scoring on most groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
15353 @code{t}, and insert an @code{(adapt ignore)} in the groups where you do
15354 not want adaptive scoring. If you only want adaptive scoring in a few
15355 groups, you'd set @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to @code{nil}, and
15356 insert @code{(adapt t)} in the score files of the groups where you want
15360 All adaptive score entries will go to the file named by this entry. It
15361 will also be applied when entering the group. This atom might be handy
15362 if you want to adapt on several groups at once, using the same adaptive
15363 file for a number of groups.
15366 @cindex local variables
15367 The value of this entry should be a list of @code{(VAR VALUE)} pairs.
15368 Each @var{var} will be made buffer-local to the current summary buffer,
15369 and set to the value specified. This is a convenient, if somewhat
15370 strange, way of setting variables in some groups if you don't like hooks
15371 much. Note that the @var{value} won't be evaluated.
15375 @node Score File Editing
15376 @section Score File Editing
15378 You normally enter all scoring commands from the summary buffer, but you
15379 might feel the urge to edit them by hand as well, so we've supplied you
15380 with a mode for that.
15382 It's simply a slightly customized @code{emacs-lisp} mode, with these
15383 additional commands:
15388 @kindex C-c C-c (Score)
15389 @findex gnus-score-edit-done
15390 Save the changes you have made and return to the summary buffer
15391 (@code{gnus-score-edit-done}).
15394 @kindex C-c C-d (Score)
15395 @findex gnus-score-edit-insert-date
15396 Insert the current date in numerical format
15397 (@code{gnus-score-edit-insert-date}). This is really the day number, if
15398 you were wondering.
15401 @kindex C-c C-p (Score)
15402 @findex gnus-score-pretty-print
15403 The adaptive score files are saved in an unformatted fashion. If you
15404 intend to read one of these files, you want to @dfn{pretty print} it
15405 first. This command (@code{gnus-score-pretty-print}) does that for
15410 Type @kbd{M-x gnus-score-mode} to use this mode.
15412 @vindex gnus-score-mode-hook
15413 @code{gnus-score-menu-hook} is run in score mode buffers.
15415 In the summary buffer you can use commands like @kbd{V f} and @kbd{V
15416 e} to begin editing score files.
15419 @node Adaptive Scoring
15420 @section Adaptive Scoring
15421 @cindex adaptive scoring
15423 If all this scoring is getting you down, Gnus has a way of making it all
15424 happen automatically---as if by magic. Or rather, as if by artificial
15425 stupidity, to be precise.
15427 @vindex gnus-use-adaptive-scoring
15428 When you read an article, or mark an article as read, or kill an
15429 article, you leave marks behind. On exit from the group, Gnus can sniff
15430 these marks and add score elements depending on what marks it finds.
15431 You turn on this ability by setting @code{gnus-use-adaptive-scoring} to
15432 @code{t} or @code{(line)}. If you want score adaptively on separate
15433 words appearing in the subjects, you should set this variable to
15434 @code{(word)}. If you want to use both adaptive methods, set this
15435 variable to @code{(word line)}.
15437 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
15438 To give you complete control over the scoring process, you can customize
15439 the @code{gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist} variable. For instance, it
15440 might look something like this:
15443 (defvar gnus-default-adaptive-score-alist
15444 '((gnus-unread-mark)
15445 (gnus-ticked-mark (from 4))
15446 (gnus-dormant-mark (from 5))
15447 (gnus-del-mark (from -4) (subject -1))
15448 (gnus-read-mark (from 4) (subject 2))
15449 (gnus-expirable-mark (from -1) (subject -1))
15450 (gnus-killed-mark (from -1) (subject -3))
15451 (gnus-kill-file-mark)
15452 (gnus-ancient-mark)
15453 (gnus-low-score-mark)
15454 (gnus-catchup-mark (from -1) (subject -1))))
15457 As you see, each element in this alist has a mark as a key (either a
15458 variable name or a ``real'' mark---a character). Following this key is
15459 a arbitrary number of header/score pairs. If there are no header/score
15460 pairs following the key, no adaptive scoring will be done on articles
15461 that have that key as the article mark. For instance, articles with
15462 @code{gnus-unread-mark} in the example above will not get adaptive score
15465 Each article can have only one mark, so just a single of these rules
15466 will be applied to each article.
15468 To take @code{gnus-del-mark} as an example---this alist says that all
15469 articles that have that mark (i.e., are marked with @samp{D}) will have a
15470 score entry added to lower based on the @code{From} header by -4, and
15471 lowered by @code{Subject} by -1. Change this to fit your prejudices.
15473 If you have marked 10 articles with the same subject with
15474 @code{gnus-del-mark}, the rule for that mark will be applied ten times.
15475 That means that that subject will get a score of ten times -1, which
15476 should be, unless I'm much mistaken, -10.
15478 If you have auto-expirable (mail) groups (@pxref{Expiring Mail}), all
15479 the read articles will be marked with the @samp{E} mark. This'll
15480 probably make adaptive scoring slightly impossible, so auto-expiring and
15481 adaptive scoring doesn't really mix very well.
15483 The headers you can score on are @code{from}, @code{subject},
15484 @code{message-id}, @code{references}, @code{xref}, @code{lines},
15485 @code{chars} and @code{date}. In addition, you can score on
15486 @code{followup}, which will create an adaptive score entry that matches
15487 on the @code{References} header using the @code{Message-ID} of the
15488 current article, thereby matching the following thread.
15490 You can also score on @code{thread}, which will try to score all
15491 articles that appear in a thread. @code{thread} matches uses a
15492 @code{Message-ID} to match on the @code{References} header of the
15493 article. If the match is made, the @code{Message-ID} of the article is
15494 added to the @code{thread} rule. (Think about it. I'd recommend two
15495 aspirins afterwards.)
15497 If you use this scheme, you should set the score file atom @code{mark}
15498 to something small---like -300, perhaps, to avoid having small random
15499 changes result in articles getting marked as read.
15501 After using adaptive scoring for a week or so, Gnus should start to
15502 become properly trained and enhance the authors you like best, and kill
15503 the authors you like least, without you having to say so explicitly.
15505 You can control what groups the adaptive scoring is to be performed on
15506 by using the score files (@pxref{Score File Format}). This will also
15507 let you use different rules in different groups.
15509 @vindex gnus-adaptive-file-suffix
15510 The adaptive score entries will be put into a file where the name is the
15511 group name with @code{gnus-adaptive-file-suffix} appended. The default
15514 @vindex gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit
15515 When doing adaptive scoring, substring or fuzzy matching would probably
15516 give you the best results in most cases. However, if the header one
15517 matches is short, the possibility for false positives is great, so if
15518 the length of the match is less than
15519 @code{gnus-score-exact-adapt-limit}, exact matching will be used. If
15520 this variable is @code{nil}, exact matching will always be used to avoid
15523 @vindex gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
15524 As mentioned above, you can adapt either on individual words or entire
15525 headers. If you adapt on words, the
15526 @code{gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist} variable says what score
15527 each instance of a word should add given a mark.
15530 (setq gnus-default-adaptive-word-score-alist
15531 `((,gnus-read-mark . 30)
15532 (,gnus-catchup-mark . -10)
15533 (,gnus-killed-mark . -20)
15534 (,gnus-del-mark . -15)))
15537 This is the default value. If you have adaption on words enabled, every
15538 word that appears in subjects of articles marked with
15539 @code{gnus-read-mark} will result in a score rule that increase the
15540 score with 30 points.
15542 @vindex gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words
15543 @vindex gnus-ignored-adaptive-words
15544 Words that appear in the @code{gnus-default-ignored-adaptive-words} list
15545 will be ignored. If you wish to add more words to be ignored, use the
15546 @code{gnus-ignored-adaptive-words} list instead.
15548 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table
15549 When the scoring is done, @code{gnus-adaptive-word-syntax-table} is the
15550 syntax table in effect. It is similar to the standard syntax table, but
15551 it considers numbers to be non-word-constituent characters.
15553 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-minimum
15554 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} is set to a number, the adaptive
15555 word scoring process will never bring down the score of an article to
15556 below this number. The default is @code{nil}.
15558 @vindex gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words
15559 If @code{gnus-adaptive-word-no-group-words} is set to @code{t}, gnus
15560 won't adaptively word score any of the words in the group name. Useful
15561 for groups like @samp{comp.editors.emacs}, where most of the subject
15562 lines contain the word @samp{emacs}.
15564 After using this scheme for a while, it might be nice to write a
15565 @code{gnus-psychoanalyze-user} command to go through the rules and see
15566 what words you like and what words you don't like. Or perhaps not.
15568 Note that the adaptive word scoring thing is highly experimental and is
15569 likely to change in the future. Initial impressions seem to indicate
15570 that it's totally useless as it stands. Some more work (involving more
15571 rigorous statistical methods) will have to be done to make this useful.
15574 @node Home Score File
15575 @section Home Score File
15577 The score file where new score file entries will go is called the
15578 @dfn{home score file}. This is normally (and by default) the score file
15579 for the group itself. For instance, the home score file for
15580 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} is @file{gnu.emacs.gnus.SCORE}.
15582 However, this may not be what you want. It is often convenient to share
15583 a common home score file among many groups---all @samp{emacs} groups
15584 could perhaps use the same home score file.
15586 @vindex gnus-home-score-file
15587 The variable that controls this is @code{gnus-home-score-file}. It can
15592 A string. Then this file will be used as the home score file for all
15596 A function. The result of this function will be used as the home score
15597 file. The function will be called with the name of the group as the
15601 A list. The elements in this list can be:
15605 @code{(@var{regexp} @var{file-name})}. If the @var{regexp} matches the
15606 group name, the @var{file-name} will will be used as the home score file.
15609 A function. If the function returns non-nil, the result will be used as
15610 the home score file.
15613 A string. Use the string as the home score file.
15616 The list will be traversed from the beginning towards the end looking
15621 So, if you want to use just a single score file, you could say:
15624 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15625 "my-total-score-file.SCORE")
15628 If you want to use @file{gnu.SCORE} for all @samp{gnu} groups and
15629 @file{rec.SCORE} for all @samp{rec} groups (and so on), you can say:
15631 @findex gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file
15633 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15634 'gnus-hierarchial-home-score-file)
15637 This is a ready-made function provided for your convenience.
15638 Other functions include
15641 @item gnus-current-home-score-file
15642 @findex gnus-current-home-score-file
15643 Return the ``current'' regular score file. This will make scoring
15644 commands add entry to the ``innermost'' matching score file.
15648 If you want to have one score file for the @samp{emacs} groups and
15649 another for the @samp{comp} groups, while letting all other groups use
15650 their own home score files:
15653 (setq gnus-home-score-file
15654 ;; All groups that match the regexp "\\.emacs"
15655 '(("\\.emacs" "emacs.SCORE")
15656 ;; All the comp groups in one score file
15657 ("^comp" "comp.SCORE")))
15660 @vindex gnus-home-adapt-file
15661 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file} works exactly the same way as
15662 @code{gnus-home-score-file}, but says what the home adaptive score file
15663 is instead. All new adaptive file entries will go into the file
15664 specified by this variable, and the same syntax is allowed.
15666 In addition to using @code{gnus-home-score-file} and
15667 @code{gnus-home-adapt-file}, you can also use group parameters
15668 (@pxref{Group Parameters}) and topic parameters (@pxref{Topic
15669 Parameters}) to achieve much the same. Group and topic parameters take
15670 precedence over this variable.
15673 @node Followups To Yourself
15674 @section Followups To Yourself
15676 Gnus offers two commands for picking out the @code{Message-ID} header in
15677 the current buffer. Gnus will then add a score rule that scores using
15678 this @code{Message-ID} on the @code{References} header of other
15679 articles. This will, in effect, increase the score of all articles that
15680 respond to the article in the current buffer. Quite useful if you want
15681 to easily note when people answer what you've said.
15685 @item gnus-score-followup-article
15686 @findex gnus-score-followup-article
15687 This will add a score to articles that directly follow up your own
15690 @item gnus-score-followup-thread
15691 @findex gnus-score-followup-thread
15692 This will add a score to all articles that appear in a thread ``below''
15696 @vindex message-sent-hook
15697 These two functions are both primarily meant to be used in hooks like
15698 @code{message-sent-hook}.
15700 If you look closely at your own @code{Message-ID}, you'll notice that
15701 the first two or three characters are always the same. Here's two of
15705 <x6u3u47icf.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15706 <x6sp9o7ibw.fsf@@eyesore.no>
15709 So ``my'' ident on this machine is @samp{x6}. This can be
15710 exploited---the following rule will raise the score on all followups to
15715 ("<x6[0-9a-z]+\\.fsf\\(_-_\\)?@@.*eyesore.no>"
15719 Whether it's the first two or first three characters that are ``yours''
15720 is system-dependent.
15724 @section Scoring Tips
15725 @cindex scoring tips
15731 @cindex scoring crossposts
15732 If you want to lower the score of crossposts, the line to match on is
15733 the @code{Xref} header.
15735 ("xref" (" talk.politics.misc:" -1000))
15738 @item Multiple crossposts
15739 If you want to lower the score of articles that have been crossposted to
15740 more than, say, 3 groups:
15742 ("xref" ("[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+ +[^:\n]+:[0-9]+" -1000 nil r))
15745 @item Matching on the body
15746 This is generally not a very good idea---it takes a very long time.
15747 Gnus actually has to fetch each individual article from the server. But
15748 you might want to anyway, I guess. Even though there are three match
15749 keys (@code{Head}, @code{Body} and @code{All}), you should choose one
15750 and stick with it in each score file. If you use any two, each article
15751 will be fetched @emph{twice}. If you want to match a bit on the
15752 @code{Head} and a bit on the @code{Body}, just use @code{All} for all
15755 @item Marking as read
15756 You will probably want to mark articles that have scores below a certain
15757 number as read. This is most easily achieved by putting the following
15758 in your @file{all.SCORE} file:
15762 You may also consider doing something similar with @code{expunge}.
15764 @item Negated character classes
15765 If you say stuff like @code{[^abcd]*}, you may get unexpected results.
15766 That will match newlines, which might lead to, well, The Unknown. Say
15767 @code{[^abcd\n]*} instead.
15771 @node Reverse Scoring
15772 @section Reverse Scoring
15773 @cindex reverse scoring
15775 If you want to keep just articles that have @samp{Sex with Emacs} in the
15776 subject header, and expunge all other articles, you could put something
15777 like this in your score file:
15781 ("Sex with Emacs" 2))
15786 So, you raise all articles that match @samp{Sex with Emacs} and mark the
15787 rest as read, and expunge them to boot.
15790 @node Global Score Files
15791 @section Global Score Files
15792 @cindex global score files
15794 Sure, other newsreaders have ``global kill files''. These are usually
15795 nothing more than a single kill file that applies to all groups, stored
15796 in the user's home directory. Bah! Puny, weak newsreaders!
15798 What I'm talking about here are Global Score Files. Score files from
15799 all over the world, from users everywhere, uniting all nations in one
15800 big, happy score file union! Ange-score! New and untested!
15802 @vindex gnus-global-score-files
15803 All you have to do to use other people's score files is to set the
15804 @code{gnus-global-score-files} variable. One entry for each score file,
15805 or each score file directory. Gnus will decide by itself what score
15806 files are applicable to which group.
15808 Say you want to use the score file
15809 @file{/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE} and
15810 all score files in the @file{/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score} directory:
15813 (setq gnus-global-score-files
15814 '("/ftp@@ftp.gnus.org:/pub/larsi/ding/score/soc.motss.SCORE"
15815 "/ftp@@ftp.some-where:/pub/score/"))
15818 @findex gnus-score-search-global-directories
15819 Simple, eh? Directory names must end with a @samp{/}. These
15820 directories are typically scanned only once during each Gnus session.
15821 If you feel the need to manually re-scan the remote directories, you can
15822 use the @code{gnus-score-search-global-directories} command.
15824 Note that, at present, using this option will slow down group entry
15825 somewhat. (That is---a lot.)
15827 If you want to start maintaining score files for other people to use,
15828 just put your score file up for anonymous ftp and announce it to the
15829 world. Become a retro-moderator! Participate in the retro-moderator
15830 wars sure to ensue, where retro-moderators battle it out for the
15831 sympathy of the people, luring them to use their score files on false
15832 premises! Yay! The net is saved!
15834 Here are some tips for the would-be retro-moderator, off the top of my
15840 Articles heavily crossposted are probably junk.
15842 To lower a single inappropriate article, lower by @code{Message-ID}.
15844 Particularly brilliant authors can be raised on a permanent basis.
15846 Authors that repeatedly post off-charter for the group can safely be
15847 lowered out of existence.
15849 Set the @code{mark} and @code{expunge} atoms to obliterate the nastiest
15850 articles completely.
15853 Use expiring score entries to keep the size of the file down. You
15854 should probably have a long expiry period, though, as some sites keep
15855 old articles for a long time.
15858 ... I wonder whether other newsreaders will support global score files
15859 in the future. @emph{Snicker}. Yup, any day now, newsreaders like Blue
15860 Wave, xrn and 1stReader are bound to implement scoring. Should we start
15861 holding our breath yet?
15865 @section Kill Files
15868 Gnus still supports those pesky old kill files. In fact, the kill file
15869 entries can now be expiring, which is something I wrote before Daniel
15870 Quinlan thought of doing score files, so I've left the code in there.
15872 In short, kill processing is a lot slower (and I do mean @emph{a lot})
15873 than score processing, so it might be a good idea to rewrite your kill
15874 files into score files.
15876 Anyway, a kill file is a normal @code{emacs-lisp} file. You can put any
15877 forms into this file, which means that you can use kill files as some
15878 sort of primitive hook function to be run on group entry, even though
15879 that isn't a very good idea.
15881 Normal kill files look like this:
15884 (gnus-kill "From" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
15885 (gnus-kill "Subject" "ding")
15889 This will mark every article written by me as read, and remove the
15890 marked articles from the summary buffer. Very useful, you'll agree.
15892 Other programs use a totally different kill file syntax. If Gnus
15893 encounters what looks like a @code{rn} kill file, it will take a stab at
15896 Two summary functions for editing a GNUS kill file:
15901 @kindex M-k (Summary)
15902 @findex gnus-summary-edit-local-kill
15903 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-local-kill}).
15906 @kindex M-K (Summary)
15907 @findex gnus-summary-edit-global-kill
15908 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-summary-edit-global-kill}).
15911 Two group mode functions for editing the kill files:
15916 @kindex M-k (Group)
15917 @findex gnus-group-edit-local-kill
15918 Edit this group's kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-local-kill}).
15921 @kindex M-K (Group)
15922 @findex gnus-group-edit-global-kill
15923 Edit the general kill file (@code{gnus-group-edit-global-kill}).
15926 Kill file variables:
15929 @item gnus-kill-file-name
15930 @vindex gnus-kill-file-name
15931 A kill file for the group @samp{soc.motss} is normally called
15932 @file{soc.motss.KILL}. The suffix appended to the group name to get
15933 this file name is detailed by the @code{gnus-kill-file-name} variable.
15934 The ``global'' kill file (not in the score file sense of ``global'', of
15935 course) is just called @file{KILL}.
15937 @vindex gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15938 @item gnus-kill-save-kill-file
15939 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, Gnus will save the
15940 kill file after processing, which is necessary if you use expiring
15943 @item gnus-apply-kill-hook
15944 @vindex gnus-apply-kill-hook
15945 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored
15946 @findex gnus-apply-kill-file
15947 A hook called to apply kill files to a group. It is
15948 @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file)} by default. If you want to ignore the
15949 kill file if you have a score file for the same group, you can set this
15950 hook to @code{(gnus-apply-kill-file-unless-scored)}. If you don't want
15951 kill files to be processed, you should set this variable to @code{nil}.
15953 @item gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15954 @vindex gnus-kill-file-mode-hook
15955 A hook called in kill-file mode buffers.
15960 @node Converting Kill Files
15961 @section Converting Kill Files
15963 @cindex converting kill files
15965 If you have loads of old kill files, you may want to convert them into
15966 score files. If they are ``regular'', you can use
15967 the @file{gnus-kill-to-score.el} package; if not, you'll have to do it
15970 The kill to score conversion package isn't included in Gnus by default.
15971 You can fetch it from
15972 @file{http://www.stud.ifi.uio.no/~larsi/ding-other/gnus-kill-to-score}.
15974 If your old kill files are very complex---if they contain more
15975 non-@code{gnus-kill} forms than not, you'll have to convert them by
15976 hand. Or just let them be as they are. Gnus will still use them as
15984 GroupLens is a collaborative filtering system that helps you work
15985 together with other people to find the quality news articles out of the
15986 huge volume of news articles generated every day.
15988 To accomplish this the GroupLens system combines your opinions about
15989 articles you have already read with the opinions of others who have done
15990 likewise and gives you a personalized prediction for each unread news
15991 article. Think of GroupLens as a matchmaker. GroupLens watches how you
15992 rate articles, and finds other people that rate articles the same way.
15993 Once it has found some people you agree with it tells you, in the form
15994 of a prediction, what they thought of the article. You can use this
15995 prediction to help you decide whether or not you want to read the
15999 * Using GroupLens:: How to make Gnus use GroupLens.
16000 * Rating Articles:: Letting GroupLens know how you rate articles.
16001 * Displaying Predictions:: Displaying predictions given by GroupLens.
16002 * GroupLens Variables:: Customizing GroupLens.
16006 @node Using GroupLens
16007 @subsection Using GroupLens
16009 To use GroupLens you must register a pseudonym with your local Better
16011 @samp{http://www.cs.umn.edu/Research/GroupLens/bbb.html} is the only
16012 better bit in town at the moment.
16014 Once you have registered you'll need to set a couple of variables.
16018 @item gnus-use-grouplens
16019 @vindex gnus-use-grouplens
16020 Setting this variable to a non-@code{nil} value will make Gnus hook into
16021 all the relevant GroupLens functions.
16023 @item grouplens-pseudonym
16024 @vindex grouplens-pseudonym
16025 This variable should be set to the pseudonym you got when registering
16026 with the Better Bit Bureau.
16028 @item grouplens-newsgroups
16029 @vindex grouplens-newsgroups
16030 A list of groups that you want to get GroupLens predictions for.
16034 That's the minimum of what you need to get up and running with GroupLens.
16035 Once you've registered, GroupLens will start giving you scores for
16036 articles based on the average of what other people think. But, to get
16037 the real benefit of GroupLens you need to start rating articles
16038 yourself. Then the scores GroupLens gives you will be personalized for
16039 you, based on how the people you usually agree with have already rated.
16042 @node Rating Articles
16043 @subsection Rating Articles
16045 In GroupLens, an article is rated on a scale from 1 to 5, inclusive.
16046 Where 1 means something like this article is a waste of bandwidth and 5
16047 means that the article was really good. The basic question to ask
16048 yourself is, "on a scale from 1 to 5 would I like to see more articles
16051 There are four ways to enter a rating for an article in GroupLens.
16056 @kindex r (GroupLens)
16057 @findex bbb-summary-rate-article
16058 This function will prompt you for a rating on a scale of one to five.
16061 @kindex k (GroupLens)
16062 @findex grouplens-score-thread
16063 This function will prompt you for a rating, and rate all the articles in
16064 the thread. This is really useful for some of those long running giant
16065 threads in rec.humor.
16069 The next two commands, @kbd{n} and @kbd{,} take a numerical prefix to be
16070 the score of the article you're reading.
16075 @kindex n (GroupLens)
16076 @findex grouplens-next-unread-article
16077 Rate the article and go to the next unread article.
16080 @kindex , (GroupLens)
16081 @findex grouplens-best-unread-article
16082 Rate the article and go to the next unread article with the highest score.
16086 If you want to give the current article a score of 4 and then go to the
16087 next article, just type @kbd{4 n}.
16090 @node Displaying Predictions
16091 @subsection Displaying Predictions
16093 GroupLens makes a prediction for you about how much you will like a
16094 news article. The predictions from GroupLens are on a scale from 1 to
16095 5, where 1 is the worst and 5 is the best. You can use the predictions
16096 from GroupLens in one of three ways controlled by the variable
16097 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring}.
16099 @vindex gnus-grouplens-override-scoring
16100 There are three ways to display predictions in grouplens. You may
16101 choose to have the GroupLens scores contribute to, or override the
16102 regular gnus scoring mechanism. override is the default; however, some
16103 people prefer to see the Gnus scores plus the grouplens scores. To get
16104 the separate scoring behavior you need to set
16105 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'separate}. To have the
16106 GroupLens predictions combined with the grouplens scores set it to
16107 @code{'override} and to combine the scores set
16108 @code{gnus-grouplens-override-scoring} to @code{'combine}. When you use
16109 the combine option you will also want to set the values for
16110 @code{grouplens-prediction-offset} and
16111 @code{grouplens-score-scale-factor}.
16113 @vindex grouplens-prediction-display
16114 In either case, GroupLens gives you a few choices for how you would like
16115 to see your predictions displayed. The display of predictions is
16116 controlled by the @code{grouplens-prediction-display} variable.
16118 The following are valid values for that variable.
16121 @item prediction-spot
16122 The higher the prediction, the further to the right an @samp{*} is
16125 @item confidence-interval
16126 A numeric confidence interval.
16128 @item prediction-bar
16129 The higher the prediction, the longer the bar.
16131 @item confidence-bar
16132 Numerical confidence.
16134 @item confidence-spot
16135 The spot gets bigger with more confidence.
16137 @item prediction-num
16138 Plain-old numeric value.
16140 @item confidence-plus-minus
16141 Prediction +/- confidence.
16146 @node GroupLens Variables
16147 @subsection GroupLens Variables
16151 @item gnus-summary-grouplens-line-format
16152 The summary line format used in GroupLens-enhanced summary buffers. It
16153 accepts the same specs as the normal summary line format (@pxref{Summary
16154 Buffer Lines}). The default is @samp{%U%R%z%l%I%(%[%4L: %-20,20n%]%)
16157 @item grouplens-bbb-host
16158 Host running the bbbd server. @samp{grouplens.cs.umn.edu} is the
16161 @item grouplens-bbb-port
16162 Port of the host running the bbbd server. The default is 9000.
16164 @item grouplens-score-offset
16165 Offset the prediction by this value. In other words, subtract the
16166 prediction value by this number to arrive at the effective score. The
16169 @item grouplens-score-scale-factor
16170 This variable allows the user to magnify the effect of GroupLens scores.
16171 The scale factor is applied after the offset. The default is 1.
16176 @node Advanced Scoring
16177 @section Advanced Scoring
16179 Scoring on Subjects and From headers is nice enough, but what if you're
16180 really interested in what a person has to say only when she's talking
16181 about a particular subject? Or what if you really don't want to
16182 read what person A has to say when she's following up to person B, but
16183 want to read what she says when she's following up to person C?
16185 By using advanced scoring rules you may create arbitrarily complex
16189 * Advanced Scoring Syntax:: A definition.
16190 * Advanced Scoring Examples:: What they look like.
16191 * Advanced Scoring Tips:: Getting the most out of it.
16195 @node Advanced Scoring Syntax
16196 @subsection Advanced Scoring Syntax
16198 Ordinary scoring rules have a string as the first element in the rule.
16199 Advanced scoring rules have a list as the first element. The second
16200 element is the score to be applied if the first element evaluated to a
16201 non-@code{nil} value.
16203 These lists may consist of three logical operators, one redirection
16204 operator, and various match operators.
16211 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16212 one that evaluates to @code{false}, and then it'll stop. If all arguments
16213 evaluate to @code{true} values, then this operator will return
16218 This logical operator will evaluate each of its arguments until it finds
16219 one that evaluates to @code{true}. If no arguments are @code{true},
16220 then this operator will return @code{false}.
16225 This logical operator only takes a single argument. It returns the
16226 logical negation of the value of its argument.
16230 There is an @dfn{indirection operator} that will make its arguments
16231 apply to the ancestors of the current article being scored. For
16232 instance, @code{1-} will make score rules apply to the parent of the
16233 current article. @code{2-} will make score rules apply to the
16234 grandparent of the current article. Alternatively, you can write
16235 @code{^^}, where the number of @code{^}s (carets) says how far back into
16236 the ancestry you want to go.
16238 Finally, we have the match operators. These are the ones that do the
16239 real work. Match operators are header name strings followed by a match
16240 and a match type. A typical match operator looks like @samp{("from"
16241 "Lars Ingebrigtsen" s)}. The header names are the same as when using
16242 simple scoring, and the match types are also the same.
16245 @node Advanced Scoring Examples
16246 @subsection Advanced Scoring Examples
16248 Let's say you want to increase the score of articles written by Lars
16249 when he's talking about Gnus:
16253 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16254 ("subject" "Gnus"))
16260 When he writes long articles, he sometimes has something nice to say:
16264 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16271 However, when he responds to things written by Reig Eigil Logge, you
16272 really don't want to read what he's written:
16276 ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen")
16277 (1- ("from" "Reig Eigir Logge")))
16281 Everybody that follows up Redmondo when he writes about disappearing
16282 socks should have their scores raised, but only when they talk about
16283 white socks. However, when Lars talks about socks, it's usually not
16290 ("from" "redmondo@@.*no" r)
16291 ("body" "disappearing.*socks" t)))
16292 (! ("from" "Lars Ingebrigtsen"))
16293 ("body" "white.*socks"))
16297 The possibilities are endless.
16300 @node Advanced Scoring Tips
16301 @subsection Advanced Scoring Tips
16303 The @code{&} and @code{|} logical operators do short-circuit logic.
16304 That is, they stop processing their arguments when it's clear what the
16305 result of the operation will be. For instance, if one of the arguments
16306 of an @code{&} evaluates to @code{false}, there's no point in evaluating
16307 the rest of the arguments. This means that you should put slow matches
16308 (@samp{body}, @samp{header}) last and quick matches (@samp{from},
16309 @samp{subject}) first.
16311 The indirection arguments (@code{1-} and so on) will make their
16312 arguments work on previous generations of the thread. If you say
16323 Then that means "score on the from header of the grandparent of the
16324 current article". An indirection is quite fast, but it's better to say:
16330 ("subject" "Gnus")))
16337 (1- ("from" "Lars"))
16338 (1- ("subject" "Gnus")))
16343 @section Score Decays
16344 @cindex score decays
16347 You may find that your scores have a tendency to grow without
16348 bounds, especially if you're using adaptive scoring. If scores get too
16349 big, they lose all meaning---they simply max out and it's difficult to
16350 use them in any sensible way.
16352 @vindex gnus-decay-scores
16353 @findex gnus-decay-score
16354 @vindex gnus-decay-score-function
16355 Gnus provides a mechanism for decaying scores to help with this problem.
16356 When score files are loaded and @code{gnus-decay-scores} is
16357 non-@code{nil}, Gnus will run the score files through the decaying
16358 mechanism thereby lowering the scores of all non-permanent score rules.
16359 The decay itself if performed by the @code{gnus-decay-score-function}
16360 function, which is @code{gnus-decay-score} by default. Here's the
16361 definition of that function:
16364 (defun gnus-decay-score (score)
16366 This is done according to `gnus-score-decay-constant'
16367 and `gnus-score-decay-scale'."
16370 (* (if (< score 0) 1 -1)
16372 (max gnus-score-decay-constant
16374 gnus-score-decay-scale)))))))
16377 @vindex gnus-score-decay-scale
16378 @vindex gnus-score-decay-constant
16379 @code{gnus-score-decay-constant} is 3 by default and
16380 @code{gnus-score-decay-scale} is 0.05. This should cause the following:
16384 Scores between -3 and 3 will be set to 0 when this function is called.
16387 Scores with magnitudes between 3 and 60 will be shrunk by 3.
16390 Scores with magnitudes greater than 60 will be shrunk by 5% of the
16394 If you don't like this decay function, write your own. It is called
16395 with the score to be decayed as its only parameter, and it should return
16396 the new score, which should be an integer.
16398 Gnus will try to decay scores once a day. If you haven't run Gnus for
16399 four days, Gnus will decay the scores four times, for instance.
16406 * Process/Prefix:: A convention used by many treatment commands.
16407 * Interactive:: Making Gnus ask you many questions.
16408 * Symbolic Prefixes:: How to supply some Gnus functions with options.
16409 * Formatting Variables:: You can specify what buffers should look like.
16410 * Windows Configuration:: Configuring the Gnus buffer windows.
16411 * Faces and Fonts:: How to change how faces look.
16412 * Compilation:: How to speed Gnus up.
16413 * Mode Lines:: Displaying information in the mode lines.
16414 * Highlighting and Menus:: Making buffers look all nice and cozy.
16415 * Buttons:: Get tendonitis in ten easy steps!
16416 * Daemons:: Gnus can do things behind your back.
16417 * NoCeM:: How to avoid spam and other fatty foods.
16418 * Undo:: Some actions can be undone.
16419 * Moderation:: What to do if you're a moderator.
16420 * XEmacs Enhancements:: There are more pictures and stuff under XEmacs.
16421 * Fuzzy Matching:: What's the big fuzz?
16422 * Thwarting Email Spam:: A how-to on avoiding unsolicited commercial email.
16423 * Various Various:: Things that are really various.
16427 @node Process/Prefix
16428 @section Process/Prefix
16429 @cindex process/prefix convention
16431 Many functions, among them functions for moving, decoding and saving
16432 articles, use what is known as the @dfn{Process/Prefix convention}.
16434 This is a method for figuring out what articles the user wants the
16435 command to be performed on.
16439 If the numeric prefix is N, perform the operation on the next N
16440 articles, starting with the current one. If the numeric prefix is
16441 negative, perform the operation on the previous N articles, starting
16442 with the current one.
16444 @vindex transient-mark-mode
16445 If @code{transient-mark-mode} in non-@code{nil} and the region is
16446 active, all articles in the region will be worked upon.
16448 If there is no numeric prefix, but some articles are marked with the
16449 process mark, perform the operation on the articles marked with
16452 If there is neither a numeric prefix nor any articles marked with the
16453 process mark, just perform the operation on the current article.
16455 Quite simple, really, but it needs to be made clear so that surprises
16458 Commands that react to the process mark will push the current list of
16459 process marked articles onto a stack and will then clear all process
16460 marked articles. You can restore the previous configuration with the
16461 @kbd{M P y} command (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
16463 @vindex gnus-summary-goto-unread
16464 One thing that seems to shock & horrify lots of people is that, for
16465 instance, @kbd{3 d} does exactly the same as @kbd{d} @kbd{d} @kbd{d}.
16466 Since each @kbd{d} (which marks the current article as read) by default
16467 goes to the next unread article after marking, this means that @kbd{3 d}
16468 will mark the next three unread articles as read, no matter what the
16469 summary buffer looks like. Set @code{gnus-summary-goto-unread} to
16470 @code{nil} for a more straightforward action.
16472 Many commands do not use the process/prefix convention. All commands
16473 that do explicitly say so in this manual. To apply the process/prefix
16474 convention to commands that do not use it, you can use the @kbd{M-&}
16475 command. For instance, to mark all the articles in the group as
16476 expirable, you could say `M P b M-& E'.
16480 @section Interactive
16481 @cindex interaction
16485 @item gnus-novice-user
16486 @vindex gnus-novice-user
16487 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you are either a newcomer to the
16488 World of Usenet, or you are very cautious, which is a nice thing to be,
16489 really. You will be given questions of the type ``Are you sure you want
16490 to do this?'' before doing anything dangerous. This is @code{t} by
16493 @item gnus-expert-user
16494 @vindex gnus-expert-user
16495 If this variable is non-@code{nil}, you will seldom be asked any
16496 questions by Gnus. It will simply assume you know what you're doing, no
16497 matter how strange.
16499 @item gnus-interactive-catchup
16500 @vindex gnus-interactive-catchup
16501 Require confirmation before catching up a group if non-@code{nil}. It
16502 is @code{t} by default.
16504 @item gnus-interactive-exit
16505 @vindex gnus-interactive-exit
16506 Require confirmation before exiting Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
16511 @node Symbolic Prefixes
16512 @section Symbolic Prefixes
16513 @cindex symbolic prefixes
16515 Quite a lot of Emacs commands react to the (numeric) prefix. For
16516 instance, @kbd{C-u 4 C-f} moves point four characters forward, and
16517 @kbd{C-u 9 0 0 I s s p} adds a permanent @code{Subject} substring score
16518 rule of 900 to the current article.
16520 This is all nice and well, but what if you want to give a command some
16521 additional information? Well, what most commands do is interpret the
16522 ``raw'' prefix in some special way. @kbd{C-u 0 C-x C-s} means that one
16523 doesn't want a backup file to be created when saving the current buffer,
16524 for instance. But what if you want to save without making a backup
16525 file, and you want Emacs to flash lights and play a nice tune at the
16526 same time? You can't, and you're probably perfectly happy that way.
16528 @kindex M-i (Summary)
16529 @findex gnus-symbolic-argument
16530 I'm not, so I've added a second prefix---the @dfn{symbolic prefix}. The
16531 prefix key is @kbd{M-i} (@code{gnus-symbolic-argument}), and the next
16532 character typed in is the value. You can stack as many @kbd{M-i}
16533 prefixes as you want. @kbd{M-i a M-C-u} means ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u}
16534 command the symbolic prefix @code{a}''. @kbd{M-i a M-i b M-C-u} means
16535 ``feed the @kbd{M-C-u} command the symbolic prefixes @code{a} and
16536 @code{b}''. You get the drift.
16538 Typing in symbolic prefixes to commands that don't accept them doesn't
16539 hurt, but it doesn't do any good either. Currently not many Gnus
16540 functions make use of the symbolic prefix.
16542 If you're interested in how Gnus implements this, @pxref{Extended
16546 @node Formatting Variables
16547 @section Formatting Variables
16548 @cindex formatting variables
16550 Throughout this manual you've probably noticed lots of variables called
16551 things like @code{gnus-group-line-format} and
16552 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}. These control how Gnus is to
16553 output lines in the various buffers. There's quite a lot of them.
16554 Fortunately, they all use the same syntax, so there's not that much to
16557 Here's an example format spec (from the group buffer): @samp{%M%S%5y:
16558 %(%g%)\n}. We see that it is indeed extremely ugly, and that there are
16559 lots of percentages everywhere.
16562 * Formatting Basics:: A formatting variable is basically a format string.
16563 * Mode Line Formatting:: Some rules about mode line formatting variables.
16564 * Advanced Formatting:: Modifying output in various ways.
16565 * User-Defined Specs:: Having Gnus call your own functions.
16566 * Formatting Fonts:: Making the formatting look colorful and nice.
16569 Currently Gnus uses the following formatting variables:
16570 @code{gnus-group-line-format}, @code{gnus-summary-line-format},
16571 @code{gnus-server-line-format}, @code{gnus-topic-line-format},
16572 @code{gnus-group-mode-line-format},
16573 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format},
16574 @code{gnus-article-mode-line-format},
16575 @code{gnus-server-mode-line-format}, and
16576 @code{gnus-summary-pick-line-format}.
16578 All these format variables can also be arbitrary elisp forms. In that
16579 case, they will be @code{eval}ed to insert the required lines.
16581 @kindex M-x gnus-update-format
16582 @findex gnus-update-format
16583 Gnus includes a command to help you while creating your own format
16584 specs. @kbd{M-x gnus-update-format} will @code{eval} the current form,
16585 update the spec in question and pop you to a buffer where you can
16586 examine the resulting lisp code to be run to generate the line.
16590 @node Formatting Basics
16591 @subsection Formatting Basics
16593 Each @samp{%} element will be replaced by some string or other when the
16594 buffer in question is generated. @samp{%5y} means ``insert the @samp{y}
16595 spec, and pad with spaces to get a 5-character field''.
16597 As with normal C and Emacs Lisp formatting strings, the numerical
16598 modifier between the @samp{%} and the formatting type character will
16599 @dfn{pad} the output so that it is always at least that long.
16600 @samp{%5y} will make the field always (at least) five characters wide by
16601 padding with spaces to the left. If you say @samp{%-5y}, it will pad to
16604 You may also wish to limit the length of the field to protect against
16605 particularly wide values. For that you can say @samp{%4,6y}, which
16606 means that the field will never be more than 6 characters wide and never
16607 less than 4 characters wide.
16610 @node Mode Line Formatting
16611 @subsection Mode Line Formatting
16613 Mode line formatting variables (e.g.,
16614 @code{gnus-summary-mode-line-format}) follow the same rules as other,
16615 buffer line oriented formatting variables (@pxref{Formatting Basics})
16616 with the following two differences:
16621 There must be no newline (@samp{\n}) at the end.
16624 The special @samp{%%b} spec can be used to display the buffer name.
16625 Well, it's no spec at all, really---@samp{%%} is just a way to quote
16626 @samp{%} to allow it to pass through the formatting machinery unmangled,
16627 so that Emacs receives @samp{%b}, which is something the Emacs mode line
16628 display interprets to mean ``show the buffer name''. For a full list of
16629 mode line specs Emacs understands, see the documentation of the
16630 @code{mode-line-format} variable.
16635 @node Advanced Formatting
16636 @subsection Advanced Formatting
16638 It is frequently useful to post-process the fields in some way.
16639 Padding, limiting, cutting off parts and suppressing certain values can
16640 be achieved by using @dfn{tilde modifiers}. A typical tilde spec might
16641 look like @samp{%~(cut 3)~(ignore "0")y}.
16643 These are the valid modifiers:
16648 Pad the field to the left with spaces until it reaches the required
16652 Pad the field to the right with spaces until it reaches the required
16657 Cut off characters from the left until it reaches the specified length.
16660 Cut off characters from the right until it reaches the specified
16665 Cut off the specified number of characters from the left.
16668 Cut off the specified number of characters from the right.
16671 Return an empty string if the field is equal to the specified value.
16674 Use the specified form as the field value when the @samp{@@} spec is
16678 Let's take an example. The @samp{%o} spec in the summary mode lines
16679 will return a date in compact ISO8601 format---@samp{19960809T230410}.
16680 This is quite a mouthful, so we want to shave off the century number and
16681 the time, leaving us with a six-character date. That would be
16682 @samp{%~(cut-left 2)~(max-right 6)~(pad 6)o}. (Cutting is done before
16683 maxing, and we need the padding to ensure that the date is never less
16684 than 6 characters to make it look nice in columns.)
16686 Ignoring is done first; then cutting; then maxing; and then as the very
16687 last operation, padding.
16689 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
16690 If @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} is set to @code{nil} (@code{t} by
16691 default) with your strong personality, and use a lots of these advanced
16692 thingies, you'll find that Gnus gets quite slow. This can be helped
16693 enormously by running @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} when you are satisfied with
16694 the look of your lines.
16695 @xref{Compilation}.
16698 @node User-Defined Specs
16699 @subsection User-Defined Specs
16701 All the specs allow for inserting user defined specifiers---@samp{u}.
16702 The next character in the format string should be a letter. Gnus
16703 will call the function @code{gnus-user-format-function-}@samp{X}, where
16704 @samp{X} is the letter following @samp{%u}. The function will be passed
16705 a single parameter---what the parameter means depends on what buffer
16706 it's being called from. The function should return a string, which will
16707 be inserted into the buffer just like information from any other
16708 specifier. This function may also be called with dummy values, so it
16709 should protect against that.
16711 You can also use tilde modifiers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting} to achieve
16712 much the same without defining new functions. Here's an example:
16713 @samp{%~(form (count-lines (point-min) (point)))@@}. The form
16714 given here will be evaluated to yield the current line number, and then
16718 @node Formatting Fonts
16719 @subsection Formatting Fonts
16721 There are specs for highlighting, and these are shared by all the format
16722 variables. Text inside the @samp{%(} and @samp{%)} specifiers will get
16723 the special @code{mouse-face} property set, which means that it will be
16724 highlighted (with @code{gnus-mouse-face}) when you put the mouse pointer
16727 Text inside the @samp{%@{} and @samp{%@}} specifiers will have their
16728 normal faces set using @code{gnus-face-0}, which is @code{bold} by
16729 default. If you say @samp{%1@{}, you'll get @code{gnus-face-1} instead,
16730 and so on. Create as many faces as you wish. The same goes for the
16731 @code{mouse-face} specs---you can say @samp{%3(hello%)} to have
16732 @samp{hello} mouse-highlighted with @code{gnus-mouse-face-3}.
16734 Text inside the @samp{%<} and @samp{%>} specifiers will get the special
16735 @code{balloon-help} property set to @code{gnus-balloon-face-0}. If you
16736 say @samp{%1<}, you'll get @code{gnus-balloon-face-1} and so on. The
16737 @code{gnus-balloon-face-*} variables should be either strings or symbols
16738 naming functions that return a string. Under @code{balloon-help-mode},
16739 when the mouse passes over text with this property set, a balloon window
16740 will appear and display the string. Please refer to the doc string of
16741 @code{balloon-help-mode} for more information on this.
16743 Here's an alternative recipe for the group buffer:
16746 ;; Create three face types.
16747 (setq gnus-face-1 'bold)
16748 (setq gnus-face-3 'italic)
16750 ;; We want the article count to be in
16751 ;; a bold and green face. So we create
16752 ;; a new face called `my-green-bold'.
16753 (copy-face 'bold 'my-green-bold)
16755 (set-face-foreground 'my-green-bold "ForestGreen")
16756 (setq gnus-face-2 'my-green-bold)
16758 ;; Set the new & fancy format.
16759 (setq gnus-group-line-format
16760 "%M%S%3@{%5y%@}%2[:%] %(%1@{%g%@}%)\n")
16763 I'm sure you'll be able to use this scheme to create totally unreadable
16764 and extremely vulgar displays. Have fun!
16766 Note that the @samp{%(} specs (and friends) do not make any sense on the
16767 mode-line variables.
16770 @node Windows Configuration
16771 @section Windows Configuration
16772 @cindex windows configuration
16774 No, there's nothing here about X, so be quiet.
16776 @vindex gnus-use-full-window
16777 If @code{gnus-use-full-window} non-@code{nil}, Gnus will delete all
16778 other windows and occupy the entire Emacs screen by itself. It is
16779 @code{t} by default.
16781 Setting this variable to @code{nil} kinda works, but there are
16782 glitches. Use at your own peril.
16784 @vindex gnus-buffer-configuration
16785 @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} describes how much space each Gnus
16786 buffer should be given. Here's an excerpt of this variable:
16789 ((group (vertical 1.0 (group 1.0 point)
16790 (if gnus-carpal (group-carpal 4))))
16791 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16795 This is an alist. The @dfn{key} is a symbol that names some action or
16796 other. For instance, when displaying the group buffer, the window
16797 configuration function will use @code{group} as the key. A full list of
16798 possible names is listed below.
16800 The @dfn{value} (i.e., the @dfn{split}) says how much space each buffer
16801 should occupy. To take the @code{article} split as an example -
16804 (article (vertical 1.0 (summary 0.25 point)
16808 This @dfn{split} says that the summary buffer should occupy 25% of upper
16809 half of the screen, and that it is placed over the article buffer. As
16810 you may have noticed, 100% + 25% is actually 125% (yup, I saw y'all
16811 reaching for that calculator there). However, the special number
16812 @code{1.0} is used to signal that this buffer should soak up all the
16813 rest of the space available after the rest of the buffers have taken
16814 whatever they need. There should be only one buffer with the @code{1.0}
16815 size spec per split.
16817 Point will be put in the buffer that has the optional third element
16818 @code{point}. In a @code{frame} split, the last subsplit having a leaf
16819 split where the tag @code{frame-focus} is a member (i.e. is the third or
16820 fourth element in the list, depending on whether the @code{point} tag is
16821 present) gets focus.
16823 Here's a more complicated example:
16826 (article (vertical 1.0 (group 4)
16827 (summary 0.25 point)
16828 (if gnus-carpal (summary-carpal 4))
16832 If the size spec is an integer instead of a floating point number,
16833 then that number will be used to say how many lines a buffer should
16834 occupy, not a percentage.
16836 If the @dfn{split} looks like something that can be @code{eval}ed (to be
16837 precise---if the @code{car} of the split is a function or a subr), this
16838 split will be @code{eval}ed. If the result is non-@code{nil}, it will
16839 be used as a split. This means that there will be three buffers if
16840 @code{gnus-carpal} is @code{nil}, and four buffers if @code{gnus-carpal}
16843 Not complicated enough for you? Well, try this on for size:
16846 (article (horizontal 1.0
16851 (summary 0.25 point)
16856 Whoops. Two buffers with the mystery 100% tag. And what's that
16857 @code{horizontal} thingie?
16859 If the first element in one of the split is @code{horizontal}, Gnus will
16860 split the window horizontally, giving you two windows side-by-side.
16861 Inside each of these strips you may carry on all you like in the normal
16862 fashion. The number following @code{horizontal} says what percentage of
16863 the screen is to be given to this strip.
16865 For each split, there @emph{must} be one element that has the 100% tag.
16866 The splitting is never accurate, and this buffer will eat any leftover
16867 lines from the splits.
16869 To be slightly more formal, here's a definition of what a valid split
16873 split = frame | horizontal | vertical | buffer | form
16874 frame = "(frame " size *split ")"
16875 horizontal = "(horizontal " size *split ")"
16876 vertical = "(vertical " size *split ")"
16877 buffer = "(" buffer-name " " size *[ "point" ] *[ "frame-focus"] ")"
16878 size = number | frame-params
16879 buffer-name = group | article | summary ...
16882 The limitations are that the @code{frame} split can only appear as the
16883 top-level split. @var{form} should be an Emacs Lisp form that should
16884 return a valid split. We see that each split is fully recursive, and
16885 may contain any number of @code{vertical} and @code{horizontal} splits.
16887 @vindex gnus-window-min-width
16888 @vindex gnus-window-min-height
16889 @cindex window height
16890 @cindex window width
16891 Finding the right sizes can be a bit complicated. No window may be less
16892 than @code{gnus-window-min-height} (default 1) characters high, and all
16893 windows must be at least @code{gnus-window-min-width} (default 1)
16894 characters wide. Gnus will try to enforce this before applying the
16895 splits. If you want to use the normal Emacs window width/height limit,
16896 you can just set these two variables to @code{nil}.
16898 If you're not familiar with Emacs terminology, @code{horizontal} and
16899 @code{vertical} splits may work the opposite way of what you'd expect.
16900 Windows inside a @code{horizontal} split are shown side-by-side, and
16901 windows within a @code{vertical} split are shown above each other.
16903 @findex gnus-configure-frame
16904 If you want to experiment with window placement, a good tip is to call
16905 @code{gnus-configure-frame} directly with a split. This is the function
16906 that does all the real work when splitting buffers. Below is a pretty
16907 nonsensical configuration with 5 windows; two for the group buffer and
16908 three for the article buffer. (I said it was nonsensical.) If you
16909 @code{eval} the statement below, you can get an idea of how that would
16910 look straight away, without going through the normal Gnus channels.
16911 Play with it until you're satisfied, and then use
16912 @code{gnus-add-configuration} to add your new creation to the buffer
16913 configuration list.
16916 (gnus-configure-frame
16920 (article 0.3 point))
16928 You might want to have several frames as well. No prob---just use the
16929 @code{frame} split:
16932 (gnus-configure-frame
16935 (summary 0.25 point frame-focus)
16937 (vertical ((height . 5) (width . 15)
16938 (user-position . t)
16939 (left . -1) (top . 1))
16944 This split will result in the familiar summary/article window
16945 configuration in the first (or ``main'') frame, while a small additional
16946 frame will be created where picons will be shown. As you can see,
16947 instead of the normal @code{1.0} top-level spec, each additional split
16948 should have a frame parameter alist as the size spec.
16949 @xref{Frame Parameters, , Frame Parameters, elisp, The GNU Emacs Lisp
16950 Reference Manual}. Under XEmacs, a frame property list will be
16951 accepted, too---for instance, @code{(height 5 width 15 left -1 top 1)}
16953 The list of all possible keys for @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} can
16954 be found in its default value.
16956 Note that the @code{message} key is used for both
16957 @code{gnus-group-mail} and @code{gnus-summary-mail-other-window}. If
16958 it is desirable to distinguish between the two, something like this
16962 (message (horizontal 1.0
16963 (vertical 1.0 (message 1.0 point))
16965 (if (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer)
16970 One common desire for a multiple frame split is to have a separate frame
16971 for composing mail and news while leaving the original frame intact. To
16972 accomplish that, something like the following can be done:
16975 (message (frame 1.0
16976 (if (not (buffer-live-p gnus-summary-buffer))
16977 (car (cdr (assoc 'group gnus-buffer-configuration)))
16978 (car (cdr (assoc 'summary gnus-buffer-configuration))))
16979 (vertical ((user-position . t) (top . 1) (left . 1)
16980 (name . "Message"))
16981 (message 1.0 point))))
16984 @findex gnus-add-configuration
16985 Since the @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} variable is so long and
16986 complicated, there's a function you can use to ease changing the config
16987 of a single setting: @code{gnus-add-configuration}. If, for instance,
16988 you want to change the @code{article} setting, you could say:
16991 (gnus-add-configuration
16992 '(article (vertical 1.0
16994 (summary .25 point)
16998 You'd typically stick these @code{gnus-add-configuration} calls in your
16999 @file{.gnus.el} file or in some startup hook---they should be run after
17000 Gnus has been loaded.
17002 @vindex gnus-always-force-window-configuration
17003 If all windows mentioned in the configuration are already visible, Gnus
17004 won't change the window configuration. If you always want to force the
17005 ``right'' window configuration, you can set
17006 @code{gnus-always-force-window-configuration} to non-@code{nil}.
17008 If you're using tree displays (@pxref{Tree Display}), and the tree
17009 window is displayed vertically next to another window, you may also want
17010 to fiddle with @code{gnus-tree-minimize-window} to avoid having the
17014 @node Faces and Fonts
17015 @section Faces and Fonts
17020 Fiddling with fonts and faces used to be very difficult, but these days
17021 it is very simple. You simply say @kbd{M-x customize-face}, pick out
17022 the face you want to alter, and alter it via the standard Customize
17027 @section Compilation
17028 @cindex compilation
17029 @cindex byte-compilation
17031 @findex gnus-compile
17033 Remember all those line format specification variables?
17034 @code{gnus-summary-line-format}, @code{gnus-group-line-format}, and so
17035 on. By default, T-gnus will use the byte-compiled codes of these
17036 variables and we can keep a slow-down to a minimum. However, if you set
17037 @code{gnus-compile-user-specs} to @code{nil} (@code{t} by default),
17038 unfortunately, changing them will mean a quite significant slow-down.
17039 (The default values of these variables have byte-compiled functions
17040 associated with them, while the user-generated versions do not, of
17043 To help with this, you can run @kbd{M-x gnus-compile} after you've
17044 fiddled around with the variables and feel that you're (kind of)
17045 satisfied. This will result in the new specs being byte-compiled, and
17046 you'll get top speed again. Note that T-gnus will not save these
17047 compiled specs in the @file{.newsrc.eld} file.
17050 @item gnus-compile-user-specs
17051 @vindex gnus-compile-user-specs
17052 If it is non-nil, the user-defined format specs will be byte-compiled
17053 automatically. The default value of this variable is @code{t}. It has
17054 an effect on the values of @code{gnus-*-line-format-spec}.
17059 @section Mode Lines
17062 @vindex gnus-updated-mode-lines
17063 @code{gnus-updated-mode-lines} says what buffers should keep their mode
17064 lines updated. It is a list of symbols. Supported symbols include
17065 @code{group}, @code{article}, @code{summary}, @code{server},
17066 @code{browse}, and @code{tree}. If the corresponding symbol is present,
17067 Gnus will keep that mode line updated with information that may be
17068 pertinent. If this variable is @code{nil}, screen refresh may be
17071 @cindex display-time
17073 @vindex gnus-mode-non-string-length
17074 By default, Gnus displays information on the current article in the mode
17075 lines of the summary and article buffers. The information Gnus wishes
17076 to display (e.g. the subject of the article) is often longer than the
17077 mode lines, and therefore have to be cut off at some point. The
17078 @code{gnus-mode-non-string-length} variable says how long the other
17079 elements on the line is (i.e., the non-info part). If you put
17080 additional elements on the mode line (e.g. a clock), you should modify
17083 @c Hook written by Francesco Potorti` <pot@cnuce.cnr.it>
17085 (add-hook 'display-time-hook
17086 (lambda () (setq gnus-mode-non-string-length
17088 (if line-number-mode 5 0)
17089 (if column-number-mode 4 0)
17090 (length display-time-string)))))
17093 If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the default), the mode line
17094 strings won't be chopped off, and they won't be padded either. Note
17095 that the default is unlikely to be desirable, as even the percentage
17096 complete in the buffer may be crowded off the mode line; the user should
17097 configure this variable appropriately for her configuration.
17100 @node Highlighting and Menus
17101 @section Highlighting and Menus
17103 @cindex highlighting
17106 @vindex gnus-visual
17107 The @code{gnus-visual} variable controls most of the Gnus-prettifying
17108 aspects. If @code{nil}, Gnus won't attempt to create menus or use fancy
17109 colors or fonts. This will also inhibit loading the @file{gnus-vis.el}
17112 This variable can be a list of visual properties that are enabled. The
17113 following elements are valid, and are all included by default:
17116 @item group-highlight
17117 Do highlights in the group buffer.
17118 @item summary-highlight
17119 Do highlights in the summary buffer.
17120 @item article-highlight
17121 Do highlights in the article buffer.
17123 Turn on highlighting in all buffers.
17125 Create menus in the group buffer.
17127 Create menus in the summary buffers.
17129 Create menus in the article buffer.
17131 Create menus in the browse buffer.
17133 Create menus in the server buffer.
17135 Create menus in the score buffers.
17137 Create menus in all buffers.
17140 So if you only want highlighting in the article buffer and menus in all
17141 buffers, you could say something like:
17144 (setq gnus-visual '(article-highlight menu))
17147 If you want highlighting only and no menus whatsoever, you'd say:
17150 (setq gnus-visual '(highlight))
17153 If @code{gnus-visual} is @code{t}, highlighting and menus will be used
17154 in all Gnus buffers.
17156 Other general variables that influence the look of all buffers include:
17159 @item gnus-mouse-face
17160 @vindex gnus-mouse-face
17161 This is the face (i.e., font) used for mouse highlighting in Gnus. No
17162 mouse highlights will be done if @code{gnus-visual} is @code{nil}.
17166 There are hooks associated with the creation of all the different menus:
17170 @item gnus-article-menu-hook
17171 @vindex gnus-article-menu-hook
17172 Hook called after creating the article mode menu.
17174 @item gnus-group-menu-hook
17175 @vindex gnus-group-menu-hook
17176 Hook called after creating the group mode menu.
17178 @item gnus-summary-menu-hook
17179 @vindex gnus-summary-menu-hook
17180 Hook called after creating the summary mode menu.
17182 @item gnus-server-menu-hook
17183 @vindex gnus-server-menu-hook
17184 Hook called after creating the server mode menu.
17186 @item gnus-browse-menu-hook
17187 @vindex gnus-browse-menu-hook
17188 Hook called after creating the browse mode menu.
17190 @item gnus-score-menu-hook
17191 @vindex gnus-score-menu-hook
17192 Hook called after creating the score mode menu.
17203 Those new-fangled @dfn{mouse} contraptions is very popular with the
17204 young, hep kids who don't want to learn the proper way to do things
17205 these days. Why, I remember way back in the summer of '89, when I was
17206 using Emacs on a Tops 20 system. Three hundred users on one single
17207 machine, and every user was running Simula compilers. Bah!
17211 @vindex gnus-carpal
17212 Well, you can make Gnus display bufferfuls of buttons you can click to
17213 do anything by setting @code{gnus-carpal} to @code{t}. Pretty simple,
17214 really. Tell the chiropractor I sent you.
17219 @item gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17220 @vindex gnus-carpal-mode-hook
17221 Hook run in all carpal mode buffers.
17223 @item gnus-carpal-button-face
17224 @vindex gnus-carpal-button-face
17225 Face used on buttons.
17227 @item gnus-carpal-header-face
17228 @vindex gnus-carpal-header-face
17229 Face used on carpal buffer headers.
17231 @item gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17232 @vindex gnus-carpal-group-buffer-buttons
17233 Buttons in the group buffer.
17235 @item gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17236 @vindex gnus-carpal-summary-buffer-buttons
17237 Buttons in the summary buffer.
17239 @item gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17240 @vindex gnus-carpal-server-buffer-buttons
17241 Buttons in the server buffer.
17243 @item gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17244 @vindex gnus-carpal-browse-buffer-buttons
17245 Buttons in the browse buffer.
17248 All the @code{buttons} variables are lists. The elements in these list
17249 are either cons cells where the @code{car} contains a text to be displayed and
17250 the @code{cdr} contains a function symbol, or a simple string.
17258 Gnus, being larger than any program ever written (allegedly), does lots
17259 of strange stuff that you may wish to have done while you're not
17260 present. For instance, you may want it to check for new mail once in a
17261 while. Or you may want it to close down all connections to all servers
17262 when you leave Emacs idle. And stuff like that.
17264 Gnus will let you do stuff like that by defining various
17265 @dfn{handlers}. Each handler consists of three elements: A
17266 @var{function}, a @var{time}, and an @var{idle} parameter.
17268 Here's an example of a handler that closes connections when Emacs has
17269 been idle for thirty minutes:
17272 (gnus-demon-close-connections nil 30)
17275 Here's a handler that scans for PGP headers every hour when Emacs is
17279 (gnus-demon-scan-pgp 60 t)
17282 This @var{time} parameter and than @var{idle} parameter work together
17283 in a strange, but wonderful fashion. Basically, if @var{idle} is
17284 @code{nil}, then the function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17286 If @var{idle} is @code{t}, then the function will be called after
17287 @var{time} minutes only if Emacs is idle. So if Emacs is never idle,
17288 the function will never be called. But once Emacs goes idle, the
17289 function will be called every @var{time} minutes.
17291 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is a number, the function will
17292 be called every @var{time} minutes only when Emacs has been idle for
17293 @var{idle} minutes.
17295 If @var{idle} is a number and @var{time} is @code{nil}, the function
17296 will be called once every time Emacs has been idle for @var{idle}
17299 And if @var{time} is a string, it should look like @samp{07:31}, and
17300 the function will then be called once every day somewhere near that
17301 time. Modified by the @var{idle} parameter, of course.
17303 @vindex gnus-demon-timestep
17304 (When I say ``minute'' here, I really mean @code{gnus-demon-timestep}
17305 seconds. This is 60 by default. If you change that variable,
17306 all the timings in the handlers will be affected.)
17308 So, if you want to add a handler, you could put something like this in
17309 your @file{.gnus} file:
17311 @findex gnus-demon-add-handler
17313 (gnus-demon-add-handler 'gnus-demon-close-connections 30 t)
17316 @findex gnus-demon-add-nocem
17317 @findex gnus-demon-add-scanmail
17318 @findex gnus-demon-add-rescan
17319 @findex gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps
17320 @findex gnus-demon-add-disconnection
17321 Some ready-made functions to do this have been created:
17322 @code{gnus-demon-add-nocem}, @code{gnus-demon-add-disconnection},
17323 @code{gnus-demon-add-nntp-close-connection},
17324 @code{gnus-demon-add-scan-timestamps}, @code{gnus-demon-add-rescan}, and
17325 @code{gnus-demon-add-scanmail}. Just put those functions in your
17326 @file{.gnus} if you want those abilities.
17328 @findex gnus-demon-init
17329 @findex gnus-demon-cancel
17330 @vindex gnus-demon-handlers
17331 If you add handlers to @code{gnus-demon-handlers} directly, you should
17332 run @code{gnus-demon-init} to make the changes take hold. To cancel all
17333 daemons, you can use the @code{gnus-demon-cancel} function.
17335 Note that adding daemons can be pretty naughty if you over do it. Adding
17336 functions that scan all news and mail from all servers every two seconds
17337 is a sure-fire way of getting booted off any respectable system. So
17346 @dfn{Spamming} is posting the same article lots and lots of times.
17347 Spamming is bad. Spamming is evil.
17349 Spamming is usually canceled within a day or so by various anti-spamming
17350 agencies. These agencies usually also send out @dfn{NoCeM} messages.
17351 NoCeM is pronounced ``no see-'em'', and means what the name
17352 implies---these are messages that make the offending articles, like, go
17355 What use are these NoCeM messages if the articles are canceled anyway?
17356 Some sites do not honor cancel messages and some sites just honor cancels
17357 from a select few people. Then you may wish to make use of the NoCeM
17358 messages, which are distributed in the @samp{alt.nocem.misc} newsgroup.
17360 Gnus can read and parse the messages in this group automatically, and
17361 this will make spam disappear.
17363 There are some variables to customize, of course:
17366 @item gnus-use-nocem
17367 @vindex gnus-use-nocem
17368 Set this variable to @code{t} to set the ball rolling. It is @code{nil}
17371 @item gnus-nocem-groups
17372 @vindex gnus-nocem-groups
17373 Gnus will look for NoCeM messages in the groups in this list. The
17374 default is @code{("news.lists.filters" "news.admin.net-abuse.bulletins"
17375 "alt.nocem.misc" "news.admin.net-abuse.announce")}.
17377 @item gnus-nocem-issuers
17378 @vindex gnus-nocem-issuers
17379 There are many people issuing NoCeM messages. This list says what
17380 people you want to listen to. The default is @code{("Automoose-1"
17381 "rbraver@@ohww.norman.ok.us" "clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca"
17382 "jem@@xpat.com" "snowhare@@xmission.com" "red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us
17383 (Richard E. Depew)")}; fine, upstanding citizens all of them.
17385 Known despammers that you can put in this list include:
17388 @item clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca;
17389 @cindex Chris Lewis
17390 Chris Lewis---Major Canadian despammer who has probably canceled more
17391 usenet abuse than anybody else.
17394 @cindex CancelMoose[tm]
17395 The CancelMoose[tm] on autopilot. The CancelMoose[tm] is reputed to be
17396 Norwegian, and was the person(s) who invented NoCeM.
17398 @item jem@@xpat.com;
17400 John Milburn---despammer located in Korea who is getting very busy these
17403 @item red@@redpoll.mrfs.oh.us (Richard E. Depew)
17404 Richard E. Depew---lone American despammer. He mostly cancels binary
17405 postings to non-binary groups and removes spews (regurgitated articles).
17408 You do not have to heed NoCeM messages from all these people---just the
17409 ones you want to listen to. You also don't have to accept all NoCeM
17410 messages from the people you like. Each NoCeM message has a @dfn{type}
17411 header that gives the message a (more or less, usually less) rigorous
17412 definition. Common types are @samp{spam}, @samp{spew}, @samp{mmf},
17413 @samp{binary}, and @samp{troll}. To specify this, you have to use
17414 @code{(@var{issuer} @var{conditions} @dots{})} elements in the list.
17415 Each condition is either a string (which is a regexp that matches types
17416 you want to use) or a list on the form @code{(not @var{string})}, where
17417 @var{string} is a regexp that matches types you don't want to use.
17419 For instance, if you want all NoCeM messages from Chris Lewis except his
17420 @samp{troll} messages, you'd say:
17423 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" ".*" (not "troll"))
17426 On the other hand, if you just want nothing but his @samp{spam} and
17427 @samp{spew} messages, you'd say:
17430 ("clewis@@ferret.ocunix.on.ca" (not ".*") "spew" "spam")
17433 The specs are applied left-to-right.
17436 @item gnus-nocem-verifyer
17437 @vindex gnus-nocem-verifyer
17439 This should be a function for verifying that the NoCeM issuer is who she
17440 says she is. The default is @code{mc-verify}, which is a Mailcrypt
17441 function. If this is too slow and you don't care for verification
17442 (which may be dangerous), you can set this variable to @code{nil}.
17444 If you want signed NoCeM messages to be verified and unsigned messages
17445 not to be verified (but used anyway), you could do something like:
17448 (setq gnus-nocem-verifyer 'my-gnus-mc-verify)
17450 (defun my-gnus-mc-verify ()
17458 This might be dangerous, though.
17460 @item gnus-nocem-directory
17461 @vindex gnus-nocem-directory
17462 This is where Gnus will store its NoCeM cache files. The default is
17463 @file{~/News/NoCeM/}.
17465 @item gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
17466 @vindex gnus-nocem-expiry-wait
17467 The number of days before removing old NoCeM entries from the cache.
17468 The default is 15. If you make it shorter Gnus will be faster, but you
17469 might then see old spam.
17473 Using NoCeM could potentially be a memory hog. If you have many living
17474 (i. e., subscribed or unsubscribed groups), your Emacs process will grow
17475 big. If this is a problem, you should kill off all (or most) of your
17476 unsubscribed groups (@pxref{Subscription Commands}).
17483 It is very useful to be able to undo actions one has done. In normal
17484 Emacs buffers, it's easy enough---you just push the @code{undo} button.
17485 In Gnus buffers, however, it isn't that simple.
17487 The things Gnus displays in its buffer is of no value whatsoever to
17488 Gnus---it's all just data designed to look nice to the user.
17489 Killing a group in the group buffer with @kbd{C-k} makes the line
17490 disappear, but that's just a side-effect of the real action---the
17491 removal of the group in question from the internal Gnus structures.
17492 Undoing something like that can't be done by the normal Emacs
17493 @code{undo} function.
17495 Gnus tries to remedy this somewhat by keeping track of what the user
17496 does and coming up with actions that would reverse the actions the user
17497 takes. When the user then presses the @code{undo} key, Gnus will run
17498 the code to reverse the previous action, or the previous actions.
17499 However, not all actions are easily reversible, so Gnus currently offers
17500 a few key functions to be undoable. These include killing groups,
17501 yanking groups, and changing the list of read articles of groups.
17502 That's it, really. More functions may be added in the future, but each
17503 added function means an increase in data to be stored, so Gnus will
17504 never be totally undoable.
17506 @findex gnus-undo-mode
17507 @vindex gnus-use-undo
17509 The undoability is provided by the @code{gnus-undo-mode} minor mode. It
17510 is used if @code{gnus-use-undo} is non-@code{nil}, which is the
17511 default. The @kbd{M-C-_} key performs the @code{gnus-undo} command
17512 command, which should feel kinda like the normal Emacs @code{undo}
17517 @section Moderation
17520 If you are a moderator, you can use the @file{gnus-mdrtn.el} package.
17521 It is not included in the standard Gnus package. Write a mail to
17522 @samp{larsi@@gnus.org} and state what group you moderate, and you'll
17525 The moderation package is implemented as a minor mode for summary
17529 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-moderate)
17532 in your @file{.gnus.el} file.
17534 If you are the moderator of @samp{rec.zoofle}, this is how it's
17539 You split your incoming mail by matching on
17540 @samp{Newsgroups:.*rec.zoofle}, which will put all the to-be-posted
17541 articles in some mail group---for instance, @samp{nnml:rec.zoofle}.
17544 You enter that group once in a while and post articles using the @kbd{e}
17545 (edit-and-post) or @kbd{s} (just send unedited) commands.
17548 If, while reading the @samp{rec.zoofle} newsgroup, you happen upon some
17549 articles that weren't approved by you, you can cancel them with the
17553 To use moderation mode in these two groups, say:
17556 (setq gnus-moderated-list
17557 "^nnml:rec.zoofle$\\|^rec.zoofle$")
17561 @node XEmacs Enhancements
17562 @section XEmacs Enhancements
17565 XEmacs is able to display pictures and stuff, so Gnus has taken
17569 * Picons:: How to display pictures of what your reading.
17570 * Smileys:: Show all those happy faces the way they were meant to be shown.
17571 * Toolbar:: Click'n'drool.
17572 * XVarious:: Other XEmacsy Gnusey variables.
17585 So... You want to slow down your news reader even more! This is a
17586 good way to do so. Its also a great way to impress people staring
17587 over your shoulder as you read news.
17590 * Picon Basics:: What are picons and How do I get them.
17591 * Picon Requirements:: Don't go further if you aren't using XEmacs.
17592 * Easy Picons:: Displaying Picons---the easy way.
17593 * Hard Picons:: The way you should do it. You'll learn something.
17594 * Picon Useless Configuration:: Other variables you can trash/tweak/munge/play with.
17599 @subsubsection Picon Basics
17601 What are Picons? To quote directly from the Picons Web site:
17610 @dfn{Picons} is short for ``personal icons''. They're small,
17611 constrained images used to represent users and domains on the net,
17612 organized into databases so that the appropriate image for a given
17613 e-mail address can be found. Besides users and domains, there are picon
17614 databases for Usenet newsgroups and weather forecasts. The picons are
17615 in either monochrome @code{XBM} format or color @code{XPM} and
17616 @code{GIF} formats.
17619 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17620 If you have a permanent connection to the Internet you can use Steve
17621 Kinzler's Picons Search engine by setting
17622 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} to the string @*
17623 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/search.html}.
17625 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17626 Otherwise you need a local copy of his database. For instructions on
17627 obtaining and installing the picons databases, point your Web browser at @*
17628 @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu/picons/ftp/index.html}. Gnus expects
17629 picons to be installed into a location pointed to by
17630 @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17633 @node Picon Requirements
17634 @subsubsection Picon Requirements
17636 To have Gnus display Picons for you, you must be running XEmacs
17637 19.13 or greater since all other versions of Emacs aren't yet able to
17640 Additionally, you must have @code{x} support compiled into XEmacs. To
17641 display color picons which are much nicer than the black & white one,
17642 you also need one of @code{xpm} or @code{gif} compiled into XEmacs.
17644 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17645 If you want to display faces from @code{X-Face} headers, you should have
17646 the @code{xface} support compiled into XEmacs. Otherwise you must have
17647 the @code{netpbm} utilities installed, or munge the
17648 @code{gnus-picons-convert-x-face} variable to use something else.
17652 @subsubsection Easy Picons
17654 To enable displaying picons, simply put the following line in your
17655 @file{~/.gnus} file and start Gnus.
17658 (setq gnus-use-picons t)
17659 (setq gnus-treat-display-picons t)
17662 and make sure @code{gnus-picons-database} points to the directory
17663 containing the Picons databases.
17665 Alternatively if you want to use the web piconsearch engine add this:
17668 (setq gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17669 "http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch")
17674 @subsubsection Hard Picons
17682 Gnus can display picons for you as you enter and leave groups and
17683 articles. It knows how to interact with three sections of the picons
17684 database. Namely, it can display the picons newsgroup pictures,
17685 author's face picture(s), and the authors domain. To enable this
17686 feature, you need to select where to get the picons from, and where to
17691 @item gnus-picons-database
17692 @vindex gnus-picons-database
17693 The location of the picons database. Should point to a directory
17694 containing the @file{news}, @file{domains}, @file{users} (and so on)
17695 subdirectories. This is only useful if
17696 @code{gnus-picons-piconsearch-url} is @code{nil}. Defaults to
17697 @file{/usr/local/faces/}.
17699 @item gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17700 @vindex gnus-picons-piconsearch-url
17701 The URL for the web picons search engine. The only currently known
17702 engine is @file{http://www.cs.indiana.edu:800/piconsearch}. To
17703 workaround network delays, icons will be fetched in the background. If
17704 this is @code{nil} 'the default), then picons are fetched from local
17705 database indicated by @code{gnus-picons-database}.
17707 @item gnus-picons-display-where
17708 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17709 Where the picon images should be displayed. It is @code{picons} by
17710 default (which by default maps to the buffer @samp{*Picons*}). Other
17711 valid places could be @code{article}, @code{summary}, or
17712 @samp{*scratch*} for all I care. Just make sure that you've made the
17713 buffer visible using the standard Gnus window configuration
17714 routines---@pxref{Windows Configuration}.
17716 @item gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17717 @vindex gnus-picons-group-excluded-groups
17718 Groups that are matched by this regexp won't have their group icons
17723 Note: If you set @code{gnus-use-picons} to @code{t}, it will set up your
17724 window configuration for you to include the @code{picons} buffer.
17726 Now that you've made those decision, you need to add the following
17727 functions to the appropriate hooks so these pictures will get displayed
17730 @vindex gnus-picons-display-where
17732 @item gnus-article-display-picons
17733 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17734 Looks up and displays the picons for the author and the author's domain
17735 in the @code{gnus-picons-display-where} buffer.
17737 @item gnus-picons-article-display-x-face
17738 @findex gnus-article-display-picons
17739 Decodes and displays the X-Face header if present.
17745 @node Picon Useless Configuration
17746 @subsubsection Picon Useless Configuration
17754 The following variables offer further control over how things are
17755 done, where things are located, and other useless stuff you really
17756 don't need to worry about.
17760 @item gnus-picons-news-directories
17761 @vindex gnus-picons-news-directories
17762 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17763 newsgroups faces. @code{("news")} is the default.
17765 @item gnus-picons-user-directories
17766 @vindex gnus-picons-user-directories
17767 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for user
17768 faces. @code{("local" "users" "usenix" "misc")} is the default.
17770 @item gnus-picons-domain-directories
17771 @vindex gnus-picons-domain-directories
17772 List of subdirectories to search in @code{gnus-picons-database} for
17773 domain name faces. Defaults to @code{("domains")}. Some people may
17774 want to add @samp{"unknown"} to this list.
17776 @item gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17777 @vindex gnus-picons-convert-x-face
17778 If you don't have @code{xface} support builtin XEmacs, this is the
17779 command to use to convert the @code{X-Face} header to an X bitmap
17780 (@code{xbm}). Defaults to @code{(format "@{ echo '/* Width=48,
17781 Height=48 */'; uncompface; @} | icontopbm | pbmtoxbm > %s"
17782 gnus-picons-x-face-file-name)}
17784 @item gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17785 @vindex gnus-picons-x-face-file-name
17786 Names a temporary file to store the @code{X-Face} bitmap in. Defaults
17787 to @code{(format "/tmp/picon-xface.%s.xbm" (user-login-name))}.
17789 @item gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17790 @vindex gnus-picons-has-modeline-p
17791 If you have set @code{gnus-picons-display-where} to @code{picons}, your
17792 XEmacs frame will become really cluttered. To alleviate this a bit you
17793 can set @code{gnus-picons-has-modeline-p} to @code{nil}; this will
17794 remove the mode line from the Picons buffer. This is only useful if
17795 @code{gnus-picons-display-where} is @code{picons}.
17797 @item gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17798 @vindex gnus-picons-refresh-before-display
17799 If non-nil, display the article buffer before computing the picons.
17800 Defaults to @code{nil}.
17802 @item gnus-picons-display-as-address
17803 @vindex gnus-picons-display-as-address
17804 If @code{t} display textual email addresses along with pictures.
17805 Defaults to @code{t}.
17807 @item gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17808 @vindex gnus-picons-file-suffixes
17809 Ordered list of suffixes on picon file names to try. Defaults to
17810 @code{("xpm" "gif" "xbm")} minus those not builtin your XEmacs.
17812 @item gnus-picons-setup-hook
17813 @vindex gnus-picons-setup-hook
17814 Hook run in the picon buffer, if that is displayed.
17816 @item gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17817 @vindex gnus-picons-display-article-move-p
17818 Whether to move point to first empty line when displaying picons. This
17819 has only an effect if `gnus-picons-display-where' has value `article'.
17821 If @code{nil}, display the picons in the @code{From} and
17822 @code{Newsgroups} lines. This is the defailt.
17824 @item gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17825 @vindex gnus-picons-clear-cache-on-shutdown
17826 Whether to clear the picons cache when exiting gnus. Gnus caches every
17827 picons it finds while it is running. This saves some time in the search
17828 process but eats some memory. If this variable is set to @code{nil},
17829 Gnus will never clear the cache itself; you will have to manually call
17830 @code{gnus-picons-clear-cache} to clear it. Otherwise the cache will be
17831 cleared every time you exit Gnus. Defaults to @code{t}.
17842 @subsection Smileys
17847 \gnusfig{-3cm}{0.5cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/BigFace.ps,height=20cm}}
17852 @dfn{Smiley} is a package separate from Gnus, but since Gnus is
17853 currently the only package that uses Smiley, it is documented here.
17855 In short---to use Smiley in Gnus, put the following in your
17856 @file{.gnus.el} file:
17859 (setq gnus-treat-display-smileys t)
17862 Smiley maps text smiley faces---@samp{:-)}, @samp{:-=}, @samp{:-(} and
17863 the like---to pictures and displays those instead of the text smiley
17864 faces. The conversion is controlled by a list of regexps that matches
17865 text and maps that to file names.
17867 @vindex smiley-nosey-regexp-alist
17868 @vindex smiley-deformed-regexp-alist
17869 Smiley supplies two example conversion alists by default:
17870 @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist} (which matches @samp{:)}, @samp{:(}
17871 and so on), and @code{smiley-nosey-regexp-alist} (which matches
17872 @samp{:-)}, @samp{:-(} and so on).
17874 The alist used is specified by the @code{smiley-regexp-alist} variable,
17875 which defaults to the value of @code{smiley-deformed-regexp-alist}.
17877 The first item in each element is the regexp to be matched; the second
17878 element is the regexp match group that is to be replaced by the picture;
17879 and the third element is the name of the file to be displayed.
17881 The following variables customize where Smiley will look for these
17882 files, as well as the color to be used and stuff:
17886 @item smiley-data-directory
17887 @vindex smiley-data-directory
17888 Where Smiley will look for smiley faces files.
17890 @item smiley-flesh-color
17891 @vindex smiley-flesh-color
17892 Skin color. The default is @samp{yellow}, which is really racist.
17894 @item smiley-features-color
17895 @vindex smiley-features-color
17896 Color of the features of the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17898 @item smiley-tongue-color
17899 @vindex smiley-tongue-color
17900 Color of the tongue. The default is @samp{red}.
17902 @item smiley-circle-color
17903 @vindex smiley-circle-color
17904 Color of the circle around the face. The default is @samp{black}.
17906 @item smiley-mouse-face
17907 @vindex smiley-mouse-face
17908 Face used for mouse highlighting over the smiley face.
17914 @subsection Toolbar
17924 @item gnus-use-toolbar
17925 @vindex gnus-use-toolbar
17926 If @code{nil}, don't display toolbars. If non-@code{nil}, it should be
17927 one of @code{default-toolbar}, @code{top-toolbar}, @code{bottom-toolbar},
17928 @code{right-toolbar}, or @code{left-toolbar}.
17930 @item gnus-group-toolbar
17931 @vindex gnus-group-toolbar
17932 The toolbar in the group buffer.
17934 @item gnus-summary-toolbar
17935 @vindex gnus-summary-toolbar
17936 The toolbar in the summary buffer.
17938 @item gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17939 @vindex gnus-summary-mail-toolbar
17940 The toolbar in the summary buffer of mail groups.
17946 @subsection Various XEmacs Variables
17949 @item gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17950 @vindex gnus-xmas-glyph-directory
17951 This is where Gnus will look for pictures. Gnus will normally
17952 auto-detect this directory, but you may set it manually if you have an
17953 unusual directory structure.
17955 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17956 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-alist
17957 This is an alist where the key is a type symbol and the values are the
17958 foreground and background color of the splash page glyph.
17960 @item gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17961 @vindex gnus-xmas-logo-color-style
17962 This is the key used to look up the color in the alist described above.
17963 Valid values include @code{flame}, @code{pine}, @code{moss},
17964 @code{irish}, @code{sky}, @code{tin}, @code{velvet}, @code{grape},
17965 @code{labia}, @code{berry}, @code{neutral}, and @code{september}.
17967 @item gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17968 @vindex gnus-xmas-modeline-glyph
17969 A glyph displayed in all Gnus mode lines. It is a tiny gnu head by
17983 @node Fuzzy Matching
17984 @section Fuzzy Matching
17985 @cindex fuzzy matching
17987 Gnus provides @dfn{fuzzy matching} of @code{Subject} lines when doing
17988 things like scoring, thread gathering and thread comparison.
17990 As opposed to regular expression matching, fuzzy matching is very fuzzy.
17991 It's so fuzzy that there's not even a definition of what @dfn{fuzziness}
17992 means, and the implementation has changed over time.
17994 Basically, it tries to remove all noise from lines before comparing.
17995 @samp{Re: }, parenthetical remarks, white space, and so on, are filtered
17996 out of the strings before comparing the results. This often leads to
17997 adequate results---even when faced with strings generated by text
17998 manglers masquerading as newsreaders.
18001 @node Thwarting Email Spam
18002 @section Thwarting Email Spam
18006 @cindex unsolicited commercial email
18008 In these last days of the Usenet, commercial vultures are hanging about
18009 and grepping through news like crazy to find email addresses they can
18010 foist off their scams and products to. As a reaction to this, many
18011 people have started putting nonsense addresses into their @code{From}
18012 lines. I think this is counterproductive---it makes it difficult for
18013 people to send you legitimate mail in response to things you write, as
18014 well as making it difficult to see who wrote what. This rewriting may
18015 perhaps be a bigger menace than the unsolicited commercial email itself
18018 The biggest problem I have with email spam is that it comes in under
18019 false pretenses. I press @kbd{g} and Gnus merrily informs me that I
18020 have 10 new emails. I say ``Golly gee! Happy is me!'' and select the
18021 mail group, only to find two pyramid schemes, seven advertisements
18022 (``New! Miracle tonic for growing full, lustrous hair on your toes!'')
18023 and one mail asking me to repent and find some god.
18027 The way to deal with this is having Gnus split out all spam into a
18028 @samp{spam} mail group (@pxref{Splitting Mail}).
18030 First, pick one (1) valid mail address that you can be reached at, and
18031 put it in your @code{From} header of all your news articles. (I've
18032 chosen @samp{larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no}, but for many addresses on the form
18033 @samp{larsi+usenet@@ifi.uio.no} will be a better choice. Ask your
18034 sysadm whether your sendmail installation accepts keywords in the local
18035 part of the mail address.)
18038 (setq message-default-news-headers
18039 "From: Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen <larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no>\n")
18042 Then put the following split rule in @code{nnmail-split-fancy}
18043 (@pxref{Fancy Mail Splitting}):
18048 (to "larsi@@trym.ifi.uio.no"
18049 (| ("subject" "re:.*" "misc")
18050 ("references" ".*@@.*" "misc")
18056 This says that all mail to this address is suspect, but if it has a
18057 @code{Subject} that starts with a @samp{Re:} or has a @code{References}
18058 header, it's probably ok. All the rest goes to the @samp{spam} group.
18059 (This idea probably comes from Tim Pierce.)
18061 In addition, many mail spammers talk directly to your @code{smtp} server
18062 and do not include your email address explicitly in the @code{To}
18063 header. Why they do this is unknown---perhaps it's to thwart this
18064 thwarting scheme? In any case, this is trivial to deal with---you just
18065 put anything not addressed to you in the @samp{spam} group by ending
18066 your fancy split rule in this way:
18071 (to "larsi" "misc")
18075 In my experience, this will sort virtually everything into the right
18076 group. You still have to check the @samp{spam} group from time to time to
18077 check for legitimate mail, though. If you feel like being a good net
18078 citizen, you can even send off complaints to the proper authorities on
18079 each unsolicited commercial email---at your leisure.
18081 If you are also a lazy net citizen, you will probably prefer complaining
18082 automatically with the @file{gnus-junk.el} package, available FOR FREE
18083 at @* @file{<URL:http://stud2.tuwien.ac.at/~e9426626/gnus-junk.html>}.
18084 Since most e-mail spam is sent automatically, this may reconcile the
18085 cosmic balance somewhat.
18087 This works for me. It allows people an easy way to contact me (they can
18088 just press @kbd{r} in the usual way), and I'm not bothered at all with
18089 spam. It's a win-win situation. Forging @code{From} headers to point
18090 to non-existent domains is yucky, in my opinion.
18093 @node Various Various
18094 @section Various Various
18100 @item gnus-home-directory
18101 All Gnus path variables will be initialized from this variable, which
18102 defaults to @file{~/}.
18104 @item gnus-directory
18105 @vindex gnus-directory
18106 Most Gnus storage path variables will be initialized from this variable,
18107 which defaults to the @samp{SAVEDIR} environment variable, or
18108 @file{~/News/} if that variable isn't set.
18110 Note that gnus is mostly loaded when the @file{.gnus.el} file is read.
18111 This means that other directory variables that are initialized from this
18112 variable won't be set properly if you set this variable in
18113 @file{.gnus.el}. Set this variable in @file{.emacs} instead.
18115 @item gnus-default-directory
18116 @vindex gnus-default-directory
18117 Not related to the above variable at all---this variable says what the
18118 default directory of all Gnus buffers should be. If you issue commands
18119 like @kbd{C-x C-f}, the prompt you'll get starts in the current buffer's
18120 default directory. If this variable is @code{nil} (which is the
18121 default), the default directory will be the default directory of the
18122 buffer you were in when you started Gnus.
18125 @vindex gnus-verbose
18126 This variable is an integer between zero and ten. The higher the value,
18127 the more messages will be displayed. If this variable is zero, Gnus
18128 will never flash any messages, if it is seven (which is the default),
18129 most important messages will be shown, and if it is ten, Gnus won't ever
18130 shut up, but will flash so many messages it will make your head swim.
18132 @item gnus-verbose-backends
18133 @vindex gnus-verbose-backends
18134 This variable works the same way as @code{gnus-verbose}, but it applies
18135 to the Gnus backends instead of Gnus proper.
18137 @item nnheader-max-head-length
18138 @vindex nnheader-max-head-length
18139 When the backends read straight heads of articles, they all try to read
18140 as little as possible. This variable (default 4096) specifies
18141 the absolute max length the backends will try to read before giving up
18142 on finding a separator line between the head and the body. If this
18143 variable is @code{nil}, there is no upper read bound. If it is
18144 @code{t}, the backends won't try to read the articles piece by piece,
18145 but read the entire articles. This makes sense with some versions of
18146 @code{ange-ftp} or @code{efs}.
18148 @item nnheader-head-chop-length
18149 @vindex nnheader-head-chop-length
18150 This variable (default 2048) says how big a piece of each article to
18151 read when doing the operation described above.
18153 @item nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18154 @vindex nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18156 @cindex invalid characters in file names
18157 @cindex characters in file names
18158 This is an alist that says how to translate characters in file names.
18159 For instance, if @samp{:} is invalid as a file character in file names
18160 on your system (you OS/2 user you), you could say something like:
18163 (setq nnheader-file-name-translation-alist
18167 In fact, this is the default value for this variable on OS/2 and MS
18168 Windows (phooey) systems.
18170 @item gnus-hidden-properties
18171 @vindex gnus-hidden-properties
18172 This is a list of properties to use to hide ``invisible'' text. It is
18173 @code{(invisible t intangible t)} by default on most systems, which
18174 makes invisible text invisible and intangible.
18176 @item gnus-parse-headers-hook
18177 @vindex gnus-parse-headers-hook
18178 A hook called before parsing headers. It can be used, for instance, to
18179 gather statistics on the headers fetched, or perhaps you'd like to prune
18180 some headers. I don't see why you'd want that, though.
18182 @item gnus-shell-command-separator
18183 @vindex gnus-shell-command-separator
18184 String used to separate two shell commands. The default is @samp{;}.
18193 Well, that's the manual---you can get on with your life now. Keep in
18194 touch. Say hello to your cats from me.
18196 My @strong{ghod}---I just can't stand goodbyes. Sniffle.
18198 Ol' Charles Reznikoff said it pretty well, so I leave the floor to him:
18204 Not because of victories @*
18207 but for the common sunshine,@*
18209 the largess of the spring.
18213 but for the day's work done@*
18214 as well as I was able;@*
18215 not for a seat upon the dais@*
18216 but at the common table.@*
18221 @chapter Appendices
18224 * History:: How Gnus got where it is today.
18225 * On Writing Manuals:: Why this is not a beginner's guide.
18226 * Terminology:: We use really difficult, like, words here.
18227 * Customization:: Tailoring Gnus to your needs.
18228 * Troubleshooting:: What you might try if things do not work.
18229 * Gnus Reference Guide:: Rilly, rilly technical stuff.
18230 * Emacs for Heathens:: A short introduction to Emacsian terms.
18231 * Frequently Asked Questions:: A question-and-answer session.
18239 @sc{gnus} was written by Masanobu @sc{Umeda}. When autumn crept up in
18240 '94, Lars Magne Ingebrigtsen grew bored and decided to rewrite Gnus.
18242 If you want to investigate the person responsible for this outrage,
18243 you can point your (feh!) web browser to
18244 @file{http://quimby.gnus.org/~larsi/}. This is also the primary
18245 distribution point for the new and spiffy versions of Gnus, and is
18246 known as The Site That Destroys Newsrcs And Drives People Mad.
18248 During the first extended alpha period of development, the new Gnus was
18249 called ``(ding) Gnus''. @dfn{(ding)} is, of course, short for
18250 @dfn{ding is not Gnus}, which is a total and utter lie, but who cares?
18251 (Besides, the ``Gnus'' in this abbreviation should probably be
18252 pronounced ``news'' as @sc{Umeda} intended, which makes it a more
18253 appropriate name, don't you think?)
18255 In any case, after spending all that energy on coming up with a new and
18256 spunky name, we decided that the name was @emph{too} spunky, so we
18257 renamed it back again to ``Gnus''. But in mixed case. ``Gnus'' vs.
18258 ``@sc{gnus}''. New vs. old.
18261 * Gnus Versions:: What Gnus versions have been released.
18262 * Other Gnus Versions:: Other Gnus versions that also have been released.
18263 * Why?:: What's the point of Gnus?
18264 * Compatibility:: Just how compatible is Gnus with @sc{gnus}?
18265 * Conformity:: Gnus tries to conform to all standards.
18266 * Emacsen:: Gnus can be run on a few modern Emacsen.
18267 * Gnus Development:: How Gnus is developed.
18268 * Contributors:: Oodles of people.
18269 * New Features:: Pointers to some of the new stuff in Gnus.
18270 * Newest Features:: Features so new that they haven't been written yet.
18274 @node Gnus Versions
18275 @subsection Gnus Versions
18276 @cindex Pterodactyl Gnus
18278 @cindex September Gnus
18279 @cindex Quassia Gnus
18281 The first ``proper'' release of Gnus 5 was done in November 1995 when it
18282 was included in the Emacs 19.30 distribution (132 (ding) Gnus releases
18283 plus 15 Gnus 5.0 releases).
18285 In May 1996 the next Gnus generation (aka. ``September Gnus'' (after 99
18286 releases)) was released under the name ``Gnus 5.2'' (40 releases).
18288 On July 28th 1996 work on Red Gnus was begun, and it was released on
18289 January 25th 1997 (after 84 releases) as ``Gnus 5.4'' (67 releases).
18291 On September 13th 1997, Quassia Gnus was started and lasted 37 releases.
18292 If was released as ``Gnus 5.6'' on March 8th 1998 (46 releases).
18294 Gnus 5.6 begat Pterodactyl Gnus on August 29th 1998 and was released as
18295 ``Gnus 5.8'' (after 99 releases and a CVS repository) on December 3rd
18298 If you happen upon a version of Gnus that has a prefixed name --
18299 ``(ding) Gnus'', ``September Gnus'', ``Red Gnus'', ``Quassia Gnus'' --
18300 don't panic. Don't let it know that you're frightened. Back away.
18301 Slowly. Whatever you do, don't run. Walk away, calmly, until you're
18302 out of its reach. Find a proper released version of Gnus and snuggle up
18306 @node Other Gnus Versions
18307 @subsection Other Gnus Versions
18310 In addition to the versions of Gnus which have had their releases
18311 coordinated by Lars, one major development has been Semi-gnus from
18312 Japan. It's based on a library called @sc{semi}, which provides
18313 @sc{mime} capabilities.
18315 These Gnusae are based mainly on Gnus 5.6 and Pterodactyl Gnus.
18316 Collectively, they are called ``Semi-gnus'', and different strains are
18317 called T-gnus, ET-gnus, Nana-gnus and Chaos. These provide powerful
18318 @sc{mime} and multilingualization things, especially important for
18325 What's the point of Gnus?
18327 I want to provide a ``rad'', ``happening'', ``way cool'' and ``hep''
18328 newsreader, that lets you do anything you can think of. That was my
18329 original motivation, but while working on Gnus, it has become clear to
18330 me that this generation of newsreaders really belong in the stone age.
18331 Newsreaders haven't developed much since the infancy of the net. If the
18332 volume continues to rise with the current rate of increase, all current
18333 newsreaders will be pretty much useless. How do you deal with
18334 newsgroups that have thousands of new articles each day? How do you
18335 keep track of millions of people who post?
18337 Gnus offers no real solutions to these questions, but I would very much
18338 like to see Gnus being used as a testing ground for new methods of
18339 reading and fetching news. Expanding on @sc{Umeda}-san's wise decision
18340 to separate the newsreader from the backends, Gnus now offers a simple
18341 interface for anybody who wants to write new backends for fetching mail
18342 and news from different sources. I have added hooks for customizations
18343 everywhere I could imagine it being useful. By doing so, I'm inviting
18344 every one of you to explore and invent.
18346 May Gnus never be complete. @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-emacs} and
18347 @kbd{C-u 100 M-x all-hail-xemacs}.
18350 @node Compatibility
18351 @subsection Compatibility
18353 @cindex compatibility
18354 Gnus was designed to be fully compatible with @sc{gnus}. Almost all key
18355 bindings have been kept. More key bindings have been added, of course,
18356 but only in one or two obscure cases have old bindings been changed.
18361 @center In a cloud bones of steel.
18365 All commands have kept their names. Some internal functions have changed
18368 The @code{gnus-uu} package has changed drastically. @xref{Decoding
18371 One major compatibility question is the presence of several summary
18372 buffers. All variables relevant while reading a group are
18373 buffer-local to the summary buffer they belong in. Although many
18374 important variables have their values copied into their global
18375 counterparts whenever a command is executed in the summary buffer, this
18376 change might lead to incorrect values being used unless you are careful.
18378 All code that relies on knowledge of @sc{gnus} internals will probably
18379 fail. To take two examples: Sorting @code{gnus-newsrc-alist} (or
18380 changing it in any way, as a matter of fact) is strictly verboten. Gnus
18381 maintains a hash table that points to the entries in this alist (which
18382 speeds up many functions), and changing the alist directly will lead to
18386 @cindex highlighting
18387 Old hilit19 code does not work at all. In fact, you should probably
18388 remove all hilit code from all Gnus hooks
18389 (@code{gnus-group-prepare-hook} and @code{gnus-summary-prepare-hook}).
18390 Gnus provides various integrated functions for highlighting. These are
18391 faster and more accurate. To make life easier for everybody, Gnus will
18392 by default remove all hilit calls from all hilit hooks. Uncleanliness!
18395 Packages like @code{expire-kill} will no longer work. As a matter of
18396 fact, you should probably remove all old @sc{gnus} packages (and other
18397 code) when you start using Gnus. More likely than not, Gnus already
18398 does what you have written code to make @sc{gnus} do. (Snicker.)
18400 Even though old methods of doing things are still supported, only the
18401 new methods are documented in this manual. If you detect a new method of
18402 doing something while reading this manual, that does not mean you have
18403 to stop doing it the old way.
18405 Gnus understands all @sc{gnus} startup files.
18407 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
18409 @cindex reporting bugs
18411 Overall, a casual user who hasn't written much code that depends on
18412 @sc{gnus} internals should suffer no problems. If problems occur,
18413 please let me know by issuing that magic command @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}.
18415 @vindex gnus-bug-create-help-buffer
18416 If you are in the habit of sending bug reports @emph{very} often, you
18417 may find the helpful help buffer annoying after a while. If so, set
18418 @code{gnus-bug-create-help-buffer} to @code{nil} to avoid having it pop
18423 @subsection Conformity
18425 No rebels without a clue here, ma'am. We conform to all standards known
18426 to (wo)man. Except for those standards and/or conventions we disagree
18433 There are no known breaches of this standard.
18437 There are no known breaches of this standard, either.
18439 @item Son-of-RFC 1036
18440 @cindex Son-of-RFC 1036
18441 We do have some breaches to this one.
18447 These are considered to be ``vanity headers'', while I consider them
18448 to be consumer information. After seeing so many badly formatted
18449 articles coming from @code{tin} and @code{Netscape} I know not to use
18450 either of those for posting articles. I would not have known that if
18451 it wasn't for the @code{X-Newsreader} header.
18456 USEFOR is an IETF working group writing a successor to RFC 1036, based
18457 on Son-of-RFC 1036. They have produced a number of drafts proposing
18458 various changes to the format of news articles. The Gnus towers will
18459 look into implementing the changes when the draft is accepted as an RFC.
18463 If you ever notice Gnus acting non-compliant with regards to the texts
18464 mentioned above, don't hesitate to drop a note to Gnus Towers and let us
18469 @subsection Emacsen
18475 Gnus should work on :
18483 XEmacs 21.1.1 and up.
18487 This Gnus version will absolutely not work on any Emacsen older than
18488 that. Not reliably, at least. Older versions of Gnus may work on older
18491 There are some vague differences between Gnus on the various
18492 platforms---XEmacs features more graphics (a logo and a toolbar)---but
18493 other than that, things should look pretty much the same under all
18497 @node Gnus Development
18498 @subsection Gnus Development
18500 Gnus is developed in a two-phased cycle. The first phase involves much
18501 discussion on the @samp{ding@@gnus.org} mailing list, where people
18502 propose changes and new features, post patches and new backends. This
18503 phase is called the @dfn{alpha} phase, since the Gnusae released in this
18504 phase are @dfn{alpha releases}, or (perhaps more commonly in other
18505 circles) @dfn{snapshots}. During this phase, Gnus is assumed to be
18506 unstable and should not be used by casual users. Gnus alpha releases
18507 have names like ``Red Gnus'' and ``Quassia Gnus''.
18509 After futzing around for 50-100 alpha releases, Gnus is declared
18510 @dfn{frozen}, and only bug fixes are applied. Gnus loses the prefix,
18511 and is called things like ``Gnus 5.6.32'' instead. Normal people are
18512 supposed to be able to use these, and these are mostly discussed on the
18513 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus} newsgroup.
18516 @vindex nnmail-delete-incoming
18517 Some variable defaults differ between alpha Gnusae and released Gnusae.
18518 In particular, @code{nnmail-delete-incoming} defaults to @code{nil} in
18519 alpha Gnusae and @code{t} in released Gnusae. This is to prevent
18520 lossage of mail if an alpha release hiccups while handling the mail.
18522 The division of discussion between the ding mailing list and the Gnus
18523 newsgroup is not purely based on publicity concerns. It's true that
18524 having people write about the horrible things that an alpha Gnus release
18525 can do (sometimes) in a public forum may scare people off, but more
18526 importantly, talking about new experimental features that have been
18527 introduced may confuse casual users. New features are frequently
18528 introduced, fiddled with, and judged to be found wanting, and then
18529 either discarded or totally rewritten. People reading the mailing list
18530 usually keep up with these rapid changes, whille people on the newsgroup
18531 can't be assumed to do so.
18536 @subsection Contributors
18537 @cindex contributors
18539 The new Gnus version couldn't have been done without the help of all the
18540 people on the (ding) mailing list. Every day for over a year I have
18541 gotten billions of nice bug reports from them, filling me with joy,
18542 every single one of them. Smooches. The people on the list have been
18543 tried beyond endurance, what with my ``oh, that's a neat idea <type
18544 type>, yup, I'll release it right away <ship off> no wait, that doesn't
18545 work at all <type type>, yup, I'll ship that one off right away <ship
18546 off> no, wait, that absolutely does not work'' policy for releases.
18547 Micro$oft---bah. Amateurs. I'm @emph{much} worse. (Or is that
18548 ``worser''? ``much worser''? ``worsest''?)
18550 I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Academy for... oops,
18556 Masanobu @sc{Umeda}---the writer of the original @sc{gnus}.
18559 Shenghuo Zhu---uudecode.el, mm-uu.el, rfc1843.el, webmail.el,
18560 nnwarchive and many, many other things connected with @sc{mime} and
18561 other types of en/decoding, as well as general bug fixing, new
18562 functionality and stuff.
18565 Per Abrahamsen---custom, scoring, highlighting and @sc{soup} code (as
18566 well as numerous other things).
18569 Luis Fernandes---design and graphics.
18572 Justin Sheehy--the FAQ maintainer.
18575 Erik Naggum---help, ideas, support, code and stuff.
18578 Wes Hardaker---@file{gnus-picon.el} and the manual section on
18579 @dfn{picons} (@pxref{Picons}).
18582 Kim-Minh Kaplan---further work on the picon code.
18585 Brad Miller---@file{gnus-gl.el} and the GroupLens manual section
18586 (@pxref{GroupLens}).
18589 Sudish Joseph---innumerable bug fixes.
18592 Ilja Weis---@file{gnus-topic.el}.
18595 Steven L. Baur---lots and lots and lots of bugs detections and fixes.
18598 Vladimir Alexiev---the refcard and reference booklets.
18601 Felix Lee & Jamie Zawinski---I stole some pieces from the XGnus
18602 distribution by Felix Lee and JWZ.
18605 Scott Byer---@file{nnfolder.el} enhancements & rewrite.
18608 Peter Mutsaers---orphan article scoring code.
18611 Ken Raeburn---POP mail support.
18614 Hallvard B Furuseth---various bits and pieces, especially dealing with
18618 Brian Edmonds---@file{gnus-bbdb.el}.
18621 David Moore---rewrite of @file{nnvirtual.el} and many other things.
18624 Kevin Davidson---came up with the name @dfn{ding}, so blame him.
18627 François Pinard---many, many interesting and thorough bug reports, as
18628 well as autoconf support.
18632 This manual was proof-read by Adrian Aichner, with Ricardo Nassif, Mark
18633 Borges, and Jost Krieger proof-reading parts of the manual.
18635 The following people have contributed many patches and suggestions:
18644 Jason L. Tibbitts, III,
18648 Also thanks to the following for patches and stuff:
18658 Alexei V. Barantsev,
18673 Massimo Campostrini,
18678 Jae-you Chung, @c ?
18679 James H. Cloos, Jr.,
18683 Andrew J. Cosgriff,
18686 Geoffrey T. Dairiki,
18692 Michael Welsh Duggan,
18697 Enami Tsugutomo, @c Enami
18701 Nelson Jose dos Santos Ferreira,
18709 Arne Georg Gleditsch,
18711 Michelangelo Grigni,
18715 Kenichi Handa, @c Handa
18717 Yoshiki Hayashi, @c ?
18719 Hisashige Kenji, @c Hisashige
18726 François Felix Ingrand,
18727 Tatsuya Ichikawa, @c ?
18728 Ishikawa Ichiro, @c Ishikawa
18730 Iwamuro Motonori, @c Iwamuro
18741 Peter Skov Knudsen,
18742 Shuhei Kobayashi, @c Kobayashi
18744 Koseki Yoshinori, @c Koseki
18745 Thor Kristoffersen,
18748 Seokchan Lee, @c Lee
18766 Morioka Tomohiko, @c Morioka
18767 Erik Toubro Nielsen,
18774 Masaharu Onishi, @c Onishi
18779 Jens-Ulrik Holger Petersen,
18783 John McClary Prevost,
18789 Lars Balker Rasmussen,
18794 Christian von Roques,
18797 Wolfgang Rupprecht,
18804 Philippe Schnoebelen,
18806 Randal L. Schwartz,
18820 Kiyokazu Suto, @c Suto
18825 Tozawa Akihiko, @c Tozawa
18841 Katsumi Yamaoka @c Yamaoka
18846 For a full overview of what each person has done, the ChangeLogs
18847 included in the Gnus alpha distributions should give ample reading
18848 (550kB and counting).
18850 Apologies to everybody that I've forgotten, of which there are many, I'm
18853 Gee, that's quite a list of people. I guess that must mean that there
18854 actually are people who are using Gnus. Who'd'a thunk it!
18858 @subsection New Features
18859 @cindex new features
18862 * ding Gnus:: New things in Gnus 5.0/5.1, the first new Gnus.
18863 * September Gnus:: The Thing Formally Known As Gnus 5.3/5.3.
18864 * Red Gnus:: Third time best---Gnus 5.4/5.5.
18865 * Quassia Gnus:: Two times two is four, or Gnus 5.6/5.7.
18868 These lists are, of course, just @emph{short} overviews of the
18869 @emph{most} important new features. No, really. There are tons more.
18870 Yes, we have feeping creaturism in full effect.
18874 @subsubsection (ding) Gnus
18876 New features in Gnus 5.0/5.1:
18881 The look of all buffers can be changed by setting format-like variables
18882 (@pxref{Group Buffer Format} and @pxref{Summary Buffer Format}).
18885 Local spool and several @sc{nntp} servers can be used at once
18886 (@pxref{Select Methods}).
18889 You can combine groups into virtual groups (@pxref{Virtual Groups}).
18892 You can read a number of different mail formats (@pxref{Getting Mail}).
18893 All the mail backends implement a convenient mail expiry scheme
18894 (@pxref{Expiring Mail}).
18897 Gnus can use various strategies for gathering threads that have lost
18898 their roots (thereby gathering loose sub-threads into one thread) or it
18899 can go back and retrieve enough headers to build a complete thread
18900 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
18903 Killed groups can be displayed in the group buffer, and you can read
18904 them as well (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18907 Gnus can do partial group updates---you do not have to retrieve the
18908 entire active file just to check for new articles in a few groups
18909 (@pxref{The Active File}).
18912 Gnus implements a sliding scale of subscribedness to groups
18913 (@pxref{Group Levels}).
18916 You can score articles according to any number of criteria
18917 (@pxref{Scoring}). You can even get Gnus to find out how to score
18918 articles for you (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
18921 Gnus maintains a dribble buffer that is auto-saved the normal Emacs
18922 manner, so it should be difficult to lose much data on what you have
18923 read if your machine should go down (@pxref{Auto Save}).
18926 Gnus now has its own startup file (@file{.gnus}) to avoid cluttering up
18927 the @file{.emacs} file.
18930 You can set the process mark on both groups and articles and perform
18931 operations on all the marked items (@pxref{Process/Prefix}).
18934 You can grep through a subset of groups and create a group from the
18935 results (@pxref{Kibozed Groups}).
18938 You can list subsets of groups according to, well, anything
18939 (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
18942 You can browse foreign servers and subscribe to groups from those
18943 servers (@pxref{Browse Foreign Server}).
18946 Gnus can fetch articles, asynchronously, on a second connection to the
18947 server (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
18950 You can cache articles locally (@pxref{Article Caching}).
18953 The uudecode functions have been expanded and generalized
18954 (@pxref{Decoding Articles}).
18957 You can still post uuencoded articles, which was a little-known feature
18958 of @sc{gnus}' past (@pxref{Uuencoding and Posting}).
18961 Fetching parents (and other articles) now actually works without
18962 glitches (@pxref{Finding the Parent}).
18965 Gnus can fetch FAQs and group descriptions (@pxref{Group Information}).
18968 Digests (and other files) can be used as the basis for groups
18969 (@pxref{Document Groups}).
18972 Articles can be highlighted and customized (@pxref{Customizing
18976 URLs and other external references can be buttonized (@pxref{Article
18980 You can do lots of strange stuff with the Gnus window & frame
18981 configuration (@pxref{Windows Configuration}).
18984 You can click on buttons instead of using the keyboard
18990 @node September Gnus
18991 @subsubsection September Gnus
18995 \gnusfig{-28cm}{0cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/september.ps,height=20cm}}
18999 New features in Gnus 5.2/5.3:
19004 A new message composition mode is used. All old customization variables
19005 for @code{mail-mode}, @code{rnews-reply-mode} and @code{gnus-msg} are
19009 Gnus is now able to generate @dfn{sparse} threads---threads where
19010 missing articles are represented by empty nodes (@pxref{Customizing
19014 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
19018 Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server
19019 (@pxref{Archived Messages}).
19022 Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
19026 Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions (@pxref{GroupLens}).
19029 Picons (personal icons) can be displayed under XEmacs (@pxref{Picons}).
19032 A @code{trn}-like tree buffer can be displayed (@pxref{Tree Display}).
19035 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
19039 An @code{nn}-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
19040 buffers (@pxref{Pick and Read}).
19043 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
19047 In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode (@pxref{Binary
19051 Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy (@pxref{Group
19055 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
19059 Gnus can re-send and bounce mail (@pxref{Summary Mail Commands}).
19062 Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
19063 is possible (@pxref{Group Score}).
19066 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
19070 Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
19071 groups of groups (@pxref{Marking Groups}).
19074 Caching is possible in virtual groups.
19077 @code{nndoc} now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews
19078 news batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything
19079 else (@pxref{Document Groups}).
19082 Gnus has a new backend (@code{nnsoup}) to create/read SOUP packets
19086 The Gnus cache is much faster.
19089 Groups can be sorted according to many criteria (@pxref{Sorting
19093 New group parameters have been introduced to set list-addresses and
19094 expiry times (@pxref{Group Parameters}).
19097 All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used
19098 (@pxref{Formatting Fonts}).
19101 There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on process
19102 marked articles on the @kbd{M P} submap (@pxref{Setting Process Marks}).
19105 The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
19106 articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
19107 bound to keys on the @kbd{/} submap (@pxref{Limiting}).
19110 Articles can be made persistent with the @kbd{*} command
19111 (@pxref{Persistent Articles}).
19114 All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
19117 Article headers can be buttonized (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19120 All mail backends support fetching articles by @code{Message-ID}.
19123 Duplicate mail can now be treated properly (@pxref{Duplicates}).
19126 All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
19127 buffer (@pxref{Article Keymap}).
19130 Frames can be part of @code{gnus-buffer-configuration} (@pxref{Windows
19134 Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process (@pxref{Daemons}).
19137 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fseptember.ps,height=5cm}}
19142 Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to weed out spam (@pxref{NoCeM}).
19145 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
19149 Groups can be made permanently visible (@pxref{Listing Groups}).
19152 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
19156 Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
19159 Gnus respects the @code{Mail-Copies-To} header.
19162 Threads can be gathered by looking at the @code{References} header
19163 (@pxref{Customizing Threading}).
19166 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
19167 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
19171 Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
19172 refetching (@pxref{Article Backlog}).
19175 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
19179 A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
19180 buffer to allow easier treatment.
19183 Gnus can suggest where to save articles (@pxref{Saving Articles}).
19186 Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving (@pxref{Saving
19190 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
19194 @code{gnus-uu} can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
19195 articles (@pxref{Other Decode Variables}).
19198 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
19202 Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text
19203 (@pxref{Article Washing}).
19206 Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
19207 cited text to hide is now customizable (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19210 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
19214 Boring headers can be hidden (@pxref{Article Hiding}).
19217 Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
19220 Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
19226 @subsubsection Red Gnus
19228 New features in Gnus 5.4/5.5:
19232 \gnusfig{-5.5cm}{-4cm}{\epsfig{figure=tmp/red.ps,height=20cm}}
19239 @file{nntp.el} has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
19242 Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
19243 Gnus (@pxref{Asynchronous Fetching}).
19246 Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like @code{and},
19247 @code{or}, @code{not}, and parent redirection (@pxref{Advanced
19251 Article washing status can be displayed in the
19252 article mode line (@pxref{Misc Article}).
19255 @file{gnus.el} has been split into many smaller files.
19258 Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID can be done
19259 (@pxref{Duplicate Suppression}).
19262 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
19266 New variables for specifying what score and adapt files are to be
19267 considered home score and adapt files (@pxref{Home Score File}) have
19271 @code{nndoc} was rewritten to be easily extendable (@pxref{Document
19272 Server Internals}).
19275 Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics (@pxref{Topic
19279 Article editing has been revamped and is now actually usable.
19282 Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions
19283 (@pxref{Article Signature}).
19286 Summary pick mode has been made to look more @code{nn}-like. Line
19287 numbers are displayed and the @kbd{.} command can be used to pick
19288 articles (@code{Pick and Read}).
19291 Commands for moving the @file{.newsrc.eld} from one server to
19292 another have been added (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19295 There's a way now to specify that ``uninteresting'' fields be suppressed
19296 when generating lines in buffers (@pxref{Advanced Formatting}).
19299 Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with @kbd{M-C-_}
19303 Scoring can be done on words using the new score type @code{w}
19304 (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19307 Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis
19308 (@pxref{Adaptive Scoring}).
19311 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
19315 Scores can be decayed (@pxref{Score Decays}).
19318 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
19322 Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The Date is
19323 normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first (@pxref{Score File Format}).
19326 A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
19327 the native server (@pxref{Changing Servers}).
19330 A new command for reading collections of documents
19331 (@code{nndoc} with @code{nnvirtual} on top) has been added---@kbd{M-C-d}
19332 (@pxref{Really Various Summary Commands}).
19335 Process mark sets can be pushed and popped (@pxref{Setting Process
19339 A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post even when the @sc{nntp}
19340 server doesn't allow posting (@pxref{Mail-To-News Gateways}).
19343 A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
19344 (@dfn{DejaNews}, @dfn{Alta Vista}, @dfn{InReference}) has been added
19345 (@pxref{Web Searches}).
19348 Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard sorting
19349 functions, and each topic can be sorted independently (@pxref{Topic
19353 Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently (@code{Sorting
19357 Cached articles can be pulled into the groups (@pxref{Summary Generation
19361 \marginpar[\mbox{}\hfill\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}]{\epsfig{figure=tmp/fred.ps,width=3cm}}
19366 Score files are now applied in a more reliable order (@pxref{Score
19370 Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated (@pxref{Splitting
19374 More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk from incoming
19375 mail before saving the mail (@pxref{Washing Mail}).
19378 Emphasized text can be properly fontisized:
19384 @subsubsection Quassia Gnus
19386 New features in Gnus 5.6:
19391 New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
19392 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See
19393 @pxref{Gnus Unplugged} for the full story.
19396 The @code{nndraft} backend has returned, but works differently than
19397 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the @code{nndraft}
19398 group, which is created automatically.
19401 @code{gnus-alter-header-function} can now be used to alter header
19405 @code{gnus-summary-goto-article} now accept Message-ID's.
19408 A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
19409 outside the region: @kbd{C-c C-v}.
19412 You can now post to component group in @code{nnvirtual} groups with
19416 @code{nntp-rlogin-program}---new variable to ease customization.
19419 @code{C-u C-c C-c} in @code{gnus-article-edit-mode} will now inhibit
19420 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
19423 New element in @code{gnus-boring-article-headers}---@code{long-to}.
19426 @kbd{M-i} symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
19427 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
19430 @kbd{L} and @kbd{I} in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
19431 @kbd{a} to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
19434 @code{gnus-simplify-subject-functions} variable to allow greater
19435 control over simplification.
19438 @kbd{A T}---new command for fetching the current thread.
19441 @kbd{/ T}---new command for including the current thread in the
19445 @kbd{M-RET} is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
19448 @samp{\\1}-expressions are now valid in @code{nnmail-split-methods}.
19451 The @code{custom-face-lookup} function has been removed.
19452 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
19453 rewrite them to use @code{face-spec-set} instead.
19456 Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
19457 @kbd{a} forces normal posting method.
19460 New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper
19464 For easier debugging of @code{nntp}, you can set
19465 @code{nntp-record-commands} to a non-@code{nil} value.
19468 @code{nntp} now uses @file{~/.authinfo}, a @file{.netrc}-like file, for
19469 controlling where and how to send @sc{authinfo} to @sc{nntp} servers.
19472 A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
19476 A history of where mails have been split is available.
19479 A new article date command has been added---@code{article-date-iso8601}.
19482 Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
19483 @code{gnus-score-thread-simplify}.
19486 A new function for citing in Message has been
19487 added---@code{message-cite-original-without-signature}.
19490 @code{article-strip-all-blank-lines}---new article command.
19493 A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
19497 A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
19498 @code{gnus-adaptive-word-minimum} variable.
19501 The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
19502 updated by the @code{gnus-start-date-timer} command.
19505 Web listserv archives can be read with the @code{nnlistserv} backend.
19508 Old dejanews archives can now be read by @code{nnweb}.
19513 @node Newest Features
19514 @subsection Newest Features
19517 Also known as the @dfn{todo list}. Sure to be implemented before the
19520 Be afraid. Be very afraid.
19522 (That a feature appears in this list doesn't necessarily mean that I've
19523 decided to actually implement it. It just means that I think it sounds
19526 (Yes, this is the actual, up-to-the-second todo list.)
19531 I would like the zombie-page to contain an URL to the source of the
19532 latest version of gnus or some explanation on where to find it.
19535 A way to continue editing the latest Message composition.
19538 http://www.sonicnet.com/feature/ari3/
19541 facep is not declared.
19544 Include a section in the manual on why the number of articles
19545 isn't the same in the group buffer and on the SPC prompt.
19548 Interacting with rmail fcc isn't easy.
19553 <URL:http://www.falch.no/people/pepper/DSSSL-Lite/archives/>
19554 <URL:http://www.eit.com/software/hypermail/hypermail.html>
19555 <URL:http://homer.ncm.com/>
19556 <URL:http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/Internet/World_Wide_Web/HTML_Converters/>
19557 http://www.uwsg.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/9610/index.html
19558 <URL:http://union.ncsa.uiuc.edu/HyperNews/get/www/html/converters.html>
19559 http://www.miranova.com/gnus-list/
19564 @samp{^-- } is made into - in LaTeX.
19567 gnus-kill is much slower than it was in GNUS 4.1.3.
19570 when expunging articles on low score, the sparse nodes keep hanging on?
19572 starting the first time seems to hang Gnus on some systems. Does
19573 NEWGROUPS answer too fast?
19575 nndir doesn't read gzipped files.
19577 FAQ doesn't have an up node?
19579 when moving mail from a procmail spool to the crash-box,
19580 the crash-box is only appropriate to one specific group.
19582 `t' `t' makes X-Faces disappear.
19584 nnmh-be-safe means that crossposted articles will
19585 be marked as unread.
19587 Orphan score entries don't show on "V t" score trace
19589 when clearing out data, the cache data should also be reset.
19591 rewrite gnus-summary-limit-children to be non-recursive
19592 to avoid exceeding lisp nesting on huge groups.
19594 expunged articles are counted when computing scores.
19596 implement gnus-batch-brew-soup
19598 ticked articles aren't easy to read in pick mode -- `n' and
19599 stuff just skips past them. Read articles are the same.
19601 topics that contain just groups with ticked
19602 articles aren't displayed.
19604 nndoc should always allocate unique Message-IDs.
19606 If there are mail groups the first time you use Gnus, Gnus'll
19607 make the mail groups killed.
19609 no "no news is good news" when using topics.
19611 when doing crosspost marking, the cache has to be consulted
19612 and articles have to be removed.
19614 nnweb should fetch complete articles when they are split into several
19617 scoring on head immediate doesn't work.
19619 finding short score file names takes forever.
19621 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19623 nntp-open-rlogin no longer works.
19625 C-u C-x C-s (Summary) switches to the group buffer.
19627 move nnmail-split-history out to the backends.
19629 nnweb doesn't work properly.
19631 using a virtual server name as `gnus-select-method' doesn't work?
19633 when killing/yanking a group from one topic to another in a slave, the
19634 master will yank it first to one topic and then add it to another.
19638 warn user about `=' redirection of a group in the active file?
19640 take over the XEmacs menubar and offer a toggle between the XEmacs
19641 bar and the Gnus bar.
19644 push active file and NOV file parsing down into C code.
19645 `(canonize-message-id id)'
19646 `(mail-parent-message-id references n)'
19647 `(parse-news-nov-line &optional dependency-hashtb)'
19648 `(parse-news-nov-region beg end &optional dependency-hashtb fullp)'
19649 `(parse-news-active-region beg end hashtb)'
19654 nnml .overview directory with splits.
19658 postponed commands.
19660 the selected article show have its Subject displayed in its summary line.
19662 when entering groups, get the real number of unread articles from
19665 sort after gathering threads -- make false roots have the
19666 headers of the oldest orphan with a 0 article number?
19668 nndoc groups should inherit the score files of their parents? Also
19669 inherit copy prompts and save files.
19671 command to start up Gnus (if not running) and enter a mail mode buffer.
19673 allow editing the group description from the group buffer
19674 for backends that support that.
19676 gnus-hide,show-all-topics
19678 groups and sub-topics should be allowed to mingle inside each topic,
19679 and not just list all subtopics at the end.
19681 a command to remove all read articles that are not needed to connect
19682 threads -- `gnus-summary-limit-to-sparse-unread'?
19684 a variable to turn off limiting/cutting of threads in the tree buffer.
19686 a variable to limit how many files are uudecoded.
19688 add zombie groups to a special "New Groups" topic.
19690 server mode command: close/open all connections
19692 put a file date in gnus-score-alist and check whether the file
19693 has been changed before using it.
19695 on exit from a digest group, go to the next article in the parent group.
19697 hide (sub)threads with low score.
19699 when expiring, remove all marks from expired articles.
19701 gnus-summary-limit-to-body
19703 a regexp alist that says what level groups are to be subscribed
19704 on. Eg. -- `(("nnml:" . 1))'.
19706 easier interface to nnkiboze to create ephemeral groups that
19707 contain groups that match a regexp.
19709 allow newlines in <URL:> urls, but remove them before using
19712 If there is no From line, the mail backends should fudge one from the
19715 fuzzy simplifying should strip all non-alpha-numerical info
19716 from subject lines.
19718 gnus-soup-brew-soup-with-high-scores.
19720 nntp-ping-before-connect
19722 command to check whether NOV is evil. "list overview.fmt".
19724 when entering a group, Gnus should look through the score
19725 files very early for `local' atoms and set those local variables.
19727 message annotations.
19729 topics are always yanked before groups, and that's not good.
19731 (set-extent-property extent 'help-echo "String to display in minibuf")
19732 to display help in the minibuffer on buttons under XEmacs.
19734 allow group line format spec to say how many articles there
19739 `run-with-idle-timer' in gnus-demon.
19741 stop using invisible text properties and start using overlays instead
19743 C-c C-f C-e to add an Expires header.
19745 go from one group to the next; everything is expunged; go to the
19746 next group instead of going to the group buffer.
19748 gnus-renumber-cache -- to renumber the cache using "low" numbers.
19750 record topic changes in the dribble buffer.
19752 `nnfolder-generate-active-file' should look at the folders it
19753 finds and generate proper active ranges.
19755 nneething-look-in-files-for-article-heads variable to control
19756 whether nneething should sniff all files in the directories.
19758 gnus-fetch-article -- start Gnus, enter group, display article
19760 gnus-dont-move-articles-to-same-group variable when respooling.
19762 when messages are crossposted between several auto-expirable groups,
19763 articles aren't properly marked as expirable.
19765 nneething should allow deletion/moving.
19767 TAB on the last button should go to the first button.
19769 if the car of an element in `mail-split-methods' is a function,
19770 and the function returns non-nil, use that as the name of the group(s) to
19773 command for listing all score files that have been applied.
19775 a command in the article buffer to return to `summary' config.
19777 `gnus-always-post-using-current-server' -- variable to override
19778 `C-c C-c' when posting.
19780 nnmail-group-spool-alist -- says where each group should use
19783 when an article is crossposted to an auto-expirable group, the article
19784 should be marker as expirable.
19786 article mode command/menu for "send region as URL to browser".
19788 on errors, jump to info nodes that explain the error. For instance,
19789 on invalid From headers, or on error messages from the nntp server.
19791 when gathering threads, make the article that has no "Re: " the parent.
19792 Also consult Date headers.
19794 a token in splits to call shrink-window-if-larger-than-buffer
19796 `1 0 A M' to do matches on the active hashtb.
19798 duplicates -- command to remove Gnus-Warning header, use the read
19799 Message-ID, delete the "original".
19801 when replying to several messages at once, put the "other" message-ids
19802 into a See-Also header.
19804 support setext: URL:http://www.bsdi.com/setext/
19806 support ProleText: <URL:http://proletext.clari.net/prole/proletext.html>
19808 when browsing a foreign server, the groups that are already subscribed
19809 should be listed as such and not as "K".
19811 generate font names dynamically.
19813 score file mode auto-alist.
19815 allow nndoc to change/add/delete things from documents. Implement
19816 methods for each format for adding an article to the document.
19818 `gnus-fetch-old-headers' `all' value to incorporate
19819 absolutely all headers there is.
19821 function like `|', but concatenate all marked articles
19822 and pipe them to the process.
19824 cache the list of killed (or active) groups in a separate file. Update
19825 the file whenever we read the active file or the list
19826 of killed groups in the .eld file reaches a certain length.
19828 function for starting to edit a file to put into
19829 the current mail group.
19831 score-find-trace should display the total score of the article.
19833 "ghettozie" -- score on Xref header and nix it out after using it
19834 to avoid marking as read in other groups it has been crossposted to.
19836 look at procmail splitting. The backends should create
19837 the groups automatically if a spool file exists for that group.
19839 function for backends to register themselves with Gnus.
19841 when replying to several process-marked articles,
19842 have all the From end up in Cc headers? Variable to toggle.
19844 command to delete a crossposted mail article from all
19845 groups it has been mailed to.
19847 `B c' and `B m' should be crosspost aware.
19849 hide-pgp should also hide PGP public key blocks.
19851 Command in the group buffer to respool process-marked groups.
19853 `gnus-summary-find-matching' should accept
19854 pseudo-"headers" like "body", "head" and "all"
19856 When buttifying <URL: > things, all white space (including
19857 newlines) should be ignored.
19859 Process-marking all groups in a topic should process-mark
19860 groups in subtopics as well.
19862 Add non-native groups to the list of killed groups when killing them.
19864 nntp-suggest-kewl-config to probe the nntp server and suggest
19867 add edit and forward secondary marks.
19869 nnml shouldn't visit its .overview files.
19871 allow customizing sorting within gathered threads.
19873 `B q' shouldn't select the current article.
19875 nnmbox should support a newsgroups file for descriptions.
19877 allow fetching mail from several pop servers.
19879 Be able to specify whether the saving commands save the original
19880 or the formatted article.
19882 a command to reparent with the child process-marked (cf. `T ^'.).
19884 I think the possibility to send a password with nntp-open-rlogin
19885 should be a feature in Red Gnus.
19887 The `Z n' command should be possible to execute from a mouse click.
19889 more limiting functions -- date, etc.
19891 be able to limit on a random header; on body; using reverse matches.
19893 a group parameter (`absofucking-total-expiry') that will make Gnus expire
19894 even unread articles.
19896 a command to print the article buffer as postscript.
19898 variable to disable password fetching when opening by nntp-open-telnet.
19900 manual: more example servers -- nntp with rlogin, telnet
19902 checking for bogus groups should clean topic alists as well.
19904 canceling articles in foreign groups.
19906 article number in folded topics isn't properly updated by
19909 Movement in the group buffer to the next unread group should go to the
19910 next closed topic with unread messages if no group can be found.
19912 Extensive info pages generated on the fly with help everywhere --
19913 in the "*Gnus edit*" buffers, for instance.
19915 Topic movement commands -- like thread movement. Up, down, forward, next.
19917 a way to tick/mark as read Gcc'd articles.
19919 a way to say that all groups within a specific topic comes
19920 from a particular server? Hm.
19922 `gnus-article-fill-if-long-lines' -- a function to fill
19923 the article buffer if there are any looong lines there.
19925 `T h' should jump to the parent topic and fold it.
19927 a command to create an ephemeral nndoc group out of a file,
19928 and then splitting it/moving it to some other group/backend.
19930 a group parameter for nnkiboze groups that says that
19931 all kibozed articles should be entered into the cache.
19933 It should also probably be possible to delimit what
19934 `gnus-jog-cache' does -- for instance, work on just some groups, or on
19935 some levels, and entering just articles that have a score higher than
19938 nnfolder should append to the folder instead of re-writing
19939 the entire folder to disk when accepting new messages.
19941 allow all backends to do the proper thing with .gz files.
19943 a backend for reading collections of babyl files nnbabylfolder?
19945 a command for making the native groups into foreign groups.
19947 server mode command for clearing read marks from all groups
19950 when following up multiple articles, include all To, Cc, etc headers
19953 a command for deciding what the total score of the current
19954 thread is. Also a way to highlight based on this.
19956 command to show and edit group scores
19958 a gnus-tree-minimize-horizontal to minimize tree buffers
19961 command to generate nnml overview file for one group.
19963 `C-u C-u a' -- prompt for many crossposted groups.
19965 keep track of which mail groups have received new articles (in this session).
19966 Be able to generate a report and perhaps do some marking in the group
19969 gnus-build-sparse-threads to a number -- build only sparse threads
19970 that are of that length.
19972 have nnmh respect mh's unseen sequence in .mh_profile.
19974 cache the newsgroups descriptions locally.
19976 asynchronous posting under nntp.
19978 be able to control word adaptive scoring from the score files.
19980 a variable to make `C-c C-c' post using the "current" select method.
19982 `limit-exclude-low-scored-articles'.
19984 if `gnus-summary-show-thread' is a number, hide threads that have
19985 a score lower than this number.
19987 split newsgroup subscription variable up into "order" and "method".
19989 buttonize ange-ftp file names.
19991 a command to make a duplicate copy of the current article
19992 so that each copy can be edited separately.
19994 nnweb should allow fetching from the local nntp server.
19996 record the sorting done in the summary buffer so that
19997 it can be repeated when limiting/regenerating the buffer.
19999 nnml-generate-nov-databses should generate for
20002 when the user does commands in the group buffer, check
20003 the modification time of the .newsrc.eld file and use
20004 ask-user-about-supersession-threat. Also warn when trying
20005 to save .newsrc.eld and it has changed.
20007 M-g on a topic will display all groups with 0 articles in
20010 command to remove all topic stuff.
20012 allow exploding incoming digests when reading incoming mail
20013 and splitting the resulting digests.
20015 nnsoup shouldn't set the `message-' variables.
20017 command to nix out all nnoo state information.
20019 nnmail-process-alist that calls functions if group names
20020 matches an alist -- before saving.
20022 use buffer-invisibility-spec everywhere for hiding text.
20024 variable to activate each group before entering them
20025 to get the (new) number of articles. `gnus-activate-before-entering'.
20027 command to fetch a Message-ID from any buffer, even
20028 starting Gnus first if necessary.
20030 when posting and checking whether a group exists or not, just
20031 ask the nntp server instead of relying on the active hashtb.
20033 buttonize the output of `C-c C-a' in an apropos-like way.
20035 `G p' should understand process/prefix, and allow editing
20036 of several groups at once.
20038 command to create an ephemeral nnvirtual group that
20039 matches some regexp(s).
20041 nndoc should understand "Content-Type: message/rfc822" forwarded messages.
20043 it should be possible to score "thread" on the From header.
20045 hitting RET on a "gnus-uu-archive" pseudo article should unpack it.
20047 `B i' should display the article at once in the summary buffer.
20049 remove the "*" mark at once when unticking an article.
20051 `M-s' should highlight the matching text.
20053 when checking for duplicated mails, use Resent-Message-ID if present.
20055 killing and yanking groups in topics should be better. If killing one copy
20056 of a group that exists in multiple topics, only that copy should
20057 be removed. Yanking should insert the copy, and yanking topics
20058 should be possible to be interspersed with the other yankings.
20060 command for enter a group just to read the cached articles. A way to say
20061 "ignore the nntp connection; just read from the cache."
20063 `X u' should decode base64 articles.
20065 a way to hide all "inner" cited text, leaving just the most
20066 recently cited text.
20068 nnvirtual should be asynchronous.
20070 after editing an article, gnus-original-article-buffer should
20073 there should probably be a way to make Gnus not connect to the
20074 server and just read the articles in the server
20076 allow a `set-default' (or something) to change the default
20077 value of nnoo variables.
20079 a command to import group infos from a .newsrc.eld file.
20081 groups from secondary servers have the entire select method
20082 listed in each group info.
20084 a command for just switching from the summary buffer to the group
20087 a way to specify that some incoming mail washing functions
20088 should only be applied to some groups.
20090 Message `C-f C-t' should ask the user whether to heed
20091 mail-copies-to: never.
20093 new group parameter -- `post-to-server' that says to post
20094 using the current server. Also a variable to do the same.
20096 the slave dribble files should auto-save to the slave file names.
20098 a group parameter that says what articles to display on group entry, based
20101 a way to visually distinguish slave Gnusae from masters. (Whip instead
20104 Use DJ Bernstein "From " quoting/dequoting, where applicable.
20106 Why is hide-citation-maybe and hide-citation different? Also
20109 group user-defined meta-parameters.
20113 From: John Griffith <griffith@@sfs.nphil.uni-tuebingen.de>
20115 I like the option for trying to retrieve the FAQ for a group and I was
20116 thinking it would be great if for those newsgroups that had archives
20117 you could also try to read the archive for that group. Part of the
20118 problem is that archives are spread all over the net, unlike FAQs.
20119 What would be best I suppose is to find the one closest to your site.
20121 In any case, there is a list of general news group archives at @*
20122 ftp://ftp.neosoft.com/pub/users/claird/news.lists/newsgroup_archives.html
20129 From: Jason L Tibbitts III <tibbs@@hpc.uh.edu>
20130 (add-hook 'gnus-select-group-hook
20132 (gnus-group-add-parameter group
20133 (cons 'gnus-group-date-last-entered (list (current-time-string))))))
20135 (defun gnus-user-format-function-d (headers)
20136 "Return the date the group was last read."
20137 (cond ((car (gnus-group-get-parameter gnus-tmp-group 'gnus-group-date-last-entered)))
20142 tanken var at når du bruker `gnus-startup-file' som prefix (FOO) til å lete
20143 opp en fil FOO-SERVER, FOO-SERVER.el, FOO-SERVER.eld, kan du la den være en
20144 liste hvor du bruker hvert element i listen som FOO, istedet. da kunne man
20145 hatt forskjellige serveres startup-filer forskjellige steder.
20149 LMI> Well, nnbabyl could alter the group info to heed labels like
20150 LMI> answered and read, I guess.
20152 It could also keep them updated (the same for the Status: header of
20155 They could be used like this:
20159 `M l <name> RET' add label <name> to current message.
20160 `M u <name> RET' remove label <name> from current message.
20161 `/ l <expr> RET' limit summary buffer according to <expr>.
20163 <expr> would be a boolean expression on the labels, e.g.
20165 `/ l bug & !fixed RET'
20168 would show all the messages which are labeled `bug' but not labeled
20171 One could also imagine the labels being used for highlighting, or
20172 affect the summary line format.
20176 Sender: abraham@@dina.kvl.dk
20178 I'd like a gnus-find-file which work like find file, except that it
20179 would recognize things that looks like messages or folders:
20181 - If it is a directory containing numbered files, create an nndir
20184 - For other directories, create a nneething summary buffer.
20186 - For files matching "\\`From ", create a nndoc/mbox summary.
20188 - For files matching "\\`BABYL OPTIONS:", create a nndoc/baby summary.
20190 - For files matching "\\`[^ \t\n]+:", create an *Article* buffer.
20192 - For other files, just find them normally.
20194 I'd like `nneething' to use this function, so it would work on a
20195 directory potentially containing mboxes or babyl files.
20198 Please send a mail to bwarsaw@@cnri.reston.va.us (Barry A. Warsaw) and
20199 tell him what you are doing.
20202 Currently, I get prompted:
20206 decend into sci.something ?
20210 The problem above is that since there is really only one subsection of
20211 science, shouldn't it prompt you for only descending sci.something? If
20212 there was a sci.somethingelse group or section, then it should prompt
20213 for sci? first the sci.something? then sci.somethingelse?...
20216 Ja, det burde være en måte å si slikt. Kanskje en ny variabel?
20217 `gnus-use-few-score-files'? SÃ¥ kunne score-regler legges til den
20218 "mest" lokale score-fila. F. eks. ville no-gruppene betjenes av
20219 "no.all.SCORE", osv.
20222 What i want is for Gnus to treat any sequence or combination of the following
20223 as a single spoiler warning and hide it all, replacing it with a "Next Page"
20229 more than n blank lines
20231 more than m identical lines
20232 (which should be replaced with button to show them)
20234 any whitespace surrounding any of the above
20238 Well, we could allow a new value to `gnus-thread-ignore-subject' --
20239 `spaces', or something. (We could even default to that.) And then
20240 subjects that differ in white space only could be considered the
20241 "same" subject for threading purposes.
20244 Modes to preprocess the contents (e.g. jka-compr) use the second form
20245 "(REGEXP FUNCTION NON-NIL)" while ordinary modes (e.g. tex) use the first
20246 form "(REGEXP . FUNCTION)", so you could use it to distinguish between
20247 those two types of modes. (auto-modes-alist, insert-file-contents-literally.)
20250 Under XEmacs -- do funny article marks:
20253 soup - bowl of soup
20254 score below - dim light bulb
20255 score over - bright light bulb
20258 Yes. I think the algorithm is as follows:
20263 show-list-of-articles-in-group
20264 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
20265 if (no-more-articles-in-group-to-select)
20266 if (articles-selected)
20267 start-reading-selected-articles;
20268 junk-unread-articles;
20273 else if (key-pressed = '.')
20274 if (consolidated-menus) # same as hide-thread in Gnus
20275 select-thread-under-cursor;
20277 select-article-under-cursor;
20281 if (key-pressed == SPACE)
20282 if (more-pages-in-article)
20284 else if (more-selected-articles-to-read)
20291 My precise need here would have been to limit files to Incoming*.
20292 One could think of some `nneething-only-files' variable, but I guess
20293 it would have been unacceptable if one was using many unrelated such
20296 A more useful approach would be to, in response to the `G D' prompt, be
20297 allowed to say something like: `~/.mail/Incoming*', somewhat limiting
20298 the top-level directory only (in case directories would be matched by
20299 the wildcard expression).
20302 It would be nice if it also handled
20304 <URL:news://sunsite.auc.dk/>
20306 which should correspond to `B nntp RET sunsite.auc.dk' in *Group*.
20311 Take a look at w3-menu.el in the Emacs-W3 distribution - this works out
20312 really well. Each menu is 'named' by a symbol that would be on a
20313 gnus-*-menus (where * would be whatever, but at least group, summary, and
20314 article versions) variable.
20316 So for gnus-summary-menus, I would set to '(sort mark dispose ...)
20318 A value of '1' would just put _all_ the menus in a single 'GNUS' menu in
20319 the main menubar. This approach works really well for Emacs-W3 and VM.
20323 nndoc should take care to create unique Message-IDs for all its
20326 gnus-score-followup-article only works when you have a summary buffer
20327 active. Make it work when posting from the group buffer as well.
20328 (message-sent-hook).
20330 rewrite gnus-demon to use run-with-idle-timers.
20333 * Enhancements to Gnus:
20337 * gnus-servers (gnus-start-server-buffer?)--enters Gnus and goes
20338 straight to the server buffer, without opening any connections to
20341 * gnus-server-read-server-newsrc--produces a buffer very similar to
20342 the group buffer, but with only groups from that server listed;
20343 quitting this buffer returns to the server buffer.
20346 add a command to check the integrity of an nnfolder folder --
20347 go through the article numbers and see that there are no duplicates,
20351 `unsmileyfy-buffer' to undo smileification.
20354 a command to give all relevant info on an article, including all
20358 when doing `-request-accept-article', the backends should do
20359 the nnmail duplicate checking.
20362 allow `message-signature-file' to be a function to return the
20363 value of the signature file.
20366 In addition, I would love it if I could configure message-tab so that it
20367 could call `bbdb-complete-name' in other headers. So, some sort of
20370 (setq message-tab-alist
20371 '((message-header-regexp message-expand-group)
20372 ("^\\(To\\|[cC]c\\|[bB]cc\\)" bbdb-complete-name)))
20374 then you could run the relevant function to complete the information in
20378 cache the newsgroups file locally to avoid reloading it all the time.
20381 a command to import a buffer into a group.
20384 nnweb should allow fetching by Message-ID from servers.
20387 point in the article buffer doesn't always go to the
20388 beginning of the buffer when selecting new articles.
20391 a command to process mark all unread articles.
20394 `gnus-gather-threads-by-references-and-subject' -- first
20395 do gathering by references, and then go through the dummy roots and
20396 do more gathering by subject.
20399 gnus-uu-mark-in-numerical-order -- process mark articles in
20400 article numerical order.
20403 (gnus-thread-total-score
20404 (gnus-id-to-thread (mail-header-id (gnus-summary-article-header))))
20408 sorting by score is wrong when using sparse threads.
20411 a command to fetch an arbitrary article -- without having to be
20412 in the summary buffer.
20415 a new nncvs backend. Each group would show an article, using
20416 version branches as threading, checkin date as the date, etc.
20419 http://www.dejanews.com/forms/dnsetfilter_exp.html ?
20420 This filter allows one to construct advance queries on the Dejanews
20421 database such as specifying start and end dates, subject, author,
20422 and/or newsgroup name.
20425 new Date header scoring type -- older, newer
20428 use the summary toolbar in the article buffer.
20431 a command to fetch all articles that are less than X days old.
20434 in pick mode, `q' should save the list of selected articles in the
20435 group info. The next time the group is selected, these articles
20436 will automatically get the process mark.
20439 Isn't it possible to (also?) allow M-^ to automatically try the
20440 default server if it fails on the current server? (controlled by a
20441 user variable, (nil, t, 'ask)).
20444 make it possible to cancel articles using the select method for the
20448 `gnus-summary-select-article-on-entry' or something. It'll default
20449 to t and will select whatever article decided by `gnus-auto-select-first'.
20452 a new variable to control which selection commands should be unselecting.
20453 `first', `best', `next', `prev', `next-unread', `prev-unread' are
20457 be able to select groups that have no articles in them
20458 to be able to post in them (using the current select method).
20461 be able to post via DejaNews.
20464 `x' should retain any sortings that have been performed.
20467 allow the user to specify the precedence of the secondary marks. Also
20468 allow them to be displayed separately.
20471 gnus-summary-save-in-pipe should concatenate the results from
20472 the processes when doing a process marked pipe.
20475 a new match type, like Followup, but which adds Thread matches on all
20476 articles that match a certain From header.
20479 a function that can be read from kill-emacs-query-functions to offer
20480 saving living summary buffers.
20483 a function for selecting a particular group which will contain
20484 the articles listed in a list of article numbers/id's.
20487 a battery of character translation functions to translate common
20488 Mac, MS (etc) characters into ISO 8859-1.
20491 (defun article-fix-m$word ()
20492 "Fix M$Word smartquotes in an article."
20495 (let ((buffer-read-only nil))
20496 (goto-char (point-min))
20497 (while (search-forward "\221" nil t)
20498 (replace-match "`" t t))
20499 (goto-char (point-min))
20500 (while (search-forward "\222" nil t)
20501 (replace-match "'" t t))
20502 (goto-char (point-min))
20503 (while (search-forward "\223" nil t)
20504 (replace-match "\"" t t))
20505 (goto-char (point-min))
20506 (while (search-forward "\224" nil t)
20507 (replace-match "\"" t t)))))
20512 (add-hook 'gnus-exit-query-functions
20514 (if (and (file-exists-p nnmail-spool-file)
20515 (> (nnheader-file-size nnmail-spool-file) 0))
20516 (yes-or-no-p "New mail has arrived. Quit Gnus anyways? ")
20517 (y-or-n-p "Are you sure you want to quit Gnus? "))))
20521 allow message-default-headers to be a function.
20524 new Date score match types -- < > = (etc) that take floating point
20525 numbers and match on the age of the article.
20529 > > > If so, I've got one gripe: It seems that when I fire up gnus 5.2.25
20530 > > > under xemacs-19.14, it's creating a new frame, but is erasing the
20531 > > > buffer in the frame that it was called from =:-O
20533 > > Hm. How do you start up Gnus? From the toolbar or with
20534 > > `M-x gnus-other-frame'?
20536 > I normally start it up from the toolbar; at
20537 > least that's the way I've caught it doing the
20542 all commands that react to the process mark should push
20543 the current process mark set onto the stack.
20546 gnus-article-hide-pgp
20547 Selv ville jeg nok ha valgt å slette den dersom teksten matcher
20549 "\\(This\s+\\)?[^ ]+ has been automatically signed by"
20551 og det er maks hundre tegn mellom match-end og ----linja. Men -det-
20552 er min type heuristikk og langt fra alles.
20555 `gnus-subscribe-sorted' -- insert new groups where they would have been
20556 sorted to if `gnus-group-sort-function' were run.
20559 gnus-(group,summary)-highlight should respect any `face' text props set
20563 use run-with-idle-timer for gnus-demon instead of the
20564 home-brewed stuff for better reliability.
20567 add a way to select which NoCeM type to apply -- spam, troll, etc.
20570 nndraft-request-group should tally auto-save files.
20573 implement nntp-retry-on-break and nntp-command-timeout.
20576 gnus-article-highlight-limit that says when not to highlight (long)
20580 (nnoo-set SERVER VARIABLE VALUE)
20586 interrupitng agent fetching of articles should save articles.
20589 command to open a digest group, and copy all the articles there to the
20593 a variable to disable article body highlights if there's more than
20594 X characters in the body.
20597 handle 480/381 authinfo requests separately.
20600 include the texi/dir file in the distribution.
20603 format spec to "tab" to a position.
20606 Move all prompting to the new `M-n' default style.
20609 command to display all dormant articles.
20612 gnus-auto-select-next makeover -- list of things it should do.
20615 a score match type that adds scores matching on From if From has replied
20616 to something someone else has said.
20619 Read Netscape discussion groups:
20620 snews://secnews.netscape.com/netscape.communicator.unix
20623 One command to edit the original version if an article, and one to edit
20624 the displayed version.
20627 @kbd{T v} -- make all process-marked articles the children of the
20631 Switch from initial text to the new default text mechanism.
20634 How about making it possible to expire local articles? Will it be
20635 possible to make various constraints on when an article can be
20636 expired, e.g. (read), (age > 14 days), or the more interesting (read
20640 New limit command---limit to articles that have a certain string
20641 in the head or body.
20644 Allow breaking lengthy @sc{nntp} commands.
20647 gnus-article-highlight-limit, to disable highlighting in big articles.
20650 Editing an article should put the article to be edited
20651 in a special, unique buffer.
20654 A command to send a mail to the admin-address group param.
20657 A Date scoring type that will match if the article
20658 is less than a certain number of days old.
20661 New spec: %~(tab 56) to put point on column 56
20664 Allow Gnus Agent scoring to use normal score files.
20667 Rething the Agent active file thing. `M-g' doesn't update the active
20668 file, for instance.
20671 With dummy roots, `^' and then selecing the first article
20672 in any other dummy thread will make gnus highlight the
20673 dummy root instead of the first article.
20676 Propagate all group properties (marks, article numbers, etc) up to the
20677 topics for displaying.
20680 `n' in the group buffer with topics should go to the next group
20681 with unread articles, even if that group is hidden in a topic.
20684 gnus-posting-styles doesn't work in drafts.
20687 gnus-summary-limit-include-cached is slow when there are
20688 many articles in the cache, since it regenerates big parts of the
20689 summary buffer for each article.
20692 Implement gnus-batch-brew-soup.
20695 Group parameters and summary commands for un/subscribing to mailing
20699 Introduce nnmail-home-directory.
20702 gnus-fetch-group and friends should exit Gnus when the user
20706 The jingle is only played on the second invocation of Gnus.
20709 Bouncing articles should do MIME.
20712 Crossposted articles should "inherit" the % or @ mark from the other
20713 groups it has been crossposted to, or something. (Agent.)
20716 If point is on a group that appears multiple times in topics, and
20717 you press `l', point will move to the first instance of the group.
20720 A spec for the group line format to display the number of
20721 agent-downloaded articles in the group.
20724 Some nntp servers never respond when posting, so there should be a
20725 timeout for all commands.
20728 When stading on a topic line and `t'-ing, point goes to the last line.
20729 It should go somewhere else.
20732 I'm having trouble accessing a newsgroup with a "+" in its name with
20733 Gnus. There is a new newsgroup on msnews.microsoft.com named
20734 "microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time" that I'm trying to
20736 "nntp+msnews.microsoft.com:microsoft.public.multimedia.directx.html+time"
20737 but it gives an error that it cant access the group.
20739 Is the "+" character illegal in newsgroup names? Is there any way in
20740 Gnus to work around this? (gnus 5.6.45 - XEmacs 20.4)
20747 Subject: Answer to your mails 01.01.1999-01.05.1999
20748 --text follows this line--
20749 Sorry I killfiled you...
20751 Under the subject "foo", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20753 Under the subject "foo1", you wrote on 01.01.1999:
20758 Allow "orphan" scores in the Agent scoring.
20762 - Edit article's summary line.
20764 - Sort lines in buffer by subject
20766 --> the old subject line appears in Summary buffer, not the one that was
20772 Remove list identifiers from the subject in the summary when doing `^'
20776 Have the Agent write out articles, one by one, as it retrieves them,
20777 to avoid having to re-fetch them all if Emacs should crash while
20781 Be able to forward groups of messages as MIME digests.
20784 nnweb should include the "get whole article" article when getting articles.
20787 When I type W W c (gnus-article-hide-citation) in the summary
20788 buffer, the citations are revealed, but the [+] buttons don't turn
20789 into [-] buttons. (If I click on one of the [+] buttons, it does
20790 turn into a [-] button.)
20793 Perhaps there should be a command to "attach" a buffer of comments to
20794 a message? That is, `B WHATEVER', you're popped into a buffer, write
20795 something, end with `C-c C-c', and then the thing you've written gets
20796 to be the child of the message you're commenting.
20799 Handle external-body parts.
20802 Solve the halting problem.
20811 @section The Manual
20815 This manual was generated from a TeXinfo file and then run through
20816 either @code{texi2dvi}
20818 or my own home-brewed TeXinfo to \LaTeX\ transformer,
20819 and then run through @code{latex} and @code{dvips}
20821 to get what you hold in your hands now.
20823 The following conventions have been used:
20828 This is a @samp{string}
20831 This is a @kbd{keystroke}
20834 This is a @file{file}
20837 This is a @code{symbol}
20841 So if I were to say ``set @code{flargnoze} to @samp{yes}'', that would
20845 (setq flargnoze "yes")
20848 If I say ``set @code{flumphel} to @code{yes}'', that would mean:
20851 (setq flumphel 'yes)
20854 @samp{yes} and @code{yes} are two @emph{very} different things---don't
20855 ever get them confused.
20859 Of course, everything in this manual is of vital interest, so you should
20860 read it all. Several times. However, if you feel like skimming the
20861 manual, look for that gnu head you should see in the margin over
20862 there---it means that what's being discussed is of more importance than
20863 the rest of the stuff. (On the other hand, if everything is infinitely
20864 important, how can anything be more important than that? Just one more
20865 of the mysteries of this world, I guess.)
20871 @node On Writing Manuals
20872 @section On Writing Manuals
20874 I guess most manuals are written after-the-fact; documenting a program
20875 that's already there. This is not how this manual is written. When
20876 implementing something, I write the manual entry for that something
20877 straight away. I then see that it's difficult to explain the
20878 functionality, so I write how it's supposed to be, and then I change the
20879 implementation. Writing the documentation and writing the code goes
20882 This, of course, means that this manual has no, or little, flow. It
20883 documents absolutely everything in Gnus, but often not where you're
20884 looking for it. It is a reference manual, and not a guide to how to get
20887 That would be a totally different book, that should be written using the
20888 reference manual as source material. It would look quite differently.
20893 @section Terminology
20895 @cindex terminology
20900 This is what you are supposed to use this thing for---reading news.
20901 News is generally fetched from a nearby @sc{nntp} server, and is
20902 generally publicly available to everybody. If you post news, the entire
20903 world is likely to read just what you have written, and they'll all
20904 snigger mischievously. Behind your back.
20908 Everything that's delivered to you personally is mail. Some news/mail
20909 readers (like Gnus) blur the distinction between mail and news, but
20910 there is a difference. Mail is private. News is public. Mailing is
20911 not posting, and replying is not following up.
20915 Send a mail to the person who has written what you are reading.
20919 Post an article to the current newsgroup responding to the article you
20924 Gnus gets fed articles from a number of backends, both news and mail
20925 backends. Gnus does not handle the underlying media, so to speak---this
20926 is all done by the backends.
20930 Gnus will always use one method (and backend) as the @dfn{native}, or
20931 default, way of getting news.
20935 You can also have any number of foreign groups active at the same time.
20936 These are groups that use non-native non-secondary backends for getting
20941 Secondary backends are somewhere half-way between being native and being
20942 foreign, but they mostly act like they are native.
20946 A message that has been posted as news.
20949 @cindex mail message
20950 A message that has been mailed.
20954 A mail message or news article
20958 The top part of a message, where administrative information (etc.) is
20963 The rest of an article. Everything not in the head is in the
20968 A line from the head of an article.
20972 A collection of such lines, or a collection of heads. Or even a
20973 collection of @sc{nov} lines.
20977 When Gnus enters a group, it asks the backend for the headers of all
20978 unread articles in the group. Most servers support the News OverView
20979 format, which is more compact and much faster to read and parse than the
20980 normal @sc{head} format.
20984 Each group is subscribed at some @dfn{level} or other (1-9). The ones
20985 that have a lower level are ``more'' subscribed than the groups with a
20986 higher level. In fact, groups on levels 1-5 are considered
20987 @dfn{subscribed}; 6-7 are @dfn{unsubscribed}; 8 are @dfn{zombies}; and 9
20988 are @dfn{killed}. Commands for listing groups and scanning for new
20989 articles will all use the numeric prefix as @dfn{working level}.
20991 @item killed groups
20992 @cindex killed groups
20993 No information on killed groups is stored or updated, which makes killed
20994 groups much easier to handle than subscribed groups.
20996 @item zombie groups
20997 @cindex zombie groups
20998 Just like killed groups, only slightly less dead.
21001 @cindex active file
21002 The news server has to keep track of what articles it carries, and what
21003 groups exist. All this information in stored in the active file, which
21004 is rather large, as you might surmise.
21007 @cindex bogus groups
21008 A group that exists in the @file{.newsrc} file, but isn't known to the
21009 server (i.e., it isn't in the active file), is a @emph{bogus group}.
21010 This means that the group probably doesn't exist (any more).
21013 @cindex activating groups
21014 The act of asking the server for info on a group and computing the
21015 number of unread articles is called @dfn{activating the group}.
21016 Un-activated groups are listed with @samp{*} in the group buffer.
21020 A machine one can connect to and get news (or mail) from.
21022 @item select method
21023 @cindex select method
21024 A structure that specifies the backend, the server and the virtual
21027 @item virtual server
21028 @cindex virtual server
21029 A named select method. Since a select method defines all there is to
21030 know about connecting to a (physical) server, taking the thing as a
21031 whole is a virtual server.
21035 Taking a buffer and running it through a filter of some sort. The
21036 result will (more often than not) be cleaner and more pleasing than the
21039 @item ephemeral groups
21040 @cindex ephemeral groups
21041 Most groups store data on what articles you have read. @dfn{Ephemeral}
21042 groups are groups that will have no data stored---when you exit the
21043 group, it'll disappear into the aether.
21046 @cindex solid groups
21047 This is the opposite of ephemeral groups. All groups listed in the
21048 group buffer are solid groups.
21050 @item sparse articles
21051 @cindex sparse articles
21052 These are article placeholders shown in the summary buffer when
21053 @code{gnus-build-sparse-threads} has been switched on.
21057 To put responses to articles directly after the articles they respond
21058 to---in a hierarchical fashion.
21062 @cindex thread root
21063 The first article in a thread is the root. It is the ancestor of all
21064 articles in the thread.
21068 An article that has responses.
21072 An article that responds to a different article---its parent.
21076 A collection of messages in one file. The most common digest format is
21077 specified by RFC 1153.
21083 @node Customization
21084 @section Customization
21085 @cindex general customization
21087 All variables are properly documented elsewhere in this manual. This
21088 section is designed to give general pointers on how to customize Gnus
21089 for some quite common situations.
21092 * Slow/Expensive Connection:: You run a local Emacs and get the news elsewhere.
21093 * Slow Terminal Connection:: You run a remote Emacs.
21094 * Little Disk Space:: You feel that having large setup files is icky.
21095 * Slow Machine:: You feel like buying a faster machine.
21099 @node Slow/Expensive Connection
21100 @subsection Slow/Expensive @sc{nntp} Connection
21102 If you run Emacs on a machine locally, and get your news from a machine
21103 over some very thin strings, you want to cut down on the amount of data
21104 Gnus has to get from the @sc{nntp} server.
21108 @item gnus-read-active-file
21109 Set this to @code{nil}, which will inhibit Gnus from requesting the
21110 entire active file from the server. This file is often v. large. You
21111 also have to set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21112 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make sure that Gnus
21113 doesn't suddenly decide to fetch the active file anyway.
21115 @item gnus-nov-is-evil
21116 This one has to be @code{nil}. If not, grabbing article headers from
21117 the @sc{nntp} server will not be very fast. Not all @sc{nntp} servers
21118 support @sc{xover}; Gnus will detect this by itself.
21122 @node Slow Terminal Connection
21123 @subsection Slow Terminal Connection
21125 Let's say you use your home computer for dialing up the system that runs
21126 Emacs and Gnus. If your modem is slow, you want to reduce (as much as
21127 possible) the amount of data sent over the wires.
21131 @item gnus-auto-center-summary
21132 Set this to @code{nil} to inhibit Gnus from re-centering the summary
21133 buffer all the time. If it is @code{vertical}, do only vertical
21134 re-centering. If it is neither @code{nil} nor @code{vertical}, do both
21135 horizontal and vertical recentering.
21137 @item gnus-visible-headers
21138 Cut down on the headers included in the articles to the
21139 minimum. You can, in fact, make do without them altogether---most of the
21140 useful data is in the summary buffer, anyway. Set this variable to
21141 @samp{^NEVVVVER} or @samp{From:}, or whatever you feel you need.
21143 Set this hook to all the available hiding commands:
21145 (setq gnus-treat-hide-headers 'head
21146 gnus-treat-hide-signature t
21147 gnus-treat-hide-citation t)
21150 @item gnus-use-full-window
21151 By setting this to @code{nil}, you can make all the windows smaller.
21152 While this doesn't really cut down much generally, it means that you
21153 have to see smaller portions of articles before deciding that you didn't
21154 want to read them anyway.
21156 @item gnus-thread-hide-subtree
21157 If this is non-@code{nil}, all threads in the summary buffer will be
21160 @item gnus-updated-mode-lines
21161 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not put information in the buffer mode
21162 lines, which might save some time.
21166 @node Little Disk Space
21167 @subsection Little Disk Space
21170 The startup files can get rather large, so you may want to cut their
21171 sizes a bit if you are running out of space.
21175 @item gnus-save-newsrc-file
21176 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never save @file{.newsrc}---it will
21177 only save @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21178 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21181 @item gnus-read-newsrc-file
21182 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will never read @file{.newsrc}---it will
21183 only read @file{.newsrc.eld}. This means that you will not be able to
21184 use any other newsreaders than Gnus. This variable is @code{t} by
21187 @item gnus-save-killed-list
21188 If this is @code{nil}, Gnus will not save the list of dead groups. You
21189 should also set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} to @code{ask-server}
21190 and @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} if you set this
21191 variable to @code{nil}. This variable is @code{t} by default.
21197 @subsection Slow Machine
21198 @cindex slow machine
21200 If you have a slow machine, or are just really impatient, there are a
21201 few things you can do to make Gnus run faster.
21203 Set @code{gnus-check-new-newsgroups} and
21204 @code{gnus-check-bogus-newsgroups} to @code{nil} to make startup faster.
21206 Set @code{gnus-show-threads}, @code{gnus-use-cross-reference} and
21207 @code{gnus-nov-is-evil} to @code{nil} to make entering and exiting the
21208 summary buffer faster.
21212 @node Troubleshooting
21213 @section Troubleshooting
21214 @cindex troubleshooting
21216 Gnus works @emph{so} well straight out of the box---I can't imagine any
21224 Make sure your computer is switched on.
21227 Make sure that you really load the current Gnus version. If you have
21228 been running @sc{gnus}, you need to exit Emacs and start it up again before
21232 Try doing an @kbd{M-x gnus-version}. If you get something that looks
21233 like @samp{T-gnus 6.14.* (based on Pterodactyl Gnus v0.*; for SEMI 1.1*,
21234 FLIM 1.1*)} you have the right files loaded. If, on the other hand, you
21235 get something like @samp{NNTP 3.x} or @samp{nntp flee}, you have some
21236 old @file{.el} files lying around. Delete these.
21239 Read the help group (@kbd{G h} in the group buffer) for a FAQ and a
21243 @vindex max-lisp-eval-depth
21244 Gnus works on many recursive structures, and in some extreme (and very
21245 rare) cases Gnus may recurse down ``too deeply'' and Emacs will beep at
21246 you. If this happens to you, set @code{max-lisp-eval-depth} to 500 or
21247 something like that.
21250 If all else fails, report the problem as a bug.
21253 @cindex reporting bugs
21255 @kindex M-x gnus-bug
21257 If you find a bug in Gnus, you can report it with the @kbd{M-x gnus-bug}
21258 command. @kbd{M-x set-variable RET debug-on-error RET t RET}, and send
21259 me the backtrace. I will fix bugs, but I can only fix them if you send
21260 me a precise description as to how to reproduce the bug.
21262 You really can never be too detailed in a bug report. Always use the
21263 @kbd{M-x gnus-bug} command when you make bug reports, even if it creates
21264 a 10Kb mail each time you use it, and even if you have sent me your
21265 environment 500 times before. I don't care. I want the full info each
21268 It is also important to remember that I have no memory whatsoever. If
21269 you send a bug report, and I send you a reply, and then you just send
21270 back ``No, it's not! Moron!'', I will have no idea what you are
21271 insulting me about. Always over-explain everything. It's much easier
21272 for all of us---if I don't have all the information I need, I will just
21273 mail you and ask for more info, and everything takes more time.
21275 If the problem you're seeing is very visual, and you can't quite explain
21276 it, copy the Emacs window to a file (with @code{xwd}, for instance), put
21277 it somewhere it can be reached, and include the URL of the picture in
21280 If you just need help, you are better off asking on
21281 @samp{gnu.emacs.gnus}. I'm not very helpful.
21283 @cindex gnu.emacs.gnus
21284 @cindex ding mailing list
21285 You can also ask on the ding mailing list---@samp{ding@@gnus.org}.
21286 Write to @samp{ding-request@@gnus.org} to subscribe.
21290 @node Gnus Reference Guide
21291 @section Gnus Reference Guide
21293 It is my hope that other people will figure out smart stuff that Gnus
21294 can do, and that other people will write those smart things as well. To
21295 facilitate that I thought it would be a good idea to describe the inner
21296 workings of Gnus. And some of the not-so-inner workings, while I'm at
21299 You can never expect the internals of a program not to change, but I
21300 will be defining (in some details) the interface between Gnus and its
21301 backends (this is written in stone), the format of the score files
21302 (ditto), data structures (some are less likely to change than others)
21303 and general methods of operation.
21306 * Gnus Utility Functions:: Common functions and variable to use.
21307 * Backend Interface:: How Gnus communicates with the servers.
21308 * Score File Syntax:: A BNF definition of the score file standard.
21309 * Headers:: How Gnus stores headers internally.
21310 * Ranges:: A handy format for storing mucho numbers.
21311 * Group Info:: The group info format.
21312 * Extended Interactive:: Symbolic prefixes and stuff.
21313 * Emacs/XEmacs Code:: Gnus can be run under all modern Emacsen.
21314 * Various File Formats:: Formats of files that Gnus use.
21318 @node Gnus Utility Functions
21319 @subsection Gnus Utility Functions
21320 @cindex Gnus utility functions
21321 @cindex utility functions
21323 @cindex internal variables
21325 When writing small functions to be run from hooks (and stuff), it's
21326 vital to have access to the Gnus internal functions and variables.
21327 Below is a list of the most common ones.
21331 @item gnus-newsgroup-name
21332 @vindex gnus-newsgroup-name
21333 This variable holds the name of the current newsgroup.
21335 @item gnus-find-method-for-group
21336 @findex gnus-find-method-for-group
21337 A function that returns the select method for @var{group}.
21339 @item gnus-group-real-name
21340 @findex gnus-group-real-name
21341 Takes a full (prefixed) Gnus group name, and returns the unprefixed
21344 @item gnus-group-prefixed-name
21345 @findex gnus-group-prefixed-name
21346 Takes an unprefixed group name and a select method, and returns the full
21347 (prefixed) Gnus group name.
21349 @item gnus-get-info
21350 @findex gnus-get-info
21351 Returns the group info list for @var{group}.
21353 @item gnus-group-unread
21354 @findex gnus-group-unread
21355 The number of unread articles in @var{group}, or @code{t} if that is
21359 @findex gnus-active
21360 The active entry for @var{group}.
21362 @item gnus-set-active
21363 @findex gnus-set-active
21364 Set the active entry for @var{group}.
21366 @item gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21367 @findex gnus-add-current-to-buffer-list
21368 Adds the current buffer to the list of buffers to be killed on Gnus
21371 @item gnus-continuum-version
21372 @findex gnus-continuum-version
21373 Takes a Gnus version string as a parameter and returns a floating point
21374 number. Earlier versions will always get a lower number than later
21377 @item gnus-group-read-only-p
21378 @findex gnus-group-read-only-p
21379 Says whether @var{group} is read-only or not.
21381 @item gnus-news-group-p
21382 @findex gnus-news-group-p
21383 Says whether @var{group} came from a news backend.
21385 @item gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21386 @findex gnus-ephemeral-group-p
21387 Says whether @var{group} is ephemeral or not.
21389 @item gnus-server-to-method
21390 @findex gnus-server-to-method
21391 Returns the select method corresponding to @var{server}.
21393 @item gnus-server-equal
21394 @findex gnus-server-equal
21395 Says whether two virtual servers are equal.
21397 @item gnus-group-native-p
21398 @findex gnus-group-native-p
21399 Says whether @var{group} is native or not.
21401 @item gnus-group-secondary-p
21402 @findex gnus-group-secondary-p
21403 Says whether @var{group} is secondary or not.
21405 @item gnus-group-foreign-p
21406 @findex gnus-group-foreign-p
21407 Says whether @var{group} is foreign or not.
21409 @item group-group-find-parameter
21410 @findex group-group-find-parameter
21411 Returns the parameter list of @var{group}. If given a second parameter,
21412 returns the value of that parameter for @var{group}.
21414 @item gnus-group-set-parameter
21415 @findex gnus-group-set-parameter
21416 Takes three parameters; @var{group}, @var{parameter} and @var{value}.
21418 @item gnus-narrow-to-body
21419 @findex gnus-narrow-to-body
21420 Narrows the current buffer to the body of the article.
21422 @item gnus-check-backend-function
21423 @findex gnus-check-backend-function
21424 Takes two parameters, @var{function} and @var{group}. If the backend
21425 @var{group} comes from supports @var{function}, return non-@code{nil}.
21428 (gnus-check-backend-function "request-scan" "nnml:misc")
21432 @item gnus-read-method
21433 @findex gnus-read-method
21434 Prompts the user for a select method.
21439 @node Backend Interface
21440 @subsection Backend Interface
21442 Gnus doesn't know anything about @sc{nntp}, spools, mail or virtual
21443 groups. It only knows how to talk to @dfn{virtual servers}. A virtual
21444 server is a @dfn{backend} and some @dfn{backend variables}. As examples
21445 of the first, we have @code{nntp}, @code{nnspool} and @code{nnmbox}. As
21446 examples of the latter we have @code{nntp-port-number} and
21447 @code{nnmbox-directory}.
21449 When Gnus asks for information from a backend---say @code{nntp}---on
21450 something, it will normally include a virtual server name in the
21451 function parameters. (If not, the backend should use the ``current''
21452 virtual server.) For instance, @code{nntp-request-list} takes a virtual
21453 server as its only (optional) parameter. If this virtual server hasn't
21454 been opened, the function should fail.
21456 Note that a virtual server name has no relation to some physical server
21457 name. Take this example:
21461 (nntp-address "ifi.uio.no")
21462 (nntp-port-number 4324))
21465 Here the virtual server name is @samp{odd-one} while the name of
21466 the physical server is @samp{ifi.uio.no}.
21468 The backends should be able to switch between several virtual servers.
21469 The standard backends implement this by keeping an alist of virtual
21470 server environments that they pull down/push up when needed.
21472 There are two groups of interface functions: @dfn{required functions},
21473 which must be present, and @dfn{optional functions}, which Gnus will
21474 always check for presence before attempting to call 'em.
21476 All these functions are expected to return data in the buffer
21477 @code{nntp-server-buffer} (@samp{ *nntpd*}), which is somewhat
21478 unfortunately named, but we'll have to live with it. When I talk about
21479 @dfn{resulting data}, I always refer to the data in that buffer. When I
21480 talk about @dfn{return value}, I talk about the function value returned by
21481 the function call. Functions that fail should return @code{nil} as the
21484 Some backends could be said to be @dfn{server-forming} backends, and
21485 some might be said not to be. The latter are backends that generally
21486 only operate on one group at a time, and have no concept of ``server''
21487 -- they have a group, and they deliver info on that group and nothing
21490 In the examples and definitions I will refer to the imaginary backend
21493 @cindex @code{nnchoke}
21496 * Required Backend Functions:: Functions that must be implemented.
21497 * Optional Backend Functions:: Functions that need not be implemented.
21498 * Error Messaging:: How to get messages and report errors.
21499 * Writing New Backends:: Extending old backends.
21500 * Hooking New Backends Into Gnus:: What has to be done on the Gnus end.
21501 * Mail-like Backends:: Some tips on mail backends.
21505 @node Required Backend Functions
21506 @subsubsection Required Backend Functions
21510 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-headers ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FETCH-OLD)
21512 @var{articles} is either a range of article numbers or a list of
21513 @code{Message-ID}s. Current backends do not fully support either---only
21514 sequences (lists) of article numbers, and most backends do not support
21515 retrieval of @code{Message-ID}s. But they should try for both.
21517 The result data should either be HEADs or NOV lines, and the result
21518 value should either be @code{headers} or @code{nov} to reflect this.
21519 This might later be expanded to @code{various}, which will be a mixture
21520 of HEADs and NOV lines, but this is currently not supported by Gnus.
21522 If @var{fetch-old} is non-@code{nil} it says to try fetching "extra
21523 headers", in some meaning of the word. This is generally done by
21524 fetching (at most) @var{fetch-old} extra headers less than the smallest
21525 article number in @code{articles}, and filling the gaps as well. The
21526 presence of this parameter can be ignored if the backend finds it
21527 cumbersome to follow the request. If this is non-@code{nil} and not a
21528 number, do maximum fetches.
21530 Here's an example HEAD:
21533 221 1056 Article retrieved.
21534 Path: ifi.uio.no!sturles
21535 From: sturles@@ifi.uio.no (Sturle Sunde)
21536 Newsgroups: ifi.discussion
21537 Subject: Re: Something very droll
21538 Date: 27 Oct 1994 14:02:57 +0100
21539 Organization: Dept. of Informatics, University of Oslo, Norway
21541 Message-ID: <38o8e1$a0o@@holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no>
21542 References: <38jdmq$4qu@@visbur.ifi.uio.no>
21543 NNTP-Posting-Host: holmenkollen.ifi.uio.no
21547 So a @code{headers} return value would imply that there's a number of
21548 these in the data buffer.
21550 Here's a BNF definition of such a buffer:
21554 head = error / valid-head
21555 error-message = [ "4" / "5" ] 2number " " <error message> eol
21556 valid-head = valid-message *header "." eol
21557 valid-message = "221 " <number> " Article retrieved." eol
21558 header = <text> eol
21561 If the return value is @code{nov}, the data buffer should contain
21562 @dfn{network overview database} lines. These are basically fields
21566 nov-buffer = *nov-line
21567 nov-line = 8*9 [ field <TAB> ] eol
21568 field = <text except TAB>
21571 For a closer look at what should be in those fields,
21575 @item (nnchoke-open-server SERVER &optional DEFINITIONS)
21577 @var{server} is here the virtual server name. @var{definitions} is a
21578 list of @code{(VARIABLE VALUE)} pairs that define this virtual server.
21580 If the server can't be opened, no error should be signaled. The backend
21581 may then choose to refuse further attempts at connecting to this
21582 server. In fact, it should do so.
21584 If the server is opened already, this function should return a
21585 non-@code{nil} value. There should be no data returned.
21588 @item (nnchoke-close-server &optional SERVER)
21590 Close connection to @var{server} and free all resources connected
21591 to it. Return @code{nil} if the server couldn't be closed for some
21594 There should be no data returned.
21597 @item (nnchoke-request-close)
21599 Close connection to all servers and free all resources that the backend
21600 have reserved. All buffers that have been created by that backend
21601 should be killed. (Not the @code{nntp-server-buffer}, though.) This
21602 function is generally only called when Gnus is shutting down.
21604 There should be no data returned.
21607 @item (nnchoke-server-opened &optional SERVER)
21609 If @var{server} is the current virtual server, and the connection to the
21610 physical server is alive, then this function should return a
21611 non-@code{nil} vlue. This function should under no circumstances
21612 attempt to reconnect to a server we have lost connection to.
21614 There should be no data returned.
21617 @item (nnchoke-status-message &optional SERVER)
21619 This function should return the last error message from @var{server}.
21621 There should be no data returned.
21624 @item (nnchoke-request-article ARTICLE &optional GROUP SERVER TO-BUFFER)
21626 The result data from this function should be the article specified by
21627 @var{article}. This might either be a @code{Message-ID} or a number.
21628 It is optional whether to implement retrieval by @code{Message-ID}, but
21629 it would be nice if that were possible.
21631 If @var{to-buffer} is non-@code{nil}, the result data should be returned
21632 in this buffer instead of the normal data buffer. This is to make it
21633 possible to avoid copying large amounts of data from one buffer to
21634 another, while Gnus mainly requests articles to be inserted directly
21635 into its article buffer.
21637 If it is at all possible, this function should return a cons cell where
21638 the @code{car} is the group name the article was fetched from, and the @code{cdr} is
21639 the article number. This will enable Gnus to find out what the real
21640 group and article numbers are when fetching articles by
21641 @code{Message-ID}. If this isn't possible, @code{t} should be returned
21642 on successful article retrieval.
21645 @item (nnchoke-request-group GROUP &optional SERVER FAST)
21647 Get data on @var{group}. This function also has the side effect of
21648 making @var{group} the current group.
21650 If @var{fast}, don't bother to return useful data, just make @var{group}
21653 Here's an example of some result data and a definition of the same:
21656 211 56 1000 1059 ifi.discussion
21659 The first number is the status, which should be 211. Next is the
21660 total number of articles in the group, the lowest article number, the
21661 highest article number, and finally the group name. Note that the total
21662 number of articles may be less than one might think while just
21663 considering the highest and lowest article numbers, but some articles
21664 may have been canceled. Gnus just discards the total-number, so
21665 whether one should take the bother to generate it properly (if that is a
21666 problem) is left as an exercise to the reader.
21669 group-status = [ error / info ] eol
21670 error = [ "4" / "5" ] 2<number> " " <Error message>
21671 info = "211 " 3* [ <number> " " ] <string>
21675 @item (nnchoke-close-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21677 Close @var{group} and free any resources connected to it. This will be
21678 a no-op on most backends.
21680 There should be no data returned.
21683 @item (nnchoke-request-list &optional SERVER)
21685 Return a list of all groups available on @var{server}. And that means
21688 Here's an example from a server that only carries two groups:
21691 ifi.test 0000002200 0000002000 y
21692 ifi.discussion 3324 3300 n
21695 On each line we have a group name, then the highest article number in
21696 that group, the lowest article number, and finally a flag.
21699 active-file = *active-line
21700 active-line = name " " <number> " " <number> " " flags eol
21702 flags = "n" / "y" / "m" / "x" / "j" / "=" name
21705 The flag says whether the group is read-only (@samp{n}), is moderated
21706 (@samp{m}), is dead (@samp{x}), is aliased to some other group
21707 (@samp{=other-group}) or none of the above (@samp{y}).
21710 @item (nnchoke-request-post &optional SERVER)
21712 This function should post the current buffer. It might return whether
21713 the posting was successful or not, but that's not required. If, for
21714 instance, the posting is done asynchronously, it has generally not been
21715 completed by the time this function concludes. In that case, this
21716 function should set up some kind of sentinel to beep the user loud and
21717 clear if the posting could not be completed.
21719 There should be no result data from this function.
21724 @node Optional Backend Functions
21725 @subsubsection Optional Backend Functions
21729 @item (nnchoke-retrieve-groups GROUPS &optional SERVER)
21731 @var{groups} is a list of groups, and this function should request data
21732 on all those groups. How it does it is of no concern to Gnus, but it
21733 should attempt to do this in a speedy fashion.
21735 The return value of this function can be either @code{active} or
21736 @code{group}, which says what the format of the result data is. The
21737 former is in the same format as the data from
21738 @code{nnchoke-request-list}, while the latter is a buffer full of lines
21739 in the same format as @code{nnchoke-request-group} gives.
21742 group-buffer = *active-line / *group-status
21746 @item (nnchoke-request-update-info GROUP INFO &optional SERVER)
21748 A Gnus group info (@pxref{Group Info}) is handed to the backend for
21749 alterations. This comes in handy if the backend really carries all the
21750 information (as is the case with virtual and imap groups). This
21751 function should destructively alter the info to suit its needs, and
21752 should return the (altered) group info.
21754 There should be no result data from this function.
21757 @item (nnchoke-request-type GROUP &optional ARTICLE)
21759 When the user issues commands for ``sending news'' (@kbd{F} in the
21760 summary buffer, for instance), Gnus has to know whether the article the
21761 user is following up on is news or mail. This function should return
21762 @code{news} if @var{article} in @var{group} is news, @code{mail} if it
21763 is mail and @code{unknown} if the type can't be decided. (The
21764 @var{article} parameter is necessary in @code{nnvirtual} groups which
21765 might very well combine mail groups and news groups.) Both @var{group}
21766 and @var{article} may be @code{nil}.
21768 There should be no result data from this function.
21771 @item (nnchoke-request-set-mark GROUP ACTION &optional SERVER)
21773 Set/remove/add marks on articles. Normally Gnus handles the article
21774 marks (such as read, ticked, expired etc) internally, and store them in
21775 @code{~/.newsrc.eld}. Some backends (such as @sc{imap}) however carry
21776 all information about the articles on the server, so Gnus need to
21777 propagate the mark information to the server.
21779 ACTION is a list of mark setting requests, having this format:
21782 (RANGE ACTION MARK)
21785 Range is a range of articles you wish to update marks on. Action is
21786 @code{set}, @code{add} or @code{del}, respectively used for removing all
21787 existing marks and setting them as specified, adding (preserving the
21788 marks not mentioned) mark and removing (preserving the marks not
21789 mentioned) marks. Mark is a list of marks; where each mark is a symbol.
21790 Currently used marks are @code{read}, @code{tick}, @code{reply},
21791 @code{expire}, @code{killed}, @code{dormant}, @code{save},
21792 @code{download} and @code{unsend}, but your backend should, if possible,
21793 not limit itself to these.
21795 Given contradictory actions, the last action in the list should be the
21796 effective one. That is, if your action contains a request to add the
21797 @code{tick} mark on article 1 and, later in the list, a request to
21798 remove the mark on the same article, the mark should in fact be removed.
21800 An example action list:
21803 (((5 12 30) 'del '(tick))
21804 ((10 . 90) 'add '(read expire))
21805 ((92 94) 'del '(read)))
21808 The function should return a range of articles it wasn't able to set the
21809 mark on (currently not used for anything).
21811 There should be no result data from this function.
21813 @item (nnchoke-request-update-mark GROUP ARTICLE MARK)
21815 If the user tries to set a mark that the backend doesn't like, this
21816 function may change the mark. Gnus will use whatever this function
21817 returns as the mark for @var{article} instead of the original
21818 @var{mark}. If the backend doesn't care, it must return the original
21819 @var{mark}, and not @code{nil} or any other type of garbage.
21821 The only use for this I can see is what @code{nnvirtual} does with
21822 it---if a component group is auto-expirable, marking an article as read
21823 in the virtual group should result in the article being marked as
21826 There should be no result data from this function.
21829 @item (nnchoke-request-scan &optional GROUP SERVER)
21831 This function may be called at any time (by Gnus or anything else) to
21832 request that the backend check for incoming articles, in one way or
21833 another. A mail backend will typically read the spool file or query the
21834 POP server when this function is invoked. The @var{group} doesn't have
21835 to be heeded---if the backend decides that it is too much work just
21836 scanning for a single group, it may do a total scan of all groups. It
21837 would be nice, however, to keep things local if that's practical.
21839 There should be no result data from this function.
21842 @item (nnchoke-request-group-description GROUP &optional SERVER)
21844 The result data from this function should be a description of
21848 description-line = name <TAB> description eol
21850 description = <text>
21853 @item (nnchoke-request-list-newsgroups &optional SERVER)
21855 The result data from this function should be the description of all
21856 groups available on the server.
21859 description-buffer = *description-line
21863 @item (nnchoke-request-newgroups DATE &optional SERVER)
21865 The result data from this function should be all groups that were
21866 created after @samp{date}, which is in normal human-readable date
21867 format. The data should be in the active buffer format.
21870 @item (nnchoke-request-create-group GROUP &optional SERVER)
21872 This function should create an empty group with name @var{group}.
21874 There should be no return data.
21877 @item (nnchoke-request-expire-articles ARTICLES &optional GROUP SERVER FORCE)
21879 This function should run the expiry process on all articles in the
21880 @var{articles} range (which is currently a simple list of article
21881 numbers.) It is left up to the backend to decide how old articles
21882 should be before they are removed by this function. If @var{force} is
21883 non-@code{nil}, all @var{articles} should be deleted, no matter how new
21886 This function should return a list of articles that it did not/was not
21889 There should be no result data returned.
21892 @item (nnchoke-request-move-article ARTICLE GROUP SERVER ACCEPT-FORM
21895 This function should move @var{article} (which is a number) from
21896 @var{group} by calling @var{accept-form}.
21898 This function should ready the article in question for moving by
21899 removing any header lines it has added to the article, and generally
21900 should ``tidy up'' the article. Then it should @code{eval}
21901 @var{accept-form} in the buffer where the ``tidy'' article is. This
21902 will do the actual copying. If this @code{eval} returns a
21903 non-@code{nil} value, the article should be removed.
21905 If @var{last} is @code{nil}, that means that there is a high likelihood
21906 that there will be more requests issued shortly, so that allows some
21909 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21910 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21912 There should be no data returned.
21915 @item (nnchoke-request-accept-article GROUP &optional SERVER LAST)
21917 This function takes the current buffer and inserts it into @var{group}.
21918 If @var{last} in @code{nil}, that means that there will be more calls to
21919 this function in short order.
21921 The function should return a cons where the @code{car} is the group name and
21922 the @code{cdr} is the article number that the article was entered as.
21924 There should be no data returned.
21927 @item (nnchoke-request-replace-article ARTICLE GROUP BUFFER)
21929 This function should remove @var{article} (which is a number) from
21930 @var{group} and insert @var{buffer} there instead.
21932 There should be no data returned.
21935 @item (nnchoke-request-delete-group GROUP FORCE &optional SERVER)
21937 This function should delete @var{group}. If @var{force}, it should
21938 really delete all the articles in the group, and then delete the group
21939 itself. (If there is such a thing as ``the group itself''.)
21941 There should be no data returned.
21944 @item (nnchoke-request-rename-group GROUP NEW-NAME &optional SERVER)
21946 This function should rename @var{group} into @var{new-name}. All
21947 articles in @var{group} should move to @var{new-name}.
21949 There should be no data returned.
21954 @node Error Messaging
21955 @subsubsection Error Messaging
21957 @findex nnheader-report
21958 @findex nnheader-get-report
21959 The backends should use the function @code{nnheader-report} to report
21960 error conditions---they should not raise errors when they aren't able to
21961 perform a request. The first argument to this function is the backend
21962 symbol, and the rest are interpreted as arguments to @code{format} if
21963 there are multiple of them, or just a string if there is one of them.
21964 This function must always returns @code{nil}.
21967 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "You did something totally bogus")
21969 (nnheader-report 'nnchoke "Could not request group %s" group)
21972 Gnus, in turn, will call @code{nnheader-get-report} when it gets a
21973 @code{nil} back from a server, and this function returns the most
21974 recently reported message for the backend in question. This function
21975 takes one argument---the server symbol.
21977 Internally, these functions access @var{backend}@code{-status-string},
21978 so the @code{nnchoke} backend will have its error message stored in
21979 @code{nnchoke-status-string}.
21982 @node Writing New Backends
21983 @subsubsection Writing New Backends
21985 Many backends are quite similar. @code{nnml} is just like
21986 @code{nnspool}, but it allows you to edit the articles on the server.
21987 @code{nnmh} is just like @code{nnml}, but it doesn't use an active file,
21988 and it doesn't maintain overview databases. @code{nndir} is just like
21989 @code{nnml}, but it has no concept of ``groups'', and it doesn't allow
21992 It would make sense if it were possible to ``inherit'' functions from
21993 backends when writing new backends. And, indeed, you can do that if you
21994 want to. (You don't have to if you don't want to, of course.)
21996 All the backends declare their public variables and functions by using a
21997 package called @code{nnoo}.
21999 To inherit functions from other backends (and allow other backends to
22000 inherit functions from the current backend), you should use the
22006 This macro declares the first parameter to be a child of the subsequent
22007 parameters. For instance:
22010 (nnoo-declare nndir
22014 @code{nndir} has declared here that it intends to inherit functions from
22015 both @code{nnml} and @code{nnmh}.
22018 This macro is equivalent to @code{defvar}, but registers the variable as
22019 a public server variable. Most state-oriented variables should be
22020 declared with @code{defvoo} instead of @code{defvar}.
22022 In addition to the normal @code{defvar} parameters, it takes a list of
22023 variables in the parent backends to map the variable to when executing
22024 a function in those backends.
22027 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22028 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22029 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22032 This means that @code{nnml-current-directory} will be set to
22033 @code{nndir-directory} when an @code{nnml} function is called on behalf
22034 of @code{nndir}. (The same with @code{nnmh}.)
22036 @item nnoo-define-basics
22037 This macro defines some common functions that almost all backends should
22041 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22045 This macro is just like @code{defun} and takes the same parameters. In
22046 addition to doing the normal @code{defun} things, it registers the
22047 function as being public so that other backends can inherit it.
22049 @item nnoo-map-functions
22050 This macro allows mapping of functions from the current backend to
22051 functions from the parent backends.
22054 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22055 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22056 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0))
22059 This means that when @code{nndir-retrieve-headers} is called, the first,
22060 third, and fourth parameters will be passed on to
22061 @code{nnml-retrieve-headers}, while the second parameter is set to the
22062 value of @code{nndir-current-group}.
22065 This macro allows importing functions from backends. It should be the
22066 last thing in the source file, since it will only define functions that
22067 haven't already been defined.
22073 nnmh-request-newgroups)
22077 This means that calls to @code{nndir-request-list} should just be passed
22078 on to @code{nnmh-request-list}, while all public functions from
22079 @code{nnml} that haven't been defined in @code{nndir} yet should be
22084 Below is a slightly shortened version of the @code{nndir} backend.
22087 ;;; nndir.el --- single directory newsgroup access for Gnus
22088 ;; Copyright (C) 1995,96 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
22092 (require 'nnheader)
22096 (eval-when-compile (require 'cl))
22098 (nnoo-declare nndir
22101 (defvoo nndir-directory nil
22102 "Where nndir will look for groups."
22103 nnml-current-directory nnmh-current-directory)
22105 (defvoo nndir-nov-is-evil nil
22106 "*Non-nil means that nndir will never retrieve NOV headers."
22109 (defvoo nndir-current-group "" nil nnml-current-group nnmh-current-group)
22110 (defvoo nndir-top-directory nil nil nnml-directory nnmh-directory)
22111 (defvoo nndir-get-new-mail nil nil nnml-get-new-mail nnmh-get-new-mail)
22113 (defvoo nndir-status-string "" nil nnmh-status-string)
22114 (defconst nndir-version "nndir 1.0")
22116 ;;; Interface functions.
22118 (nnoo-define-basics nndir)
22120 (deffoo nndir-open-server (server &optional defs)
22121 (setq nndir-directory
22122 (or (cadr (assq 'nndir-directory defs))
22124 (unless (assq 'nndir-directory defs)
22125 (push `(nndir-directory ,server) defs))
22126 (push `(nndir-current-group
22127 ,(file-name-nondirectory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22129 (push `(nndir-top-directory
22130 ,(file-name-directory (directory-file-name nndir-directory)))
22132 (nnoo-change-server 'nndir server defs))
22134 (nnoo-map-functions nndir
22135 (nnml-retrieve-headers 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22136 (nnmh-request-article 0 nndir-current-group 0 0)
22137 (nnmh-request-group nndir-current-group 0 0)
22138 (nnmh-close-group nndir-current-group 0))
22142 nnmh-status-message
22144 nnmh-request-newgroups))
22150 @node Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
22151 @subsubsection Hooking New Backends Into Gnus
22153 @vindex gnus-valid-select-methods
22154 Having Gnus start using your new backend is rather easy---you just
22155 declare it with the @code{gnus-declare-backend} functions. This will
22156 enter the backend into the @code{gnus-valid-select-methods} variable.
22158 @code{gnus-declare-backend} takes two parameters---the backend name and
22159 an arbitrary number of @dfn{abilities}.
22164 (gnus-declare-backend "nnchoke" 'mail 'respool 'address)
22167 The abilities can be:
22171 This is a mailish backend---followups should (probably) go via mail.
22173 This is a newsish backend---followups should (probably) go via news.
22175 This backend supports both mail and news.
22177 This is neither a post nor mail backend---it's something completely
22180 It supports respooling---or rather, it is able to modify its source
22181 articles and groups.
22183 The name of the server should be in the virtual server name. This is
22184 true for almost all backends.
22185 @item prompt-address
22186 The user should be prompted for an address when doing commands like
22187 @kbd{B} in the group buffer. This is true for backends like
22188 @code{nntp}, but not @code{nnmbox}, for instance.
22192 @node Mail-like Backends
22193 @subsubsection Mail-like Backends
22195 One of the things that separate the mail backends from the rest of the
22196 backends is the heavy dependence by the mail backends on common
22197 functions in @file{nnmail.el}. For instance, here's the definition of
22198 @code{nnml-request-scan}:
22201 (deffoo nnml-request-scan (&optional group server)
22202 (setq nnml-article-file-alist nil)
22203 (nnmail-get-new-mail 'nnml 'nnml-save-nov nnml-directory group))
22206 It simply calls @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} with a few parameters,
22207 and @code{nnmail} takes care of all the moving and splitting of the
22210 This function takes four parameters.
22214 This should be a symbol to designate which backend is responsible for
22217 @item exit-function
22218 This function should be called after the splitting has been performed.
22220 @item temp-directory
22221 Where the temporary files should be stored.
22224 This optional argument should be a group name if the splitting is to be
22225 performed for one group only.
22228 @code{nnmail-get-new-mail} will call @var{backend}@code{-save-mail} to
22229 save each article. @var{backend}@code{-active-number} will be called to
22230 find the article number assigned to this article.
22232 The function also uses the following variables:
22233 @var{backend}@code{-get-new-mail} (to see whether to get new mail for
22234 this backend); and @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} and
22235 @var{backend}@code{-active-file} to generate the new active file.
22236 @var{backend}@code{-group-alist} should be a group-active alist, like
22240 (("a-group" (1 . 10))
22241 ("some-group" (34 . 39)))
22245 @node Score File Syntax
22246 @subsection Score File Syntax
22248 Score files are meant to be easily parseable, but yet extremely
22249 mallable. It was decided that something that had the same read syntax
22250 as an Emacs Lisp list would fit that spec.
22252 Here's a typical score file:
22256 ("win95" -10000 nil s)
22263 BNF definition of a score file:
22266 score-file = "" / "(" *element ")"
22267 element = rule / atom
22268 rule = string-rule / number-rule / date-rule
22269 string-rule = "(" quote string-header quote space *string-match ")"
22270 number-rule = "(" quote number-header quote space *number-match ")"
22271 date-rule = "(" quote date-header quote space *date-match ")"
22273 string-header = "subject" / "from" / "references" / "message-id" /
22274 "xref" / "body" / "head" / "all" / "followup"
22275 number-header = "lines" / "chars"
22276 date-header = "date"
22277 string-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22278 space date [ "" / [ space string-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22279 score = "nil" / <integer>
22280 date = "nil" / <natural number>
22281 string-match-t = "nil" / "s" / "substring" / "S" / "Substring" /
22282 "r" / "regex" / "R" / "Regex" /
22283 "e" / "exact" / "E" / "Exact" /
22284 "f" / "fuzzy" / "F" / "Fuzzy"
22285 number-match = "(" <integer> [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22286 space date [ "" / [ space number-match-t ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22287 number-match-t = "nil" / "=" / "<" / ">" / ">=" / "<="
22288 date-match = "(" quote <string> quote [ "" / [ space score [ "" /
22289 space date [ "" / [ space date-match-t ] ] ] ] ")"
22290 date-match-t = "nil" / "at" / "before" / "after"
22291 atom = "(" [ required-atom / optional-atom ] ")"
22292 required-atom = mark / expunge / mark-and-expunge / files /
22293 exclude-files / read-only / touched
22294 optional-atom = adapt / local / eval
22295 mark = "mark" space nil-or-number
22296 nil-or-number = "nil" / <integer>
22297 expunge = "expunge" space nil-or-number
22298 mark-and-expunge = "mark-and-expunge" space nil-or-number
22299 files = "files" *[ space <string> ]
22300 exclude-files = "exclude-files" *[ space <string> ]
22301 read-only = "read-only" [ space "nil" / space "t" ]
22302 adapt = "adapt" [ space "ignore" / space "t" / space adapt-rule ]
22303 adapt-rule = "(" *[ <string> *[ "(" <string> <integer> ")" ] ")"
22304 local = "local" *[ space "(" <string> space <form> ")" ]
22305 eval = "eval" space <form>
22306 space = *[ " " / <TAB> / <NEWLINE> ]
22309 Any unrecognized elements in a score file should be ignored, but not
22312 As you can see, white space is needed, but the type and amount of white
22313 space is irrelevant. This means that formatting of the score file is
22314 left up to the programmer---if it's simpler to just spew it all out on
22315 one looong line, then that's ok.
22317 The meaning of the various atoms are explained elsewhere in this
22318 manual (@pxref{Score File Format}).
22322 @subsection Headers
22324 Internally Gnus uses a format for storing article headers that
22325 corresponds to the @sc{nov} format in a mysterious fashion. One could
22326 almost suspect that the author looked at the @sc{nov} specification and
22327 just shamelessly @emph{stole} the entire thing, and one would be right.
22329 @dfn{Header} is a severely overloaded term. ``Header'' is used in
22330 RFC 1036 to talk about lines in the head of an article (e.g.,
22331 @code{From}). It is used by many people as a synonym for
22332 ``head''---``the header and the body''. (That should be avoided, in my
22333 opinion.) And Gnus uses a format internally that it calls ``header'',
22334 which is what I'm talking about here. This is a 9-element vector,
22335 basically, with each header (ouch) having one slot.
22337 These slots are, in order: @code{number}, @code{subject}, @code{from},
22338 @code{date}, @code{id}, @code{references}, @code{chars}, @code{lines},
22339 @code{xref}, and @code{extra}. There are macros for accessing and
22340 setting these slots---they all have predictable names beginning with
22341 @code{mail-header-} and @code{mail-header-set-}, respectively.
22343 All these slots contain strings, except the @code{extra} slot, which
22344 contains an alist of header/value pairs (@pxref{To From Newsgroups}).
22350 @sc{gnus} introduced a concept that I found so useful that I've started
22351 using it a lot and have elaborated on it greatly.
22353 The question is simple: If you have a large amount of objects that are
22354 identified by numbers (say, articles, to take a @emph{wild} example)
22355 that you want to qualify as being ``included'', a normal sequence isn't
22356 very useful. (A 200,000 length sequence is a bit long-winded.)
22358 The solution is as simple as the question: You just collapse the
22362 (1 2 3 4 5 6 10 11 12)
22365 is transformed into
22368 ((1 . 6) (10 . 12))
22371 To avoid having those nasty @samp{(13 . 13)} elements to denote a
22372 lonesome object, a @samp{13} is a valid element:
22375 ((1 . 6) 7 (10 . 12))
22378 This means that comparing two ranges to find out whether they are equal
22379 is slightly tricky:
22382 ((1 . 5) 7 8 (10 . 12))
22388 ((1 . 5) (7 . 8) (10 . 12))
22391 are equal. In fact, any non-descending list is a range:
22397 is a perfectly valid range, although a pretty long-winded one. This is
22404 and is equal to the previous range.
22406 Here's a BNF definition of ranges. Of course, one must remember the
22407 semantic requirement that the numbers are non-descending. (Any number
22408 of repetition of the same number is allowed, but apt to disappear in
22412 range = simple-range / normal-range
22413 simple-range = "(" number " . " number ")"
22414 normal-range = "(" start-contents ")"
22415 contents = "" / simple-range *[ " " contents ] /
22416 number *[ " " contents ]
22419 Gnus currently uses ranges to keep track of read articles and article
22420 marks. I plan on implementing a number of range operators in C if The
22421 Powers That Be are willing to let me. (I haven't asked yet, because I
22422 need to do some more thinking on what operators I need to make life
22423 totally range-based without ever having to convert back to normal
22428 @subsection Group Info
22430 Gnus stores all permanent info on groups in a @dfn{group info} list.
22431 This list is from three to six elements (or more) long and exhaustively
22432 describes the group.
22434 Here are two example group infos; one is a very simple group while the
22435 second is a more complex one:
22438 ("no.group" 5 ((1 . 54324)))
22440 ("nnml:my.mail" 3 ((1 . 5) 9 (20 . 55))
22441 ((tick (15 . 19)) (replied 3 6 (19 . 3)))
22443 ((auto-expire . t) (to-address . "ding@@gnus.org")))
22446 The first element is the @dfn{group name}---as Gnus knows the group,
22447 anyway. The second element is the @dfn{subscription level}, which
22448 normally is a small integer. (It can also be the @dfn{rank}, which is a
22449 cons cell where the @code{car} is the level and the @code{cdr} is the
22450 score.) The third element is a list of ranges of read articles. The
22451 fourth element is a list of lists of article marks of various kinds.
22452 The fifth element is the select method (or virtual server, if you like).
22453 The sixth element is a list of @dfn{group parameters}, which is what
22454 this section is about.
22456 Any of the last three elements may be missing if they are not required.
22457 In fact, the vast majority of groups will normally only have the first
22458 three elements, which saves quite a lot of cons cells.
22460 Here's a BNF definition of the group info format:
22463 info = "(" group space ralevel space read
22464 [ "" / [ space marks-list [ "" / [ space method [ "" /
22465 space parameters ] ] ] ] ] ")"
22466 group = quote <string> quote
22467 ralevel = rank / level
22468 level = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22469 rank = "(" level "." score ")"
22470 score = <integer in the range of 1 to inf>
22472 marks-lists = nil / "(" *marks ")"
22473 marks = "(" <string> range ")"
22474 method = "(" <string> *elisp-forms ")"
22475 parameters = "(" *elisp-forms ")"
22478 Actually that @samp{marks} rule is a fib. A @samp{marks} is a
22479 @samp{<string>} consed on to a @samp{range}, but that's a bitch to say
22482 If you have a Gnus info and want to access the elements, Gnus offers a
22483 series of macros for getting/setting these elements.
22486 @item gnus-info-group
22487 @itemx gnus-info-set-group
22488 @findex gnus-info-group
22489 @findex gnus-info-set-group
22490 Get/set the group name.
22492 @item gnus-info-rank
22493 @itemx gnus-info-set-rank
22494 @findex gnus-info-rank
22495 @findex gnus-info-set-rank
22496 Get/set the group rank (@pxref{Group Score}).
22498 @item gnus-info-level
22499 @itemx gnus-info-set-level
22500 @findex gnus-info-level
22501 @findex gnus-info-set-level
22502 Get/set the group level.
22504 @item gnus-info-score
22505 @itemx gnus-info-set-score
22506 @findex gnus-info-score
22507 @findex gnus-info-set-score
22508 Get/set the group score (@pxref{Group Score}).
22510 @item gnus-info-read
22511 @itemx gnus-info-set-read
22512 @findex gnus-info-read
22513 @findex gnus-info-set-read
22514 Get/set the ranges of read articles.
22516 @item gnus-info-marks
22517 @itemx gnus-info-set-marks
22518 @findex gnus-info-marks
22519 @findex gnus-info-set-marks
22520 Get/set the lists of ranges of marked articles.
22522 @item gnus-info-method
22523 @itemx gnus-info-set-method
22524 @findex gnus-info-method
22525 @findex gnus-info-set-method
22526 Get/set the group select method.
22528 @item gnus-info-params
22529 @itemx gnus-info-set-params
22530 @findex gnus-info-params
22531 @findex gnus-info-set-params
22532 Get/set the group parameters.
22535 All the getter functions take one parameter---the info list. The setter
22536 functions take two parameters---the info list and the new value.
22538 The last three elements in the group info aren't mandatory, so it may be
22539 necessary to extend the group info before setting the element. If this
22540 is necessary, you can just pass on a non-@code{nil} third parameter to
22541 the three final setter functions to have this happen automatically.
22544 @node Extended Interactive
22545 @subsection Extended Interactive
22546 @cindex interactive
22547 @findex gnus-interactive
22549 Gnus extends the standard Emacs @code{interactive} specification
22550 slightly to allow easy use of the symbolic prefix (@pxref{Symbolic
22551 Prefixes}). Here's an example of how this is used:
22554 (defun gnus-summary-increase-score (&optional score symp)
22555 (interactive (gnus-interactive "P\ny"))
22560 The best thing to do would have been to implement
22561 @code{gnus-interactive} as a macro which would have returned an
22562 @code{interactive} form, but this isn't possible since Emacs checks
22563 whether a function is interactive or not by simply doing an @code{assq}
22564 on the lambda form. So, instead we have @code{gnus-interactive}
22565 function that takes a string and returns values that are usable to
22566 @code{interactive}.
22568 This function accepts (almost) all normal @code{interactive} specs, but
22573 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbol
22574 The current symbolic prefix---the @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol}
22578 @vindex gnus-current-prefix-symbols
22579 A list of the current symbolic prefixes---the
22580 @code{gnus-current-prefix-symbol} variable.
22583 The current article number---the @code{gnus-summary-article-number}
22587 The current article header---the @code{gnus-summary-article-header}
22591 The current group name---the @code{gnus-group-group-name}
22597 @node Emacs/XEmacs Code
22598 @subsection Emacs/XEmacs Code
22602 While Gnus runs under Emacs, XEmacs and Mule, I decided that one of the
22603 platforms must be the primary one. I chose Emacs. Not because I don't
22604 like XEmacs or Mule, but because it comes first alphabetically.
22606 This means that Gnus will byte-compile under Emacs with nary a warning,
22607 while XEmacs will pump out gigabytes of warnings while byte-compiling.
22608 As I use byte-compilation warnings to help me root out trivial errors in
22609 Gnus, that's very useful.
22611 I've also consistently used Emacs function interfaces, but have used
22612 Gnusey aliases for the functions. To take an example: Emacs defines a
22613 @code{run-at-time} function while XEmacs defines a @code{start-itimer}
22614 function. I then define a function called @code{gnus-run-at-time} that
22615 takes the same parameters as the Emacs @code{run-at-time}. When running
22616 Gnus under Emacs, the former function is just an alias for the latter.
22617 However, when running under XEmacs, the former is an alias for the
22618 following function:
22621 (defun gnus-xmas-run-at-time (time repeat function &rest args)
22625 (,function ,@@args))
22629 This sort of thing has been done for bunches of functions. Gnus does
22630 not redefine any native Emacs functions while running under XEmacs---it
22631 does this @code{defalias} thing with Gnus equivalents instead. Cleaner
22634 In the cases where the XEmacs function interface was obviously cleaner,
22635 I used it instead. For example @code{gnus-region-active-p} is an alias
22636 for @code{region-active-p} in XEmacs, whereas in Emacs it is a function.
22638 Of course, I could have chosen XEmacs as my native platform and done
22639 mapping functions the other way around. But I didn't. The performance
22640 hit these indirections impose on Gnus under XEmacs should be slight.
22643 @node Various File Formats
22644 @subsection Various File Formats
22647 * Active File Format:: Information on articles and groups available.
22648 * Newsgroups File Format:: Group descriptions.
22652 @node Active File Format
22653 @subsubsection Active File Format
22655 The active file lists all groups available on the server in
22656 question. It also lists the highest and lowest current article numbers
22659 Here's an excerpt from a typical active file:
22662 soc.motss 296030 293865 y
22663 alt.binaries.pictures.fractals 3922 3913 n
22664 comp.sources.unix 1605 1593 m
22665 comp.binaries.ibm.pc 5097 5089 y
22666 no.general 1000 900 y
22669 Here's a pseudo-BNF definition of this file:
22672 active = *group-line
22673 group-line = group space high-number space low-number space flag <NEWLINE>
22674 group = <non-white-space string>
22676 high-number = <non-negative integer>
22677 low-number = <positive integer>
22678 flag = "y" / "n" / "m" / "j" / "x" / "=" group
22681 For a full description of this file, see the manual pages for
22682 @samp{innd}, in particular @samp{active(5)}.
22685 @node Newsgroups File Format
22686 @subsubsection Newsgroups File Format
22688 The newsgroups file lists groups along with their descriptions. Not all
22689 groups on the server have to be listed, and not all groups in the file
22690 have to exist on the server. The file is meant purely as information to
22693 The format is quite simple; a group name, a tab, and the description.
22694 Here's the definition:
22698 line = group tab description <NEWLINE>
22699 group = <non-white-space string>
22701 description = <string>
22706 @node Emacs for Heathens
22707 @section Emacs for Heathens
22709 Believe it or not, but some people who use Gnus haven't really used
22710 Emacs much before they embarked on their journey on the Gnus Love Boat.
22711 If you are one of those unfortunates whom ``@kbd{M-C-a}'', ``kill the
22712 region'', and ``set @code{gnus-flargblossen} to an alist where the key
22713 is a regexp that is used for matching on the group name'' are magical
22714 phrases with little or no meaning, then this appendix is for you. If
22715 you are already familiar with Emacs, just ignore this and go fondle your
22719 * Keystrokes:: Entering text and executing commands.
22720 * Emacs Lisp:: The built-in Emacs programming language.
22725 @subsection Keystrokes
22729 Q: What is an experienced Emacs user?
22732 A: A person who wishes that the terminal had pedals.
22735 Yes, when you use Emacs, you are apt to use the control key, the shift
22736 key and the meta key a lot. This is very annoying to some people
22737 (notably @code{vi}le users), and the rest of us just love the hell out
22738 of it. Just give up and submit. Emacs really does stand for
22739 ``Escape-Meta-Alt-Control-Shift'', and not ``Editing Macros'', as you
22740 may have heard from other disreputable sources (like the Emacs author).
22742 The shift keys are normally located near your pinky fingers, and are
22743 normally used to get capital letters and stuff. You probably use it all
22744 the time. The control key is normally marked ``CTRL'' or something like
22745 that. The meta key is, funnily enough, never marked as such on any
22746 keyboard. The one I'm currently at has a key that's marked ``Alt'',
22747 which is the meta key on this keyboard. It's usually located somewhere
22748 to the left hand side of the keyboard, usually on the bottom row.
22750 Now, us Emacs people don't say ``press the meta-control-m key'',
22751 because that's just too inconvenient. We say ``press the @kbd{M-C-m}
22752 key''. @kbd{M-} is the prefix that means ``meta'' and ``C-'' is the
22753 prefix that means ``control''. So ``press @kbd{C-k}'' means ``press
22754 down the control key, and hold it down while you press @kbd{k}''.
22755 ``Press @kbd{M-C-k}'' means ``press down and hold down the meta key and
22756 the control key and then press @kbd{k}''. Simple, ay?
22758 This is somewhat complicated by the fact that not all keyboards have a
22759 meta key. In that case you can use the ``escape'' key. Then @kbd{M-k}
22760 means ``press escape, release escape, press @kbd{k}''. That's much more
22761 work than if you have a meta key, so if that's the case, I respectfully
22762 suggest you get a real keyboard with a meta key. You can't live without
22768 @subsection Emacs Lisp
22770 Emacs is the King of Editors because it's really a Lisp interpreter.
22771 Each and every key you tap runs some Emacs Lisp code snippet, and since
22772 Emacs Lisp is an interpreted language, that means that you can configure
22773 any key to run any arbitrary code. You just, like, do it.
22775 Gnus is written in Emacs Lisp, and is run as a bunch of interpreted
22776 functions. (These are byte-compiled for speed, but it's still
22777 interpreted.) If you decide that you don't like the way Gnus does
22778 certain things, it's trivial to have it do something a different way.
22779 (Well, at least if you know how to write Lisp code.) However, that's
22780 beyond the scope of this manual, so we are simply going to talk about
22781 some common constructs that you normally use in your @file{.emacs} file
22784 If you want to set the variable @code{gnus-florgbnize} to four (4), you
22785 write the following:
22788 (setq gnus-florgbnize 4)
22791 This function (really ``special form'') @code{setq} is the one that can
22792 set a variable to some value. This is really all you need to know. Now
22793 you can go and fill your @code{.emacs} file with lots of these to change
22796 If you have put that thing in your @code{.emacs} file, it will be read
22797 and @code{eval}ed (which is lisp-ese for ``run'') the next time you
22798 start Emacs. If you want to change the variable right away, simply say
22799 @kbd{C-x C-e} after the closing parenthesis. That will @code{eval} the
22800 previous ``form'', which is a simple @code{setq} statement here.
22802 Go ahead---just try it, if you're located at your Emacs. After you
22803 @kbd{C-x C-e}, you will see @samp{4} appear in the echo area, which
22804 is the return value of the form you @code{eval}ed.
22808 If the manual says ``set @code{gnus-read-active-file} to @code{some}'',
22812 (setq gnus-read-active-file 'some)
22815 On the other hand, if the manual says ``set @code{gnus-nntp-server} to
22816 @samp{nntp.ifi.uio.no}'', that means:
22819 (setq gnus-nntp-server "nntp.ifi.uio.no")
22822 So be careful not to mix up strings (the latter) with symbols (the
22823 former). The manual is unambiguous, but it can be confusing.
22826 @include gnus-faq.texi